What to know about buying a track bike

[buffone]

This is one these questions where you get a thousand different answers.

OP, what are your goals, just looking to improve your skill or looking to be competitive? Converting your own bike can be rewarding but way more expensive.

You might find that there are track bikes for sale that don't not have ownership, my first few bikes never had one but i always knew the history of the bike. But it was always something that bugged me, so the last purchase i made sure i could have a bike that was registered in my name.

One thing is true the off season in Canada is extremely long, so sign up for that last track day.

All great points Jayv. My track goals are just to have fun. I don’t intend to compete. I want to do about 4-6 track days per season, improve my skills and hopefully get faster and faster in way that is satisfying to me. I’m happy to be on a small displacement bike though I don’t want to be unsafe around, or a hinderance to, anyone zooming past me on 600s or 1000s. Like everyone else, I’m trying to keep my overall costs down.

 

[PacoT]

All great points Jayv. My track goals are just to have fun. I don’t intend to compete. I want to do about 4-6 track days per season, improve my skills and hopefully get faster and faster in way that is satisfying to me. I’m happy to be on a small displacement bike though I don’t want to be unsafe around, or a hinderance to, anyone zooming past me on 600s or 1000s. Like everyone else, I’m trying to keep my overall costs down.

Are you me ?

 

[Ash]

I’m happy to be on a small displacement bike though I don’t want to be unsafe around, or a hinderance to, anyone zooming past me on 600s or 1000s.

On a small bike you definitely won't be holding up any big bikes for more than half a lap. If they're reasonably close to your skill level, they just need to wait for the next straightaway and then they're gone.

I haven't encountered any serious safety issues when mixing big and small bikes in the same skill group. Just do all the stuff that you learned at Racer5 in terms of being predictable, regardless of what size bike you're on. Learn and stick to the conventional race lines, don't suddenly roll off the throttle in acceleration zones, don't suddenly go off your line to "let someone by". It is incredibly easy for a big bike to pass a small bike, so all you need to do is be predictable.

The only specific thing I do is avoid crossing the width of the track when the speed differential will be the highest between big & small bikes on a long straightaway. In other words, move to the side of the track that you want early, and stay there. For example, at Mosport GP track stick all the way to the left side of the track coming out of T5 (which you'll do naturally anyway), and don't drift back across the width of the track for T6/T7 (which are gentle right bends that don't even qualify as turns on a slow bike) because you want to be on the left of the track to enter T8. That way faster bikes have the entire width of the track to pass you on the right and you're never crossing lines after they've hit their powerband.

 

[Amazon]

Racer5 does still have one track day weekend left Sept 13-14 and you can rent the 125 or 250 as a graduate of the program. They do have 2 cbr600rr and gsxr600, but I don't know if they rent those out anymore, we use them sometimes when coaching at the track days or BYOB course. Best to email Jen and ask if you are interested in renting a 600. They are also set up for GP shift.

My first track bike 11 years ago was zx6r, bought it for $2k, sold it 3 years later looking prettier and being lady raced for $2.5k
Lightweight bikes are the better route to go learning wise as you have to focus on corner speed and lines, but nowadays they can more expensive. If you're just looking to get out and have fun, just have your wallet guide you.

The regional race season is coming to an end shortly, so keep an eye on bikes popping up for sale. If it's a decent one it'll go quick. I sold mine last year in 12 hours. Buying a pre-built track bike is cheaper in the long run, and less of a hassle. Just make sure it's not a street bike that some squid labeled as track to try and get more interest.

As mentioned above, the SOAR and Track Fanatics group on facebook are good sources, plus you can see some of the lineage of the bike based on comments and previous posts. A student of mine from July said he was interested in an sv650, one popped up in soar, I sent him the ad and he bought it a couple days later.

Good luck with the new addiction.

 

[basmn]

LOTS of fun had on the track over the last 10 yrs, great place to run your bike like its meant to be run with minimal risks, hey everyone is going the same way, what's not to like but I think its time to let someone else enjoy my bike..( hiijack)
Time to let the R6 go.........yall get that

 

[Renboy]

I completely agree with either the sub500 class (ninja 400, r3), or an sv650. Take your size into consideration when choosing. Under 150lbs, R3. 150lbs ->190lbs, Ninja400. North of 190lbs, either an sv650 or an exercise bike.

Don't worry about being slow, what's way worse is when you become a faster rider on a slow bike. Some slow riders with fast bikes just can't leave their egos at the gate. You pass them in the corner, they blow past you on a straight, then hold you up. In the end, this also makes you faster as it's practice passing in corners.

 

[Renboy]

As far as mods are concerned, start with suspension or clipons/rearsets. The clipons/rearsets are to make the bike more comfortable for you, and cheaper when you crash. Suspension mods are expensive, but worth it. Keeping your tires in contact with the asphalt is precisely what you want happening. Horsepower mods are pretty much useless at this stage.

 

[Aens]

On a small bike you definitely won't be holding up any big bikes for more than half a lap. If they're reasonably close to your skill level, they just need to wait for the next straightaway and then they're gone.

If anything, I find that most orgs restrict you to beginner or intermediate groups (green or yellow) just for being on a small bike. I found myself on my ninja 300 mostly getting held up in corners on those groups. Watching a 600 rider blast past on a straight only to sit upright and park it in a turn.

A 300 is definitely fast enough for any track, even Calabogie. A lot of shifting but its a great training bike. Remember, you aren't racing on a track day. Pick your gears, hit your lines, practice your techique, and go out with the intent to learn. I ended up valuing clean track ahead anyways. Sometimes, depending on the track day org and accessibility/location, the people you are sharing the track with are far more sketch than you see on the street.

I may end up selling my ninja 300 though as I think Supermoto is more for me.

 

[Lightcycle]

This is one these questions where you get a thousand different answers.

This is going to be the least common answer, and I'll probably get a lot of criticism about it.

I tracked my streetbike. For years.

I never got a dedicated trackbike.

I did between 6-12 track days a year depending on our travel schedule, but I couldn't bear the thought of having a bike that gets used so infrequently and just sitting in the corner of the garage when it wasn't on the track.

So I changed the street fairings to a pair of cheap Chinesium plastics which served as my track fairings and kept those on full-time. When I wanted to ride street, I just put the nose cone and lights, indicators, mirrors and license plate bracket back on.

My rationale was that if you buy a modern sportbike, it already comes stock with all the parts needed for track: suspension, high rearsets, steering damper. All the guys saying you should change the suspension out, my question was, "Am I really that good that I will be *that* much faster than what comes stock on a supersport or superbike? Some models of which are already homologated for top-tier racing?"

The answer, obviously, was no. So I got a sportbike and I tracked it as is. No aftermarket anything except maybe for a set of Woodcraft pegs because those were knurled and my boots kept slipping off the stock pegs. Also adjustable, so I could raise the rearsets for my short-azz legs.

When you get so good that stock suspension becomes the critical limiting factor and you are chasing milliseconds, not whole seconds off your laptimes, then you can always change out the suspension later. Race suspension is still street-legal on a streetbike.

Pros:

- You get to ride the same bike on the street and on the track. It's in use all the time.
- You get used to the bike's ergos, the way it handles, accelerates, stops all the time, not just a handful of times a year.

Cons:

- If you crash the bike, you can't ride street until you fix it
- If you buy a nice bike, you will ugly-cry large rivers of man-tears if you crash
- The biggest con is that you will never push past your comfort zone on your streetbike because it's your only ride. You will likely learn a lot faster on a cheap-o track-only motorcycle that you're not worried about tossing down the track.
- The good suspension, brakes and kit probably only applies to 600cc and 1000cc sportbikes. A lot of the lower displacement bikes probably won't have quality components.
- If you are far outside the spec of what the manufacturers build most bikes for, which is about ~175lbs, then you might need to modify the suspension and ergos anyway to fit your body size and weight

Anyway, just a different answer from what's already been written.

Not everyone who rides track regularly owns a dedicated track bike.

 

[Renboy]

This is going to be the least common answer, and I'll probably get a lot of criticism about it.

I tracked my streetbike. For years.

I never got a dedicated trackbike.

I did between 6-12 track days a year depending on our travel schedule, but I couldn't bear the thought of having a bike that gets used so infrequently and just sitting in the corner of the garage when it wasn't on the track.

So I changed the street fairings to a pair of cheap Chinesium plastics which served as my track fairings and kept those on full-time. When I wanted to ride street, I just put the nose cone and lights, indicators, mirrors and license plate bracket back on.

My rationale was that if you buy a modern sportbike, it already comes stock with all the parts needed for track: suspension, high rearsets, steering damper. All the guys saying you should change the suspension out, my question was, "Am I really that good that I will be *that* much faster than what comes stock on a supersport or superbike? Some models of which are already homologated for top-tier racing?"

The answer, obviously, was no. So I got a sportbike and I tracked it as is. No aftermarket anything except maybe for a set of Woodcraft pegs because those were knurled and my boots kept slipping off the stock pegs. Also adjustable, so I could raise the rearsets for my short-azz legs.

When you get so good that stock suspension becomes the critical limiting factor and you are chasing milliseconds, not whole seconds off your laptimes, then you can always change out the suspension later. Race suspension is still street-legal on a streetbike.

Pros:

- You get to ride the same bike on the street and on the track. It's in use all the time.
- You get used to the bike's ergos, the way it handles, accelerates, stops all the time, not just a handful of times a year.

Cons:

- If you crash the bike, you can't ride street until you fix it
- If you buy a nice bike, you will ugly-cry large rivers of man-tears if you crash
- The biggest con is that you will never push past your comfort zone on your streetbike because it's your only ride. You will likely learn a lot faster on a cheap-o track-only motorcycle that you're not worried about tossing down the track.
- The good suspension, brakes and kit probably only applies to 600cc and 1000cc sportbikes. A lot of the lower displacement bikes probably won't have quality components.
- If you are far outside the spec of what the manufacturers build most bikes for, which is about ~175lbs, then you might need to modify the suspension and ergos anyway to fit your body size and weight

Anyway, just a different answer from what's already been written.

Not everyone who rides track regularly owns a dedicated track bike.

You're completely right, you are about to get criticism.
1. Cost. You can generally sell a track bike for what you paid after using it.
2. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a fast racer and I crashed a couple weekends ago because the bike's suspension was setup for my son's weight. I bottomed it out and went for a slide. Had no idea what caused the slide until I was back in the pit and someone else brought it up. I would (much) rather have an upgraded suspension than upgraded brakes. Although bigger bikes generally come with a decent suspension, it's setup for street riding (think passenger). Stock small bike suspensions are generally all $#!+.
3. Switching back and forth takes at least an hour, I did it for probably two years as well. F that. Never again. Especially once you get into slicks.
4. Going to the track and not pushing past your comfort zone completely defeats the purpose of going to the track.

 

[Lightcycle]

You're completely right, you are about to get criticism.

Yep, I expected it.

1. Cost. You can generally sell a track bike for what you paid after using it.

Cost is not an issue to me, if I buy a sportbike, I want to take it out on the track. If I crash it, I'll fix it. Why buy a sportbike just to ride it on the street?

2. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a fast racer and I crashed a couple weekends ago because the bike's suspension was setup for my son's weight. I bottomed it out and went for a slide. Had no idea what caused the slide until I was back in the pit and someone else brought it up. I would (much) rather have an upgraded suspension than upgraded brakes. Although bigger bikes generally come with a decent suspension, it's setup for street riding (think passenger). Stock small bike suspensions are generally all $#!+.

Buy a sportbike with good components, set it up for your weight and riding style, and then track it. Not sure how hopping on someone's bike that is set up for them, and then crashing is relevant to my post?

3. Switching back and forth takes at least an hour, I did it for probably two years as well. F that. Never again. Especially once you get into slicks.

Yeah, the slicks point is valid. My bike didn't take an hour to switch back and forth, and I ran DOT tires. And I didn't mind spending the time. Did it for years and years. I did have multiple motorcycles, so if there are a bunch of track days back to back, I'd just leave the bike in track form.

4. Going to the track and not pushing past your comfort zone completely defeats the purpose of going to the track.

You can still push it on your streetbike. If you prang it up, you just fix it. It's just money. If you total it, you get to go shopping.

I readily admit that getting a purpose-built track-bike is probably the way to go. But not everybody goes that route. Your points are valid, however they were just re-iterating my list of cons at the end of my post (which you *did* read, right? Instead of just responding to the first line of my post?). They are in your reply in the quote, at the bottom...

Anyway, just wanted to provide another point-of-view.

 

[Jayv]

Yep, I expected it.



Cost is not an issue to me, if I buy a sportbike, I want to take it out on the track. If I crash it, I'll fix it. Why buy a sportbike just to ride it on the street?

Depends on where you crash lol, i lost my streetbike to the gods at Turn 2 Mosport many moons ago, was cheaper to buy a replacement than fix it. After that i went dedicated street and track

 

[Lightcycle]

Depends on where you crash lol, i lost my streetbike to the gods at Turn 2 Mosport many moons ago, was cheaper to buy a replacement than fix it. After that i went dedicated street and track

You can still push it on your streetbike. If you prang it up, you just fix it. It's just money. If you total it, you get to go shopping.

Slightly more money than brains here.

Which, if you know me is not a hard state to achieve.

 

[Lightcycle]

I think I know what the issue is here.

Clarification:

I used to have a track bike. It had pretty good suspension and brakes and was dialed in for my height and weight and riding style. This bike was sold stock from the factory as a single-seater and had no passenger pegs. It had a built-in lap-timer on the dash. I did not run slicks or tire warmers on this track bike.

I also plated it and rode it on the street.

There, that should make some peeps happy?

 

[Jayv]

Slightly more money than brains here.

Which, if you know me is not a hard state to achieve.

Not all that wander the world are lost, but most of them are ballers

 

[Lightcycle]

Not all that wander the world are lost, but most of them are ballers

I don't care about what all those SOAR guys say about you, you're ok in my books!

 

[Priller]

Depends on where you crash lol, i lost my streetbike to the gods at Turn 2 Mosport many moons ago, was cheaper to buy a replacement than fix it. After that i went dedicated street and track

My moment of truth was someone else's misfortune: had a pit neighbour on a Shannonville track day who brought his beloved R1. He launched it in a fairly low-speed highside at turn 13, and the bike dug into the grass and went full cartwheel yard sale. Bent everything on it, including the forks, frame and swingarm, and destroyed his custom painted tank. He was absolutely destroyed, but hung out for the day in the pits because he was too ashamed to go home early to his wife with a ruined bike, figuring he could tuck it away without her noticing if he got back at the normal time. He was a forlorn figure, sitting in the back of his trailer looking like he wanted to cry.

After that, I decided I loved my Tuono too much to risk the same and consequently built a track bike...

(Secondarily, the most destroyed I've ever seen a bike on a track day was a buddy who raced a Daytona 675 at WMRC in BC. Did a track day at Portland, and lost it in the grass towards the end of the back straight. If you know Portland, you know how fast he would have been going there. The Daytona ended up in three pieces, with the headstock and swingarm pivot both somehow separated from the middle bit with the engine. Miraculously, he walked away with only a few bruises. I think maybe the only salvage might have been some internal engine bits.)

 

[Lightcycle]

Track days is like gambling.

If you can't afford to lose it, don't come to the tables with it.

Lots of high-value machines at DOCC events and at private tracks like Area 27. At my last track day, *average* price of the track bikes around me was ~$30K after all the mods put into them. Some bikes I'd estimate were topping $50K.

If I spent that much money on a track bike, you bet I'd plate it and ride it on the street as well.

Despite what @Jayv thinks, I'm not rich enough to have such an expensive toy sitting in the corner of the garage unused for 350 days out of the year!

 

[Amazon]

For many, a dedicated track bike will be cheaper than insuring a modern sport bike on the street. At 21 I had my zx6r for 2k and recouped that money in the sale. If I were to insure that it'd cost probably double per year if not more depending on where you live. That and sport bikes are not comfortable for long weekend road trips/touring, especially if you throw some rearsets on. If you have the garage space, better to have a bike for the track and whatever other style you want on the street.

If you only plan to do 1 or 2 days a year, than ya just tape your headlights and run what you've got. But if you're going to get more into it, best to have a dedicated set up bike.

Like Renboy, I also crashed my newer 600 when I got it due to the suspension being too soft. Did it twice in one weekend before figuring that out that it was bottoming under braking and immediately tucking. Good bye 2 helmets.

 

[Renboy]

I readily admit that getting a purpose-built track-bike is probably the way to go. But not everybody goes that route. Your points are valid, however they were just re-iterating my list of cons at the end of my post (which you *did* read, right? Instead of just responding to the first line of my post?). They are in your reply in the quote, at the bottom...

Anyway, just wanted to provide another point-of-view.

Yeah I read it, and the only real overlap was where I agreed you were wrong, not sure what more you want from me.
In all seriousness, not everyone wants a $20k bike to START riding track. You can probably pick up a well setup sv650 for under $4k with everything needed as a package (warmers/stands/etc.). There's also the fact that a lot of people can't fix anything, so when they do bin it, not only does it cost a fortune, but motorcycle shops are busy in the summer so it could be a while before they get the bike back.