Track Riders Who Quit Street

[N3WMAN]

Lol I imagine CSBK would keep you pretty occupied! The Tuono is an incredible machine. How did you like the SV as a race bike? Would you consider it a good platform to learn on or one to step up to from lightweight?

SV are great fun on track. Stock they are pretty garbage, but with some decent suspension you can thrash the crap out of them. They will teach your corner speed and late braking just like the little bikes will. A great stepping stone between 250/300 and 600SS imo

 

[perferd]

What school are u doing. Just curious

Racer5, 1-3

13 years ago I did Cali superbike school 1-2 at streets if willow then 3-4 at Miller motorsports park. I also did a guy named Mike Sullivan school a couple times in Spokane Washington along with track days in Oregon and Washington.

 

[Pantich]

Racer5, 1-3

13 years ago I did Cali superbike school 1-2 at streets if willow then 3-4 at Miller motorsports park. I also did a guy named Mike Sullivan school a couple times in Spokane Washington along with track days in Oregon and Washington.

Racer5 is great. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun

 

[perferd]

No doubt. 13 years ago it made me ride street more. However wife kids job ect this go round might be different.

 

[bastak]

Having a hard time finding street riding on a sport bike as fun as I used to. So now i signed up for a track school and will be doing that this weekend. Im wondering if it will make me want to ride more or less on the street. Guess we will find out pretty soon lol...

It has definitely had the effect of more track/less street for me and a couple of others I've been in touch with since the first R5 intro weekend.

Have a blast this weekend and let us know how it all went afterwards!

 

[perferd]

I plan on wearing my go pro the whole time. Would be cool to see the progress from day to day.

I would love to do track days or some sort of racing but no time and no money. I figure this is a great way to hone my skills and just be a better rider all around. With that said I'm hoping it makes me want to street more cause I just bought a bike so if it's the opposite my wife is gonna kill me lol...

 

[174Racing]

Lol I imagine CSBK would keep you pretty occupied! The Tuono is an incredible machine. How did you like the SV as a race bike? Would you consider it a good platform to learn on or one to step up to from lightweight?

SVs are great first track/race bikes.... I wish I spent one more season racing mine with it slightly better set up.

I don't see an issue starting on them at all, though the popular bikes right now are the lightweights for racing. If your just doing track days nothing wrong with an SV at all, they can race in a ton of classes but are at a big disadvantage outside of their home (Twins lightweight)

 

[bakaboy]

I transitioned the kids thru stepping stones. CBR125, CBR250, SV650s to the 600s.

The SVs are great bikes. They teach great skills and are cheap to maintain and on tires.

Which is why I was surprised when I tried to sell 2 of them this past winter. No one was interested. Ended up selling them south of the border at discounted prices to move them.

 

[bastak]

SVs are great first track/race bikes.... I wish I spent one more season racing mine with it slightly better set up.

I don't see an issue starting on them at all, though the popular bikes right now are the lightweights for racing. If your just doing track days nothing wrong with an SV at all, they can race in a ton of classes but are at a big disadvantage outside of their home (Twins lightweight)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely keep the SV in mind. I'm considering track days for next year to get more experience before possibly racing the following year so it's good to know that it's a versatile option.

I transitioned the kids thru stepping stones. CBR125, CBR250, SV650s to the 600s.

The SVs are great bikes. They teach great skills and are cheap to maintain and on tires.

Which is why I was surprised when I tried to sell 2 of them this past winter. No one was interested. Ended up selling them south of the border at discounted prices to move them.

The stepping stones make a lot of sense and I'll likely follow suit. I imagine that SVs would be pretty bulletproof. I've read a couple of articles that bash Suzuki for being uninspiring as of late with their recycling of older models (https://rideapart.com/articles/tell-suzuki-what-to-do) but I personally like evolution of proven platforms. Hoping they come out with a new GSXR-600 in a similar mold to the latest GSXR-1000 and maybe a production version of that Recursion concept to make things a bit interesting.

 

[miggs]

The SV isn't sexy, but it gets the job done.
Hell, they built a whole race class around them (SV cup)...

Cheap parts, cheap tires, cheap to run/maintain, bulletproof motor as long as you don't wheelie it and cause oil starvation.

 

[meme]

Yeah but a lot of newish guys use straight up grunt to make up for talent. Most 600s SS can frustrate the hell outta an SV in a straight heading into a corner. Pass and then hold em up through the corner.

Talent comes in the corner speed, which requires skill, balls and not just HP.

I like the look of the SV, always have so I'd argue against the not sexy point! Unfortunately I had a street bike and a TB by the time these came out. Then got a good deal on a new TB. To this day I mention to new to track riders that the SV is a great option.

 

[miggs]

Just saw hotbodies makes full race bodywork for the new SV in full Suzuki MotoGP replica paint scheme.

Now that looks sexy as hell!

...is this thread going to start driving up the price of used SV's now?

*runs to kijiji to find an SV to build as a second track bike*

 

[bastak]

It does. Get that bodywork on your SV and it's no longer just an SV, it's an SV-R

 

[Pantich]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely keep the SV in mind. I'm considering track days for next year to get more experience before possibly racing the following year so it's good to know that it's a versatile option.

If you're considering going racing you could start next year (or this) instead of waiting.
You don't have to necessarily do a whole season, you could just do sporadic weekends.

I just say so because you may be postponing something you'd like to do just because you may not feel ready for it or you may envision it to be more complicated then what it actually is.

Before going to my first RACE weekend I didn't know what to expect and was afraid of being way slower than everyone else and be in the way of the other riders.
At the end I have to say it was incredibly fun, I was slow and and most people lapped me but everyone is used to racing so it was safe.

Cost-wise racing it's not so much off from track days. Of course you're doing 3 days in a row vs usually 1 for TD and that makes it more expensive.

Also there is not much difference in what you need for track days or racing. The main difference is that the bike needs to be properly lock wired.

 

[N3WMAN]

bulletproof motor as long as you don't wheelie it and cause oil starvation.

or bang downshifts without a slipper and snap the crank.

 

[bastak]

If you're considering going racing you could start next year (or this) instead of waiting.
You don't have to necessarily do a whole season, you could just do sporadic weekends.

I just say so because you may be postponing something you'd like to do just because you may not feel ready for it or you may envision it to be more complicated then what it actually is.

Before going to my first RACE weekend I didn't know what to expect and was afraid of being way slower than everyone else and be in the way of the other riders.
At the end I have to say it was incredibly fun, I was slow and and most people lapped me but everyone is used to racing so it was safe.

Cost-wise racing it's not so much off from track days. Of course you're doing 3 days in a row vs usually 1 for TD and that makes it more expensive.

Also there is not much difference in what you need for track days or racing. The main difference is that the bike needs to be properly lock wired.

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely be asking around at the upcoming Racer5 endurance events to learn more about SOAR and RACE. It's all pretty new to me at this point. I downloaded both rulebooks to familiarize myself with the rules/classes/requirements etc.

 

[bastak]

or bang downshifts without a slipper and snap the crank.

On the topic, do most racers blip the throttle on downshifts when braking or ease out the clutch to complement braking with engine braking?

 

[boyoboy]

better blip if you don't have a slipper clutch

don't wear out your clutch slipping it...

practice braking hard while simultaneously blipping off the downshifts. two fingers on the brake lever and two fingers around the grip.

 

[N3WMAN]

On the topic, do most racers blip the throttle on downshifts when braking or ease out the clutch to complement braking with engine braking?

Depends on the rider. I used to blip but don't anymore. Depends on the bike as well. If it has a good slipper clutch you can usually just dump if its just 1 gear. Multiple gears or bikes without slipper clutch I will just drag the clutch.

 

[Trials]

Honestly think I shifted too many gears on too many different vehicles to even think about how I do it any more, is mostly instinct now.

fwiw When I was first learning to drive a Dry clutch, was told to never slip the clutch plates in the direction of deceleration, you engage the clutch closely with matched engine speed and then proceed to engine brake.


Oh wait this is a racing thread: It don't matter how you do it just go really really fast and don't DNF