racing?

aaron · 09-07-2004, 06:47 PM

hey,
i haven't gotten a bike yet, but will as soon as i get the money. Im really into racing and want to know how to get started. Since i havent really grown up around two wheels would it be hard? would going to race school help start a carrer in pro racing.

BMF136 · 09-07-2004, 10:13 PM

It's great to see more people wanting to get into racing. I would, however, strongly encourage you to get alot of riding experience before you think about racing. Once you get really comfortable you should start doing track days. Track days are similar to racing in a few ways. You're on a real race track with corner workers, medical staff, and you can go as fast as you are able to. The main difference is that there are no points for where you place.

Once you get some good seat time, taking a race school would help you get faster on the track. I hate to say it but chances are that it is too late for you to get into pro racing. Valentino Rossi learned to ride a motorcycle BEFORE ever riding a bicycle at an age of around 4 years old (can't remember exactly how old he was). Basically, riding a motorcycle is as natural to him (and other PRO racers) as is walking. This isn't to say that you can't and won't get reasonably fast, you still could. You can still have a great time doing club racing with an organization somewhere in your area.

Hope this helps somewhat,

Bryan

RACER X · 09-07-2004, 11:30 PM

start small.......get a YSR, then 250 ninja, then 500 ninja, then an SV......

how do you make a small fortune..........start racing w/ a large fortune.......

Philbie · 09-07-2004, 11:54 PM

Aaron, get yourself a bike and look me up. I'll help ya out. Great track in NM to learn on. I'd really recommend something like an SV650 mainly because you won't outgrow it two quickly.

Do you have any riding experience?

aaron · 09-08-2004, 06:18 PM

thanks for the advice everyone! I love motorcycles and i think it would be awsome too race. Im 16 and i dont have any experience on a bike. But I thought if i got a bike at 17 or 18 and then went into a racing school if would have a good chance of entering ama supersport.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philbie

Aaron, get yourself a bike and look me up. I'll help ya out. Great track in NM to learn on. I'd really recommend something like an SV650 mainly because you won't outgrow it two quickly.

Do you have any riding experience?

Philbie · 09-08-2004, 08:45 PM

Why wait? I use to work corners for one of the two trackday organizations here in Phoenix. There is a couple of kids that were 14 or so that have been out there. This fall there will most likely be alot of bikes (racebikes) up for sale at pretty good prices.

Get started as soon as you can. Hell, last year there was a 15 (pretty sure that was his age) year old that was kicking ass in CCS.

Hit some of the websites and see what you can find. Some friends picked up a 99 R6 for $1800. Granted it needed some work but it's not too hard to find bikes cheap and do little things to make it track worthy.

linuxbikr · 09-12-2004, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron

thanks for the advice everyone! I love motorcycles and i think it would be awsome too race. Im 16 and i dont have any experience on a bike. But I thought if i got a bike at 17 or 18 and then went into a racing school if would have a good chance of entering ama supersport.

It doesn't work that way. Unless you were raised since birth to ride (The Hayden brothers and John Hopkins come to mind here), becoming a professional M/C road racer is very difficult. Only the factory riders in the various race series actually really make a living at it. The rest are experts or pros with external sponsorship to varying degrees and some actually make a little doing it but most don't make enough to survive solely on prize money.

You start out as a amateur, a privateer. What it really takes to be successful in road racing is money. A lot of it. You get a track bike, all the necessary safety gear, prep it for the track and attend a racing school with the organization of your choice. WERA in my case. You pass tech, spend 2-3 days in classroom and on the track finished up with a mock race. At the end, you get your novice racing license and a number. Put your racing orgs decals on your fairings and you're ready to race.

It only gets expensive from there. It takes time and money for spares, performance mods, track days, travel expenses, food, entry fees, transponder rental and so on to race at anything resembling a serious level. You get to start by proving you can survive on the track and claw your way up the ranking to the point where you can shed your yellow plates (novice status) and become an intermediate/expert racer. While you are doing that, you are campaigning your own bike, developing your skills, trying to avoid getting run down, winning points and hopefully attracting some attention. Once you're bumped up a class, you can look to selling yourself to local business and gain a little sponsorship. Along the way, you might win a little cash, some contingency stuff (lube, tires, etc), enough to actually allow you to break even on a weekend of racing sometimes.

Do this long enough, gain sponsorship, better hardware over time, a few sleepless nights rebuilding a blown engine in the back of a truck and eventually you will gain the attention of big sponsors and eventually get your Pro racing license. At this point, you can play on the national AMA stage. You might be offered to ride an independently sponsored bike owned by a small team and eventually, with enough victories, you may be offered to ride for a satellite team. Succeed there, and nirvana awaits: an AMA factory-sponsored ride. Usually only then are opportunities to eventually move on to MotoGP or World Superbike available. It all depends on your talent, time, money and determination.

It's not easy. The vast majority of racers you will meet are just regular folks who spend a lot of money just to race. Most will never advance beyond that of the amateur privateer out to have a good time and compete. You can spend thousands of dollars on racing and never get anywhere or anything out of it except a wrecked bike and some good memories. For most of us, that's as far as it will ever go.

Just getting to the first step is enough to deter most wannabe racers. The initial capital expenses are fairly steep just to get to the racing school part (a full set of safety gear and a prepped track bike can easily run several thousand dollars). I've seen students wreck their bikes during mock races at the end of a school. It happens.

If you are still interested after all this, check out a local track. Sign up as a cornerworker and learn the ropes from the inside. Get to know racers. Wander the pits. Ask questions. And start saving money now.

Darkstar · 09-14-2004, 08:35 AM

^^^^

very good explanation, you make it sound easy

you will also run into bumps...it will never be a smooth transition.

this will pretty much sum up a novice season...a little on the harsh side.

my novice season has been ruined. i missed the first race due to no money. second race gets rained out. 3rd race, well saturday practice i crash and get hurt so i cant race sunday. 4th race i start to make some progress. it was my first time at thunderhill and i crash on the last session of a friday practice but piece her back together for saturday.(first time at all these tracks out here in cali...moved here from indy) and i progressed pretty fast on saturdays practice. sundays race i started 46th (dead last) since it was my first race ever and i had no points and ended up finsihing 14th, in 6 laps! first novice to finish and had times equal to 6th-8th place. second race, and first time, at button willow i did a little better. the track came to me pretty quickly and its an awesome track. my times dropped dramatically every time i went out on saturdays practice. sundays race i started 17th and finished 6th! i was the first novice to finish (only novice in the top 15!) and first aprilia to finish...and a stock as a rock aprilia at that. okay now im starting to brag...lol. but the top 5 all had built tz's/hondas...which stock honda/yamahas are more powerful than an aprilia by a good amount (10-20hp.) and then the next race at infineon i fuckin blew up and i missed the next race because a faggot fucking 5 dollar part was back ordered. and right now im trying to get a new, 500 dollar crank to go along with that 5 dollar part.

but good luck with your racing career man. its fun to get into it at a young age. the old dudes admire you

but dont expect to get into ama racing just like that. there is a lot more to being fast than you will learn in 2-3 seasons of racing. and getting into it at such a late age (yes i said late...most pro racers were on 2 wheels before they can speak a proper sentence) will just make it that much harder because its that much more to learn.

start puttin around on the street to get a feel for the bike before you throw yourself into a cirquit with people who wont think twice about cutting in on the inside of you because your going slower than them...because thats just racing. go to a race school, maybe 2 different ones, after you get comfortable on 2 wheels. then hit up a track day or better yet a 'clinic.' they have control riders out there that set the pace and will let you by if they feel you are up to par with whats goin on. they will watch you and give you advice...or better yet tell you waht you are doing wrong, lol, so be prepared for some harsh stuff...but dont let it get you down. it just takes time.

linuxbikr · 09-14-2004, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSRCR

^^^^

very good explanation, you make it sound easy

you will also run into bumps...it will never be a smooth transition.

Oh, I know it isn't easy. Just to give him an idea of what he is up against.

Personally, the only way I'll be caught in a production racing class at this point is dead. Too freakin' brutal for my tastes. I'm looking to have fun. I'm opting for WERA Vintage rather than production-based racing. Less insane, more mellow and you're racing for personal prestige because it isn't for money. There isn't any in Vintage. I'm too old to deal with the idiots in amateur 600cc supersport or lightweight twins. Still, damn expensive. Just getting my two bikes ready for next year is going to run a couple grand and take me the next six months. Two engine rebuilds and building a spare engine or two takes time.

Darkstar · 09-14-2004, 11:19 AM

Quote:

I'm too old to deal with the idiots in amateur 600cc supersport or lightweight twins

+1, althought im not old

thats another reason why i got in the 250 class. you dont get those squids who bought a 600 and now want to be jake zemke or matt mladin, or whoever they like. 600 class is the only class when the crash truck is totin 10 bikes back to the pits after a race. im gonna concure the 250 class with my aprilia first. so by that time, i can go into the 600 class and not have to deal with anything below top 10...or above?? idk...lol

linuxbikr · 09-14-2004, 12:34 PM

I'd like to race a GP125 or GP250 but for the cost of a single bike and not much else, I can support two four-stroke machines with decent spares for each. I chose cheap and not necessarily competitive bikes (FZR600 and CB750F) because parts are easy to get, they are easy to work on and I won't be too upset if I dump either one. I ride an FZR600 on the street. Worst case, I wreck the track bike bodywork and frame and I cannibalize the track machine for spares for my street bike. My CB750F I bought for $50 and some beer. Total expense to get the bike into total race trim (including a GP tank, Avon race rubber and full fairing) will only be around $1200. Can't complain with that. Even if I dump it, parts are again cheap and easy. Lots of 70s era CB750s out there still. I actually have an easier time getting parts for the CB right now than my FZR.

I'll spend my first season trying to just stay upright and hone my skills. I'm not out to prove anything to anyone except myself. Plus, it's a lot more fun to share a track with 15-20 bikes in three mixed classes and you are really only racing against five other bikes rather than a packed grid of 50 600cc supersports, all of whom think they are the bomb and are going to kick ass. It's such a shame to watch these guys head out thinking they are everything because they've got a race-prepped R6 only to get killed by a guy on a bike two years older and can ride it like the devil himself. All the go-fast bits in the world won't help you if you can't ride what you have. Most amateurs will blow a few thousand dollars before they figure that out. Fortunately, I have no such expectations. I respect anyone who's out there running because it takes a lot just to race a bike, any bike. Even the guy in last place getting lapped is a better rider than me. They're out there getting it done.