300cc Track Bike? | GTAMotorcycle.com

300cc Track Bike?

Supernam

Supernam

Well-known member
How long do you think you would be able to ride a 300cc track bike before you need to ride the 600's? I'm a noob at the track and rode a CBR125 for 1 day at the Intro to Track course. I didn't mind the 125 but of course would like to go a bit faster to not hold anyone back. Trying to decide if 300 is enough or just go with the 600 right away.
 
At tracks like TMP, Mosport RDT or Grand Bend a 300 could last you indefinitely. Even Shannonville would be fun.

At places like Calabogie or Mosport (big track) the 300 might get a little boring.


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250s and 300s easily keep up with the big bikes on the small tracks (except in the straights, obviously).

The 300 is a blast on TMP. Currently converting mine to a full-time track bike.
 
caboose56 said:
At tracks like TMP, Mosport RDT or Grand Bend a 300 could last you indefinitely. Even Shannonville would be fun.

At places like Calabogie or Mosport (big track) the 300 might get a little boring.


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They are a lot of fun in the right environment, i loved doing the endurance race on the little 250 last year at SOAR. However I don't think i would be interested riding a small bike in a green/yellow group track day, probably way too sketchy.
 
Thanks guys. Sounds like the 300's will be okay then. I'm leaning towards the Ninja 300 because of the higher revs, slipper clutch, ABS and better suspension. It just seems better than the R3(no abs) and CBR300(too slow).
 
You wont need ABS, and slipper clutch for a 300 on a track is overkill.

Something worth checking out is racer5.ca. Go do a couple of his courses, then move onto a 600.
 
I would demo the 300 and R3 if you can.

I demo'd the R3 at Snow City last month and preferred it over my 300. Don't get hung up on ABS; I've put ~36,000 KM on my 300 and I've never once needed it.

I couldn't really get a good feel for the suspension on the R3 during the short demo, but the 300's suspension is crap. If you're tracking it you will want to spend money on suspension immediately. The front DIVES under any hard braking, and the rear has awful rebound (often feels like it's just floating).

But the 300 has the advantage that the market is already flooded with parts since it shares so much with the Ninja 250. There's also a lot of great, easy, cheap mods you can make (e.g. you can swap a GSXR-600 rear shock onto the 300 almost effortlessly for less than $100).
 
Jayv said:
You wont need ABS, and slipper clutch for a 300 on a track is overkill.

Something worth checking out is racer5.ca. Go do a couple of his courses, then move onto a 600.
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I am considering taking the Fast Riding course, though that is around $700 for a day which I could put that money into the bike and suspension upgrade.

DaveTheCanuck said:
I would demo the 300 and R3 if you can.

I demo'd the R3 at Snow City last month and preferred it over my 300. Don't get hung up on ABS; I've put ~36,000 KM on my 300 and I've never once needed it.

I couldn't really get a good feel for the suspension on the R3 during the short demo, but the 300's suspension is crap. If you're tracking it you will want to spend money on suspension immediately. The front DIVES under any hard braking, and the rear has awful rebound (often feels like it's just floating).

But the 300 has the advantage that the market is already flooded with parts since it shares so much with the Ninja 250. There's also a lot of great, easy, cheap mods you can make (e.g. you can swap a GSXR-600 rear shock onto the 300 almost effortlessly for less than $100).
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I will demo the R3 this Wednesday but Kawasaki has no demo days this year.
 
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If you demo the R3 you will find the suspension lacking front and back. If you get one for the track spend any money on the suspension. Any money on end can/header/PC should be secondary and will only give you a couple % in gain anyway.
 
Jay and I rode a 250 for a few endurance races last year which had an aprilia rear shock on it, it rode awesome. Like Bakaboy said, upgrade the suspension.

If I was starting, I would have no issues with riding a 300 for a few years, these small bikes are so much fun on small tracks. Trust me that it does not get boring to take turn one at Shannonville on full gas in 5th.
 
+1 for a 300. I rode my friends 300 Ninja at a trackday at RDT. It was a hoot and for 90% of the track I could easily keep up with bigger bikes in the green group. I did get passed on the straight by the pits a few times but the rest was great :)

I would imagine it would provide just as much fun at TMP or Grandbend, or possibly even Shannonville except for the back straight.
 
Did 1:38's at Bogie on a Ninja 250 with two year old tires. Well in fact the tires that came with the bike. Awesome fun!
 
The problem is there isn't a lot of the small bikes on the track for a comparison. Its always the sliding scale of cc.

The small bikes are great for learning cornering speed and flow.

Of the options the following is my experience and speculation.

CBR250. Lots around for sale track ready. Lap times at say SMP long can be a couple seconds per lap behind a intermediate track day rider.

Ninja 250. Faster than CBR250 on the straight but braking and cornering is less refined than a CBR. It will lap almost the same times as a CBR250.

CBR300. Haven't seen any at the track but since the only real difference to a 250 is the crankshaft and ECU the extra 36 cc gives you more torque and 5 hp for the straights. I would expect the CBR300 to lap in between the ninja 250 and 300.

Ninja 300. Have only seen the 1 from last fall in testing. The extra hp was very noticeable on SMP Pro on the straight away. It appeared to run about 2-3 seconds per lap faster than the CBR250.

R3. Haven't seen one on the track yet. Some results slowly appearing at US tracks.

If the purpose of the small cc bike is to use the small bike to learn good riding skills I can't understand why you wouldn't buy a well sorted cbr250 or ninja 250 for far less money and then pass it on afterwards.





Supernam said:
Seems like I can't go wrong with either the R3 or N300. No votes for the CBR300? ?
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Thanks for the great advice guys. The idea is to get a bike that I will be able to use for trackdays and not have to replace it for the next 5 years hopefully. I actual want to get a bike that isn't already well sorted so I can pick and choose what I will upgrade, and actual realize what a difference it makes before and after.
 
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