how much does racing actually cost?

[tech1234]

ive been doing alot of research and all the info is a bit confusing. hopefully some of the vets on here can enlighten me...

first off i want to get my riding off the street for safety reasons but like most im feeling the pinch of the recession. so im trying to figure out what i can really afford.

what i have -
-2 r6's. a 2003 and a 2006. the 03 will remain a "street only" bike due to non race friendly mods. the 2006 is mint but i dont mind modding or crashing it as i got it very cheap. (from family member so i cant sell it for profit out of respect)

-full shop (i own a bike and car repair shop)

-truck

i have no track experience but lots of bike experience from years of dirt, street, and ice riding.

so my question is this. do i do just trackdays? or is that not sustainable due to the high cost and the eventual desire to "move on"?

or is a long term racing plan a smarter choice for the best fun to money ratio?

what is the "actual" cost of racing and/or trackdays on a per day scale? (i realize this is an involved answer. maybe just ballpark it?)

[butcher bergs]

There is no "actual" cost for racing and if there were, that number is "alot" and depends on so many variables which makes it damn-near impossible to put a number on.

Suffice to say the faster you go the more expensive it gets and moreso on a MW bike such as your R6.

Personally, I advise you do some trackdays in order to get your technique and body position down. Afterall, navigating a race track at race pace is much more than going fast on two wheels. I feel a few trackdays would help bring that notion to light.

[union]

Its depends on a lot of things. Speed, tires, types of tires, gas, crashing, number of races you do, number of weekends you race. When I was doing 5 races a weekend it was close to 1000 a weekend including, tires, fuel, entry fees, food, and room. If I went down the price went up. A few times it was a 5 dollar bar. Another time it was a 500 dollar gas tank and pretty much a new right side of my bike.

You can race fairly cheap but not a a 600. Once you get moving plan on 2 rear tires a weekend.

[tech1234]

Its depends on a lot of things. Speed, tires, types of tires, gas, crashing, number of races you do, number of weekends you race. When I was doing 5 races a weekend it was close to 1000 a weekend including, tires, fuel, entry fees, food, and room. If I went down the price went up. A few times it was a 5 dollar bar. Another time it was a 500 dollar gas tank and pretty much a new right side of my bike.

You can race fairly cheap but not a a 600. Once you get moving plan on 2 rear tires a weekend.

wow. i dont have that kinda money

i would be stretching every dollar for a $1000 a month racing budget

[Rambunctous]

"trade" the 06 R6 for a RS125 or a TZ250. Lots cheaper and you can do everything yourself. Very racer friendly. Otherwise a SV650(not bad at all) or a motard(lots of fun too) or a EX500(cheap)

[Trouble]

There was another thread comparing track days and racing. I understood it to end up that track days were about comperable cost wise to racing if you paid the full price for a track day. Some track days were just auctioned off and the winners paid just over $100 for a day. Both Tony's and BoMo had great deals going in the off season. Watch for deals and you'll pay less than a race weekend, get more track time, and have a lesser chance of wadding up your bike while learning.

[OreoGaborio]

You can do it for 300 bucks a weekend... or you can do it for 1300 bucks a weekend. Way too many variables.

Your best bet is to do track days. Better bang-for-the-buck, but not the same element of competition.

[blacklightning]

Racing or trackdays, it doesn't matter; it's hard to ride without an arm and a leg.

[Pigman]

Getting started is pricey but expect to spend at least 500 a Race weekend easy...

[strgt]

Its always twice as much as you thought it was going to cost

[Paul_E_D]

I think 500 a weekend is more realistic. The days of 300 dollar weekends are gone IMO. Fuel and food alone cost close to 100.

A few things to consider to make it cheaper: You don't have to do 8 weekends. You can cut your budget in half by doing 4.

Selling your streetbikes is a great way to fund racing. You lose your insurance costs and other overhead which you can devote to racing. It also allows you to buy a bike that has already been race prepped. Your streetbike will need thousands to get it where it needs to be. PLUS you can go with something cheaper than a 600.

You can't have everything, but you can race if it is your priority.

[13]

Its always twice as much as you thought it was going to cost

I'll second this statement.

[Pittenger5]

And everyone forgot to add how totally worth it is.
But yah, on my motard it probably came out to somewhere close to 500 bucks a weekend, maybe more.

[union]

And everyone forgot to add how totally worth it is.
But yah, on my motard it probably came out to somewhere close to 500 bucks a weekend, maybe more.

Its some of the most fun youll ever have. Nothing like going elbow to elbow with your friends and then having a beer and shooting the shit when the day is over

[Evil_Weasel]

i'd deffinatly recomend doing some track days prior to jumping into racing...however there are a few members that went straight into racing so if you have the balls that is an actual option...just don't expect to be finishing in the top of the field for awhile. though if you really have the race bug...track days just won't "do it" for you.

it's expensive but there are plenty of ways to keep costs down...getting rid of the R6 for a lw bike would be one.

racing takes ALOT of comitment, finacially (not cheap), physically (you could get very hurt) and mentally (no one said it's easy). but it's also worth every penny and broken bone if you develope a love for it.

i hope to be back on the grid someday when i get my shit straightened out down here in FL

[The Snowman]

To quote National Lampoon's Vacation:

Clark: Yeah, well, we're from out of town. How much do I owe you?

Mechanic 1: How much you got?

Clark: No, I'm asking how much the repairs are.

Mechanic 1: And I'm asking how much you got!

Clark: You're out of your mind. Look, I don't have time to fool around so how much is it?

Mechanic 1: [waving a wrench] All of it, boy!

[FireboltEric_MA]

I just started this year racing, been doing lots of track days the last year or so.

I run a MW (09 600RR) I have a budget of 500 per weekend, you can cut that down by only running Saturday or Sunday instead of both days. figure out what your running and pick those days that best suits your life schedule.

I am only running on Sundays till my kids Baseball season ends then it will be both days.

Another option is to be a track worker on one day to offset some of the costs.

I also still do TD's and you will get twice the track time for less money that route, but there is no competition there, which makes racing....racing...

Enjoy whatever you decide, just get out there as it is some of the most fun you will have on 2 wheels...

[6 Fingered Man]

How much will it cost: 10% more than you can afford.

But if you have a small bike, don't crash, enter one race, don't stay at the track, bring your own food. You can have a race day with two practices for the cost of a track day or less.

[tech1234]

thanks for all the info guys.

i think the sad reality is that i cant afford to go racing or do consecutive track days

i guess its gonna be a couple track days this year and then save up over the winter.


how is it that a mw is so much more to run than a lw? is it just tire costs? the fuel cant be that far off in price, can it?

[Evil_Weasel]

tires are the biggest differance, but putting an R6 back together is way more expensive than putting an SV or EX back together after a crash...and you will crash.

[Doc]

If you are going to race you might think about getting a cheaper bike, it costs less. Same amount of fun but signifigantly cheaper. Less in tires, you can go threw a couple sets a year or a set a weekend if you are riding fast enough, I am told since I don't run a MW this is all hearsay bergs More expensive to find parts for a competative MW bike, etc

EX500's have a great following at Loudon, The SV crowd is up and coming, Us Hawk guys are a small tight group. Find a lightweight or ultralight bike, use less tires and generally cheaper to run.

I just feel alot of people are Rossi wannabes and think they HAVE TO race a "pretty sportbike with all the fairings and stuff". Ride a cheaper bike and have just as much fun.

Oh one more thing. It is like CRACK. You can't get enough, it does bad things to you and it is difficult to quit. You have been warned. But it is the most fun on 2 wheels.

Trackdays are great! Do em! But it sounds like sooner or later you will want to go racing.

[FireboltEric_MA]

I don't think running a MW will be much of a factor for a new guy, as much as it would be as a fast guy.

I will say it took me 2 seasons of buying gear and stuff to get to a point I can actually race.

maybe I will be competitive one day, but for now it is all about having fun with some peeps on the track, and off. Great bunch of guys out there.

[Kitt]

I dont understand the "do trackdays instead", it's not the same...

When coaching baseball, I never told the parents "go to the batting cage instead". Not the same, and trackdays aren't racing (even for the guys who think it is where a wrist band to show the "color" group they are in). Racing is the sport, trackdays are the recreational hobby.

With that said, you can get into lightweight bikes cheaper, mainly the bikes, and often the parts are cheaper. Yes, they use fewer tires.

I ran for 2 years, novice & Amateur, on about 8 sets of USED tires. thats $800 in tires (so about $50/weekend).

If you are excited to race, then race. The penguin school is a good place to figure out if it's for you. Many people suggest trackdays first. I personally didn't want to spend the $ playing nice.

In the equivalent of about 8 trackdays worth of riding, I had bumped through the ranks into expert class...

For me, that was better than doing trackdays and then coming into racing mid-pack novice anyway.

Try racing out if that's where your heart is, you'll find a way to fund it.

You can always do 1 weekend a month for the 6 months we run (slight savings over running all 8 rounds).

If you are budget minded, not including any crashing, you can run a 600 in novice and amateur for:

2-4 race entries $120-240
1/2 set of take-offs $50
camping fee $25
fuel for bike $25
fuel for truck $50-100
fuel for you $30

Thats $300-$470 per weekend depending on race entries and distance from the track.

If you dont have $3000 to spend a year, dont start.

[RyanNicholson]

If you have to ask you can't afford it. None of us can really... but if you want to race just show up and race and you'll figure it out as you go and find a system that works for you and your budget. Also, yes a MW bike is more expensive overall but it really doesn't make as much of a difference when your just starting out. You won't be running times fast enough to eat through a set of tires a day... and sure crashing a MW bike can be a little more expensive to repair but a bike is a bike.

I definitely would suggest "trading" or selling your R6 and buying a bike already built for the track. You could easily sell your bike, buy an 06 R6 race bike and save yourself a few thousand bucks. Then you have a track bike for TD's or racing depending on what you end up favoring.

These guys will push LW bikes on you pretty hard, but in the end ride whatever you believe you'll enjoy the most. We're all out there to have fun.

[FireboltEric_MA]

Ryan speaks the truth, For what I have in my new bike to make it "Track Worthy" I could have bought one ready to roll. I could have gone the LW route, but I like MW and I am sticking with it.

I actually started track riding on Ryans old race Bike. Was a great learning curve for me.

Just do what you can with what you have and think first, there are some crazy deals out there if you really look for them.

Enjoy the season!