It is a bit long but this is a review of my 2011 year in CCS/LRRS racing.
I owe a LOT of my speed and cornering to the 20lbs I saved by making my own carbon fiber subframe and a carbon/kevlar gas tank =)
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeU_N6-1bWc”]LRRS EX#434 2011 Year In Review (HD) - YouTube[/ame]
This is all so cool. I’ve got a bunch of questions I hope you don’t mind me asking all at once.
How dangerous is motorcycle racing? Have you or others gotten permanently hurt? I ask at minute three cause you fall off.
How expensive is your bike? How much money do you put into the racing?
How can I learn to race a bike safely?
Very cool video!
Also how’d you like NHMS? I was just there in May for the Formula Hybrid competition.
I dont mind you asking questions at all. I ask tons here so its the least I can do to offer something back considering I am pretty clueless about composites :-p
How dangerous? Well, it is an extreme sport and just like any other extreme sport there are risks. We do what we can to mitigate them but bad things can happen. I have been fortunate thus far and in 5 crashes in 2 years I have yet to sustain anything worse than a very minor fracture. That said, we had someone earlier this year who had a very bad crash and was in a coma for a few months. Marco Simoncelli who is a professional MotoGP racer died this past weekend. As I said, there are risks but 99% of the time people walk away from an off. For instance, in the crash that I show in my video I actually got right back up, picked up the bike and continued racing. I didnt have a scratch on me due to the protective gear we all wear.
How expensive is my bike? Well I race in the lightweight brackets. You can easily get started there for around $3k for everything that you need. That said, I take my racing seriously and so I have invested a fair amount of time and money making my bike a top contender (hence me being on this site. My bike weights 66lbs lighter than most other bikes due almost entirely to carbon parts that I have made).
Now, I dont race in the “stock” classes, I race in “superbike” which means that I can do a fair amount of modifications. I have a built motor and a few other performance goodies on there so I would say that I am into the bike for around 9k at this point. The real expense to racing comes at the weekend. $120 in race fuel and $400 in tires for every weeekend. $220 in entry fees. $100 for gas to and from the track. By the time I have gotten food for the weekend I am up to about $1k. My racing budget for this year was around $18k.
You DO NOT need to go to this extreme. I have a friend who races in the stock classes on the same type of bike as mine who spends closer to $350 a weekend and only paid $2200 for his bike. The short version is that racing is an expensive hobby to have but you can do it on the (relative) cheap. On the plus side, once you get good you can pick up sponsors to offset the costs but they are few and far between.
How can you learn to race? There are schools to teach you just that. In the northeast you would go to the Penguin racing school. They teach you all the stuff you need to know about actual racing and what you cant learn there the community will help you with. BY FAR the coolest bunch of people I know. I myself try to mentor at least 3-4 “noobs” per year. It can be intimidating to get your feet wet and there are LOTS of questions.
Before you consider that I would invest in some time just riding the track with one of many track day organizations who basically rent you a day at the track. I mention TonysTrackDays.com in my video because they have AWESOME instructors there who can answer questions and offer riding tips/advice. I would strongly suggest doing some track days before going to a race school and getting your license. If you need help finding one just let me know what area you are in and I can see if I know a good one at a local track.
And finally do I love NHMS? You bet! It is the most technical track in the country (or so it is said) and MANY of the AMA champs have come out of Loudon strictly because if you can race there, you can race anywhere. It really forces the rider to focus on carrying corner speed (what wins races) simply because there arent any long areas to make passes on the gas.
Very long winded I know but if you have more questions, fire away. I am more than happy to answer.
Oh and thanks for the great comments on my video, I am glad to see that it is being well received!
Nice video! Thanks for sharing it’s always nice to see what other members are doing for fun. That write was nice to read also, bike racing has always sounded like something fun to get into.