Neverlose said:
if your buying a bike for track only use, do you need to insure it?
To expand on RacerX's response...
No, and if you do insure it (no reason to if it is track use only), don't ever claim the damage. It won't be covered. Same goes for taking a street bike to a track day. You drop it or get knocked down? Oh well. If you get taken out, the other rider's responsibility begin and ends with "Sorry.".
As to bike choice, it all depends on the type of track riding you want to do. Are you looking to get into a competitive class? If so, SV650 for the lightweight twins or any of the current crop of inline fours for the supersport/superbike classes. Be prepared to spend serious coin in doing it.
Clubman classes are cheaper and fun. GS500, Ninja 250/500, etc. Many orgs have a novice/clubman group. Just as fun to drag a knee on a Ninja 250 as it is on a 600. Probably more so since rider skill plays a b***** part in the smaller displacements.
The GP bikes are fun too but costly to maintain. If I could afford an 125cc or 250cc GP bike, I'd run that. No torque but wicked corner speeds.
If you're just looking to have some fun, consider Vintage. Many of the older crop of sportbikes are classed as vintage heavyweights. Smaller grids and a more mellow type of racer for the most part. I'm prepping an FZR600 for WERA Vintage V6. I could run it in the novice superbike classes but I'd be lapped. Plus, I'd rather share the track with 20 other racers in a mixed class than 50 novices on their supersports. I don't have the raging competitive spirit anymore and I am just looking to do track days and push my own limits. If my times improve and I'm not the last one across the line, I'm happy.
Tons of options out there. I ride an FZR600 on the street so that helped narrow my track choice. If I wreck the FZR on the track, no great loss. I building the bike from the bolts up and I can use the parts that survive as spares for my street bike.