2011 seasons racing

[Ben.]

Thought I'ld chuck a thread together about how much it costs to race for a year, what it's like being a rookie, and how much you actually have to do.
I'm entering rookie 1000's for bemsee this year, and more for my own interest will record every penny I spend on a season.

Well its been an expensive start and I haven't even done a race yet.
Had to go buy a bike thats tuned enough to race, found an R1 and £2500 lighter i walked away with this:
https://i54.tinypic.com/e5iwm1.jpg
decent spec: Dyno Jet kit, wiseco pistons / balanced crank, Pace extra large radiator, Forced air induction, Full Titanium akrapovic system, Promach yoke set, Harris clip ons & rearsets, Braced Frame & swing arm, Mavic wheels (17"), Brembo radial master cyclinder, Ohlins rear shock + remote adjuster, Ohlins front end, Ohlins damper, running total loss system.
got a few spares as well

First step was to get my ACU licence (which the postie has yet to deliver), this involves doing a 2 day course at brands and joining a race club, this set me back £320.
The day at brands was soaking wet, the first time I had ridden on wets, the first time I've ever ridden a 1000cc bike, and the first time on this bike. Was a steep learning curve that day but I got through it, picked up a few tips on where to improve from the instructors, got used to the bike and wets (a lot more grip than i was expecting) and manged to get through it with out crashing, its a shame not everyone could say that on the day.
However the most important part of the day; there was a dyno machine there doing free runs, so off i popped thinking I would be pleasantly surprised.... oh how i was wrong. The bike is being stupidly over fulled and is kicking out 124bhp, not the 150 odd it should be... great. Apart from that it was an ok day.
Also had the bike and myself go through scrutineering, bike was fine but i need to get my leathers restitched and a new helmet (slightly scratched from a previous high side)
Got to see the 'competition' who would be running in my class, im the youngest by about 15 years - theyre all in there 30's or 40's. I'm competing against a few bmw k1000's, and a lot of 07 onwards liters.... saying that, there were a few older bikes on the track as well, (not many mind). The only way I'm going to win anything is by being very brave/ stupid, and being a lot lighter than everyone else. Luckily i am light, and hopefully will be willing to push a bit harder than all the old folks on the track...
https://i52.tinypic.com/9869vm.jpg
https://i56.tinypic.com/2vjstj6.jpg

So from now on I will start to add up the costs, (i won't include the initial price of bike or licence)
I already have warmers, tools, paddock stands etc from doing track days.




First on the list was a new helmet. I was told to buy a cheapish lid for racing, as they get crashed quite often through a season and to keep costs low. So I am now the owner of a £250 arai viper GT
https://www.rocketclothing.co.uk/images/uploads/Viper-Plain-black.jpg

next up was my leathers, they have a slight hole in from a previous high side, luckily a guy came round to all the garages who was offering leather repairs (Hill4leathers) got quoted £25 for a repair. i dropped them off to him about 6 hours ago today.

so the bike: this is the money pit right here...
the bikes reading a fault code on the dash and I'm still in the process of trying to fix it, first thought was the throttle position sensor: £50 later and although the original was damaged, it still hasn't fixed the fault code.
Next up was a front wheel: £50, needed a front for wets - I already have a spare rear wheel.
lock wire: £10
The bike is at Steve Jordans at the moment having a bit of dyno time spent on it to get the fuelling sorted, while its there Im getting some slicks swapped over, hes going to look at the exup / servo motor and see if he can stop the fault code, and hes also going to have a fiddle with my suspension to get it set up for my weight and style. Shall be picking it back up on Wednesday, hopefully with a lot more power.
New Metzlers have been ordered ready for my first race - £265

race fees:
going to be at brands hatch on thursday the 3rd for a track day, Ideally I would be doing the Bemsee practice day on Friday instead, but my dad is helping me fund this year, and so he can get some track time in this year as well (he doesn't have an ACU licence), I'm going to do the track day with him instead. - £105
First race is on the 5th and 6th at brands (next weekend) - £230

All that and not one race yet.
Still need to buy a K+N oil filter and some brembo race pads at some point. Also need to buy some race numbers and get it resprayed, which will probably be done after brands.


the running total:
helmet: £250
leathers: £25
throttle position sensor: £50
front wheel: £50
lockwire: £10
tyres: £265
brands track day: £105
race fees - brands: £230
total: £985
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follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Gazdaman]

Jeez, that's the first £250 cheap lid I've seen!

Bike looks lovely, it'll be a real shame first time it gets laid down.
Are you going to be factoring in the cost of fuel to and from/food etc at race meetings?

Gaz

[Ben.]

[Old Git Racing]

Should be an interesting thread, good luck with the racing.

My last year of full time racing was in 2005, cost me 8K. That was for 2 x 2 strokes in different classes.

Factor in a crash repair kit, levers, footpegs, master cylinder etc. Nothing worse than binning it in first practise and having to sit the day out after paying entry fees.

I used to factor in the costs of 5 offs in a season, if you're running competetively this is about right, 2 my fault, 3 down to others usually, some years more, some less.

Helmets - I cant stress this enough GET THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD, even if you have to cut back on something else or miss a couple of meetings. Good helmets have saved my life literally, take a spare to meetings. I budgeted for 3 a year, nearly a grand but worth it. Get a really good back protector if you dont have one already. Once binned it at Cadwell, Charlies in at about 100mph and slid off the track onto the grass which has lotsa little stones which slashed my leathers to bits but the protector saved my back.

I used to love this time of year getting everything ready, almost wish I was doing it again. Good luck and let us know how you go on, what you think, was it quicker than you thought etc.

OGR
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[Ben.]

right just ordered some bits and bobs and spares:

the running total:
helmet: £250
leathers: £25
throttle position sensor: £50
front wheel: £50
lockwire: £10
tyres: £265
brands track day: £105
race fees - brands: £230
K + N oil filter: £10
dog tags: £4
spare front brake lever: £12.50
spare clip ons: £8
spare clutch lever: £8
2 baffles: £32
brembo pads: £83
servo motor: £43
Garage rent for the weekend: £10
total: £1195.50

still need to buy some spare rear sets, get the race numbers, and respray the bike. Also awaiting the bill Im going to get from Steve Jordan for all the work he's doing on the bike...
getting excited now
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follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[MarJay]

Interesting thread but I would like to ask a question.

Why did you go for a tuned bike? At this stage the limiting factor is going to be the rider, and not the bike. Surely a tuned bike is opening a world of pain you don't need?

None of G's race bikes were ever tuned, and he did OK. In fact, one of his best finishes was on an SV650 which only ran on 1 cylinder!
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Ben.]

when i say tuned, what i mean is a competitive bike.

looking for a bike I can use for more than a year which means I had to buy something that was capable of running in an MRO class next year. You wont find anything older than a 2006 bike in stocksport, supersport or clubman/ power bikes. These bikes are about £5000 to go and buy.
Now you could buy a stock old bike eg a 2001 r6, you would be fine to run in rookies, but next year you would be obliterated if you tried to race in anything but the pre-injection races (which are all up north). The only thing you can use in rookies and next year is a new bike.
Unless you do thunderbikes (basically all ducatis which are about £4000) or pro-thunderbikes (brand new class but its aimed at bikes made before 2004 and there is a power limit) which my bike (i imagine) would be fairly competitive in.
Of course you could run in rookies minitwins or something similar which is cheaper, but I like POWER!!
so there you go... if I had more money i would buy a 06 r6 and run in rookie 600's then stock 600's but I cant justify spending like 4k on a track bike that could be obliterated in a day or blown up.
That and I love pre-injection r1's. It puts a massive grin on my face that i get to race on a tuned one.
____________________
follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Maruchino]

Cool thread, keep it up!

I used to race karts at national level (aged 9-18) and I don't think at 25 years old my competitive juices have quite run dry yet. Would love to be in a position to do something like this so will keep a close eye on your costs

Need to lose about 5-6 stone and actually get out on track yet, but maybe in a year or two who knows.

[Ben.]

right just got off the phone from steve jordan.
apparently the carbs were fucked, pilot jet broken, jets blocked, major over haulage was needed. hes set up the suspension and generally just gone over the bike and sorted everything out that I dont have the equipment or experience to know about.
Bike still needs a servo and clock to sort out the fault code but everything else is running tip top.
8 hours later and a few dyno runs and it went from 120 bhp to over 160 bhp which is 10 more than yamaha claimed when it was new!
cant wait to pick it up on wednesday and get on track in thursday!!!!!
Bills going to be over £500 which is a bit of a downer, but he's done a cracking job on the bike and done loads of little bits I wouldn't have thought about checking or changing.
____________________
follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Highside_Hilly]

Great idea for a thread Will watch this one closely as racing is something I'd like to try sometime.
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2008 CBF125 [Sold] >>> 2003 SV650s [Killed] >>> 2002 CB500/'98 748 >>> 1998 GSXR600 >>> 2009 Street Triple

[MarkJ]

Very interesting. How do you get to track if you're banned from driving, or has the ban expired?

[CHR15]

[Shaft]

[ms51ves3]

[bEN_]

Good stuff, hope everything goes to plan, my ambition this year is to enter just 1 race with the 848 series and see how it goes.


doing it for a whole season looks insanely fooking expensive even at club level
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2010 Ducati 848 Dark

Lamp Post Enthusiast

[Ben.]

[Ben.]

https://i56.tinypic.com/2r4kkdy.jpg

https://i54.tinypic.com/s4w4yv.jpg


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follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Redoko]

Well jealous.


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"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
Sudika Sportsman SK50QT > Gilera DNA50 > Honda CBR125 RW7 > Kawasaki Zephyr750 > Suzuki GSXR600 > Honda Hornet CB600F '51

[Shaft]

[bEN_]

True in most cases, the only exception i've experienced so far is karting although that gets silly aswell if you let it.

i know a guy who earns 50k+ a year and struggles to do a season of bike racing at club level, it could be down to him blowing his money on pointless mods or new tyres every session but it's still something to think about i guess
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2010 Ducati 848 Dark

Lamp Post Enthusiast

[Wozza]

Looking a bit rich there.

[Ben.]

https://i56.tinypic.com/dvndlj.jpg
https://i51.tinypic.com/34ff7rb.jpg

not much to report, day went well, started off slow but was on the pace by the end of the day. Should get my lap times tomorrow.
Bike feels good, wants to wheelie absolutely everywhere... 4th gear power wheelies are a new experience. Drinks petrol and shreds tyres big time!
Didnt get above 5 degrees the whole day so the pace wasn't sh*t hot.

[CHR15]

cool stuff


seeing how much you've spent so for, could you not have bought some proper number stickers
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Turbocharged drag thing / project death weapon / GK73A
Ste: I'm not entirely sure how you'd go about verbally abusing someone with a potato but I'm sure it's possible.

[Ben.]

bikes just been seized by the police.... no frame numbers. fucking gutted doesnt even come close to it, so much for a weekend at brands.
____________________
follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Howling Terror]

Shit...What's happened/when? etc.
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