I'm at a point on whether I should convert my 1Krr to a track bike and buy a ZX-14 or buy the new CBR600rr as a track bike. I've heard the 6 is so much fun on the track.
What do you folks think? Maybe I should post this on the 6 board as well.

 

1k is tooo fast for the track... youd have more fun on the 600 at the track.

 

"1k is tooo fast for the track... "

I say it depends on the track. Straighter tracks the 1k will be the best machine for the job. But atrackfilled with nothing butcorners, the 600rr will do you PLENTY of justice. I personally would go with the new 600rr and change the gearingas needed for each track.

 

i tried both
my 1000 and a 600
the 600 just went a lot smoother through the corners.
so the 1000 got converted back to street only

basically the only place where the bigger engine ismore preferred is the straights.
in the corners because of the higher mass the 1000 would have to be slowed down more
so more often than not the little 600 carrying more corner speed would pass and be straight up an down acellerating before the 1000 even finishes the corner. then the 1000 will have to rocket ahead to catch up. if another corner comes quickly the cycle starts all over again

 

I think the whole point of a track is the corners. Therefore I agree with the statement that 1000's are a bit too much for the majority of the tracks out there (even the straighter ones). Just watch the AMA Superbike races with the liter bikes. They're twitchy and the back end steps out constantly. All in all, they look like a handful to manage on the track (which would get old quick).

Get a 600 and thrash it. You might be a tad slower in the straights, but you'll be having so much more fun in the corners (where all the fun is to be had in the first place.)

But, the bike is only as good as the rider, so I would invest heavily into cornering schools. I recently took the Californa Superbike Class at Laguna Seca and it was absolutely amazing how much you think you're a good rider until the end of the day, 30 seconds to a minute comes off your "already thought you knew what you were doing" lap times. I witnessed first hand a level II rider on a GSX-R 1000 get it's *** handed to him from a Kawi 636 from the Level III class.

 

a 1000 is way too much for trackdays, hell a 600 is a good handful when you get going fast
How much power a bike has got has nothing to do with how much fun you have, even on tracks with long straights. IMO a modern 600 is not ideal for starting track riding on, I'd suggest an older 600 or an SV650.

you'd be much better off buying a used track/race bike than spending 10k on a new bike and converting it to track use or just spending all the money converting your street bike. I spent less buying my very well set up 2005 SV650 race bike than I did converting my 02 F4i street bike into a trackday bike

 

Bang for the buck I agree completely with Woody. A SV650 is the ideal starter track bike, cheap, durable, and parts are easy to come by - + it's a ton of fun to ride. But if you really want to have fun find a 250 GP bike (TZ250, RS250, etc..) I personally recommend a Aprilla RS250, because they don't require nearly as much maintenance as the Honda RS or Yamaha TZ's. They're easily a match for the SV and well ridden are just as fast as most 600's. What they lose in straightaway speed they more than make up for in corner speed. But definitely buy a already prepped bike, in fact this time of year there are a ton of them up for sale - Check the CCS & WERA forum classified sections. You can get anything from a basic track prepped stock bike up to a full on AMA privateer superbike for significantly less than what it would cost you to build them.

 

Great advice from everyone.

A well set up SV is amazingly trustworthy and agile. A friendwon a couple of wera class championshipsthis year and I was astonished at the difference between stock and his well sorted suspension.

Imagine beinga few laps into a late afternoon session when fatigue has set in. Your on a big torquey 1000. Your timing is a tad off and you twist the throttle a tad too early leaving a turn. Highside city!

Same mistake on a 600 would probably only produce a wiggle....most of the time.

 

Ya know, I've heard of a lot of people using SV650's for track bikes.

I haven't been to the track since 1994, then with my ZX-7, if you want to talk about heavy....
I'm definatley leaning towards a 600 for a track bike. I guess I was just looking for an excuse to buy another streetbike

Thanks everyone!!

 

If you have the money, I would say get the new 08 600RR (or a used 07 RR) and convert it for track use. Main reason is all the technology they just shoved into it specifically for the track. Therefore, if you get serious and maybe start wanting to race, you'll already have a great bike as a base to build upon.