hi new person :)

[tommyboi]

hi

i come from a minimoto background and i owned a grc rsr and im looking for a cheap and easy way of geting into 125 racing eg. bike, i allready have all the gear just nee a cheap bike for around £600- £900

thanks people

[Fahd]

Hey Tommy, nice to see someone I recognise from the minimoto scene on this forum!

[G]

Right, first off, why a 125?

Do you know what kind of 125 you are looking for?

A GP125 bike is generally pretty fast and quite expensive to run.

There's an aprilia RS125 cup 'specially for teenagers, but it's also expensive to run in.


Big bike racing is usually quite a lot more expensive than minimoto racing.

If you can, I would look at something like MZ250s (about 25hp) or yamaha past masters (250cc+350cc, about 45-50hp). These bikes are slower than most GP125 bikes, but are also a lot cheaper and easier to run.

Not as 'proper', but I believe the 'moped mayhem' style races can be quite cheap to get into and may suit your budget better - only 50cc, so probably a fair bit slower than your minimoto though.

[tommyboi]

hi i was looking at zxr400 but me being only 15 is a bit of a problem

[G]

https://www.acu.org.uk/uploaded/documents/ACU%20licence%20application%20form%20notes.pdf

Details on there.

Seems it would be a problem.

Do you realise how much the racing's likely to cost you?
A member who posted on here a while ago was going on about a 'classics' GP race series, which you could race older RS125s etc in.

Might be worth contacting them - user name jj something, if I remember, try searching.

How limited is your budget for the racing?
Where do you live?
At one of my race meetings the weekend entries would cost £125-£235, then an extra £100-£150 for a practice day. Then there's petrol, diesel for the van to get there and back, etc.
You need to do a race school beforehand.

I would have thought you could probably get an older 125cc gp bike for around a grand, not sure though.

[NC30UK]

A cometitive 125 (2nd hand) with spares is likely to cost around £3000. Tyres would be extra. you will need tyre warmers and a van for transport.

Entry fee is about £200 - £250. Prize money is mythical and competition is anything but friendly.

Expect the top 10 bikes to be covered by about 2 seconds even at the end of the race!

It is doable, but you'll need your parents to be 100% behind you if your serious.

[Gazdaman]

Maybe consider early stocks? Bike just needs to be dual shock and air cooled.

Racing is VERY expensive, since I've started looking into it, it's shocking. My MZ will cost me just under a grand to get to a decent podium spec.

And then there's the cost of a van to transport it, diesel to get it there, tyre warmers, a generator, race entry fees, keeping your ACU licence current.

All that assuming you don't crash and you don't need to upgrade your bike...

I don't know much about mini motos, but I very much doubt the costs are in the same league.

Gaz

[tommyboi]

at the moment i am paying around £40 a meet £40 in petrol to get there £10 in petrol for bike £600 for bike second hand and it is cost me £180 in rebuild every few months lol , is it worth leaving till i have a job as i will only have around £800 for bike and nt much for racing but i have all the gear?

[G]

Do you have decent 'road' gear? Minimoto stuff is usually a bit different.

As mentioned, you'll need a van or trailer and there's lots of other costs. You really need decent support of parents at your age.
To be honest, unless you can get some more cash, it doesn't sound worth it. I would wait until you are 16 at least.

Maybe get a part time job and start saving some money?
Then you will be able to get a 250/400 cc bike which will be much cheaper to run.

Gaz:
He's only allowed a 125cc bike at 15 as he'd be a 'novice'.

Alternatively, had you considered something like pit bike racing or even motocross?

A 125cc 2 stroke mx bike is much easier to come accross cheaply I believe and cheaper to compete with.
A different skill set, though.

[tommyboi]

hi

i have full road gear as i hate the minimoto stuff

i have a big van a big generator and a big tool kit

i used to do motorcross then i did a bit of pit bike racing

iv done some super moto racing

is there anyone who has been in the same postition as me and still gone on with it ?

thanks

[G]

Supermoto? Do you mean supermoto-pit bike?

Don't know of a supermoto classes that allowed younger riders.

Your main problem seems to be money. Sadly the same with most things - it's rather useful.
Could try and get some sponsorship now, but I reckon it will be easiest to save up until you are 16 and make a go of it.

How long until you are 16?

[tommyboi]

[G]

Winning a championship would be a good - a moderately major minimoto one would be a good start.

Otherwise, it's /very/ hard to get sponsorship; best bet is people that you know, otherwise there's very little to put you forward over the many other people that want to be given money.

[Fahd]

Me and Tommy are in the same boat, I also ride a minimoto at the same track as Tommy (aswell as other bikes) and wanted to move up in size of bike, although I have been looking at the pitbikes route and have found it to be cheaper the GP 125's do look a lot more attractive, but I am only 16 and therefore have the same financial issues as Tommy does. So I'm not really sure what to do at the moment although Moped Mayhem looks quite fun and much cheaper than 125 racing, has anyone got a little more information on Moped Mayhem?

[G]

At 16 you have more options.

If you can afford the entrance fees there's quite a few classes you can use.
250/400cc production bikes or 500cc 4 stroke twins I think it was.

Some classes you could consider are rookie 400s, YPM, MZ250, CB Cup. Sure there's plenty of other cheap classes out there, but I mostly know about bemsee (CB is New Era).

[tommyboi]

ahhh i see

is it worth me waiting till im 16 and just get a zxr400 and try to get noticed or somthing ?

[Fahd]

[G]

If you're selective, from around £125 for a race weekend (two days) and another £100 a practice day if you want (well advised.)

About £30 on petrol/oil for the bike.
Transport costs.
Youcan do tyres for not much on smaller bikes - they last a while and you might be able to buy part worn ones with plenty left of the richer people.

There's going to be some other costs, but it doesn't have to be that much.

[tommyboi]

would waiting till im 16 and geting a 400cc and doing some track days and maby a race day and make a sponser video and add some people to it , would that be a good way to go ?

[Fahd]

[G]

Tommi, you can't do trackdays on a 400cc without a race licence - and then you can only do them on a race practice day or one of the few that has an acu group.
If you are very good and /do/ win a championship you may get some sponsorship. Don't expect to gain anything on the basis of skill without results unless you are very, very lucky - and you're probably a bit too old now as there's quite a lot of people your age that would like to start racing .


Fahd, that is pretty much a minimum, expect to pay a bit more most of the time. It is possible to race on a serious budget if you really try though.

I would buy a track bike straight out, hopefully you'll get spares and you'll have a lot less to do, so can concentrate on others things. Will come ready setup and probably cost less.
For cheapness along with reasonable performance I would look at yamaha past masters (there's a forum, google for it, may be some for sale).

400cc bikes start to get more expensive.

[tommyboi]

im am looking at doing the on-track course on https://www.haslamraceschool.com/

will this help at all thanks

[G]

Ron Haslem isn't known for being great value for money.

I've heard some say it's for people that want to say they've done a race school with someone famous, rather than a serious event.
If it's your only option, it's probably better than nothing, but expensive for what you're getting

Try the california superbike school, if they do anything that someone of your age can hire a bike for.

[tommyboi]

is there any race schools at brands hatch or the like i though £150 for 2 hours was a bit steep

[Fahd]

Thanks for the advice G, but to be honet I think I'll wait till I'm a bit older to race on the big bikes because as much as I want to ride them there is no point trying to do so with an insufficient amount of finance as my parents will not pay enough for me to be able to ride them. I think I will move up to 110cc, 4 Stroke Midi Motos as they can be raced with Mini Motos with the same entrance fees (I already ride a 50cc Midi Moto aswell as my Mini Moto) Or Pitbikes/ Pitbike Supermoto (125cc). I have looked at the range of machines my local supplier has and these are the three I will probably be looking at getting later on this year as they are much more within my budget and this means I can spend more on doing track days, aswell as this they are all gearbox bikes and not 'twist and go' so are a step up for me (Obviously I will only buy one of the three, although I am unsure as to which one yet)...

P.S If you don't mind me asking do you race yourself and if so which bike/s?