MotoAmerica | 2024 | Silly Season

1993 ... that was my first year attending the AMA round at Laguna Seca. And I was already in my 30's.

 

I took my son back to look at my grids in 98 at Road Atlanta. Similar experience. A guy on a fzr1k hit the hay bales in turn 12,and I could literally feel the impact in my chest. I don't think he survived and my son witnessed it. Then I was supposed to go race. Some things I will never forget

 

Don't worry, replaced with concrete walls. Being AFM guy you should be familiar with it.

 

the Sears Point treatment I think you’re referring to

 

$250,000 to buy a Moto2 ride! Bwahahahahaha! A quarter of a million euros would get you a midpack WSS ride.
Six years ago.

Anyone entering motorsports with the intention of making a living needs a serious reality check. Anyone wanting to make a living by racing a motorcycle is just delusional. Sure there a (relative) handful of people doing so worldwide. There are also people who win the lottery. But that's a pretty risky business plan.

Motorcycle roadracing in America is a niche within a niche within a niche whose demographic, if this board is any gauge, skews towards antisocial, stubborn, intolerant, misogynistic, borderline sociopaths (bring the wife and kids) who like to complain and or argue about every and any thing. And all of whom have the simple solution that will make motorcycle racing an instant gold mine if only the idiots in charge would listen.

Unfortunately, the fact is that without direct factory involvement professional (paid) roadracing basically doesn't exist. If you really want to save roadracing in America stop trying to figure out what's wrong with it and just go to the races. Take a friend. Or two (if you have that many). Buy a bike and parts and t-shirts etc from the dealers who support racers. Support the businesses that support the sport.

At the local level it's even easier. Get a bike, show up, and race. And just because some people might show up to a regional club race with a $50k bike, professional mechanic, and brand new motorhome doesn't mean that's what's required to go racing. Or have fun. Or be competative.
If some of you BBS ballers are too old to race yourselves, than why not go find some local fast kid and help them out with some sponsorship cash. And don't worry about the "ROI", this is motorcycle racing, there won't be one.

 

I race on CC's. I put my whole entire life expenses on CC. Its the best way to budget.

For example: i put $xxx.xx direct deposit from my paycheck EVERY pay day into an account called "racing" lol no matter how much money I make, the same amount goes into that account. So spread that amount across all pay periods, and that's my yearly budget. Then on race weekends, or when buying parts/gear I use a card I have ONLY for racing. It pays for race fee's tires, fuel for bike fuel for toy hauler, fuel for diesel, food for weekend, and anything racing related.

Then at the end of every month I pay this card off, no matter what the bill is, using the money from my "racing" account. Usually about August/September of every season I stop having enough in the account to pay the full balance. However, I'm usually done racing in the middle of September. So, I still have October, November, December to finish paying it off. (I have never gone past November with a balance)... I also don't start racing again until May so I have 5-6 months of building that "racing" account back up.

I use this same budgeting method for every other hobby/aspect of my life. I use CC's for absolutely everything and pay them off at the end of the month. I have about 5-6 cards in rotation that are used for different things. Its the best way to budget, and track your habits. My checking account only gets used when I'm paying the CC's off, paying my mortgage, or when I need cash for something. I get shit tons of points/cashback every single year.

Also credit bureaus seem to have a HUGE boner about it.

 

IRP: concrete, Green Valley: concrete, Putnam Park: guardrail....

 

Yoooo let me get some of that Discipline

 

I can tell you for a fact that it is the amount that was asked of a kid trying to stay in Moto 3 for next year. And one complaint that's been going around for years is that Moto 3 should be cheaper than Moto 2 but isn't. So if any other specific situation, it's not that crazy.

 

I think he's talking more about guys who are putting things on credit and have no real budgeting or plan on paying it back, especially if they have to try multiple cards because they are declining.

I also pay everything on CC. But it all gets paid off each pay period. The perks are worth it.

 

I do similar but you take it to an extreme. Motorcycle racing stuff goes on one card. Anything that isn't motorcycle racing or my rent goes on a separate one.

 

Racing on credit is not a new or recent thing. There were people doing that when I was racing. Younger generations have a lot of faults but they did not invent financial irresponsibility

 

Some of us old guys probably remember Bob Greene (I think) and Team Visa.....from the 80s.

 

Really? That's genuinely surprising. Perhaps I misremember the figure, but 250K is damn near what the WSS team I worked with years ago was asking riders to bring. Seemed insane at the time and even moreso if Moto2 and 3 are the same or less now.

 

Right. Big difference between using a CC to spend money you don’t have and paying it off.

It is almost always better to use a CC, not even because of the rewards, but because of the unauthorized charges remedies. If someone gets your debit card info and drains your bank account, it can be a lot harder to get that money back than disputing charges on a credit card.

 

Are there any positives from having a debit card? I just don't see any over a credit card, and paying it off each month.

 

You think this board has the market cornered on this mentality? Welcome to the way the world is now. Yes, I'm old, but I remember people being able to have differing opinions on things, and actually having some intelligent discourse. While 'just go racing' is a great sentiment, the financial realities make that way more challenging now than back in the day. Yes, you can absolutely do it without a motorhome and enclosed trailer, but you can't really be competitive unless you can afford new tires (sometimes multiple) each weekend, and of course tire warmers and a power source for them. The consumables now, compared to back in the 80's, are a whole different level. The specialization of machines by class is also a big hindrance. When I started, I could run an RZ350 in D, C, B and A, and actually podium. I'd run the same tires for multiple weekends. Now you have to have a bike for each class if you want to be competitive.

 

I'm not saying at all that you're wrong, but we must have more information to make those comparisons. Some teams might just be looking for a budget complement while some others might be looking for someone to fund the whole operation. Running a full team for a season in WSSP will ideed cost well over 250K.

 

You can avoid vendor CC fees sometimes. I bought a trailer out of state, so they wouldn’t take a personal check. But there wasn’t a fee for using a debit card.

 

You're only using your card as a means of payment. That's what most of us do. We're talking about people using them to finance their racing.