First track bike

Logan

Member
Just looking for some opinions on my first race bike. I'm thinking of 600cc to start, not sure if I want to race my 1000 off the hop. I found a couple of 99-01 bikes already set up for racing. Should I start with that? Or find something newer and work on it? I want to try to be competitive so I'm thinking a 99 r6 will be good to start but left behind.

Any advise?

Thanks!
 

DEFBOY35

Well-Known Member
Always Yamaha!!!

But in all seriousness. Pick a bike you will feel comfortable with. Pick one that it will be easy to find spare parts for incase you have an off or mechanical failures. Sometimes the older bikes the parts are more scarce.
The 600 vs 1000 debate can go on and on. But having a dedicated track bike imo is the way to do it. I like the 600 because it leaves more options open with which classes you can run and in novice and intermediate I found that the 600 is competitive against the 1000's in lap times. Expert the spread starts to show more on the pointy end of the scale in that battle.
An 06/07 r6 can be found for decent prices depending on budget and the best part is many of the parts are readily available because they were essentially the same up to 2016.
 

blam

Administrator
honda power!!!! 07+ 600rrs are quite common at castrol as well.

shane pretty much summed it up though. look for a bike you feel comfortable on. And definitely consider one with aftermarket support as well as availability of spares (wheels, subframes, swing arms, etc)

imho, i would aim for mid 2000 and newer. the older bikes will start to become hard to find parts for.
 

yak

Well-Known Member
From what I recall early generation R6s had "razor sharp" handling. I read this as not a good first race bike. A good first race bike provides lots of feedback. Feedback tells you that you are trying to do something that the bike/tire combo can't deliver on.

The initial purchase price of a race bike is only one element to the cost of your first year of racing. Crash damage, new helmets and physical recovery add up too.

Ask around, but I wouldn't pick an older R6 as my starting point.

Full disclosure I've road raced the following brands of bikes: Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda.

Good luck,

Todd
 
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