Should I take Monster to track?

[razatos]

I am the same way with my bike and I faced the exact dilemma you are now thinking about. I took my monster to a track day and loved it! I do admit that crashing it was always in the back of my mind. I did not push it has hard has I thought I could. The great thing is that you really learn lot about yourself and the bike. I too alway ride cayons, being on the track you don't have to worry about other cars or slow traffic. Yes, you can hi side or low side your ride but you can do that on the road too.

[MonsterGrrl]

I just took my monster back to the track just this past Friday after rebuilding it from a crash on the street. Crashing, whether riding on the track or on the street, is always a concern considering how much time and money I've put into my bike (as many of us do.) But she's gone down once, and if she goes down again (God forbid) I'll fix her again. Just ride within your limits on the track. It's easy to get caught up in the competitive side of things, but the guys (and gals) I see who get too competitive, and ride over their heads, end up picking their bike up in pieces off the side of the track.

If your monster is truly a show bike, don't ride it. But honestly, what's the point in having a bike if you can't ride it? I understand your wanting to keep it spic and span, but remember, you own the bike. The bike does NOT own you. Don't become a slave to your possessions. Use them for what you bought them for: to have fun!

[TheOther996s]

Originally Posted by uclabiker66

I love my Monster, a lot. It's my most prized possession; my show bike in a sense... I don't want to risk damaging my beloved Monster on the track by dropping it or having little flying objects ruin the paint job and other track day use and abuse.
Should I just wait a few years and save up money (at the moment I am broker then a joke) for a used beater bike or should I take the Monster to the track? How often do bikes fall at the track anyways? What effects does a track day have on the paint job even if you don't crash?

In light of it being your prized possession (show bike) and your fear of paint chips, I'd keep it off the track. When you're riding that many laps directly behind other riders on an asphalt surface, your bike (and helmet, and leathers) get hit with many pieces of asphalt and rubber, that can cause little paint chips. Chips to your tank paint are less likely than chips to your front mud guard. Dropping it, or crashing it will likely result in a paint chip or two to your tank.

Get a track bike and you'll never look back.

[mfutao]

I've also been thinking a similar thought - 'should I put my monster on the track'

With me it comes down to more of a case of not wanting to be without a bike on the beautiful spring/summer/autumn days if I lay it down hard due to my inexperience on the track. This seems easily outweighed by how cheep you can pickup a nice learner bike for the track, even a nice recently made supersport thats just had its plastics torn up. Not gonna be worried about tearing up the fairings of a bike thats already got them torn up.

The thought of having a second Ducati just happens to be easy on the mind

[eastducatisti]

My solution, as I did not want to take my monster to the track for similar reasons was to go to a racing school and RENT a bike for the day. Much safer way to learn the racing line and not risk my bike which I ride A LOT. I did eventually have the suspension done on my bike and have since taken it to the track. I am now looking for a effective trackday solution so I don't have to take my monster and flog her half to death on the track!

[turbod86gt]

for track bikes i would look on the WERA forums...TONS of em on there!! id look towards a good 01-03 GSXR600/750,03-up R6 (no tranny problems), 03-04 zx6R's, cbr600f3-f4i....dont be afraid of salvage titles either as long as they arent stolen..theres no sense in buying a good title bike just to pitch it at the track and ruin it...any of these bikes can be had under 3500 bucks all day long with Ohlins/Penske shocks and revalved forks, race bodies, already tied, etc. THATS the best way to go!

[woodyracing]

imo spending the entire time worrying about your bike adds unnecessary stress and takes a bit of the fun out of trackdays.

I've got an SV (had it long before the Monster) and its a really good trackday bike. Duc guys should like it a lot, power wise, its pretty similar to my 695 (but a decent bit faster and unfortunately the SV currently sounds better).

A warning though, the SV front end SUCKS. I actually like the non-adjustable, freakishly soft bone stock front end on my 695 more than my SV race bike with cartridge emulators, proper springs, and Thermosman+GMD setup and geometry.

If I had the money to set my 695 up for the track I might do one trackday on it but probably not more than that.

[jarelj]

There's no reason for a track day to be MORE likely to cause a crash than riding on the street, it's all a matter of your attitude and approach to it. If you find yourself pushing beyond your skills, then the likelihood of a crash is much higher. I see that all the time with new people at the track who have the attitude that they want to go fast and be competitive. If you have the attitude that you're only going to go as fast as you can control comfortably (i.e. leave yourself a margin for error), and let your skills build gradually as you gain more track experience, then you will have a very low risk of crashing. There's always SOME risk of crashing, or having someone else's crash collect you, but it's just like there's always SOME risk of crashing on the street if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I did a demo track day at Laguna last year at the Ducati dealer meeting, and I can honestly say the most fun I had was riding the Monster 695. With some higher pegs, and higher pipes, it would be a really fun track bike. A 696 would be even better!

[dduncan]

I have done 2 weekends so far on my 07 S4RS.. Its a blast .. be cool.. take your time, learn the line.

[Monstermonkey]

After one trackday last year, I bought an SV specifically for the track this year. Due to the longest fork rebuild in history, I've had my Monster at the track 5 times so far. Two of those were riding classes. It will do amazing things for your riding and confidence. It's also made me slow down in the canyons as I can now get my speed addiction fixed at the track.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ftkneedown.jpg

Also, be careful if you're on a 695. The sidestand and pipes hit the ground pretty quick. If you have big feet like me, you really need to put your inside foot really high on the peg to keep your toes from dragging. I wore out a set of toe sliders in one day.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...bbturnone2.jpg