Track Bike Choices ...Daytona, Hyperstrada, KTM 390?

[Travis Neel]

Hi everyone, I had my first track day Oct 4 in NJ. I had mucho difficulties with my suit that kind of spoiled things, but I got that all ironed out. I bought a 2011 Triumph Daytona this year to make my 'track bike' and a 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada to be my daily rider. The Daytona is for sure up to the task of track but I don't think I am up to the Daytona. It's about as comfortable to ride as sleeping on nails. This is mostly because I am 60 yr old, been riding my whole life, and my neck is pretty stiff from arthritis and life. Last week the spine doctor told me it is not going to get better and modify my activities. Do you think the Hyperstrada is up to the task as a track bike? It is very comfortable for me to ride and I still have a Tiger for the street (turning 60 required a new level of madness in the bike stable category). I've also got my eye on the new Ducati Streetfighter coming out in 2020 as a replacement for both the Daytona and Hyper. I welcome your thoughts. Travis in Philly

 

[tdelegram]

Check out the Yamaha MT line, you can usually demo ride them at our track days too.

 

[chrisplm]

Welcome!
It's hard to turn down a Daytona (assuming we are talking about the 675) for track duty because the thing has such a great chassis and are very easy to ride (neck pain not withstanding) have you considered bar risers, or some other ergo changes to make it a bit more comfortable?
One thing to consider about any of the naked bikes is that you do gain some more comfortable ergos, but you also pay for it by having to fight a lot more wind buffeting you. So if you do end up with a naked bike, consider wind protection, especially on faster tracks.... If you get the new streetfighter, I'll have to perform a full test and analysis on it for you...Just to be sure

 

[2blueyam]

I would think a hyper could do the trick, but as others have noted, the worst thing for an achy neck would be to have insufficient wind protection. Think about trading that Daytona down to a Ninja 300/400/650. The lower top speed on the straight will help with that wind issue and they have reasonable ergonomics.

 

[Motofun352]

I hear ya! Being in the same general situation (+7 ) flexibility is an issue but I find that once out on the track all that goes away...just too much other stuff to think about. We pay for it afterwards but such is life. Unless you're in real pain so that it affects your concentration I'd say stick with most track oriented bike. Remember, Advil is your friend!

 

[Ron R]

I didn’t do my first track day until I was 55. I also rode my entire life but didn’t ever ride sport bikes with low bars and high pegs. I’m 6’2” and my first track day was also the first time I spent more than 5 minutes on a sport bike. To say I was uncomfortable would be an understatement. I also suffer from neck damage and arthritis. But as motofun pointed out once your out on the track most of that gets replaced with pure joy. I’d give the 675 a shot as is. After a few track days if it’s just too difficult I’d change the bars to street fighter style. Good luck and I hope to see you next season.

 

[YoshiHNS]

Thoughts on a VFR-based track bike? More upright with wind protection. Have done conversion from clipon to handlebars. Heavier than a true sportbikes, but you can strip a fair amount of weight out of one for the track to get down to low/mid 400lbs.

 

[bmart]

I've had my '98 on the track plenty of times. If you're going to remain in novice, it'll probably be fine, but as the pace picks up, the heft of a VFR really comes out and you'll use a LOT more energy zipping around.
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