Track bikes

[chris128]

Apologies to PhilGale as I just sent him a PM about this but then realised I may as well make a thread here for everyone to see as then I may get more answers from other people and it may benefit others in the future.

Basically, I'm thinking of getting a bike just for the track rather than taking my own bike on there but first of all I need to know how much money I would need to spend to get a decent condition 600cc track/race bike. I've looked at a few websites but they mostly seem to be very out of date or have as little as 2 or 3 bikes for sale. I found this website though: http://www.uktrackbikes.com/bike_sales.asp which looks promising, so I've sent them an email just asking if a couple of the bikes are still for sale.

So the questions I have are:

1. Does anyone know of any good places to look for used 600cc track bikes (apart from ebay) ?

2. Why are the bikes so cheap compared to their on-road counterparts? For example, a 2008 GSXR600 that only has 1400 miles on it is just £4200 on that website I linked to above - thats a lot cheaper than any road legal 2008 GSXR600 with similar mileage that I have seen. I would have thought if anything they would be more expensive if they have had bits added to them to make them perform better on the track.

Cheers!

Chris

[Guest philgale]

sent pm back but here goes,

i got mine off ebay, paid about 1400 quid for it and its a 2001 gsxr600, few cheeky little extras which is nice, mikes was from a guy on tdr forum down in kent, its a 2003 gsxr600 again similar upgrades to it and that was around the same price.

keep an eye on trackdayriders forum and motoforum, motoforum prob the best place for used track/race bikes.

other than that ebay, as long as you look at it if you can see any stickers on the bike relating to track days have a look at the photographers website for it to see what it looks like, if there isnt any pics chances are it was in the pits in bits etc etc.

but unfortunately ebay is the best bet.

re: prices, the things that cost money are road fairings, lights etc etc and usually the reason its a track bike was it was written off at some point. people stack it and rip all the road going gear off and spend 250-300 on race fairings.

[chris128]

thanks for the info, going to look on the forums you mentioned

If I can get one in good working order for around £1400 then I might not even need to sell my car, just save up for a couple of months... but I'm guessing there is more than just the cost of the bike to think about - what else would I need to buy other than a trailer or is that pretty much it?

Thanks

Chris

[Guest philgale]

there is a guy on tdr selling a few, got an 03/04 zx6r for sale for 1500.

have a look http://www.ladysnootsltd.co.uk/forsale.php

[chris128]

there is a guy on tdr selling a few, got an 03/04 zx6r for sale for 1500.

have a look http://www.ladysnootsltd.co.uk/forsale.php

 

I like the look of the 2007 Suzuki GSXR 600 more It seems mad that I could get a bike for the track that is way newer and nicer than my normal road bike but costs pretty much the same to buy...

[Guest philgale]

few to have a look out, 3rd one down looks tasty

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-R6-Track-B ... 851wt_1167

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/yamaha-r6-track-b ... 941wt_1167

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUZUKI-GSXR-600-T ... 912wt_1167

[Guest philgale]

your best bet may be http://www.louthbikes.com/ they will only be down road to you...might be worth a visit

[chris128]

Yeah that last one does look good, I'm tempted to put a bid on it now haha but I think I had better do a couple more track days before I go splashing out as you never know I might decide its not for me or get bored of it after I've done a few (not likely though eh!).

[Guest philgale]

you never know I might decide its not for me or get bored of it after I've done a few (not likely though eh!).

 

not a chance in hell mate....the more you do the more you want to do

[chris128]

your best bet may be http://www.louthbikes.com/ they will only be down road to you...might be worth a visit

 

oh yeah, never knew there was anywhere that near. Just had a look at the website though and they havent got any 600 sports bikes for sale

[chris128]

you never know I might decide its not for me or get bored of it after I've done a few (not likely though eh!).

 

not a chance in hell mate....the more you do the more you want to do

 

haha is that why you have got like 19 lined up for the next couple of months

[Guest philgale]

your best bet may be http://www.louthbikes.com/ they will only be down road to you...might be worth a visit

 

oh yeah, never knew there was anywhere that near. Just had a look at the website though and they havent got any 600 sports bikes for sale

 

ring them up mate, there website isnt alway upto date...

and dont they have any decent 600s in? its a road going track bike so can use it on the road during daylight hours

plus its been there for fecking ages so may be able to get a good price. was there when i was looking for new bikes. went to look at an r6 and was too expensive for what it was..

http://www.louthbikes.com/road-bikes/su ... izla-green

honestly you will get more for your money off ebay, ring and find out the price of that gixxer and see what the one on ebay goes for, id pick the one on ebay over the one in louth for the extras.

[chris128]

hmm that is one thing I hadnt considered actually, just buying another road legal bike but using it only on the track... that would certainly make it a lot easier and cheaper to get to the track and back.

[Guest philgale]

you never know I might decide its not for me or get bored of it after I've done a few (not likely though eh!).

 

not a chance in hell mate....the more you do the more you want to do

 

haha is that why you have got like 19 lined up for the next couple of months

 

iv got a few on my list, only got 4 booked. need to get a double at anglesey maybe 2 this year and really fancy a brands gp but thats miles away and costs a bomb

believe me, you wont ride to the track for long. you will be amazed what stuff you can find to take with you thats "essential".

you will be looking for a trailer, tyre warmers, stands, tool box, generator for warmers, fuel cans etc etc.....this is my trailer half full, got so much stuff in it now including flood lights for bbq at cadwell and anglesey when we camp over.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/tmbf_photos/IMG_0282.jpg

[Guest philgale]

could be useful for a bit, until you find your own

http://www.louthbikes.com/news/motorcyc ... e-for-hire

[chris128]

lol yeah but I dont want to buy a massive trailer like that (or van, whatever it is), I'd rather just get a single bike trailer and take whatever I need in my car. But yeah I can see your point, a road bike probably wouldnt last me long and plus it would be more expensive to buy and then there's insurance and tax etc. I assume you dont have to tax a race bike right?

[chris128]

could be useful for a bit, until you find your own

http://www.louthbikes.com/news/motorcyc ... e-for-hire

 

oo yeah that does look good actually, £25 a day is a lot better than several hundred for a trailer that I would rarely use and have no where to keep

OK, sent them an email asking how much the GSXR is and also how reliably I would be able to hire a trailer (i.e. is it likely that someone else might hire it if there's only one and then me not be able to get it) so will see what they come back with. Thanks for all the links Phil, you've been very helpful

[Guest]

Random question but here goes

is it possible to make one of them track bikes a road bike easily and cheaply, i mean a 2008 gsxr or similar for such low prices, im surprised people dont just buy them as race bikes and cheaply make them road bikes!

[Netmeister]

Random question but here goes

is it possible to make one of them track bikes a road bike easily and cheaply, i mean a 2008 gsxr or similar for such low prices, im surprised people dont just buy them as race bikes and cheaply make them road bikes!

 

I'm gonna say no. I reckon once you account for all new fairings, lights, road legal can, new tires (if not road legal), mirrors, pillion seat/seat cowel, all electronics for indicators etc...you could have bought 2 new bikes.

 

iv got a few on my list, only got 4 booked. need to get a double at anglesey maybe 2 this year and really fancy a brands gp but thats miles away and costs a bomb

 

You know it makes sense

[Guest philgale]

Random question but here goes

is it possible to make one of them track bikes a road bike easily and cheaply, i mean a 2008 gsxr or similar for such low prices, im surprised people dont just buy them as race bikes and cheaply make them road bikes!

 

no mate, so expensive to turn a track bike into a road bike. new fairings would set you back a grand at least then as netty has said, lights etc aint cheap.

can be a good idea to buy a road bike then sell all the road bits tho, can make a tidy price from all that kit then buy a race fairing and away you go....

would love to do brands gp mate, i will deff do it at some point but its a few hundred miles towing a trailer which wont be cheap on fuel. will try get a few days off work and do maybe 3 or 4 days at tracks down there. maybe not this year but eventually.

[Netmeister]

Sounds like a plan, although there's no other local tracks to brands really, you could do Silverstone which is about 80 miles north west of brands and Snett which is 80 miles north east.

Hoping to get a trailer around June time so want to try and get a Northern circuit under my belt towards the end of August. Most probably Cadwell as thats the closest to me, or Donny if that's back up and running by then. Hopefully you can make one of those days.

[Guest philgale]

ill do my best mate....intend to get a few days done this year

[chris128]

Well the guy from UK Track Bikes got back to me today, he says they don't have either of the GSXRs on the website for sale any more but they are getting a race prep'd 04 CBR600 RR in within the next couple of days that they will sell for about £2600 - I think it will be sold before I can get that kind of money together though, they said most of their track ready bikes don't even make it onto the website because they get sold so quickly. Also said they are preparing a Kawasaki ZX6 at the mo as well but for some reason I don't fancy a Kawasaki for a race bike. Anyway, sounds like whenever I have the cash they will probably have something to suit me or at least have something coming in fairly soon

[Guest philgale]

dont get a full blown race bike, they tend to be tuned engines which makes them unreliable which is what you dont want when just using it on track. also they tend to be total loss so you need to either bump start it or charge it every session. such a ball ache for the sake of saving a few lbs.

oh and kawasaki make really good bikes, if you can get a 636 i have only heard good things about them.

[Netmeister]

oh and kawasaki make really good bikes, if you can get a 636 i have only heard good things about them.

 

I can only agree. An 03-04 Kwaka 636 is an absolutely blinding track bike right out the crate.