Track Bike - DM620 2004 > 49K miles - Good idea ?

[ab]

I am planning to do track next year for first time.  My plans for this season didn't work out.

Question I have is, I do not want to track my Triumph Speed Triple.  I need to ride the crap out of that in the country roads for few more years.  (already logged 10K miles on it since April not counting the 2 month it was at mechanic shop)  

So the DM620 2004 is greater than 49K miles now.  At the shop for engine tune up work in winter.  It badly needs it as it back firing and not performing well.  I thought about having the engine rebuilt but was told that it is not worth it.  I love that bike and want to ride it till it dies.  But then I want to do track too.

Should I turn her out into a track bike ?
or get a cheap R6 (i mean under $2K) and track that?

What's your experience tracking a DM620?  I realize it ain't gonna go fast on the str8 like the rest.


(bike has lots of stuff done to it -  fork oiis changed , penske suspension (thinking of taking that out and selling - biggest waste of money that I don't have) , engine upgrade (bored kit) , pci commander iii , DP pipes - being the main ones.

[desmoworks]

Rather than rebuild the motor just buy a new motor and stick it in. 620 motors are very cheap - much less than rebuilding. Install is easy as well.

The R6 should have better suspension, power, cornering clearance, ergonomics, etc... for the track than the 620 so I guess it just depends how you are wanting to ride. If you want to go fast it won't be easy or cheap on a stock 620. The stock suspension prohibits you from going too fast through the corners as does the low mount exhaust.

If you want to go reasonably fast I'd go with an R6. Though I'm not sure what kind of a bike you'll get for $2000!

[Monsterlover]

I know of a sweet 900ss in the classifieds f/s for $3000



I'd track the 620

I mean, you already own it and all.

[He Man]

A mosnter is not a good track bike if you wanted a track bike.

[caperix]

If you allready own the bike and the engine repair is not going to cost too much I would go ahead and track it.  There are better bikes for the track but every track day I have ever been too has alway had a few monsters and they all did good.  The true point of a track day is to learn more about you own abilities and limits in a safe environment.  You should be able to have fun no matter what you are riding, I find at my skill level I have more fun on a slower bike as I am not scaring the crap out of my self at the end of the straits.

[Spidey]

monster = good, all-round bike
monster = bad track-only bike unless you modify the hell out of it.

Get a cheap r6 or sumptin'.  But don't buy a clapped out bike for the track.  If it looks like crap, that's fine.  If it's not in good mechanical shape, that's NOT ok.  Former race bikes are much cheaper than something that is streetworthy.  Check the VIN to make sure its not stolen.

[ab]

Thanks for info.  I might go for smaller bikes 250 or so and learn with it first on track.  Yep, I rather try proper technique on less cc bike I would think   I thought the monster would fit that but the $ to maintain her is not feasible for the most part.

Any of you track 250cc or less?  What's ur opinion?

Thanks again

[Monsterlover]

I don't think it's enough plus I bet the suspension you'll get on a bike like that will stink

but I've been wrong before

[Scotzman]

I'm in a similar boat with just having a 695 and want to get into track riding; however, to avoid crying in public when I would eventually lay this bike down, I'm looking for a bike that has a plethera of parts readily available. I like the whole v twin thing so considering an Sv650 and can still enjoy the long life of the Duc.

my 2 cents

[Monsterlover]

How about a 900ss

[fasterblkduc]

I will give you my advice based on my experience with racing multiple motorcycles, (including a M620) and being a lead instructor at a professional riding school.

Decide what you want to do, in other words...set some sort of goal. Do you want to improve your performance riding skills by doing trackdays? Then find the right tools and resources to accomplish that goal. If you want to do trackdays and you want to improve your skill level, then do not choose the monster as that tool. If you really love the monster and want to just cruise around at trackdays without ever really progressing, then keep the monster. It's a fine bike for your first trackday or two. If you take a performance riding school at a track, then you will be limited by your bike before the first day is over. The reason for that is, you will have top level instruction that will advance your skills very quickly and you will ride beyond the capabilities of that bike in no time. Personally, I can't see the point in being on a racetrack and not working to advance my skill level. It would be like duck hunting with a .22. Why bother?

If you want to prep that bike to be track worthy, you will need at a MINIMUM:

raised rear
suspension work
rearsets
modified exhaust or a raised system
remove kickstand
clipons
superbike master brake cyl.
keep your penske shock

If you do not do these things, you will be limited by the bike very quickly. Quite simply, it is not designed to be a track bike. With a lot of work, you can turn it into one but it is a lot of $ and work. If you want a trackbike, buy a used racebike. It will be set up already, and save you thousands of $. As far as what kind of bike to get, that's personal preference. I have my opinions but that's another conversation. You will have people that say they do trackdays on their monster without major mods, but I guarantee you...they are limited by their bike. It's not just the monster but any bike that was designed to be a streetbike only needs modification (sometimes a lot), to go fast on a racetrack.
You can find a great trackday machine that is a used racebike for approx. $2500 that will allow you to advance your skills and give you many many happy miles of learning.
 

[ab]

Thanks fasterblkduc for your post and others.

Lots to think about.

I know November I am travelling to north Carolina for some dirt bike cornering class.  Never ridden dirt bike so I am looking forward to that as well.

Will be saving up hopefully some $ for track bike.  Looked at novice class few weeks ago and I know I will quickly move on to intermediate class hopefully 2nd half of the day.   

My goal is to improve technique and keep on improving and go faster on a controlled place.

We do lots of twisty rides and love that.  It takes different balls to hit those unpredictable twisties with blind horizons and hazards.  Oh yeah, I respect ppl in very front on those rides( not me _ don't have balls for that). I follow from distant :-)

Track will be different experience that will enhance the street and rural road twisty rides.

Thats my goal - hit track to my ability and work on problem areas....

[AndrewNS]

I don't have any first-hand experience with the 620, but I used my monster as an occasional track day bike for a couple years and thought it was fine. I'd ride the bike to the track, tape up the lights, pull the mirrors and go at it. At that level of commitment, the bike you use counts way less than you might think - after a few of these events I improved to the point where I could embarrass some of the newbies on way faster/more expensive bikes. But it never really occurred to me to try to turn the monster into a dedicated track bike. As cool as it might be, I think everything about it would be more expensive/more fragile than a comparable Japanese machine.  In the end, I bought an old ex-racebike to feed my addiction, and couldn't be happier. It was cheap, already sorted for the track I ride on, and it's like an anvil - it just seems happier the harder I beat on it. And I'd bet I could buy three of those with the money I could get by selling the monster.

That's just my experience, your results may vary. To sum up: I don't think you need to mod the crap out of your monster just to have fun at the track, but you might have to if you want to get really serious. But I don't think that would make a whole lot of sense. A shiny monster is a happy monster!

   

[Statler]

why don't you do a day on the 620 and then decide.  You don't need an all out track-bike, or to turn your 620 into one, to do a weekend of trackdays and see what you'd like then.