Show me your track bike!

[JohnEE]

Wow, lots of nice bikes! I'm leaning toward what bobsapa did with his SV650. I'm trying to not break the bank. In a perfect world i'll find a older bike that needs some work for $500-$1k, and then do most of the work getting it track ready myself. I don't know about you guys but i get immense satisfaction from working on my bike. I'm on a computer all day at work so it's nice to be able to do something with your hands. The less money i spend on a bike the more i have for track days anyways.    On a somewhat related side note, i wish there more supermoto tracks in New England. The track days are cheaper and the bikes are usally cheaper, looks like barrels of fun also. I'll take the monster to a track day this summer to make sure i like it before going all the way in( Whats not to like about getting to test your outer limits and the bikes in safe environment?) Thanks for the info! Keep the info/pics coming. I'll be looking over craigslist like a fiend...

[Grampa]

Depending on the size of the tracks you plan on doing track days at, a supermoto may be a cheap way to bite into the fun that is a trackday. Used 450s can be had cheap, Ann a nice set of warp nine rims can be purchased for less than a grand. I did two seasons on a rmz450, and my only complaint about it was lack of top end on larger tracks.

[Greg]

Here is my old track bike.



And here is the one I just picked up



While I really enjoyed the Monster on the track, it would have needed a lot of money dumped into it to make it a decent track bike. In the end I bought the 2005 ZX6R already set up for track and the difference is just night and day. I can ride the ZX6R a lot faster and for a lot longer than the Monster, and I'm not so afraid of dropping it.

[JohnEE]

Depending on the size of the tracks you plan on doing track days at, a supermoto may be a cheap way to bite into the fun that is a trackday. Used 450s can be had cheap, Ann a nice set of warp nine rims can be purchased for less than a grand. I did two seasons on a rmz450, and my only complaint about it was lack of top end on larger tracks.

The tracks closet to me are New Hampshire Motor speedway and a new track out in east new york( NY Safety Track) will probably be spending most of my time at NHMS as its pretty close to my area. Again supermoto would be ideal but its not that big in the North East.

While I really enjoyed the Monster on the track, it would have needed a lot of money dumped into it to make it a decent track bike. In the end I bought the 2005 ZX6R already set up for track and the difference is just night and day. I can ride the ZX6R a lot faster and for a lot longer than the Monster, and I'm not so afraid of dropping it.

Exactly my line of thinking. My monster does a lot of things very well but i would be afraid of dropping all the time at the track.

[ducpainter]

The tracks closet to me are New Hampshire Motor speedway and a new track out in east new york( NY Safety Track) will probably be spending most of my time at NHMS as its pretty close to my area. Again supermoto would be ideal but its not that big in the North East.

Exactly my line of thinking. My monster does a lot of things very well but i would be afraid of dropping all the time at the track.

Plenty of guys cook at NHMS on motards.

The New York track is pretty long. A motard there wouldn't be the best choice, I don't think.

[Grampa]

Who cares if its a big thing there or not...passing bigger bikes on the outside is a blast. You just don't want to get swallowed up on long straights.

[Grrrly]

The tracks closet to me are New Hampshire Motor speedway and a new track out in east new york( NY Safety Track) will probably be spending most of my time at NHMS as its pretty close to my area. Again supermoto would be ideal but its not that big in the North East.

If you get a supermoto you can also run it at OVRP in Cuddebackville, NY.  They have supermoto races there and have practice days you can run at I believe. 

[JohnEE]

If you get a supermoto you can also run it at OVRP in Cuddebackville, NY.  They have supermoto races there and have practice days you can run at I believe. 

bah 4 hours away......darn.


All you I4 peeps, big change from riding a duc? I've only know the sweet torque of V2 between my legs.  I guess it just takes getting used to like riding any different bikes.

[Triple J]

All you I4 peeps, big change from riding a duc? I've only know the sweet torque of V2 between my legs.  I guess it just takes getting used to like riding any different bikes.

I too had only ridden a Duc. Wasn't a big deal though...main thing was getting used to the sound of the motor at 14K, as my 1st time out on it I was short shifting around 11K.

I could feel the even I-4 power delivery working the tire harder. Hard to describe what I was feeling, other than constant power to the tire, but I could definitely feel it. Pretty interesting.

[Grampa]

and brakes

[gm2]

All you I4 peeps, big change from riding a duc?

IMO, no.  you're in this gear vs that gear.  and it sounds different.  big deal.

i'm a reasonably quick track day rider/slow racer.  i think until you're really pushing the limits of these bikes (i.e. almost none of us) this whole point is moot.  modern I4s will pull plenty even if you're down at 7-8k.

granted, i went from a monster to an I4 on the track.  i've never ridden a 'real' twin sportbike there.
 

[Greg]

IMO, no.  you're in this gear vs that gear.  and it sounds different.  big deal.

i'm a reasonably quick track day rider/slow racer.  i think until you're really pushing the limits of these bikes (i.e. almost none of us) this whole point is moot.  modern I4s will pull plenty even if you're down at 7-8k.

granted, i went from a monster to an I4 on the track.  i've never ridden a 'real' twin sportbike there.
 

My 636 is like a two stroke, if you're not in the powerband it barely pulls, but once you're in the powerband it just screams and pulls hard. Very different riding experiance from the Duc which would pull anywhere from 2,500 rpm on up.

[derby]

My 636 is like a two stroke, if you're not in the powerband it barely pulls, but once you're in the powerband it just screams and pulls hard. Very different riding experiance from the Duc which would pull anywhere from 2,500 rpm on up.

yeah, but you're talking about a motor that redlines at ~9k vs one that redlines at ~15k. you have about the same size rpm "range" where both bikes makes power, it just happens to be in the top half of the total range on the 4cyl.

keep both bikes in the correct gear and you'll be fine.

[ducpainter]

It's a lot easier, IMO, to keep a long stroke twin in the correct rpm range...

especially if it's one that makes over 100 hp.

[Triple J]

Preference.   I always had a hard time not hitting the rev limiter on my twins when I was trying to go fast...always seemed like the motor should have had a few rpms more. Maybe because I was always surrounded by screaming I-4s!

Keeping the revs up on an inline 4 isn't any tougher than keeping them down on a twin IMO.