Taking a Honda CBR250RR MC22 to the track

 Since I first bought the MC22, I’ve wanted to take it to the track. Not only are there no speed cameras to worry about, but the road surface is much better quality, there are less variables to contend with (cars, oncoming traffic, general road conditions etc.) and you get a much wider chunk of road to use.

For most people, the primary reason for taking your bike to the track is so that you can push it hard for extended periods of time in a way that you can’t (or shouldn’t) do on public roads. With that in mind, we wanted to make sure the MC22 was mechanically sorted prior to hitting the track, given it’s a 32-year-old motorbike.

Prior to the track day we inspected the brakes, engine oil and general function of the bike. As you may have seen in other blog posts, the bike has been dyno tuned, most of the cooling system (sans radiator) has been replaced, the bike is wearing Michelin Road 5 tyres that are a couple thousand kilometres old, and I had recently changed the brake fluid. We also recently swapped the shorty oval Delkavic muffler with a 450mm round 2 inch aluminium slip on muffler from Tyga. We had originally intended to use the Tyga muffler on our RVF400 project, but have trialled it on the MC22 in the meantime.

There are three popular tracks in South East Queensland: Lakeside, Morgan Park and Queensland Raceway. We decided to got to Queensland Raceway, which has the largest run-off areas of all the tracks, and is overall a bit less technical, both of which are factors which we considered would reduce the likelihood of making a significant mistake on track, and the consequences of any bad mistake.

Getting to Queensland Raceway

Queensland Raceway has had extensive upgrades to the facilities and a new section of track added, making it far more fun on a bike than it previously was (so I’m told).

If you’re in Brisbane, you’ll want to leave pretty early and aim to get to QR by around 7am if you wanted to get a spot in the pits which is closer to the rest of the facilities at the track.

There’s a United petrol station about 2 kilometres away from track, on the left side of the road as you approach, and a BP about 4 kilometres from the track as you leave to head back to Brisbane.

Performance on track

As my first time on track, I took it quite conservatively, focussing on my lines and braking quite early before turns. At my level of skill, I didn’t feel the bike to be lacking in power anywhere other than the straight, which is hardly surprising given I was being routinely overtaken by 600cc sports bikes on the straight. Everywhere else on the track the bike had sufficient power to keep up with other bikes. One thing to be mindful of though is what gear you’re in. If you don’t downshift appropriately you can end up bogged down, too low in the revs. I’ve yet to master rev-matching whilst downshifting and braking hard.

At the time I took the MC22 to the track the suspension was original, except for the front forks having had their oil previously replaced. The age of the suspension really becomes apparent on track, diving significantly under hard braking and struggling to remain composed over bumps and ruts. Aside from its age, it also comes with factory springs intended for lighter Japanese man, which is the primary culprit for the significant brake dive. Once you become accustomed to the diving you better appreciate the limits of the bike.

Another aspect of the bike’s age which became apparent was the brakes, with generally poor brake feel that wasn’t overly confidence inspiring. I must say though, with some braided lines, a new master cylinder and some new sintered pads, I imagine the dual two-piston calipers upfront would be sufficient on track for the bike. I imagine I will be several seconds quicker once the suspension and brakes are rebuilt, which will no doubt make aggressive riding more confidence inspiring.

Suspension and brakes aside, the CBR was fantastic on track. It’s an ideal track bike for a beginner due to its low weight and high manoeuvrability, which also increases the amount of time before you start feeling fatigued (and consequently making more errors). The MC22’s low weight is ideal for building confidence with moving your body off the bike, and adjusting the bikes lean angle while you’re hanging off the side of the bike. We have done some low speed circles in carparks, practicing hanging off the side of the bike, and doing this on a featherweight bike has helped me build more confidence with aggressive body positioning far more quickly than it would have on a heavier, twitcher (faster) sportsbike.

Power is sufficient to have fun on track, without being overwhelming. However, as we refer to above, you have to consciously ensure the engine stays in the sweet spot, above 10,000RPM, to ensure you make reasonable progress. Whilst you might think keeping an engine within a 9,000RPM band is easy, remind yourself that this bike has very short gearing, requiring frequent gear changes despite the RPM range for making power on this bike being wider than some bikes redline: you have to work  the gearbox, otherwise you’re dead in the water.

If you want to focus on improving your core riding skills (braking, gear shifts, body positioning and road lines), this is a great platform to do that on. Whilst some may argue that having a bike with more torque will be easier to learn on, its simply a case of focussing on one skill at a time (e.g. body positioning or gear shifts). Don’t forget that if you want to go more quickly, every class of bike has an optimal RPM range which you need to keep the engine in to obtain maximum thrust.

If you’re a well-seasoned rider that can handle a litre bike the MC22 will probably be boring, but I suspect for many the power will be adequate to keep you engaged. Of course, as I said above, the power deficit does become noticeable on the straights, but everywhere else it is fine.  Due to the low torque output of the bike, it takes either pushing the bike extremely hard, or doing something very badly to get any kind of sideways movement from the rear wheel. Despite not having high power or torque, the power is sufficient to have fun on most sections of the track, and the soundtrack the bike makes encourages you to rev the bike harder than you probably should.

Post track

Riding the CBR250RR MC22 on track gave me a new appreciation for the bike, and just how hard you can push the bike before maxxing out what it has to offer. I quickly learned that the bikes performance ceiling far exceeded how hard I pushed it on that first track day. I had a friend at track who was also on an MC22, and he was dragging knee comfortably through many corners, while again having the safety of a bike whose rear tyre is unlikely to kick out, and which is hard to badly overcook corners by carrying too much speed into the corner.

For many, the thrill of taking a cheap 600cc sports bike to the track, smashing the throttle and getting big doses of cheap adrenaline is a compelling proposition, and understandably so. However, there is something to be said for building your riding skills progressively, and getting to a point where you can exploit the maximum performance from a bike both in corners and on straights, before progressing to a larger, more capable motorbike. That is, we suspect, the ultimately more rewarding route to take, although it requires more patience and time.  The MC22 is a bike that you can learn to carry devastating corner speed on – a feature distinguishing skilled riders from those who simply own high horsepower bikes.

Track day costs

Another feather in the MC22’s cap of being an excellent beginner’s track bike is its low running costs at track days. The low weight and torque mean that you will get less tyre wear than heavier, more powerful bikes. Our bike has Michelin Road 5’s which are more sport touring than they are track tyres. While this means they don’t offer as much grip as softer, more sporty compound tyres, they also don’t wear as quickly out on track because they utilise a harder compound. In my view, the weight and torque of the bike are such that you don’t really need super sticky tyres, at least not at a beginner level of ability.

Astonishingly, after more than 100km on track, the bike returned about 5.2L/100km fuel economy. When ridden outside the track, the bike returns between 4 – 4.5L/100km. That’s about twice as fuel efficient as a 600cc sports bike would be on track.

To make it more affordable and less time consuming, I rode the bike to the track and simply taped up the glass headlights once I arrived. This is significantly cheaper than either renting or buying a trailer, van or ute to transport the bike to the track. The downside is the limited carrying capacity which will preclude bringing tyre warmers and other things unless you know someone else going with a car, and it also increases the cost of getting your bike home in the event that you have a mechanical failure or crash the bike at the track. However, knowing that can be a good way to temper how aggressively you ride on track.  

Another thing to consider in the scheme of running costs is the availability of parts for the CBR250RR MC22’s in Australia. Aside from JDM-MotoSpares stocking a range of new parts, the used parts market remains alive and well for these bikes, with most chassis’ parts readily available for low cost. For instance, a registerable frame will set you back $150, while a complete project bike that you might wish to use for parts will sell for anywhere from $1,000 - $2,500.