How can you possibly afford to race

Maybe he should ask the beeb's resident carrot top about that! Was it him or someone else that said they were going to make a career out of racing once they got done with college?

 

I started racing last year on a 650. So I've recently done what you're talking about. Done track days for 7-8 years on a 600, so it's not like I had no idea what I was doing. If you go lightweight, it's manageable but it's still a drain on the checking account.

Why 650? I hate twins. I love fours. BUT... these bikes make you learn to harness corner speed and not rely on HP. I crashed twice last year trying to adapt to these things. Just because they are less than 80HP doesn't mean you can't bust your ass on one. You can run half a season on one set of tires. That could be reason enough alone. Plus the parts are cheap.

You've already seen this -- I also do not put my toys on credit. If I can't blow it up for cash, I can't have it.

You can get a built 650 for $3500. Fully built. You can get a 600 for that if you go pre-2006.
You'll need to clean it up, get the suspension sprung for you, etc.
Gotta learn how to pass tech - safety wire.
Need a way to get the bike from place to place.
You'll need power to run warmers.
Probably going to want some chairs and tables for your pit area. A decent cooler.
You can sleep in your car/truck. Pack your food.
You'll need gear - leathers, gloves, boots, helmet, spine protector. You'll need backups in case you crash.

That's just the bare essentials. It gets worse. A lot worse. But you could run with that. Good luck and thank you for your service.

 

Thank you for your service. Do you have any parts for a 2010 ninja? Enjoy the velveeta.

 

Well best way to start is in vintage V7. Bikes are cheap and lots of them for sale.
Don't fall into the got to have everything to be cool to race.
I buy 2 sets of tires a yr at most and I still don't own tire warmers so I don't need generator or wire and BS that goes with them.
I've also been at this since 1990.
It's a fun group of guys who will help out in a heart beat to help you get anything fixed.
I always have room for another bike under canopy.
Travel light and hotels.com if you want a cheap hotel in track area.
Best of luck and PM me if you want to know where bikes are and who has them for sale.

Steven Isenhower #52

 

Sounds like you have very little track experience. Get a Ninja 300 and do some track days first. You can run 1 set of tires all year, dont need warmers, etc.

Much cheaper and you'll find out if its for you or not.

I started on a GS500 before moving to 600s and it helps a ton. After thousands in tires, I went down to the Ninja 250 and had more fun than I did on the R6.

 

FIFY

 

Too many commas...

 

buddy... we are ALL hoping for that Just sayin.. there are silly fast guys out there that get a limited amount of help. Don't count on that for a long time, unless you are graced with truckloads of talent. As many have stated, light wt bike racing is a blast, and is much less costly.

 

Psh I got talent jk but I don't think I'll do too bad


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All you need is a bike, leathers, helmet, gloves, and boots. Maybe a back protector. A rear stand. If you don't have a car, you need a car/pickup, and a used utility trailer. Pit bull trailer restraint is nice to have. You do have tools, don't you, or a buddy with tools? Learn to drill tiny holes in bolt heads, and learn to safety wire stuff. Read the rule book and ask specific questions here about what the rules say about required safety equipment and bike prep.

You should be able to get on track for $5000 or less, not counting transport.

You don't need tire warmers, a generator, an ezup, race gas, fancy new suspension. You will buy those things, but you don't absolutely need them for your first day.

Once you get over the initial investment, your ongoing costs are fixing crash damage, race entry fees, tires and hotels for far away races, if you choose to do them. If you don't crash, that burden becomes much lighter. But you will crash. You will learn how to work on fiberglass. Ugh.

 

Racing costs are all about the ongoing expenses. Tires. Race fees. Travel. Crashing.

The bike isn't "cheap," but you can buy a LOT for $2000 these days, and it can probably be sold for $1500-$1800 if you're able to be patient on a sale.

250/300 racing is awesome, if there are people to race against. Otherwise, a 650 is the ticket. Mini racing is also way cheap, and a ton of fun. It leaves a lot to be desired in teh speed and acceleration department, but I think everyone should race on a kart track before they poo poo the idea.

 

LOLOLOLOL....to get good enough to get a tire sponsor, you will probably have already spent at least 50-75K racing...so keep that in mind.

 

not a maybe on the back protector.

and a $500 airbag vest is cheaper than a visit to the ER.

 

Ease into it by buying gear first. Then sell your street bike and buy a cheap race dedicated bike.

Tire warmers are a damn near necessity to me. If you can't charge into turn 1 with total confidence why are you racing. I fried a rear warmer once and went out for practice with a hot front and cold rear and it was scary as hell. It took more than 2 laps to get the rear up to temp. To me the cheapest insurance is good tires.

 

And seriously consider the v7 or lightweight classes. Two weekends on a set of tires is very doable at a moderate pace. Even a slower novice can ruin a set of tires on a new 600 in a weekend.

 

Yeah, good luck with that unless its a friend who's just looking to throw money at someone.

 

If you are dead set on racing a 600 and feel you have decent talent, I have a friend that rents prepped bikes. Look up Seth Starnes. I will say it is very hard for me to keep this post optimistic and on point since I know at least half the people replying and their pace on a prepped race machine.... I will say that people with decent resumes are trying to give you helpful advice.... And arrogance and confidence dissipates quickly once the green flag drops.... At least if you rent a 600 from Seth, you can make a change in focus without all the financial "fall out". Humbly, Cam....

 

That's fine if you race in a noncompetitive class. But if you want to win, the moment someone fast shows up in that class, with skill and desire to win, you will not be able to beat them on 2 sets of tires per year and no warmers.

 

Not trying to be a dick but I've been racing for 7 years and while I was getting on the podium pretty consistently in the novice classes I've not seen one since moving up to expert. There are some FAST dudes out there. Regardless of how fast you think you are, you will get your ass handed to you. Start on a small bike like everyone else here has said. There is a lot of knowledge been passed around by others in this thread.

 

I started racing after a couple of years doing trackdays.
1000cc bike with stock suspension and street tires. Would swap the fairings for the weekend for the races than wouls go back to street bike.
First suit was a used one also.

If you already own a car buying a small trailer is a lot cheaper than getting a truck.

You don't need to go all out to have fun racing. It can be as expensive as you want, but it doesn't have to.