Wnating to race.....

Sully said:

I wanted to post this thread to see if I could get a little advice from everyone...( if possible ) Some of you have allready givin' some good advice!!!! It was suggested to take the learning curves class at Blackhawk first to see how it goes... I agree.... I've had very little track time.... What sort of gear do I need??? Is it smart to take the street bike, or is it wise to bring a specific track bike??? Whats the next step after the CCS liscense??? Are sponsers impossible??? My wallet is only so thick.....

Thanx for the help

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Before anything I assume you have proper safety gear? Full leathers/good helmet/gloves/boots/backprotector? If not you need it. start shopping at someplace like www.kneedraggers.com

As for what bike to the track?? Take whatever bike you wouldn't mind bending into a pretzel and blowing up. If you can't afford to destroy it...don't race it.

Like everyone has said its best to get lots of tracktime before jumping into racing, the pace some of the fast "Amateur" guys run is quite fast in 600 classes. You can get started doing trackdays with ( www.nesba.com or www.sportbiketracktime.com ) and get up to speed and get used to staying smooth with other riders REALLY nearby at speed. When you feel comfortable do the www.learningcurves.com school and get racing.

Racing is expensive.....very. Typical racing weekend can be an EASY $500+ by the time you include tire cost/gas/race entry/gate fee....ect Like I mentioned previously sponsorship is for the REALLY fast or the successful business owner.

You can look into contingency money, which is the lowlevel version of sponsorship... basically you run company X's product and have thier stickers on your bike(and fill out the required forms) and if you place well you can get $$ or free stuff from them. Other than that you can do the CCS purse races (Am Unlimited GP) which pays about $200 for a win and down to $65 for 10th place...?

Bottom line is unless your superfast, don't count on sponsorship money. If you find you ARE superfast...you need to get exposure on a national level. At that point you'd need to start looking a F-USA classes or AMA racing. :evil

Purchasing safety gear is the first place you should open up your wallet, even before considering mods to your bike. Get the best quality helmet, armored gloves, boots and a back protector you can afford, look for leathers that are double-stitched, vented and fully armored - used is okay as long as the suit is intact. Don't skimp - remember, it's your body we're talking about here. This is a dangerous sport and serious injuries are not uncommon.

Then, you'll need to prep your bike. If you're going with Learning Curves, you'll find all the prep requirements on Rick's website (www.learningcurves.com). If I remember correctly, these requirements actually exceed those of NESBA and STT, so you'll be set for track days as well. While you will be able to purchase a racing license from CCS upon successful completion of the L.C. school, you might want to do some track days before entering your first race, especially if you don't have a lot of experience.I would not advise entering a race until you are comfortable with consistently holding your line on the track. You'll be able to get detailed info on tech requirements and race prep from CCS' website as well (www.ccsracing.com) along with the class structure.

If you opt to purchase a dedicated track bike and go racing, it seems like SV 650's are everywhere and they can be run in the widest variety of classes. (Easy for me to say, I'm a Suzuki fan). If you have any money left over after purchasing your gear, attending school and doing a few track days, you'll want to get a set of race bodywork (you can remove your fairings for the school and track days, but will need at least a belly pan to race) - stock bodywork is ridiculously expensive to replace. I bought Sharkskinz and am very happy with how they've held up. Airtech is another widely-used brand but I've been consistently told that dollar for dollar, Sharkskinz were a better buy (the less costly Airtech stuff tends to shatter upon impact).

Until you have a considerable amount of demonstrated success on the track, or have friends who own businesses that will pay you to advertise them, you probably will not find much in the way of sponsorship beyond discounted parts.

I was about to ask the same questions, but I think you guys have pretty well covered everything I wanted to know already! Sort of a let down for me, but thats life.

Is there a day any time where you can get on the track (blackhawk) with your street bike, (providing you have all the safety gear) just to experience it for a few hours? I understand that it's a lot more complicated to road race then drag race, but it would be great to just be able to go out and see how you feel on a roadcourse without completely getting into it. Most likely I will never get into actual racing because of the high costs, but I'd really love to get a little time on a track where it's okay to ride it like it was designed to be rode and just have some fun. I can have some fun on the street, but safety and law breaking is always an issue.. junk on the road, people, cars, animals, police.. all hazardous. Just one day in a place where you can ride it hard without getting arrested or worrying about road hazards would be a great thing to experience.

(just read other thread about nesba intro class.. signed up there, thanks!)