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When do you consider a bike "too nice for the track" and what does that even mean??

4K views 40 replies 27 participants last post by  USAFgsxr750again 
#1 ·
When do you consider a bike "too nice for the track" and what does that even mean??

Just needing to vent because I get asked a decent amount why I would track my bike. I normally end up saying something like 'mine is nothing! Check out the guys on the 1198S/1098R/RC8/S1000RR/RSV4/1199S/F4/etc.

When I first started I looked at some bikes with the thought of "WOW, what an awesome street bike...no way I'd ever bring that to the track". It took a friend with pretty much the baddest R1 in the country regularly bringing his to thrash on to make me realize NOTHING is "too nice" to come play on as long as you are having fun and learning.

Going down to the NESBA weekend @ Barber last month reassured me that any bike you have, be it a completely stock R6 to a nicely modded RSV4 Factory (seriously drooled at that thing all day Sunday) to the nicest standard D675 I've ever seen (basically better spec stuff than the 675R comes with) is worthy of dual duty.

Do you have a cutoff to when you'd stop bringing your bike to the track? The more stuff I do to mine, the less sense it makes to delegate it to street only. Yeah, crashing in OEM plastic (or say, full carbon bodywork) sucks, but that's what track bodywork is for.

/randomwinterthoughts@2:30amCST

Sincerely,
Insomnia (aka: slow guy on a 'meh...its ok' bike)
 
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#2 ·
For me it means a bike I'm not willing to crash. The reason could be cost, difficulty of part replacement, or fear of loss - it's not hard to crash a bike hard enough to have the insurance company write it off and refuse to repair it.

I don't go to the track planning to crash, and have not done so to this point, but mile for mile it's certainly more likely than my typical street day.

KeS
 
#6 ·
I love european bikes. LOVE them. I pretty much won't buy anything else. I hate japanese bikes.

That being said- after buying my last 7 bikes wrecked and fixing them to get them rideable for the street....

I'd never track a european bike. EXCEPT maybe the D675. There are some used parts for those that are kinda easy to get.

But compare that to a GSXR. I can literally get ANYTHING for one of those bikes on ebay for 20 bucks. I bought a set of stock forks for an 06 GSXR600 for 75 bucks. 4 years ago.

You can't do that with a european bike. So yeah- it might be nice to track a ducati. In fact, I'm SURE it is nice.

But I'd pretty much plan on wrecking if I went to the track. I can get a prepped GSXR track bike for like 3 grand, wreck it 10 times, slap it back together, and sell it for 2500 bucks.

There's no reason I'd take my street bike to the track. Just not worth it.
 
#7 ·
My street bike is my primary means of transportation so I def dont want to track it and risk breaking it. Plus as someone said euro bikes are real expensive to fix.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Motorcycle.com Free App
 
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#19 ·
My street bike is my primary means of transportation so I def dont want to track it and risk breaking it.

But I'd pretty much plan on wrecking if I went to the track.

It's really up to you whether you crash your bike on the track. In fact, much more than on the street, since so many of the things beyond your control, like texting drivers, blind corners, debris on the roadway, have been eliminated.

The fact that the bike I take to the track is something I rely on for transportation definitely affects how I ride on the track, and that's probably a good thing. Eventually I'd love to have a track-only bike, but until then I just keep it within my limits, which I should be doing anyway.

So basically this:


I have only done track days on my everyday street ride, and it's worked out fine for me. I don't push my limits or go too far outside my comfort zone though.
 
#8 ·
I get an emotional attachment to my cars and bikes. It isn't a great thing to do with inanimate objects -- crashing them would really bum me out, even after fixing things back to original condition. And you never quite get back to original condition, do you?

Yeah, I'm very conflicted on even going to the track at all, much less with an expensive bike that I love. I have taken my sports car to the track and had a great time, but you don't often highside/lowside a car. I left plenty of reserve performance on the table so I wouldn't even go off track.

- John
 
#39 ·
I do this also. I have no idea why I get so attached to them. A good example is my first bike which I have now. I don't know if I can sell it. It seems like it has a certain place. Since its the a first bike.

But I guess you have to part with it at some point.
 
#9 ·
if you cannot afford to fix it.
 
#10 ·
I have only done track days on my everyday street ride, and it's worked out fine for me. I don't push my limits or go too far outside my comfort zone though. The only time I crashed at a track day I was barely even on the track yet (lap timer malfunction) and it just resulted in a couple of scratches to the bike and my gear. Other than that I have never even run off, let alone crashed while out riding on a track. So I wouldn't think twice about taking any bike i owned to a track day.
 
#11 · (Edited)
There's no such thing as "too nice for the track". Ever. Like, ever ever.

You hand me the keys to any kind of exotica and I'll ride it in anger. Done it before & I'll do it again. I've been known to thrash on some high end bikes. :p RC8R, 999s, MV Agusta F4 1000r to name a few.


Does "shit happen"? Sure. But I'm a lot more comfortable having fun on the track than I am on the street. Way too many unknowns on public roads. On the track it's pretty much just me & the machine. That's about it. If the machine breaks, well, chances are it woulda broken anyway. If I crash it, well, it was my own damn fault. In nearly a decade of track riding I've only had two track day crashes... one was due to inexperience, the other was due to me having a little too much fun before letting my tires come all the way up to temp.
 
#12 ·
There's no such thing as "too nice for the track". Ever. Like, ever ever.

You hand me the keys to any kind of exotica and I'll ride it in anger. Done it before & I'll do it again. I've been known to thrash on some high end bikes. :p RC8R, 999s, MV Agusta F4 1000r to name a few.
You owned those bikes and rode them in anger on track!? More power to you.

Ill gladly ride anything on track no matter what it is but if I actually have to buy the motorcycle or pay to repair it for me there is def an limit some where on when it becomes "too nice for the track". That limit is usually what happens to be in my bank account at the moment so I pretty much can't ride most bikes ha!
 
#17 ·
I guess if you buy and own motorcycles just to look at them and park it in front of starbucks for coffee, then all bikes are too nice for the track.

You buy a fast bike because you want to know what it feels riding it fast, not because you want too know what it feels getting stuck in traffic on one or what it feels just to own it.
 
#22 ·
Some pretty damn good responses for both sides of the fence. Thanks for all the contributions thus far!

Cost of a down can be the bigggest factor in bringing a bike to the track. I think altogether for the OEM pieces I wrecked on my 848 @ BIR the MSRP price would be in the $2200 range (nose, right side upper, & tail). CRG RR rearset adjuster plate was $40. So, for that crash, had it been wearing Sharkskinz, cost would have significantly been reduced to the CRG part and a can of spraypaint. Lesson learned. From now on I'll have the Sharkskinz for track work, and a street fairing setup for everything else.

The heartbreaker would be to throw a total yard sale, but I honestly didn't build this bike to merely live a life of bike nights and street rides....so such is the risk. Best we can do is make our bikes as 'crash-friendly' as we can: track bodywork, frame/fork/rear axle/bar end sliders, swingarm covers/spools, easily and inexpensive repairable/replaceable parts, etc.

Like many orgs say during the rider meetings, no one comes TO crash at a trackday, but if one is prepared for it than it lessens the grief if it does happen.

-Christian
 
#25 ·
My bike is far from 'too nice.' It has rashed plastics and an R title. However, it's my primary transportation. I commute on it daily and don't want to wad it up at the track and be left without it. Sure, I could wreck it on the street as well, but I feel as though I'm much more likely to wreck it on the track (despite having wrecked on the street and never wrecking on the track :eek:nfloor). When I go back to the track, it will be with either a second street/track bike or a dedicated track bike. With only having my one bike, I just don't want to risk it. I've also put some money into it with touring accessories like luggage and auxiliary lighting.
 
#26 · (Edited)
it's like buying the best looking hooker for just head. total waste of money.

there's no way I'd spend money on a bike and not take it to a place where I can ride it for what it's designed for. even a 100% track bike is technically too nice to wad up. with all the money you spend for upgrades...it sucks to bust it all up. I'd rather bust up a street bike at the track.
 
#27 ·
Definitely see the point you all make considering your bike is either you primary transportation and/or only bike. Really does make a difference in how one would ride their bike at the track compared to one that they can ride-crash-fix at their own leisure.

I'm pulling my hair out not being able to ride the Duc with all the mid-50s weather we've been having. After I crashed @ BIR I bought a set of track plastics thinking I could just prep it for Barber in a couple of months and take the rest of the street season off while I attacked some bills. Had it pretty much ready to rock (just needed paint....if I even would've painted it, lol) for NESBA and I would've been fine with that.

My wife then bought me a track-only/race bike for my birthday (which was an awesome gesture!!) that I promised her and my friends that helped find it that I'd give a fair shot....so I brought that to Barber instead.

Totally kicking myself for not replacing the street fairings right away, as vacation & the NESBA weekend took priority over returning the 848 to street wear. Oh well, live and learn.

Ok, maybe not learn. I decided not to get into racing next season (still so much more to learn
...my mind isn't there yet for competition) so the CBR will be sold during the offseason and it'll be back to one bike for me....which I am ok with. :)

It makes me feel like everything was worth it (decision to sell the GSX-R and get the 848, all the upgrades, tracking, and even crashing) when you go to something like Wheels of Italy (giant showcase in Minneapolis of everything motorized Italian), and I'm one of a group of like 6-10 out of the hundreds of bikes there that actually tracks their Italian sportbike. :)
 
#28 ·
Well, in my case, since the bike is a 23 of 25 Akra limited, the body work is unobtanium, plus every time I ride her on the street I go a gazillion mph. So I fully tracked my RC8R, and put the stock bodywork neatly in a box.







Then I worried it looked too plain, and as it was a limited edition, I got a guy to make a Akra Decal kit, and here is how she sits today.

 
#29 ·
I also hired a racer to help me go faster, jump higher, etc. That has been great, now I am working on faster laps. The tire bill is beginning to be heinous, but I love it, so I will keep at it. I figure the thing was made to have the shit beat out of it on a racetrack so that is why I ride it on the track. I am making payments, I have full coverage insurance on it, so that is the only reason I would be reluctant to wad it up. As to repair cost, it is exactly the way you say it is. If you wad it up, you have to fix it. That can be expensive. As to Euro bikes, I have a 2008 Super Duke, a friend wadded it up on the track at about 70 mph. I got her repaired with $1400.00 in parts. Not bad considering it looked like this.

 
#30 ·
^Very nice that you track your RC8R Akra. LOVE seeing KTMs out there. NESBA had a few RC8/Rs on track during that weekend. ZARS (my normal org) has only one willing soul that tracks his standard RC8.

Good idea on replicating the expensive bodywork onto the track plastics. Mine is just a run-of-the-mill standard bike, but I haven't seen another pearl white one at any of the trackdays I've been to in the past few years (most tracked Ducs are either red or black, or some variation of racing livery...Marlboro/Xerox/etc), so the Sharkskinz are getting shot in pearl over the winter to keep it somewhat different from the others.

Sorry to hear about the SD's off, and glad your friend was able to walk away and repaired it. $1400 isn't bad at all for a proper fix.

Here's a shot of the damage from BIR after my ~50mph down in dirt.


Seriously would've only been like a $50 repair if I hadn't had OEM plastics on.....
 
#34 ·
Good idea on replicating the expensive bodywork onto the track plastics. Mine is just a run-of-the-mill standard bike, but I haven't seen another pearl white one at any of the trackdays I've been to in the past few years (most tracked Ducs are either red or black, or some variation of racing livery...Marlboro/Xerox/etc), so the Sharkskinz are getting shot in pearl over the winter to keep it somewhat different from the others.
I had a pearl 848 crash right in front of me in turn 11 at Laguna Seca. :eek:nfloor :eek:nfloor :eek:nfloor. Maybe it's an unlucky color!

KeS
 
#31 ·
I wouldn't consider my Daytona "nice" by any stretch since it was downed by the previous owner a few times. But, now that I did a quick fix on the dent in the tank and the street plastics are still perfect, it looks respectable in street trim.

I'm going to be registering it shortly, and will probably only do a few trackdays per year on it. Even with dedicated track plastics. Mostly because I plan on commuting on it year round.
 
#32 ·
well, i don't know what my limit would be for taking or not taking a bike to the track. first off, i would want track plastics.... so i guess that would be my limit. no plastics=no track days. other than that, i'm gtg. my wife bought my current ride with the expressed intent of going back to the track and of course riding on the street. sooooo, whenever i get new plastics (and new suit since my other one has no pants - had to cut em off last wreck), i'll be heading to the track shortly there after. if i ever get one of my dream bikes (MV Agusta (what the wife wants me to have) or Aprilia (what i want to have)), i may very well take it to the track.... as long as i got plastics. :)

so very true about it being cheap to fix Jap bikes. i think i spent $500 to get it back on the road.
 
#35 ·
Too nice for my broke ass is...pretty much any bike.

I'm in the wrong passion for a poor dude. :p I should buy a 07 or earlier 250 or a ninja 500 and toss it around the track. That said I will still track the SV next year, it's one of the reasons I've bought the fucking thing. Since I'm a gutless chicken shit with the throttle I'm hoping to not wad it up. I would be less worried if I still had my ZZR1200 with the SV, so I could slowly fix the wrecked SV back up, if it could be done, while still riding on the street with a 2nd bike. Being put down for weeks/months(?) because of a track get-off has GOT to suck.
 
#36 ·
. Being put down for weeks/months(?) because of a track get-off has GOT to suck.
The truth is that if you're going to crash, the track is the right place to do it. You'll likely do much less damage to the bike, since you won't be sliding into a lamp post or under a truck. And there's a good chance your fellow track riders have the tools, know-how, and spare parts to get you running again.

After a crash you'll hear a P.A. announcement along the lines of , 'does anyone have a right rearset for an R6.' A lot of times the answer is yes, and the bike can be made rideable, even if it looks a little worse for wear and tear.
 
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