Have you ever thought about racing?

[Motoshire747]

Bet you have! So what's holding you back? Here are some inspirational stories of how people got started...

http://www.vrra.ca/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14206


Or check out the VRRA Profiles in Inside Motorcycles.

Do you really want to be sitting on your rocking chair at 80 regretting that you never had the trill of being on the starting grid?

You could have...

[stormcat]

I like TDs, but hate racing. So there ya go. I answered your question.

[invictus43]

I've thought about it...and I decided I a) can't afford it, b) don't want to risk an injury and c) ain't fast enough..

[Jayv]

I've thought about it...and I decided I a) can't afford it, b) don't want to risk an injury and c) ain't fast enough..

Boo you sound like an old fart

[sircastic]

Boo you sound like an old fart

That's no excuse there are old fart classes too.

[invictus43]

Boo you sound like an old fart

Straight truth!

[Snipes20]

Did an endurance last year and will be racing in soar next year

[Motoshire747]

I like TDs, but hate racing. So there ya go. I answered your question.

Trackdays are good. Yikes, why hate? Strong word!! Bad experience?

[stormcat]

Trackdays are good. Yikes, why hate? Strong word!! Bad experience?

My only experience with it so far included some very unsafe passes in corners made by people who forced me off the line. E.g., One terrible pass forced me to stand the bike up and slam on the brakes in a corner to keep from hitting him (he clearly didn't have room), and another crappy pass ended up with me off the track (again to keep from hitting some guy when he realized after passing me that he was going in too hot and slammed on the brakes). When it comes to me passing I obsess about doing so safely to an anal retentive point of not being able to commit to making a pass at all. Even when the opportunities are slapping me in the face. So, not the best experience.

[franz131]

When it comes to me passing I obsess about doing so safely to an anal retentive point of not being able to commit to making a pass at all. Even when the opportunities are slapping me in the face. So, not the best experience.

Passing isn't a natural process, it's learned like everything else you do on track. It sounds like you need to spend some time with a good instructor to focus on building your skills and confidence. Now is a good time to line someone up for next year.

[Amazon]

I think about it every day and night. I have my walls covered in racing posters and a bunch of little model race bikes. The thing keeping me back is money, it's probably the main thing that keeps most people from achieving their dreams

[stormcat]

Passing isn't a natural process, it's learned like everything else you do on track. It sounds like you need to spend some time with a good instructor to focus on building your skills and confidence. Now is a good time to line someone up for next year.

It's funny how the word confidence keeps coming up because it's 100% true. I do lack confidence at the track. And after 2 crashes (both at tracks), I lost a lot of confidence on the bike, period.

I have a short list of people I would love to hire for next season to help me out: Donovan, Vinnie and Josée. I don't know Donovan, but heard great things about him. As for Vinnie and Josée, they're both good folks and I felt like I really clicked with them at Calabogie last summer.

[AC]

Passing isn't a natural process, it's learned like everything else you do on track. It sounds like you need to spend some time with a good instructor to focus on building your skills and confidence. Now is a good time to line someone up for next year.

who and how much??

[reciprocity]

This why they call it racing.

If you didn't hit him, he had room

My only experience with it so far included some very unsafe passes in corners made by people who forced me off the line. E.g., One terrible pass forced me to stand the bike up and slam on the brakes in a corner to keep from hitting him (he clearly didn't have room), and another crappy pass ended up with me off the track (again to keep from hitting some guy when he realized after passing me that he was going in too hot and slammed on the brakes). When it comes to me passing I obsess about doing so safely to an anal retentive point of not being able to commit to making a pass at all. Even when the opportunities are slapping me in the face. So, not the best experience.

[stormcat]

This why they call it racing.

If you didn't hit him, he had room

I had to stand the bike up and slam on the brakes to just narrowly miss him. That tells me he was not passing me safely. What if I had maintained my line and speed? We both would have been track debris.

[kellen]

My only experience with it so far included some very unsafe passes in corners made by people who forced me off the line. E.g., One terrible pass forced me to stand the bike up and slam on the brakes in a corner to keep from hitting him (he clearly didn't have room), and another crappy pass ended up with me off the track (again to keep from hitting some guy when he realized after passing me that he was going in too hot and slammed on the brakes). When it comes to me passing I obsess about doing so safely to an anal retentive point of not being able to commit to making a pass at all. Even when the opportunities are slapping me in the face. So, not the best experience.

sounds like racing. forcing the guy you are passing to hesitate for a split second because you are where he wants to be, that's the only way by

[Mr.Azim]

sounds like racing

Yes, that's definitely racing lol

[stormcat]

sounds like racing. forcing the guy you are passing to hesitate for a split second because you are where he wants to be, that's the only way by

I'm going to disagree because 1. we're all in the green group, and 2. the emphasis on the weekend was about passing safely. The rules for passing were laid out. I.e., you cannot force another rider off their line. If you want to pass, you must find another line to do so. You must leave a minimum distance between yourself and the rider you're passing (IIRC, it was 2').

[gtm]

Always wanted to race and for that matter even ride a motorcycle and racer5 helped me realize this dream last year. Unfortunately things won't work out the way I wanted and I won't be out on my own bike this year, but I plan to see what Fawaz has in store this year, so long as he isn't totally sold out already!

I learned a lot and had a freaking blast. Even on those y 125s you can have some great fun and even have some oh shoot moments. Flying down the hill into turn 5 at mosport is one hell of an experience, even if I was only doing a little over 100 haha (full throttle all the way baby). On a real bike I can imagine just how insane it would be.. let's just say I would be pretty far off the record lap times for a while.

There are a multitude of different routes you can take, different classes and different levels of dedication and expenses. My initial plan before I did anyhing was that I wanted to buy a 600 with all the goodies and go racing and go now and start winning races and be on my way to motogp in a few years.. but then reality set in. In all likelyhood when i do start racing it will be on a budget ride on a budget. There are a lot of differing opinions on just what you need to be competitive or successful even in the novice classes, ranging from your basic track ready bikes to near ten thousand dollar perfect bikes. I had a good discussion with one of the guys at riders choice one day about what he figured I would "need" and really it came down to exactly that, what I need, not what I have to have to be "competitive". Ask yourself this, are you at any point where you can ride your stock bike to its limits, to the point where the bike is what's holding you back, not yourself? Sure upgraded suspension and a tuned engine and other odds and ends goodies are "cool" and everyone else may have them, but you really don't need them until you need them. If you're way off the pace a five thousand dollar suspension upgrade or a tuned engine isn't going to get you any closer..

There really are so many ways to approach the sport. One thing that was intriguing to me was the vintage racing, and the fact that the bikes can be had fairly cheap(by comparison to newer supersports, unless were talking MINT vintage bikes), but I ran into a lot of people who mentioned that since they're vintage they'll require more upkeep and those parts are more expensive should you go down.. so there are a lot of factors to weigh. Plus travel expenses, tools, trailer, room and board, other perks you want etc.

Nothing is stopping you from buying a beaten up track bike for a few grand, trailering it in the back of a van, camping out and racing on pump gas and the scrubs from other racers. You can do it cheaply, but you have to understand that the top guys in your class are on 15k dollar bikes on fresh slicks on race gas with their motorhomes and anything and everything they want. At the end of the day though, its supposed to be for fun, and I think when you can realize this, and that you gotta get to work on Monday, that its not such a big deal and any way you go about it, nothing compares to pushing your limits on the track, even if you're just racing yourself, even if you're on a little cbr125.

Cheers

[Motoshire747]

...There really are so many ways to approach the sport. One thing that was intriguing to me was the vintage racing, and the fact that the bikes can be had fairly cheap(by comparison to newer supersports, unless were talking MINT vintage bikes), but I ran into a lot of people who mentioned that since they're vintage they'll require more upkeep and those parts are more expensive should you go down.. so there are a lot of factors to weigh. Plus travel expenses, tools, trailer, room and board, other perks you want etc....

First of all, it sounds like you are getting a pretty good handle on things. You can spend as much money as you want in racing and it can get pretty crazy pretty quick! With the vintage bikes they do tend to be less expensive and more importantly because the periods/classes are established within the VRRA (with a specific end date that doesn't change) your bike doesn't become obsolete after a few years. Parts are sometimes hard to come by but they are normally really inexpensive. Once you get into it, you will start collecting parts real quick, stuff just seems to come your way. If you happen to have an off, the bikes do tend to crash better. You will likely trade some reliability compared to modern stuff, but once you sort the old bikes out they are usually pretty good(DON'T pull something out that's been sitting in a barn for 10 and expect it to be good)

Uwe (Mojo) was on an '85 gixxer that broke down during the endurance race but it had been really reliable prior to that. Read his story here...http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/2012/0...stival-racing/

"My pretentious-sounding complaints hide the fact that I’m actually enjoying myself. It turns out that the Vintage Festival is as much a social event as it is a race weekend, and its party-like vibe makes me feel like I’m crashing a backyard barbecue whose guests swill cold beverages with oil-stained hands while sharing a laugh. Although the racers here range from 16 to 70 years of age, the bulk of the VRRA’s 225-plus members are in the 40-something crowd. The diversity of machines on hand is matched by the diverse group of riders; there are father-and-son racers and even an all-woman endurance team who call themselves “Three-A-Breast.”

Hope you get on the track one way or another in 2012 and thanks for sharing!