I recently rode a ‘15 model and it was everything great the press said it was. Fantastic bike, in every way.
Another Triumph Daytona 675 vote - the tank is pretty narrow toward the rider but wide enough to properly hook your leg into and rest while cornering. The Yamaha R3 is down on power but a super fun bike nonetheless; like the Daytona, it, too, is suuuuuper narrow with an equally narrow tank.
Yea, any of the 300-class bikes are very small and about perfect for me. I picked up a prepped Ninja 300 for this reason. Yamaha doesn't have as much of a local presence on track, and there is a good group of folks who run Ninja 300s near me, so I went with the bike I knew.
Another vote for the 675. I love mine. I have a 1199 too but haven't ridden it on the track yet. It does feel similar to the Triumph though.
I heard that there were some favorable geometry changes at some point.. much better turn in. But this the net, always here stuff.
2013+ have MUCH better geometry. Not difficult to take STR3 triples though and swap out on Daytonas to get similar geometry.
I've tracked an 07 Daytona for a few years and just picked up a '15R. If the budget limits you, the older gen will still be a great bike. My initial thoughts from my first trackday on the new bike was a bit more power, nice brakes, and turn in was noticeably sharper. Love the platform so much though. Sounds awesome to boot.
So I decided to check out the local dealership today after my work day. While a more narrow bike helps, it seems like my issue is much more related to footpeg position, with a more forward/low peg position being best. I wasn't surprised to find the FZ-07/FZ-09 to be extremely comfortable, but I was surprised to find the 2019 GSX-R 600 to be just about as comfortable as the FZ-07/09. It has a very slim seat and the tank is pretty slim as well. That, combined with the more forward/low peg position compared to other sportbikes made it a winner. I was surprised to find the Street Triple not very comfy, but it's pegs seem to be pretty rearset, even for a standard. I'm going to stick on the 300 for a while, but I'll keep an eye out for a prepped 2011+ GSX-R 600, too.
One of the benefits of Suzuki not changing anything other than paint schemes in 13 years is that the 06 GSX-R 600/750 have basically the same tank width and footpeg setup as a 2019.
I’ve had all three generations of the Daytona 675. First was a 2008 track bike that was built by a racer kid. It was great, and super light with titanium bits everywhere, initial costs for build must have been near the cost of the bike new. This would still be my track bike, if I hadn’t wreck it beyond repair. Second was a stock-ish 2011 675R. Ohlins front/rear and Brembo brakes. Never got comfortable on this bike. Front end had a vague feeling. Apparently you need to spend $$$ on Attack triples and linear link to make the bike work. Last was a 2014 675R. Improved engine, bike made torque everywhere. Was easy to ride and forgiving of my many mistakes. As mentioned stock suspension and geometry much improved. Loved this bike, but didn’t love the cost of and availability of parts. The ABS was annoying and stock throttle and tune have many flat spots. Unfortunately triumph locked down the ECU for the last gen bikes, so add on tune/fuel modules are needed. At a minimum you will need adjustable rearsets to make any of the above bikes work. Stock rearsets are too far forward and the pegs are grip less and small.
Thanks for your experience on the different gens! When you say the stock pegs are too far forward, is this more of a comfort issue or a ground clearance issue? I hang off the bike pretty well and was hoping to get away with the stock pegs as most rearsets are less comfortable, even adjustable ones.
Im running a 2011 675R, can the triple clamps from a 13+ be swapped onto the earlier models as an alternative to the spendy Attack triples?