As far as buying a bike for looks, I bought a Ducati because I've always wanted one. That's why I was looking for other peoples experiences. If a bunch of people were to say that they had the same problem, but after a couple months they were turning faster lap times, then I would give it more of a chance.
There is a HUGE difference, astronomical difference, between putt-putting around town, vs going to the track and churning in lap times. The CBR600RR was designed for stock class racing, that's its intention out of the factory. The Ducati's are not, in fact the 848 didn't even have a home in racing for a while until race series accepted it and changed the rules.
@ 215lb, the stock suspension is going to be under sprung in the front and most likely over sprung in the rear. Ducati assumes you're going to have a passenger, so the shock spring is VERY stiff. You can try to set sag with the shock and see what you get, but my guess is, it won't be close. So first step is spring's (as others above mentioned). I will also add, the stock tires feel very nervous with the wrong pressures. I know it may sound dumb, but try experimenting with alternative tire pressures. You may simply hate the Pirelli's… I loved them for 500 miles, but they were toast shortly there after.
In terms of track… yea, the bike is going to need work. It doesn't want to fall into the corner, it has understeer issues and it doesn't want to hook up on exit. These issues are related to trail AND location of the weight with in the frame (leverage point). The reason older Ducati's have these issues is simply because they have a long motor. From the tip of the horizontal head, to the pivot point, the engine is WAY longer then a CBR's. Thus, its nearly impossible to run a long enough swing arm, without having too much wheelbase. Longer wheel base is great for high speed stability, but not great for around town. So Ducati compromised, they tried to keep a short wheel base (short swing arm) to make the bike work OK in slow speed stuff. As a consequence, it ruins the bikes ability to run quick times on the track. Its very easy to fix these issues, add more trail to the front end and bring the rear wheel back in the eccentric. But most people opt for replacing the stock suspension at the same time with Öhlins, simply because the stock shock and forks, are so poorly setup from the factory.
Its unfortunate people assume Ducati's are the "ultimate racer" out of the box. I had no problem riding my 848 to quicker lap times when it was stock. Thats because, I wasn't quick enough to tell the difference at that particular time. Once you pickup speed and have a sense of what a bike should feel like, its very hard to get on a stock/production Ducati and expect those same results out of it. So unfortunately, your expectations aren't going to be met right away. However, if you truly wish to go down the path of making your EVO work, it can be done for not much money and the results are outstanding when done properly. My 848 race bike was absolutely stellar and something easily capable of breaking club-level lap records in the right hands.
