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On The TrackHad a trackday, a good or bad day at the track? Want to get started racing? Just like racing? Cmon insde and post questions, results or comments.
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what's your experience like at this point and what's your budget look like? If you're new to the track & have limited funds (only wanna spend 3-500 dollars per race weekend), I'd actually suggest looking at something like an SV650.
But if you wanna race in "The Meatgrinder", you've been doing trackdays for a couple years & don't mind spending 600-800 dollars or more per race weekend, by all means get yourself a 600.
To give you some perspective, I've been doing trackdays since 2004, began racing last year, spend an average of 300 dollars per race weekend & have about as much fun as you can possibly have on two wheels & I race a "lowly" EX500. Just cuz they're low on HP doesn't mean they're low on fun. I probably coulda won an Amateur Championship this year, too if I didn't break my wrist the first race weekend of the year.
So definitely don't discount the lightweights. There's alot of cool bikes out there for under 3 & 1/2 grand already race prepped. SV650's, EX500's, Honda Hawks, Ducati 700 supersports etc. Not only are they cheaper to buy & race, but they teach you more, too.
well i have the racing course and i have about 2 years on the road. I used the 2007 r6 in the course and it felt good (power and weight). But i was thinking a 600cc but an older model FZR600, 93 cbr, stuff like that.
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I dunno about your area & what you've got for racing organizations, but around here in the Loudon Road Racing Series, if you get an older model 600 it won't be competitive in anything. I don't often see any 600's that more than 5 or 6 years old.
If it's performance & cost you're concerned with, something like an SV650 would be similar, but it'll be competitive in alot more classes. Again, to use LRRS as an example, guys down here race SVs in Lightweight Supersport, Lightweight Superbike Thunderbikes, Supertwins, GTL, Lightweight Grand Prix, etc etc etc.... and those classes run each & every race weekend. So you can see at least around here, as far as racing classes go, there's alot more room for the SV650 & that's why it's become such a popular bike in racing, at least in the States.
My suggestion is to make some friends at the local race track & look into what bikes are popular up there & MOST importantly, what the racing budgets are like on bikes that interest you. Ya can't ride if you're broke eh?
(like the "eh"? )
Plus I think at this stage in your career, something like an SV would suit you as well. You can learn alot more from a lightweight than you can a middle or heavyweight. That's why even though I had been riding my ZX6R on the track for over two years, when I decided to start racing I went w/ an EX500... dirt cheap & like my sig says, "The EX chassis is so bad it's good"... meaning it really teaches you QUICKLY how to ride a slow bike fast. I've spent so little & learned so much from racing out on my shitty EX it's ridiculous.
problem with getting an older 600 when you want to race is that you'll be racing with guys (yes even novices) that have way too much money on their hands and are running brand new bikes with $10,000 worth of aftermarket parts while your on an 80HP near vintage bike, if your lucky they'll let you start at the back every race and the fast bikes will take off and not bother you (although I've seen guys get lapped 2-3 times in a sprint race just cause they're on an old ass bike). If your NOT lucky, you'll get gridded in the front (many clubs base grids on registration time) and you'll get passed by 40 other racers with a 20mph speed difference on the run to turn 1. Not the most comforting experience for a new racer.
So if you do want to be competitive in the 600 class when you start racing, you usually need a pretty large pile of cash.
I've got an F4i race prepped that sits in the back of my shop just because it wouldn't be very competitive in the 600 class around here, so I bought an SV ready to race (cost half what I've got in the F4i and its as good as any other bike in its class). Shouldn't be too long though before the F4i will be elligible for Vintage (WERA V7 class)
but even the sv used around here go for 4000$. I dont want to start racing competitivly here for 1 year or 2 so i just want to practice on track days, im going to college so thats why an older 600 is in my range, it would be a learning bike. And i was thinking of getting newer bike for racing competivly
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well, i can't see into the future, but if i had to guess, the SV will probably still be competitive in 2 years while an older 600 would be even more out of date.
You can always find an SV street bike & ride that around, then convert it to a track bike.
From what I can gather, it seems as if you wanna buy two bikes for two jobs when you can buy one for cheaper that does both. In the long run, going about it the way you're saying would end up costing you much more money.
I'd say keep looking for deals... they're out there, just takes some time to find em. Where have you been looking?
just sites around my town, i just found a 98 gsxr600 track ready for good price. but for now im only looking for a track bike because insurance in canada is to hight over 3000$ up front for any 600cc
look at the WERA boards for track bikes. You might not find one perfect for you, but it gives you an idea of what's out there as far as track bikes go.
look at the WERA boards for track bikes. You might not find one perfect for you, but it gives you an idea of what's out there as far as track bikes go.
But i still wanted to know how much weight i can take off the 96 zx9r? It says is about 470 pounds normal. Any ideals
At this point in the game you need to be far more concerned on technique than weight or Horsepower, the respectively minimal amount of weight you could remove off the 900 really wouldn't help you at all right now. Even a front running Expert would barely benefit any at all by the weight loss of the bike, the handling would be far more of an issue and worth any investment of money that you would consider putting into that bike. At 100 lbs+ more than newer bikes of larger displacement, this bike would be like driving a tank, especially compared to a lightweight or middleweight bike. Defenitely not my suggestion in a track bike, but if you do go this route I wouldn't even mess with the weight at all.
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What you just read is my opinion and is based on my experiences and the info I have acquired during my life, it's my interpretation and isn't written in stone. Yes, I post long responses regularly because I like to fully explain my views. Don't like it or agree with what I have to say? Then don't read it or respond to it! Respond like an immature idiot to posts of mine and I will just ignore you. Have a nice day.
At this point in the game you need to be far more concerned on technique than weight or Horsepower, the respectively minimal amount of weight you could remove off the 900 really wouldn't help you at all right now. Even a front running Expert would barely benefit any at all by the weight loss of the bike, the handling would be far more of an issue and worth any investment of money that you would consider putting into that bike. At 100 lbs+ more than newer bikes of larger displacement, this bike would be like driving a tank, especially compared to a lightweight or middleweight bike. Defenitely not my suggestion in a track bike, but if you do go this route I wouldn't even mess with the weight at all.
zx9r weight
