How old's too old to race?

27? Just a puppy.and my feather weight days are long gone. 51 y/o here second year racing 1st year expert on a new 750. Just hoping to retire this summer so i can go racing.

 

i've got a big problem with this....

age: no problem. 'nuff said above about age. (i am 36 and was convinced age is no problem when i watched 46 yr old tray batey set the lap record at grattan)

weight: not as much of a problem as everyone says....there is more variation in rider skill that will seperate riders' competitiveness than 10-20lbs will.

riding experience: new rider? wanting to race? don't do it. go do some track days for a year. better for you, and better for us. track days are cheaper, regulated, and lower likelihood of crashing. build your experience in riding first, get so that everything is second nature and automatic on getting the bike to do what you want. then racing can be attacked where people are aggressive and bumping you and you have to make reactionary survival moves also. don't try to learn both riding and racing at the same time. take one thing at a time.

just my opinion.

 

I'll be 43 in a few days and weigh 205 and still racing. This second shot at racing started 4 years ago. I used to race back in the 80s for a a few years and made a return t it 4 years ago.


And being competitive. I finally won a race a couple of years ago and finished in the top 3 consistently that year....

 

Good points, and my mistake for perhaps miswording stuff. I was under the impression that riding schools and track days were mandatory before trying to race. I'll be taking your advice on the track days and following my learning curve.

The MSF course will probably be a springboard to a year or so of street a/o track racing (all depends on what I can afford and how well I do) and eventually riding schools and further training courses, track days, and possibly the eventual racing days. I was just guessing it would take me a year or two at minimum to be good enough to give motorcycle racing a shot.

-Cheers

 

i'm so glad people finally got around to suggesting trackdays. smartest thing you could do, imo.
they're cheaper in the long run and you'll be able to gauge your ability without getting run over. once you've been elevated to the advanced class and find few/no equals on the track, THEN it's time to go racing and win a championship or three.
i don't see any point in 'racing' if you have no chance of finishing well...including finishing safely, for yourself and others on the track.
i spent all of 2002 chasing trackdays, about 2 dozen+.
i spent all of 2003 chasing the wera national circuit. i had a very safe year. expensive, but three championships made up for it.
i'll be 44 later this year and back to trackdays. the expenses incurred competetively chasing the whole season last year boggled my mind. not including breakdowns, the bikes or the transporter(jeep/6x10), i could've bought three new bikes...that's a LOT of trackdays.
like the boy scouts say, be prepared!

 

Haha, I am one of the skinny young punks that need no power to go fast. I am 24 and weigh about 135. My boss though is turning 50 this summer and is still going strong and his endurance partner is 57! They are great for me to learn from since this is my first season racing-they have been racing for half my life lol!


-Spooner

 

Fred, I agree with everything but the "only race if you're going to win." My first year racing I didn't set the world on fire, I certainly wasn't the fastest guy at a trackday, but I sure as heck had some fun. If the dude gets himself some experience and some skills and wants to try racing, why not? I was honestly shocked at how well I did at Summit this year, and yeah, now that I'm finishing better it's pretty addictive, but I'd be racing if it was for third or for tenth. My .02.
See ya in a couple weeks Fred.

Oh yeah, I started racing at 33.

 

"...only race if you're going to win."
dave, you're putting words in your ears.
with that summation, only one rider per class would enter.

"...no chance of finishing well...including finishing safely..."
i believe a rider should have a reasonable expectation of doing well. whether that's for 1st or10th...or last.
if a rider is just an accident waiting to happen while they are out there, they aren't doing themselves much of anything save, maybe, scaring the shit out of themselves and anyone 'on the move'.
you know from your instructional days at reduc that you can tell a rider to do something and as soon as they hit the track, they've thrown all your words of wisdom out the window, i.e., maintain your line, etc.

see ya for the css stint.

 

Dude, after my first track class I didn't remember a damn thing Papa told me! When I asked him about racing he said "good luck, but you're gonna get your ass kicked." (not in so many words of course) So I hear ya there. I don't think you meant everyone needs to go out there planning on winning or not go at all. But there certainly is a learning curve, and you don't wanna set the bar too high is all.

Shoot, never told ya I gotta miss CSS, co-worker has to go under the knife and I have to cover. I'm pretty bummed. Maybe we won't get in as much trouble as when you, Eric, and I were there. Have fun dude!

 

trouble? us? nah...
walter alphabet's gonna be there. maybe i can get him in trouble.

 

Lies! Seriously, did I say that? I must have had a good reason. Was I talking about racing your 750?

 

220 Plus

Hell,

to get in the medieval camp you can't be no less then 220 lbs. There is no one on the team under 220 lbs. and we are not telling our age, but together we add up to over 85 years.

Glover # 85
www.medievalracing.com

P.S. we do have two other racers on the team under 220 lbs, but "Buck" add sand bags under their seats.

 

Damn, Wade, you're that old? It was nice meeting you at Grattan.... Oh, and I just got rid of my PN shirt this weekend at Grattan and I'll be 59 this year. You kids crack me up!

 

That name sounds famaliar... 5'5" would be about right, little fella... Don't know about his hair. Is he still racing? That was about 5 years ago this July. Always wondered what happened to him. Gave me hope that I could continue to do this for a couple more years!

 

Yep, I'm that old. Good to meet you too...