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Purpose of track-specific mods

IMO, the main advantage to buying a track bike is saving yourself the money, time and hassle of trashing your pretty street ride in the event of a mishap. Plus not having to prep the street bike every single time and not having to destroy expensive sport touring tires (in Eric's case) because you're able to run race take offs or much, much cheaper sport tires

It's just nice to have a dedicated machine you don't give a rat's ass about. Even a 15 year old 600 would be plenty capable for novice & beginner levels I would imagine
 
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Erci said:
Am I wrong to feel a bit uneasy about buying a well-used, title-less track bike? Street bike with 15-20k miles is like new, when it comes to motor/trans (unless it was really abused). I can't imagine same holds true for track bike.

I fully get the *better deal* aspect of getting a track-built machine, but it seems I can do OK with basically a stock sport bike, with a barely broken-in motor and a clear title (for about the same price).
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Eric, my track bike has roughly 12,000 miles on it, I purchased this used a very clean well maintained street bike with a clear title. I rode it on the street for one summer and realized it had huge potential as a track bike plus it was a really agressive riding position for the street, to much for me.

The bike has never been crashed or dropped and it has been over maintained, I think you will find that most serious track riders take very good care of the bikes they own and ride, way to much at risk not to be proactive.

You do need to stay away from bikes without a title, it will only lead to problems for you, insurance, police with random vin checks at the race track, reselling, it kills the value. You can buy a slavage bike as another option.

I have the bike at a dealership on consignment with my other bike. If you think you are interested I will send you a comprehensive list of how the bike was built. I am looking for $6500 - 7000, as always the price is negotable within reason. I ride in the intermeadiate group with NESBA and built the bike to be able to move into the advanced group without needing many changes.

My back will not allow me to ride currently and I did not want a couple of great bikes to just sit, hopefully I will get back on two wheels in the future.
 
Evitzee said:
In the hands of a very skilled rider with proper tires and a properly adjusted stock suspension an FZ1 will hang in with a lot of track bikes with an average rider. In the end the extra time comes down to rider skill. Anyone who wants to spend more time doing track days should take a good race school, like Keith Code's R.A.C.E. A couple of intense days, almost one on one instruction and you'll come back faster on a stock bike than spending a lot of money on a race bike. A bike like an FZ1 has tremendous capability with just a little tweaking, it's the pilot that is usually lacking. There is nothing wrong with a good race bike, but I'd start with proper training if I was going to start spending time at the track. Then you can start talking about a pure track bike.
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Fully agree with you. My reasons for wanting a dedicated track bike do not stem from desire to *buy* faster lap times.

- I don't want to go through prep before every track day
- I don't want to run sport tires on my FZ1
- I find the handlebar to be uncomfortably high for track riding
(I know I can think of few more, but you get the idea).

I don't doubt FZ1's ability to kick butt on the track, but you have to admit it's not the ideal tool for the job. Think of any sport.. any activity.. those who are exceptional at any given thing can easily outperform average humans, even if they're not using best-for-the-job equipment.

And I absolutely plan to keep learning. I did Level 1 of California Superbike School, earlier this season. I hope to do level 2 and 3 next year.
 
Erci said:
Fully agree with you. My reasons for wanting a dedicated track bike do not stem from desire to *buy* faster lap times.

- I don't want to go through prep before every track day
- I don't want to run sport tires on my FZ1
- I find the handlebar to be uncomfortably high for track riding
(I know I can think of few more, but you get the idea).

I don't doubt FZ1's ability to kick butt on the track, but you have to admit it's not the ideal tool for the job. Think of any sport.. any activity.. those who are exceptional at any given thing can easily outperform average humans, even if they're not using best-for-the-job equipment.

And I absolutely plan to keep learning. I did Level 1 of California Superbike School, earlier this season. I hope to do level 2 and 3 next year.
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I can absolutely understand that you want a track bike. That's a very good idea, the Fz1 is plenty fast but not ideal and a cheap track bike is surely the better way to go.
Some friends that I ride with ride in the fasted A group and use stock bikes without any suspension or other modifications and do not complain at all about lack of performance. They are just fast and are not using slicks but sport tires.

I would not worry about upgrades for the track bike, just buy a cheap 600er and go riding as often as you can. Rearsets are cheap and useful to adapt the bike to your liking the rest is not really required. In case of the R6 the stock setup is extremely capable on the track and that's why lot's of track riders are looking for one.
 
First I would like to say Pete's Triumph is beautiful and ready to go with a clean title. I can tell you it has been well cared for. Priced more than the average track bike but the average track bike doesn't come with a clean title. That adds about 1 to 2 thousand to its value.

Now my opinion as to what you would want to do and why.

< all suggestions assuming bike is in solid running condition>

First things first Buy the best safety gear you can afford, then. suspension freshen and at least get the spring rates correct for yourself

Then a decent Hypersport tire. My current crack comes in the form of Pirelli DRC's the 180/60/17 rear is the bomb.

!Very important Stomp grip or Tech Spec on the Tank, Very important!

Track plastics and sliders/case savers/damage minimizers. The advantages of the track body work is as follows. Holds up better in a off track excursion, no lights to worry about and last service-ablitiy. You should change oil every 4 track days plus you should look over the bike after a weekend. Track plasticks make this a world easier.

Next I would address clip-ons and rear sets when funds are available or your ready to really fit the bike to you. I don't feel they are a necessity but they do offer some advantage. Here is my notes.

Rear sets. offer better traction and since they are solidly mounted give you a better feel of what the bike is doing. You do get some adjustability but not as much as you would think. I like Woodcraft. They are affordable and allow you to re use some of the stock piece incase of an off track excursion.

Clip-ons. Once again you can fit the bike to you a little better. Also in case of an off track excursion you only need to replace a 15.00 bar and not the whole piece.

At this point any thing else is vanity or "I want" items. If the bike you buy has a large cat underneath you may have to change it up so you dont melt your belly pan. This is the only reason I stepped away from the stock exhaust.
 
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Dreamdemon said:
Well I am not an experienced track rider, was only once in Laguna Seca but I am riding on the street for a long time. From your posts of the track day vids and your posts about your experience in the lowest group I would say you need no mods at all!

Sorry if that sounds rude but from your pictures and vids you need to get a lot faster to get even close to any limit of the stock components of any 600 bike. When I did my track day I was overtaking a lot of 1000cc and 600cc track bikes and I was by no means the fastest (slowest group in the top 4). It was really funny hearing most riders talk about what you need or what you have to improve on your bike. I even got funny looks because I was the only one on a not race bike which I drove there and did not trailer. Well at least in my group there were almost no faster riders than me.

Speed comes from skill and only if you can not improve your lap times any more I would think about changing the bike. First question do you get your knee down? I mean without hanging so much off the bike that it touches the ground even at 20 degree lean angle. If you can not do this, I would invest in riding training rather than in goodies which are mostly useless at the beginners level.

There are some exceptions, rearsets are really good to adjust the riding position and absolutely required if you are tall.

Then there is the other side, most people love modding their bikes so they add all the stuff so that they can do something on the bike. I would say more riding time is the better choice but everyone must decide this by himself.
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Very well put. I had the same experience at Thunderhill by the end of the day the last 2 sessions I was passed by 1 guy C group.(passed to many to count lol) The FZ1 did very well I was the only one on a FZ1 in my group but the track day owner rides one 2 up and hauls ass. I also read your write up and you seemed a little unnerved by the faster group they put you in. If I were ever to do a track bike I would buy somebody's already done bike so if I decide I didn't like it I could resell with not having to dump a ton of money into it. Good luck and have fun.
 
johnnyontherocks said:
First I would like to say Pete's Triumph is beautiful and ready to go with a clean title. I can tell you it has been well cared for. Priced more than the average track bike but the average track bike doesn't come with a clean title. That adds about 1 to 2 thousand to its value.

Now my opinion as to what you would want to do and why.

< all suggestions assuming bike is in solid running condition>

First things first Buy the best safety gear you can afford, then. suspension freshen and at least get the spring rates correct for yourself

Then a decent Hypersport tire. My current crack comes in the form of Pirelli DRC's the 180/60/17 rear is the bomb.

!Very important Stomp grip or Tech Spec on the Tank, Very important!

Track plastics and sliders/case savers/damage minimizers. The advantages of the track body work is as follows. Holds up better in a off track excursion, no lights to worry about and last service-ablitiy. You should change oil every 4 track days plus you should look over the bike after a weekend. Track plasticks make this a world easier.

Next I would address clip-ons and rear sets when funds are available or your ready to really fit the bike to you. I don't feel they are a necessity but they do offer some advantage. Here is my notes.

Rear sets. offer better traction and since they are solidly mounted give you a better feel of what the bike is doing. You do get some adjustability but not as much as you would think. I like Woodcraft. They are affordable and allow you to re use some of the stock piece incase of an off track excursion.

Clip-ons. Once again you can fit the bike to you a little better. Also in case of an off track excursion you only need to replace a 15.00 bar and not the whole piece.

At this point any thing else is vanity or "I want" items. If the bike you buy has a large cat underneath you may have to change it up so you dont melt your belly pan. This is the only reason I stepped away from the stock exhaust.
Click to expand...

Lots of great advice as always! Thanks for taking the time to type all that up!
 
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