Opinions on First Bike/Classes

[FastBoy]

I hope I got her an impressive Chrismas gift.

Umm, oldguy if you have to ask it probably isn't too impressive. ::)

Thanks for the reponse though. Maybe I'll see ya in the AM SS classes and at the back of the GT classes.

[dave333]

Really gorgeous '01 RC51 with Ohlins & Brembos all around

I would say an RC51 would be a better choice than the CBR954.  The big twin has gentler power delivery allowing you to get on the gas sooner and harder out of the turns.  The weight is still and issue, but not hard to control HP.  

[khanson]

I'll add my $.02.

Race a 1000 if you're in the mood for not really learning how to RACE a bike, spending serious cash on tires, hi-siding yourself to the moon and destroying lots of plastic and bike parts.  Youre expenses can easily approach or exceed a $1,000 a weekend.

I raced a ducati the last two seasons and am moving up to a 1000 next year.  The duc didn't have a lot of hp and really taught me how to ride hard to try and keep up with 750 when I was down 25 hp to them. Less hp means you have to learn how to carry corner speed, late break and you can be a little ham-fisted with the throttle.  With a 1000, you will be terrified to twist the throttle because it will want to kill you.

I raced an sv and some 600, 750's last year as well.  The sv is an absolute blast.  Tires last forever, they are bulletproof and just buttloads of fun.  600's are fun as well.

Try to focus on saving your money for entry fees and dumping gas into the thing and riding the wheels off of it.  

With a 1000 you can't ride enough classes.  I had a buddy that started racing with a 954 last year and sure enough, he got a little greedy with the throttle, hi-sided and wadding his bike up and watched it burn!  An sv won't spit you off on the hi-side unless you really do something boneheaded.

Welcome to the addiction.  I now deem you very poor! :D

[dave333]

Less hp means you have to learn how to carry corner speed, late break and you can be a little ham-fisted with the throttle.

Why don't I listen to good advice like that?  I had a racer tell me to get a 250 and really learn to ride.  I bought an SV with that in mind but quickly traded it for an R6.

With a 1000, you will be terrified to twist the throttle because it will want to kill you...

I think the same thing can happen on todays hyper 600's too!  Don't ask why I would think such a thing...

[oldguy]

OK, I agree the 954 is WAY too much to learn on. I already hi-sided it at a track day. That was dumb. It makes WAY too much HP and the throttle is twitchy. HOWEVER, the RC51 is much more benign and a pleasure to ride. Only one track day on it so far, but I was really impressed. Why will I go faster on a 600 with about the same HP as the RC51? The 51 is smooth and pulls all the way to the limiter -- the 600 is no good down low, and needs to be "on the pipe" as we used to say in the old days. But, I am taking your advice and have a new R6 on order. It will be my goal to keep track of lap times on both bikes to see if the concensus of opinion is correct. Oh, yeah and to get a race license too, so I won't be limited in classes. The 600 class does look like a "meatgrinder" class though to me too. Would'nt you rather have another guy to pass in the Unlimited classes?

[FastBoy]

That was kinda my thinking too. The FI on the newer bikes is so smooth that throttle transitions are much easier. Not like the on/off of yesteryear's bikes. I believe they are referring to the excess speeds, gyroscopic forces and wieght which will cause you to brake harder and trail brake more.

I too am looking around for a 600 and have already made contact with a few owners. I'm going to be pissed if I turn faster lap times on my liter bike.

I thought it would be better to ride against faster riders in smaller classes(15-20 riders) like the GT and open SS than against 40-50 riders of all ability levels. It may be different where you are but that's about the size of the classes around here.

Kinda like playing golf, tennis,basketball etc. Playing against someone better than you will make you a better player.

[oldguy]

I'm with you FastBoy. I share the same opinions. I may sell the 954, BUT NEVER the 51. I can ride it hard (for me) and not feel stressed out after the session. I, too, will be pissed if my 51 beats the R6. And all the 600 classes I've seen look like a motocross race.
I can understand the I4 liter bike thing, my 954 dynoed at 145.8 hp and it WAS a handful on the turns, but I guess only time will tell. I'll meet you here next Christmas and we'll see what results are!
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

[FastBoy]

Sounds good! See ya this time next year.

Happy Holidays and good luck this season.

[BC61]

You guys won't be disappointed with a modern 600.

As far as lap times go you probably will be faster on your liter bike compared to the first time out on the 600. Remember you'll try to ride the 600 like the 1K. Give it a few laps or days and you'll be faster on the 600. You will learn all about entry, mid-corner and exit speed. As everyone has said you will become a better rider faster.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

   Just remember that you MAY be faster on the 1000 at the larger tracks like Road America, Brainerd, and Daytona. Tracks like these do have sections where horsepower is truely valuable, but cornering is still an issue at these tracks too. After learning how to race a smaller displacement bike, I would imagine if your faster on the 1000 at any track (as a begining racer) that it will probably be by such a small amount that it wouldn't warrent the extra work required to do it.
   When I started racing I made the mistake of pre-entering way ahead of time for my first race and ended up getting pole position. I quickly found out how slow I was. After that I always intentionally gridded in the last row for the reason that you get alot of passing experience that way and you don't have to be worried about getting run over in turn one. I did this for my entire first year. The other nice thing was that the only people that passed me were the leaders as they lapped me toward the end of the race. I personally would much rather have the better racers passing me than the lower skilled ones (just race overly predictable lines when you get the blue flag - if you don't know, that is the flag warning you of a faster rider coming up behind you).
    Just swallow the old pride and start in the back, it will help you to concentrate on your lines and get experience in passing. This way your moving forward in the finishing order instead of backwards. Wait till you feel comfortable before moving forward on the starting grid.
   Oh ya, the people I know call the 600 class the "helicopter class" cause that is the class it seems the helicopter always has to be called in for! (not funny, but fitting). Also the class a number of the experts go to turn one at BHF to watch the start of and applaud if all the amatuers make it thru.

[Speedballer347]

I have only raced at, and can only speak of experience from Gateway.

Rob Fuzner started on a 750 last spring, and I believe won pretty much every race he entered there starting at mid-summer.
He always ran just ahead of the 600's, but when he finally got in the mix w/ fast-Expert Jeff Selbert (750) he tucked his head down, & started riding it like a 750, and went a bunch faster and stayed in Selberts draft the whole race. 8)
He was BLAZING fast for an AM...keeping up w/ a fast Ex.

Jason Philipi started on a 1000, and won a race his first weekend out there....might even have been his 1st race!
Me and Mike Chacharra were following him on the 1st lap, he ran waaaay wide in 7 and me and Mike flew right by him as he was trying to save it.  
Jason came by us like a friggin' JET going into the very next corner....AND WON IT!! ;D 8)
Jason was always upfront and in the mix w/ that 1K. 

These are two excellent amateurs who started on big bikes, and went fast right away.
But also, I am not disgreeing w/ anything anyone else has said here either. Theres two side to it, though. 

You sound like you have a lot of confidence and experience w/ the bigger hp bikes.  I say do what you feel comfortable doing.  
I started on a six, and from the beginning wish I had bought a 750.
If you push it in the corners, and have good throttle control, and ride smart,  you should be upfront in no time.
A good rider is gonna go fast on a 750/1000, if he can stay on it.

And I don't think a smaller bike in the Am-class is any safer either.  
Sure, you can lose the rear a lot easier on a 750/1K.  
But you have to push the front, and corner harder on a 600, increasing the chance of get-offs respectively.
I know 600 guys who seem like they are wrecking at least once a weekend. 
Who's to say which is more crash prone w/ a good rider.

But like everyone else said, on a faster bike you won't have to corner as fast to be in the mix.  If you do show up on a 600 you'll be forced to ride the wheels off of it.  
You'll probably become a 'better' rider, faster, on a six.
just my 2-cents
Good luck! :)

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

I had more fun than a 5 legged man in a butt kicking contest...  

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D  Oh man.  Christmas is over.  Can we PLEASE go racing now!