Hi, my names Sebastian i'm from Northern VA, im 16 and have been riding for almost a year, i started with and still have my 2005 zx6r.
Yes! I still talk to the guy I bought it from. Super nice dude, the bike was originally bought to be a track bike and was used and abused until the 20k mile mark. He then had the whole engine rebuilt before selling and has documentation showing everything he did. It has a brembo master cylinder, vortex rearsets, new rotors and sintered pads as of 20k miles, and some other things.The track really is where you can get the best out of the bike.
Do you know much about the history of your bike?
I laughed so hard reading this! When I first got my bike I had let my 19 year old brother try riding in a parking lot. (I had crash bars installed for when I was learning and I locked the throttle to not go past 1/4). My brother dropped the bike 4 times making it a total of 6 feet. I then remembered that he had never been able to ride a back, I guess balance just isn't his thing. He's a smart guy though on his way to medical school!Welcome and sounds like you are responsible and have thought thru the motorcycle issues very well. When my younger son was in college I told him to never get a motorcycle, he had too much trouble with a bicycle. He is a doctor now and has no motorcycle. LOL he seems to mis some of the situational awareness that is critical to motorcycling like riding a bicycle down a back onto a sidewalk and not realizing the surface and traction changed. Skinned his knee up pretty badly. His younger sister rode my Honda Metropolitian all over campus when he was at Auburn but when she went to Alabama she left it at home. She is not a math and since smart as her brothers but is very talented artistically and actually did well with the scooter. My oldest son loves to ride mountain bikes and when he was at CalTech he loved riding in the nearby mountains. He is not a motorcycle person though. All this to say everyone is different and has different abilities.
After reading the thread my advice is track days are good but make sure you get in with a good group. California Superfine school is a great program but a bit pricy compared with typical track day but is a great learning experience. I have a photo of Keith Code giving Joe Roberts last minute instructions as he was on the grid for his first AMA race - Joe was your age. My other advice is when you are in a group riding be careful to ride you pace and don't get caught up in the group enthusiasm and ride faster than you are comfortable. I don't ride groups very often but had one experience with a fella on a new to him bike and we rode out thru some nice corners. On the way back he wanted to be in front. Well on one hairpin he blew the corner and wound up well into the oncoming lane but fortunately no one was coming! I think he has gotten better since.
The main track organization that does track days at the track near me is Evolve GT, I've gotten lots of great tips and advice on their very friendly forums. I also make sure to ride at my own pace on group rides, couldn't keep up with half the guys even if I wanted to. The group I ride with is half nakeds/cruisers, and half prominent track riders on liter bikes that seem to have a death wish with how they ride on the street.Welcome and sounds like you are responsible and have thought thru the motorcycle issues very well. When my younger son was in college I told him to never get a motorcycle, he had too much trouble with a bicycle. He is a doctor now and has no motorcycle. LOL he seems to mis some of the situational awareness that is critical to motorcycling like riding a bicycle down a back onto a sidewalk and not realizing the surface and traction changed. Skinned his knee up pretty badly. His younger sister rode my Honda Metropolitian all over campus when he was at Auburn but when she went to Alabama she left it at home. She is not a math and since smart as her brothers but is very talented artistically and actually did well with the scooter. My oldest son loves to ride mountain bikes and when he was at CalTech he loved riding in the nearby mountains. He is not a motorcycle person though. All this to say everyone is different and has different abilities.
After reading the thread my advice is track days are good but make sure you get in with a good group. California Superfine school is a great program but a bit pricy compared with typical track day but is a great learning experience. I have a photo of Keith Code giving Joe Roberts last minute instructions as he was on the grid for his first AMA race - Joe was your age. My other advice is when you are in a group riding be careful to ride you pace and don't get caught up in the group enthusiasm and ride faster than you are comfortable. I don't ride groups very often but had one experience with a fella on a new to him bike and we rode out thru some nice corners. On the way back he wanted to be in front. Well on one hairpin he blew the corner and wound up well into the oncoming lane but fortunately no one was coming! I think he has gotten better since.