Racing for just one season?

Cheers for that Luke, more things to think about, especially tyres etc. As for a year, it would then likely be moving East to that country with a lot of people, taking a bike in and out of there would be "interesting".

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Cheers for that Luke, more things to think about, especially tyres etc. As for a year, it would then likely be moving East to that country with a lot of people, taking a bike in and out of there would be "interesting".

I may be being dumb, but which country!? When I moved to Oz, I wish I had shipped my R6 rather than sell it first. Still miss that bike. If it is a unregistered race bike, then you might not have to jump through as much red tape.

China. Imagine the red tape!

hi tim, i'm having a go in the gp2 class the thundersportgb on my sv this season. if you have the spare cash and time to spend on it give it a go. I fortunately have a very understanding other half, have been getting spares, kit transport, etc, etc, together for the last year and have spent every spare moment since the start of january getting the bike fully prepped. Even cutting a few corners like using old road bodywork and doing all the prep work myself there are some expenses you just can't get away from. Tyres and other consumables all add up. I fully expect to crash at some point but decent riding gear should do it's job. Best advice I got was from the scruntineer this sunday just gone and he basically said spend money you have on getting the bike handling as best you can, and on the gear to keep you in one piece when you fall off. If you spend £600 on fancy bodywork it'll be down the tubes in your first spill, but the same money on suspension, tyres and good kit will be very well spent. You have plenty of time from now til next feb to get everything planned and sorted.

A quick list of what I've got together:
bike - converted road sv, 2 sets of wheels - 1 for race rubber and 1 for wets, spare bodywork, handlebars, levers, rad, tank, forks, decent race brake pads, paddock stands, 3 x 3m awning, van, sleeping and cooking gear (thundersport meets are 2 - 3 day events), tyre warmers, loads of tools, transponder (some clubs hire them).

You'll also need to get everything sorted for your race licence, and have a look at which class you want to race in and which tracks you fancy. I wanted to run my sv but have room to tweek it a bit and gp2 class really suited me that way.

The club ran a novice course on sunday to let all us newbs know what we are letting us in for, it was excellent and explained everything we could expect on a race weekend and the order they run things in. It was quite reassuring to hear it all from the horses mouth as up til then it had seemed a bit daunting. I'd be more than happy to chat to you sometime if you wanted to know anymore or drop me a pm with any qn's and i'll help out if I can. This may be my one and only chance to do a full(ish) season and I'll be doing 9 rounds out of 10 this year. Can't wait for March 13th now. Good luck with your racing, hope you get it all sorted

Man, why does everyone always talk about crashing!? Sure it is a possibility, but I don't think you should go into a race season thinking "ok, I'm going to crash a few times this year..."

I fully intend to not crash if I can help it! If it happens it happens, but until it does, it isn't even on my mind.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Pit team?

Pit team - Read as "Mates who stand around drinking your beer watching you change your own tyres and offer the odd bit of unnecessary advice"

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Berlin

Pit team - Read as "Mates who stand around drinking your beer watching you change your own tyres and offer the odd bit of unnecessary advice"

[Nobbylad]

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Man, why does everyone always talk about crashing!? Sure it is a possibility, but I don't think you should go into a race season thinking "ok, I'm going to crash a few times this year..."

I fully intend to not crash if I can help it! If it happens it happens, but until it does, it isn't even on my mind.

I crashed on my 1st trackday....God help me if I ever got into racing lol!

I never, ever, intend to crash....it just kinda happens sometimes

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Thanks for the above, what kind of class are you racing in Carl?

Financially I should be ok in one of the less expensive series, it's getting through the mountains of tyres etc that I really need to look at and how things like this affect the costs of the different series. I have a bike trailer currently, and would proabably buy some form of semi civilized van as my main mode of transport if I went down the racing route (VW T4 looks promising).

I'm in the F600 but originally planned to race in the pre-injection 600's but ended up buying the wrong bike! I set out with the intension of buying a carby R6 or CBR and ended up with a 01 Gixxer.

Vans: I looked far and wide at vans and the T4 is about as expensive an option as you could choose. The cheapest out there is the Iveco Daily (for age and mileage) and you'll pay 3-4 times the money (literally) for a T4 than you will for an Iveco. In fact, you could buy an Iveco or similar and have enough chash left to buy a *serious* race bike rather than buy a T4

I bought an excellent condition 2001 Iveco with 113,000 miles for 1500 quid. The same age VW transporter with double that mileage (knackered) will cost you £2500! So a good one you are looking at 4 grand!

For the bike, have a search on Ebay and racing sites for *race* bikes and you could just pick up the whole package from someone getting out of racing. Its astounding how many spares and extras people include in the sale! and fear not about race bikes, they are very well cared for. Track bikes on the other hand.. maybe not so much.

I can't belive how much more prep time and money I'm putting into the bike just because its now a "racing" bike and not a "track" bike any more. Its a state of mind. Yes I used to spend a lot of time on the track bike but now its been promoted, I'm ridiculously anal about every nut and bolt. Wierd!

C

The idea behind a T4 is that I could have it as my everyday vehicle too (as they are not too big), it could be used for surfing/mountain biking in the winter and I would not have to bother buying a car too. If I was having a car too, a cheaper van would definitely be a good idea.

Do many clubs do the carb 600 class? It sounds a nice compromise between cost and performance.

I have been watching a few "race" bikes on evil bay out of interest, but will have a scan of the racing sites too, thanks for the tip.