Track bike time

To all the boys that run the duke on the track....

Ive been offered a CBR600 or a GSXR1000 for the superduke... i want to get into track work but i don't now how the duke will compete on Qld tracks, as it will be in the superbike class...

Should i get the 600?

Should I get the 1000?

Should i race the duke?

Points... opinions... facts... dribble...????

No brainer here. The Superbike class is 1000cc
I would not waste my tyme with the SD on the track if the option of a gixxer was in place.
The GSX R1000 is too good of a deal to pass up and will be better out of the box than seasons worth of tinkering frustration when headed the KTM way.
Then again, there is nothing on the SD that money wont fix

There is no question a Jap bike is faster and cheaper... Funner?
Not sure how fast your guys tracks are up there, have yet to sample them.
I'm going the KTM SDR route $9500 all up, but I'm in it for fun and there will be 26 other riders at the start of the year.
Competing in the class with the most riders gives you what you want... A chance to race against other riders.
I was going to buy a 600 but there were only 9 entrants... Clubman 1000 had 26 and 3 SDs Times ranging fro 70s to 61s so the cjoice was easier for me as our tracks are small and I should be able to get some fast times in if I'm good enough.
Jump online and check out your local clubs times from last year.
Good luck mate, eiter way you'll have a ball!

if you are going serious jap inline four, if you want to piss the odd bloke of and have fun doing it sd everyday

Check out the classes info here.

http://www.motorcyclesportsmen.com.au/

Wtf... Dude just hold back for a minute.. You can buy a 600 il4 track bike for 3-4g. Don't ditch the SD for that. You are lucky you are down in Sydney ATM or I would come round and knock some sense into you

What tracks you run at most?

The course matters. More technical courses without any real long straight sections, a 600SS or SD in good hands can pwn most lazy pukes on I4 liters.

I'd be on a 600 if I didn't get an SDR for cheap(ish)
1000s are fun but don't progress your skill as much, 600 stockers or SS are great fun in the corners and CHEAP!

600!
The only place where the thou is faster is on the straights and anyone can open the throttle, no art in that.
600s need to be kept on the right rpm, right braking point, faster corner speed etc..
All the stuff that improves your riding skills.
The lesser HP also gives you time and confidence to think what you are doing on the bike and improve from there on.

Get a 600 IL4 for the track and keep the SD for what is was made for

You will learn more chasing down 1000s with a 600 to

If it was me, I`d get a GSXR 750K5/K6

ok . first keep the sd (could always use it as a back up bike)

secondly go for the 1000 .
i know shocker . but from my experience with a 600 i ended up running with the big boys who were using 750s and 1000s and while i was matching or faster in the corners when we hit the straight they gapped me and i had to do it all again .you can learn alot about carrying speed with a smaller bike and corner entry but you will also do this on a 1000 , you just need to be smoother with throttle postions.

there . shoot me down in flames.

boys loving all the opinions, its great to get other piont of views to help with this decision

Think about what type of rider you are as well as the tracks. I just sold my 600cc (636cc actually) trackbike as it wasnt that much fun to ride. The litre trackbikes are fun to ride but you are looking at a a set of tyres every weekend if you are racing it and the first highside is likely to be a big one.

What I like about the Superduke is the handling on the brakes into, and the low down friendly drive out of the corners. I know the SD will never rip snort down the straights with an S1000RR but those goalposts move every year and pretty soon a GSXR 1000K8 will be down on power too.

I am too old, slow and lazy to be dancing on the gearlever like you have to on a 600 and hated revving the thing to 14000rpm just to keep up. So the SD suits me and my limited aspirations, At the other end of the scale I saw a good rider (Rob MacNealy) at Lydden once on his 06 SD battle bike and he was passing the latest il4 thous like they were stood still. Lydden is a short track, almost all corners and mostly 3rd gear. I reckon MacNealy just stuck it in top and did the whole lap sideways, being an ex Supermoto racer probably helped. Anyway, until I can ride like that I dont need anymore that the SD has.

Only if its snowing

If ya on small tracks or just starting out,dont be scared to go even smaller.
My little Aprilia Rs 250s have shown many a 1000ltr its tail.

As mentioned above depends if your racing or just Trackday riding?

If racing a sd won't really be competitive against 1000cc race bikes.

But if just Trackday riding and starting to ride on track then a sd will be a good starting point. I did first 4 trackdays this year and thought after second one id sell the sd get a crap commuter and a trackbike, but realised the sd is all I'll need on track for quite a while they handle well and are good on the brakes and easy to get out of corners. I ride with a friend that has a 1999 cbr600 with ohlins front and back and we are very evenly matched in terms of skill and bike speed.

both had 1000's on the road but the pace of a sd/older 600 is what we need on track to learn what were doing. If we had 1000's I'm sure we'd have learnt less and probably crashed more learning to ride on track, it's a very different game to road riding and we learnt more in 4 days than last 7/8 years of road riding.

I'm not sure from your original post if your new to track or want to start racing but if new to track either keep Superduke or buy a cheap track prepped 600 and realise that fast road riding counts for very little and you have a lot to learn.

so after all the posts... and some convincing by mrZ32... im going to put the duke on the track... ... ive put alot of effort into the duke and in the long run the GSXR is too much to start on... Im going to race in the BEARS series in QLD... the E is european.


Thanks for all the posts its good to get other pionts of view for ppl with experiance.

I run one of my SD's as a track bike.

On the straight at Philip Island the ILF's zing past as though I'm standing still. By the Hayshed I'm back in touch but never going to beat them because I'm
just an average rider.

Interestingly I get a lot of comments such as "What sort of bike is that - it just sounds fantastic?"

Summary: If you want to win you go ILF. If you want to have fun and be a little bit different you stick with the SD.

Indy, start a build thread. I'd be interested to see the bike take shape. Keep it updated through the season with what you find. Be interesting to see what works for you and what doesn't.

600 track bike, keep the SD. Personally, I'd be gutted if I threw my SD down the track. My 636, not so much.

so my first track day on the duke is on March 3rd , next weekend and queensland raceway. ON THE DUKE!

-have new EBC Double H front pads, and sinted rear

-surfacing the clutch plates

-running 90% metzler racetec MR2 (if its a hot day 30psi front and rear)

-its in the workshop now being shimed

-just got new upper and lower R&G crash bungs.

-changed my gearing to 16/38 opposed to 16/41

Fully excited

im planing to go to the drag strip on wednesday night to test out the quick shifter and make sure its shifting at full noise

Are we talking proper racing or just trackdays?

Trackdays just run the duke and enjoy yourself!

Proper racing then have a word with all your local race clubs etc, youl find there will be a streetfighter race series just as there is here in the UK. The SD will be a decent tool to find your feet on

PM Superdan as he was thinking of racing the SD last year!

Get better brake pads...probably the most noticeable mod I've ever done was changing to race pads. Effortless stopping, you only need to worry about keeping the rear in line, or somewhat close.

Also look into geometry adjustments with triple clamps. The SD turns in great but doesn't like to stay leaned over. That was my limiting factor last year when I compared my laptimes between a Cbr 600, a Cbr 1000, and the SD. And how I wound up with the sweet avatar. But alas, she was still 4 seconds off the 600 and 7 seconds off the 1000 times. I wasn't holding much back that day but the high speed turns felt unstable and significant time was lost.

The duke is so much fun on the track. thru the turns I think you can hang with anything.It's the straights thats the problem.
My duke has all the mods runs great and fast.But with all my gear I weigh in at about 275 lbs.
My duke is a standard and the most I can get is 135 mph with stock gearing.

Out here if I raced the duke I would have to go up against 600ss that have built motors and 20-30 more hp.
thats alot to over come you work hard to pass them in the turns only to get blown by in a long straight.

I bought an RC8 so if I race the over 40 class open .It bikes that have pipes and air filter only.
I may not be the fastest but i don't think I will get blown away.

I don't know how they do it in your part of the world.I like having a chance to be even.
The duke R can get top ends of 150 + which I think can hang with the 600's

I just love the power of the 1190.It's very quick but the I4 will out top end me.
If you a good rider you can make it up quick in the turns.

No way would I trade for a 600 the 1000 maybe. One thing for sure the duke makes it easy to go fast.
We have guys on this forum that smoke race bikes on the track SD nerd can get his duke to fly and John (Lowance) loves to go by race bikes.

So it can be done and the duke has a soul you fall inlove with it eveytime you ride it.
It is the most comfy bike I have owned and I can go faster on it that my RC8 but i need to see how fast I can go on the track with it.I too want to race again.

At 56 this is it for me my last stand I used to race a life time ago.I just want to do it one more time if I can.
The RC8 I hope will let me.

Good luck but if you can race with standard 600's not built to shit walls 600ss. You should try the duke.
It will let you fly.

Good luck brother

Yeah 98 DB I think, you don't have DB killers?