ts80

How into racing/track are you?

If it's just a 5-6 times a year thing it might not be worth it unless you have a lot of expendable income. I used to go to the track a lot and a bike with those mods may actually be less fun than a stock bike.

One of my most fun track days was on a ex-250! Keep in mind that riding a very focused bike may give you better times but requires a different mindset to ride.

Also, I would be wary of the vortex sprocket unless you're tracking it often and expecting to change it every few trackdays. It won't work well on a daily rider. I've had teeth shear off my vortex sprockets about every 4-5 trackdays or 8k street miles.

You also mentioned that you don't track too often and want to build up skills. Acquiring skills on a motorcycle is like any other sport, there are tools for learning and tools for competing. "Too good" of a suspension or "too much power" doesn't exist when competing, but it exists when you're learning technique.

"Too good" a suspension often hides rider mistakes and throttle errors, while too much power for your skill level builds bad habits.

I've been riding on the track regularly for a number of years, dragging a knee is a regular occurrence, I've been to numerous track schools, and my skill level is right at about a 70hp bike with decent suspension...doesn't mean I won't have fun on an R1, but an R1 won't help me build any skill because it's beyond my level for refining technique.

On that note, I'd take an R1 to the track over a 70hp slow bike any day because I'd have more fun on it. I'm not aiming to go pro so using the best learning bike all the time isn't for me. I'll sacrifice some skill for more fun any day. But that highly modded R1 you're mentioning might require more mental energy than it's worth for just a fun trackday bike.

jah

i am not looking to go pro or even near that, dont have nothing to prove, but initially had a gsxr750. i swapped the engine to a 1liter and liked the increase in hp. about the time of the swap all the club tracks in denver where i live closed so never was able to take the converted 1liter bike to the track.


after about 6 laps i am fairly burnt out and not in a physical way.

i am leery of racing the bike even in a novice class but just dont know.

until spring the nearest track to me is 200 miles away and it would be a big effort to get time.

it would be good to gather some team peeps, seen it done, to help the driving and race prep.

Luckyaze

What year was the 750? And what is your current or last bike, year, model and make?

jah

i originally bought a suzuki gsxr750 in 2000
put 60,000 miles on the original engine
changed out the engine for a 2002 1liter engine
put another 15,000 miles on it
it still is incredibly fast and runs well today

the new bikey is a 2008 r1, more of a track bike

03supers2k

Wow that's a lot of mods on the 08. If what you say is true and the track is 200miles away id stay with a stock bike. I bought my 07 R1 w/ 6000 miles basically brand new for $8800 OTD before the recession you should be able to find an 08 close to are alittle above the price and be just as happy + save that 9k, and go to the track. A lot of people on Liters bike can't even ride them to the 100% of there ability so stock on any liter bike should be just enough.

Only advice is get what bike suits you more and a bike that your very comfortable on that makes a huge difference. I hate my Yamaha seat and cant even flatfoot, but on any Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki, i can flatfoot easily

Luckyaze

I just realized. For $15k I would rather take a Ducati.

Alex_V

even a 15K track ducatii is a silly thing to own.. for 15K you can have a well setup 600 (5K - 6k), pit bike (1K), TZ250 (7K), leftover 1K blow on strippers and booze..... but thats just me.

WVtwisties

I race R6's and unless you are extremely talented and experienced, that's too much bike.

To answer your question though, I would say it's worth closer to $12k.

10 hours (rough estimate) is nothing to sneeze at.

For example, at Beaverun I average close to 1 minute laps and it's 1.53 miles in length.

My 'ten hours' would be close to 1000 miles....

Not to mention...unless he's a moron he drove the bike about 1000 easy miles to break it in prior.

ts80

Totally agree.

Honestly, it's most fun to track a bike that matches your skill level. Yes, I own a liter bike (used to at least...sold when I moved) for the street. But on the track or on spirited rides, I have much more fun on my SV650 with a whopping 70 hp.

jah

ok, the seller had no exit strategy out of his bike loan. i would have had to give him the cash ($15k) so he could clear the title. i felt kinda bad, the seller potentially a honest peep, a senior member at the local racing org here.

instead i bought a stock 07 r1 3Kmi with a clear title, for a lot less. now sitting in the garage.

with reference to my old bike, i have two now, it rides like an egg beater.