3k budget...... track day and odd road/wk end blast ?

[gixermark]

Hey guys,

having recently sold my triumph street triple R which was a superb road bike, i've decided i dont want to ride on the roads that much.... would rather do 3 or 4 track days a year.. and the odd road blat.

obvious candidates are 600/750 sports bikes..... which would the track perfect.. but with a f@cked lower back, will be a struggle at everthing else.

left field... tuono.... anything different, other choices ?

i can spend more if something grabs me.. but ideally 2-3K would be perfect..

i have looked at some lightly damaged daytona 675 and CBR600RR at humble money.. but just wanting to see if there are any bikes i'm not thinking of...........

[patchb]

It sounds like you’ve just sold what you want....

[robinh73]

Personally I would rule out anything Italian due to higher running costs and relative lack of spares. I love riding the 600s and would go for any of the 4 Japanese machines. The Kawasaki zx6 and Yamaha r6 are the most popular, but I loved my gsxr 600, more so than my r6. You have to work them but they are so rewarding.

[gixermark]

i definitely haven't sold what i want.. with total lack of screen/frontal area... they are not a bike for tracks...... nor anything north of 100mph generally... which made them one of the best road bikes i've had.

600s are definitely rewarding on track....... just looking any left field alternatives... the Tuono does appeal in many ways

[patchb]

You want something faired but are looking at Tuonos....

The wind protection on my Tuono is non existent, however I’ve taken it on track and it’s fine, I’ve ridden it at speeds over 150 and it’s fine you just have to hang on a bit more. I much prefer my zx6r on track mainly due to the clip ons.

Also no limits have a street triple class next year so they must be alright on track

Edited by patchb on Saturday 22 December 22:02

Edited by patchb on Saturday 22 December 22:04

[robinh73]

gixermark said:

i definitely haven't sold what i want.. with total lack of screen/frontal area... they are not a bike for tracks...... nor anything north of 100mph generally... which made them one of the best road bikes i've had.

600s are definitely rewarding on track....... just looking any left field alternatives... the Tuono does appeal in many ways

Left field alternatives are great but if you have an off, how easy are parts to get? Something different is always fun, but there is a good reason that you don't see many Ducatis/Aprilias on track. Don't get me wrong they are great bikes but spares are more costly, they aren't as reliable and cost more to keep on top of. I know several people who run Italian stuff and whilst they are having fun, they are also spending more for that fun. It all depends what you want out of it I guess and for me it is reliabllity and something dependable.

[gixermark]

yup... CBR600RR appeals as a good allround bike.. and lots to chose from (and lots of spares !!)

[graylag]

Any reason why you’re giving up,road riding to do such a small amount of trackdays? They’re not mutually exclusive, many people do both. The knackered back makes a sportsbike a difficult one to ride, but a naked on track can get painful quickly too

For a £3k budget you’re looking at quite a spread of bikes, but it might be tricky to get one that has a V5 for the odd road ride that you mention. I’d say any 600 would be your best option, but it’ll mean a lot of compromises for you given what you’ve said about yourself.

patchb said:

You want something faired but are looking at Tuonos....

The wind protection on my Tuono is non existent, however I’ve taken it on track and it’s fine, I’ve ridden it at speeds over 150 and it’s fine you just have to hang on a bit more. I much prefer my zx6r on track mainly due to the clip ons.

Also no limits have a street triple class next year so they must be alright on track

It’s a 765RS class, so way over budget. The bikes will be either modified to look like Daytonas, or run as is, less th road paraphernalia.

[patchb]

graylag said:

It’s a 765RS class, so way over budget. The bikes will be either modified to look like Daytonas, or run as is, less th road paraphernalia.

As said above, the point is that naked bikes can be fine on track. I wasn’t suggesting he goes out and buys a 765 as I’m fully aware of the cost.

[Jazoli]

You can trackday on anything, I'd have kept the Street Triple personally if you have back issue's, the high speed buffeting isn't really an issue on track, most other middleweight stuff with fairings and an upright riding posiition is going to be a compromise, I know smallboy trackbikes run cbr650's which I've sat on and are quite comfy, but I'd rather be on a STR than one on track.

Another option is to put a flat bar conversion on a GSXR750, then you will have an upright riding position but a sports bike underneath, the handling will be a bit different but not that much in reality.

Edited by Jazoli on Sunday 23 December 09:13

[Biker's Nemesis]

R1

I know Fergus on here is selling his and its a steal at the price. I asked Fergus about it for a mate who'd been banging on about having an 07 R1 on track for years. Find the ideal bike in my eyes and then said mate decides he staying with what he has./

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?me...

[gixermark]

I like the underseat exhaust model R1, they tend to be north of 3k but not that much. Which model does he have?

[Biker's Nemesis]

07.

[PTF]

How about a TT600? I've got an 8k miles example sat idle in my garage. Will be selling it in the spring.

Riding position is reaaaally comfy for a 600, but it still screams to 14k rpm

Downside would be the availability of fairings and other parts that might get broken such as pegs, etc.

[CaptainSlow]

£3k sits right between top Daytona 650 and bottom 675 money and is probably the worse place to be.

[podman]

We paid around 3K for both of these....of the 2, the CBR is the more exciting/better handling but the Storm was a more comfortable, better in most areas as a road bike but 3K can get you a lot of bike if your patient and prepared to travel a little..

[CaptainSlow]

SV1000?

[gixermark]

i'm prepared to travel for sure... no issue.

SV1000 is a potential... i imagine woudl be fairly soft for track action, but probably a cheap (ish) option.

i'm still mulling between getting a full on sports bike.. and fitting higher bars of some description... or just going for the best naked that has reasonable screen/wind protection.. the tuono screen is actually reasonable - and has character hence appealing

[graylag]

Spares. An SV1000 sounds great until you crash and need to replace some stuff and realise there’s no market for it.

Mainstream bikes might be a bit dearer, but they’re a lot easier and cheaper to fix.