paris400;107062 wrote: Anyone here own this bike and use it for the track? What kind of mods have you done to it, if any, that have benefitted you on the track. I already read the FAQ on the tech inspection and got that covered. I'm going to put some sport bars and the Race Tech Emulators soon - anything else?
I used this bike to do my very first track day. I had already swapped the bars for the sport bar kit and was using BT016s.. otherwise, everything was stock.
I've never rode an SV650, but I suspect they are approximately the same in terms of performance and fitness for the track. I couldn't imagine using it at a track without the sportbars, the body position with the OEM bars is *way* too upright to start trying to learn good body position for cornering. As others have indicated, the suspension has less than ideal wonkiness, but it was completely manageable and fine for my first learning experience; the emulators should help with that.
I honestly wouldn't recommend upgrading or swapping other parts out before you go to a trackday. If it is your first time, I promise the mods you are planning to do are plenty good for learning and having a blast. Anything else you do, I would do it only because you feel like it is holding you back in some way. And, like me, if you decided you really love riding on the track, you may decide that it is simpler to get a different, purpose-built bike.
I still have the 650R and have been using it for commuting and the occasional joyride. But, I ended up buying a 600RR for the track, because there is really is no comparison to a purpose-built track bike.