Quick Ride
Quick Ride
ROUNDUP
ATK 600 DT Ready-made circle-burner
So, YOU'VE CAUGHT THE bug to go dirt-track racing—hope you know what you're getting into. Unlike other motorcycles, dirt-trackers traditionally are sold piecemeal: You purchase a frame from one specialty manufacturer, an engine from another, and then chase down all the other components you need to assemble a complete bike. But while the kit-bike concept has become commonplace among the dirt-track establishment, it’s time-consuming, and more than a little intimidating for newcomers.
ATK has changed all this with its new production dirttracker, the 600 DT. Best known for its off-road bikes, the Utah-based company enlisted R&D assistance from Total Control Racing, a top-ranked team in the AMA Grand National Championship. While the 600 DT’s “single-sided” steel perimeter frame is similar in appearance to the one used by the company’s off-road fourstrokes, the ’tracker’s frame
geometry and gusseting have been tailored for short-track sliding and TT jumping. Experienced racers will appreciate the chassis’ tunability: Fully adjustable WP suspension front and rear allows quick changes to damping, spring and ride-height settings, while offset bearing cups in the head tube shift the steering stem forward .6-inch to alter weight distribution and increase wheelbase. With the steering stem in the stock position and the rear axle well forward in its adjustment range, our testbike’s wheelbase measured 55.8 inches.
Other nice touches include bil-
let-aluminum triple-clamps and a bolt-on aluminum subframe incorporating an aluminum airbox. The front and rear wheels lace beautiful billet-aluminum Talon hubs to 2.75 x 19-inch Sun rims shod with Goodyear DT rubber.
A single Brembo Goldline fourpiston front brake caliper and 320mm floating stainless-steel rotor provide the stopping power you need for TT racing, while a Brembo single-piston rear caliper acting on a 220mm rotor has you covered on the ovals. Domino controls and an AFAM handlebar round out the chassis package.
As for motive power, the ATK employs the same Austrianbuilt, air-cooled, sohc, 598cc Rotax Single that’s found in the vast majority of 600cc dirttrackers. Aside from its SuperTrapp stainless-steel racing exhaust, the engine has been left stone-stock, a sensible approach as there are multitudes of dirttrack tuners who can transform it from mild to wild.
We spent a couple of days riding the ATK around the shorttrack at steel-shoe guru Ken Maely’s ranch, and had tons of fun. And while none of our staffers is an accomplished dirttracker, we’re confident that the 600 DT will form a good basis for a competitive dirt-tracker. TCR riders Will Davis and Kevin Atherton campaigned prototype versions of the bike in last season’s nationals, and if it worked at the Pro level, you can bet it’ll work for amateurs.
So, before the prospect of piecing together a dirt-tracker has you running in circles, consider the $8495 ATK 600 DT, a ready-made racer that can have you slip-slidin’ right away.
-Don Canet
