"B" Bikes in Club Racing

What do you all think?

Most of the pro series have gone to a one-bike rule to "reduce costs". It's debatable if that actually does reduce costs at that level. However even in club racing, it's becoming more and more prevalent to have a backup or B bike.

My previous take on this was more power to 'em. If people want to dump that much coin into club racing, then go for it. Those that are chasing championships almost have to have a B bike just to reduce the risk of a mechanical or crash ending their entire weekend.

Should there be a one-bike rule in club racing? It normally wouldn't affect me one bit, since I'm trying to race on the cheap, but those with two+ bikes are at a definite advantage in certain situations...

 

With no money to be made like years ago I don't get it, but that's me

 

well my take on this is probably different than others point of views... but here goes. I bought a, '03 CBR600RR back in '08, and rode/raced it until this year. a 10 year old CBR isn't exactly worth much, nor is it in high demand, so I decided it was worth more to me as a backup bike than what I could sell it for, so I am keeping it. It's really no money out of my pocket, I barely know it's even there until I need it (like I did a Putnam a couple weeks ago when I found out my R6 forks weren't right).

I wouldn't go looking for and buy a spare bike, don't have the extra money laying around for that. But since I already had the bike and didn't need to get rid of it, I'm keeping it as a spare should I crash early in the weekend and need it to finish out my races.

 

Race vintage, you're doing well to keep one bike going.

 

I don't think that makes any sense.

 

I can understand that

 

I did the same thing with an old '03 SV. Mostly I ended up using it for parts. Then I sold the '09 and the '03 is now my current endurance bike.

 

I'm not sure who/what that is directed towards.

 

Sorry, I meant banning a B bike. And I never had one.

 

Ah, gotcha :up: Wasn't sure which direction you were going with that... but I tend to agree with you.

 

Yeah, but vintage bikes are cheap enough that you can have a couple of them (says the guy that has two, neither of them running!)

 

They are cheap. No gas, no oil, no tires. Bargain!!



-jim

 

I usually look down in this cheap trick, but… fixed it for you.

Having a spare really starts at three.

 

When I raced Ducati singles with AHRMA, I always took two of them with me. It saved my weekend more than once.

 

That sounds like someone gave you some good advice.

 

:up:

 

If I ever purchase a new race bike, then my current bike will most definitely be relegated to backup/rain duty. Like you said, you can never get enough out of them at that point to really make it worth it.

I'd love to have a B bike right now, but I can't justify/afford it. Most of the time, it's not a big deal - I can swap wheels, and carry enough spares to fix most minor get-offs. When the big stuff happens - like a downpour on the sighting lap, I pull in - guys with B bikes hop on their other bike and still make the grid.

 

I think the bans generally complicate things for teams/riders WITH money rather than level the playing field. I'm not sure how most pro orgs have their rules organized, but it seems like teams and riders still have more than one bike, but they must use 1 designated bike to race and if there is a problem, fix that bike. All I see that do is the teams/riders with money spend extra on having a B bike for practice as well as a whole slew of spares and more crew on salary in case there needs to be major fixes right away. It doesn't necessarily limit spending by a team/rider.

Similar issue to the cap on electronics in our domestic pro series. The physical electronics aren't the big cost, so that isn't really the poignant issue.

 

No, there should not be a rule, absolutely not. This is club racing and for fun. I dont need somebody else telling me i cant have a 2nd bike. That is just ridiculous. Next thing you know, people will want a rule against crew chiefs and riding coaches in club racing.

 

No, and just for the reasons you mentioned; someone running the season may want the insurance of having that second platform in case their 'A' bike has a mechanical or crash. It would suck to throw away a double-header weekend's worth of points on a Saturday morning practice snafu.

That said, only time I ever had two same-class bikes was in 2010 when I bought two CBR1Ks for the price of one (Honda was giving 'em away at the time). Got lucky with the first one crash-wise and ran it all season with only a few minor get-offs...never even ran a single lap on the second one and sold it for a little bit more then I paid at the end of the season.