2.1 What Bike Should I Use to Go Racing?
Description
This article is from the How to Become a Motorcycle Roadracer FAQ, by Duke Robillard duke@io.com with numerous contributions by others.
2.1 What Bike Should I Use to Go Racing?
The conventional wisdom is that you should start on small bikes, and
learn to ride before you get enough horsepower to really hurt
yourself. In the US, the most popular starter racing bikes are the
Kawasaki EX-500, the Yamaha FZR 400, the Honda Hawk GT-650, and Your
Current Street Bike.
o Kawasaki EX-500
Made from 1987-1997, this is a 500cc parallel twin with a cradle
frame. You can find race prepped specimens for under $2000. It's
not the best handling of these bikes, but it's cheap and fine for
starters. As a little twin, it's legal for lots of classes.
There's a mailing list filled with racers: send 'SUBSINGLE' in
the body of the message to EX500-request@lists.best.com. There's
also a Home Page (http://www.sport-twin.com/EX500Hm.shtml) with a
FAQ and a lot of good stuff.
o Yamaha FZR 400
Imported to the US from 1988-1990, this is a 400cc inline four,
with an aluminum "Deltabox" twin-spar frame. The 1990 model had
twin front brake calipers and a Deltabox swingarm. Race ready
versions are usually close to $3000. This is probably the best of
the three, but it also costs the most. I bought this one, because
I didn't want to worry about whether the problem was me or the
bike; with the FZR, I know it's me. There's a mailing list for
this bike also: send "subscribe fzr-400 your-address" in the body
of a message to majordomo@openix.com
o Honda Hawk GT 650
Made from 1988-1990, this is a 650cc V-twin, with a twin-spar
frame. Race ready versions are around $2500. The engine is a
little weak in stock form, but can really breath fire when worked
on. As a little twin, it's legal for lots of classes. There's a
mailing list for this bike also: send "subscribe hawkgt-l your
real name" in the body of a message to
listserv@listserv.hawkgt.com
o Your Current Street Bike
This bike has one obvious advantage: it's nearly free (you do
have to spend some money race prepping it). A lot of people start
on their 600 Sportbikes; in my region, the Amateur 600cc grids
are completely packed. The disadvantage of this bike is that when
you wreck it, you've got no street bike. An even worse problem
would be wrecking it on the street and having no race bike! In
addition, it's a royal pain to rip all the street stuff (lights,
signals, etc) off every weekend, and when your suspension is set
up correctly for the track, it's unrideable on the street. A
final warning: some organizations don't let novices on anything
bigger than a 750.
A good way to pick a bike is to go to your local track, hang out in
the pits, talk to people your own age who are smiling, find out what
they are riding and why. Look at how many bikes are in each class, and
how the racing is going. Some classes are just for nut cases (I would
never say that about any particular class, like, oh, say, the Amateur
600's). Other classes have an air or respect for their fellow riders.
Some people start in vintage racing; it's not just for retired
roadracers. A good starter bike is a CB350 Honda. They are cheap, and
in the USCRA there are two classes for them, one for stock motors and
one for modifed motors. The USCRA also has a class for the RD 350
Yamaha. One of the main advantages of vintage roadracing is that it is
a fixed target. Once you sort out a machine you can race it year after
year; there are no new Vintage bikes coming out. Most clubs rules are
very stable and do not allow new technology to creep into the classes.
No matter what bike you race, it's simplier if you buy a bike that's
already being raced in the class you're going to join--that way all
the grunt work of race-prepping has been done. And stay as close to
stock as you can; you need to spend the first season learning to race,
not working on your porting.
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