Buddy of mine is thinking about doing track days, but he has a 2007 Ninja EX500. Is this an acceptable bike for track use here at STT?
certainly! There is still a cult following for racing these bikes at loudon, even. It's hardly the latest and the greatest, but it won't stop him from learning a ton and having a blast while doing so.
having done my first 5 trackdays on an EX500, I think I can provide a bit of insight here: 1) An EX500 is a ton of fun on the track, and the lack of power keeps you out of trouble pretty well your first few days. It then becomes REALLY frustrating when you get murdered on the straights. 2) I was a disaster my first trackday, and even I needed to remove the curb feelers from the pegs. make sure that happens. 3) with stock suspension, it's VERY possible to drag the lower fairing on your first trackday. remove it if the scratches are undesirable. (the headers CAN act as a third contact patch on this bike) 4) shorter dog-bones (Bill Martovich from the aforementioned Loudon series makes them. I have his contact info) raise the back end of the bike and make the EX handle MUCH better by changing the angle of the forks. it also alleviates fairing dragging. 5) stiffer fork springs and heavier weight oil help the front end tremendously. 6) Good tires are hard to come by. a 130 rear is stock, and you can fit a 150, but it's not easy to find great rubber in a 150 size. any wider rubs the swing-arm. 7) serious braking lap after lap will warp the stock rotors pretty badly... You can certainly bomb around on an EX500 and smile a lot, but beyond a few track days, you start finding its limits quickly (at least I did). after my 5th day on the EX, i bought a $1200 honda F2 and never looked back. I might RACE an EX500 against other small twins, but as mentioned, they can get frustrating at trackdays.