Best bikes to hit the race track on
Tuesday, 31 March 2020
If you want to really get a thrill on two wheels, don't just buy the thing with the most horsepower. That's the easy way out, and a pretty direct route to the emergency room if you're not careful. Instead, consider one of these pocket rockets to take to the track, where you can properly improve your riding skills and go even faster.
Any early 1990s 250cc Japanese machine
The early 1990s was a great time to be a learner rider, as the Big Four Japanese brands were all building high-revving, small-displacement sports bikes. They were all great handlers and, prior to around 1994, all made roughly 33kW. All that power was generated at 14,000rpm-plus and paired with sub-160kg wet weights, they handled beautifully as well. The Kawasaki ZXR250 even had upside-down forks. Pick up one of these on the cheap for the ultimate beginner's track-day machine, or wait for the new Kawa ZX-25R.
Triumph Street Triple
Want to tear up the track and ride there and back in comfort? Check out Triumph's Street Triple. Sporting a 675cc (or 765cc from 2017) inline-three making anything between 78kW and 87kW, the Trumpy can really move. A well-sorted chassis means it's flickable too, providing a nice option as a full-licence present. You could also consider the Daytona 675, although that sacrifices rideability for a sportier seating position and a bit more power.
Any of the Japanese 600s
We're talking the Honda CBR600RR, Yamaha R6, Suzuki GSXR-600 or Kawasaki ZX-6R. All but the 636cc Kawasaki fall into the sub-600cc rego price bracket, which means they're cheaper to own. Each makes over 75kW, enough to push the more daring of you over the 200kmh mark (on the track only) and years of refinement means these supersports are among the best handlers out there. They're fast, sound great if you like screaming engines and the Yamaha even has a quickshifter and ABS to improve your lap times further.
Suzuki GSXR-750
Take all of the benefits of the 600cc bikes above and add more power. That's the GSXR-750, which is basically a 600cc chassis with a larger engine stuffed inside. Need we say more?
Ducati 848/899
Of course, we couldn't go the whole list without something Italian. Ducati prefers to play in the 1000cc sandpit but it makes some pretty fantastic machinery in the smaller classes too. The 848 is now erring on the side of cheap, with some examples touching the $10k mark and, in this writer's opinion, has the best styling of any modern Ducati. The later 899 Panigale added more tech and power to sweeten the deal (as did the 959 and Panigale V2 after that) but lack a single-sided swingarm which, as we all know, improves the handling by the same factor the colour red does for speed.
Honourable Mentions
Pretty much any superbike built after 2010
Anything with a four-digit displacement is going to outshine its rider, unless that rider is racing in World Superbike. Modern litre bikes are so fast that it's difficult to think, let alone plan for the corner ahead. But if you've got some track time under your belt already and that Gixxer 600 is feeling just a tad slow, have a look at the superbike class. Just make sure it has ABS because you'll probably want to stop as fast as you accelerate.
The BMW S1000RR was massive for pushing electronics while the Aprilia RSV4 arguably has the sweetest engine note. Honda's CBR1000RR has always looked to lightness (aside from the brand new CBR1000RR-R) and took a while to get into the electronic game but is well and truly there now, while the Yamaha R1 is never a bad option with that crossplane inline-four. Ducati is now in the V4 game too with the appropriately named Panigale V4, which uses an engine derived from its MotoGP prototype.
The same applies for supernakeds, like Aprilia's Tuono, BMW's S1000R or KTM's 1290 Duke. Ducati also just introduced the new V4 Streetfighter as another option.
PS: look out for Aprilia's RS 660. It'll get LAMS and full-power versions but expect to pay for it.