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Track Newbie asks: 250 or 600?

As the owner of that 2001 R6 I highly recommend that you buy it ;)

As for the 250 vs 650 vs 600 question you should also think about where you plan to do your trackdays. A 250 would be miserable at a track like Big Willow but you would learn a ton riding one at Infineon or even T-hill.

The 600 will definitely be more of a white knuckle / adrenaline experience (at least in the beginning). If you have a good head on your shoulders you should be fine but it can be very intimidating coming towards the downhill braking zone for turn 14 at T-hill at an indicated 130+ MPH.

Personally, I think the 650 is a great middle ground. It has plenty of ooomph out of the turns but won't scare you with its raw speed. When you're learning it's nice to have an extra second or two to regroup between certain turns. Most people learn better / faster when they're more relaxed.

So basically you should buy my r6 and have fun smoking me on it at the track when I get my SV ;)
 
rob linders said:
I agree with monstermonster. When my son rode his 125 at trackdays, it was sometimes frustrating to get motored on the straights and then have the person park it in the corners killing all his roll speed.

If you are racing I would strongly consider a 250 or SV650, if you are only doing trackdays I can see where it would be more fun on the older model 600.
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This is exactly why I sold my 125 to get an R6. 600's are a blast.
 
Daniel13 said:
This is exactly why I sold my 125 to get an R6. 600's are a blast.
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Absolutely they are. And yes, you can learn just fine on a 600 if you are teachable and get good instruction. The 250 thing will teach a different skill set, but it is true....things happen alot slower. Without anyone giving good instruction, it won't matter what bike you're riding...

When you consider a 250/600/650 consider the power delivery. A twin is a nice, easy power delivery. Also, you can always sell what you buy so long as it's quality, if you make the wrong choice.
 
why do so many people prefer the 650 for purposes of Racing?
 
I'm guessing they are cheaper and have a lot of spare parts around the paddock...?:dunno They are lower hp bikes and have a nice power delivery, but still have more giddyup than 250's. The class is super competitive and closely fought. There are many talented guys in the 650 classes that haul ass.

My opinion (totally subjective) is that they aren't as badass as 600's and 1000's so they never intrigued me. I love the higher speeds and more techy equipment in those classes than what a 650 would offer, but that is really just an opinion like I said. Ride what you want to ride, but like Berto said...learning how to do it well through solid instruction and track time (which I admittedly don't get enough of) is the key to whichever you go with.
 
Med23 said:
I'm guessing they are cheaper and have a lot of spare parts around the paddock...?:dunno They are lower hp bikes and have a nice power delivery, but still have more giddyup than 250's. The class is super competitive and closely fought. There are many talented guys in the 650 classes that haul ass.

My opinion (totally subjective) is that they aren't as badass as 600's and 1000's so they never intrigued me. I love the higher speeds and more techy equipment in those classes than what a 650 would offer, but that is really just an opinion like I said. Ride what you want to ride, but like Berto said...learning how to do it well through solid instruction and track time (which I admittedly don't get enough of) is the key to whichever you go with.
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Agreed to a certain extent. They're not as 'sexy' as the 600/1000 classes.

If you want a bit more oomph than a 250 and still want decent power, the SV is an excellent platform to learn on.
 
A properly set up 650 with a talented rider can easily run lap times to put them inside the top ten in 600 class. That is alot of learning potential. IMO
 
450 singles are few, lots if fun and plentiful though.
 
IBYS said:
450 singles are few, lots if fun and plentiful though.
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He just wants anoter whipping boy. :p But yeah, if there was a good raced out 450 like Eric's or Capps's bike for sale, that would be a fun class to see grow and you can race in 250SB because its a single cylinder.
 
chiwenke said:
so what are less popular bikes in AFM racing?
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I believe you would have much more fun racing a popular class.....250's or SV650 sbk. When there are many riders you are almost guaranteed to have someone to compete with. No matter if its 1st or 21st place, battling with someone through the race makes it soooooo much more fun.

As someone else mentioned a race ready 250 or 650 will hold value. I guess this could change with the new Ninja 300 coming out, who knows? A 600 doesn't hold value as well, because every few years a newer, better, one is coming out.
 
If you ride a smaller bike first ... not only will you become a member of a secret society, but I bet you end up a faster rider in the long run ... but thats just my oppinion.
 
carotte said:
Akathisia, can you tell me what your 250 entry level racing diatribe would be? I'm looking for all perspectives on this!
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carotte, I'm probably a little late on my response to you at this point, but my usual racing diatribe goes like this: racing motorcycles is expensive and dangerous. for someone that wants to lean how to race motorcycles, on a logical level it it just makes sense to learn on something that is lighter, accelerates slower and has a lower top speed. Presumably, when you crash (and you will at some point if you are trying to go faster) at lower speeds one is less likely to get hurt, or get hurt as bad, or hurt someone else with less destruction to motorcycle (usually).

I started racing mini motorcycles on a kart track. I made lots of mistakes learning how to pass, when and where to pass, missing brake markers, coming in too hot. etc. etc. etc. The advantage for me starting small was most times I could pick up my bike, apologize to the rider I just took out, laugh about it, and get back on and do it all again, and again, and again. Rarely did someone go to the hospital, and most times the bikes held together nicely.

Compare that to a 600 that weighs 400lbs and goes 150+ out of the box. There isn't a lot of room to make mistakes. Things happen really fast and when you do make a mistake (and it will happen), things go bad really fast too.

If I were the king of the club I would mandate everyone starts out and completes at least one year on a spec Ninja 250 or have a year of mini racing under there belt before moving up. But that's just me.

I have a 2003 R6 that scares the crap out of me on the track. I love it!!! No really... .I love it! I just don't think that strapping a brand new racer to one is the best or safest idea. If not for the safety of the rider, for the safety of the other racers on the track. Having said all this, at the last race of the season at THill I was really impressed by the smooth, clean and safe passes put on me by the top three novices in 600 prody.

However....., for TRACKDAY bike, I think it's fine and dandy to ride whatever, and bigger and faster is going to give you the best bang for the buck. And I would agree with other posters that riding a low powered bike at a track day can be boring, unsatisfying and a little scarey being strafed all the time.

So there you have it. Hope it helps. Good luck. See you on the track!

pj
 
I think you should ride that 675 for at least 5-10 trackdays and at least one school. Your perspective may change a lot. Many people have dozens of trackdays on stock street bikes so don't be in a rush to buy a trackbike.

That 675 and a Suzuki 750 are excellent trackbikes. You may just want to get another 675 - it will be a lot easier for maintenance etc. I think a 250 will be too underpowered for trackdays as well.

The best investments you can make are training classes, tires and suspension tuning. Ride a half a season before buying a dedicated bike.
 
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