Hi All, I am looking to start racing with the AFM next season and would like some advice as to what class to run and where to look for a bike.

I think the obvious choice is to go with the 250 production class, but there are so many classes I'm not sure. Somehow the 650 twin class is in my brain and I'm wondering about the 600's as well. Any advice would be appreciated.

I am planning on going to the last race of the season in a couple weeks and am hoping to see some bikes for sale. Any advice on other places to look would be appreciated.

My History: I am a long time motocrosser, raced for many years. I am 45 years old and looking to transition to pavement. Been riding street lately and loving it. Live in Santa Rosa.

Thanks!!

-Marc.

I am planning on racing next year pending passing the NRS in November with ZoomZoom. I have an older bike, and because I have 5 I turned one into a track/race bike. I don't intend on winning, but I'll have a lot of fun.

Starting on a smaller bike will teach you to be faster in the corners, and then you can move up to something faster when you're ready. I'm sure there will be a bunch of bikes for sale at the end of the year, and buying one that's already a track only bike, saves you a lot of work.

45 seems to be the magic number. I'll be that next year.

Track days, and more track days.

The NRS is not a trivial process, even for experienced riders. They will have you demonstrate a familiarity with the track, a good race sense, and an aptitude for safety. It's a lot of fun but it's by no means easy. I would highly recommend that anybody get at least 4-5 track days on a race-ready bike under their belt. Race-ready meaning good brakes, tires, and suspension, and no engine leaks, along with the usual prep work explained in the rulebook.

If you're not there yet with your bike and your track time, you've got work to do!

I've always been a fan of smaller bikes, so that colors my opinion. It's hard to beat the 650s since they're popular, readily available, rugged, and reasonably low-cost to race, but smaller bikes teach you how to maintain cornering speed, conserve momentum, and are much less stress. You could even start by renting the 250 Ninjas.
Racing is fun when you feel like you're in control of the bike; finding the edge is difficult for those of us no longer in our teens or twenties and thinking about work, spouses, kids... (I'm 50 and have been racing for 20 years). With 600s capable of 120 HP, they can go crazy-fast in a crazy-short time. Sure, the acceleration of a "big-HP" bike is exhilarating but then you get to the corner and have to scrub off that speed. I race a 500; last year when I raced a friend's 600 I was amazed at how much more work it takes to go the same lap times. Granted, I'm more familiar with my bike, but the 600 doesn't corner any faster so you have to accelerate harder and brake harder to get the lap times--it's tiring. At a recent track day I rode a 450, 600, 675, and 848. All fun but I still prefer the small bike.
Oh, don't forget the cost. Smaller bikes can go a 1/2-season on one set of tires. With a 600 you're replacing them each weekend plus using more gas and facing more costly repairs.
If you enjoy a big challenge, go racing--on anything. If you enjoy a sometimes-overwhelming challenge start on a 600.

All good advice, thanks guys! Starting out in the 250 Production class seems the best choice for me. I can appreciate the value of getting my corner speed up on a smaller bike. The 650 twin class is still pretty tempting though...

I'd like to get some track days in at Infineon. Where do I find details? Who puts them on and when are they?

Thanks!

This is my first year racing, so I don't have nearly the same amount of experience as most on this forum, so take this with a bit of salt.

What I would recommend is start with the 650.

Few of reasons:
1. If you get a production legal bike, you can easily run up to 4 classes when you start. (Clubman, 650P, 650Twins, F4). If you want an GSXR front end, then there are 3 (everything but 650P).

2. The 650Twins/F4 have a lot of racers running a wide range of lap times so no matter how fast/slow you are, chances are you'll have someone to dice it up with. Smaller grids (like 250P) it's easier to find yourself doing a glorified track day if there isn't someone doing similar lap times.

3. The SV650 is very popular. Plenty of race-prepped bikes for sale for really good prices right now.

4. There are tons of super knowledgeable/friendly people to help you with advice/parts when things go wrong (ask me how I know). The 250P class is also very friendly, but it's a much smaller pool.

The 250P has two things going for it:
1) You can rent your race bike
2) It's even slower, so it really really forces you to learn corner speed fast

Good luck!

Good input, Aaron.

mzwilli wrote:I'd like to get some track days in at Infineon. Where do I find details? Who puts them on and when are they?

IR is the second-toughest place in CA to get a track day (Laguna is the 1st) simply because there is so much demand for the track. Time is actually more likely late in the year, although you take a chance with the weather. All three of the AFM New Racer School providers have days there; you can get their links and contact info from our "New Racers" page--link is over there on the left. You can also go to IR's Web page (http://www.infineonraceway.com) and look at the calendar listings to see which group has days coming up.

FYI, since days there are limited it is not unusual to sell out. If you can accept a trackday at a different track, there are always lots on the calendar at Thunderhill (http://www.thunderhill.com). It's another challenging track, albeit with higher average speeds.

synfinatic wrote:This is my first year racing, so I don't have nearly the same amount of experience as most on this forum, so take this with a bit of salt.

What I would recommend is start with the 650.

Damn novices! (just kidding!!)

the 450 class is really really fun. If you get a prod legal one you can race 650P, 450 SB, F4, F40 lightweight, and/ or super dino.... plenty to chose from!

grids are small mostly (10-12 bikes) so theres no crazy psycho stuff and we're all pretty tight and help each other quite a bit.
An yamaha fzr 400 can be had race ready for under $2k, the jap bikes ready to go fetch $4-5k.
I even think theres one still in the afm classifieds for sale... or check barf.

Thanks again, all good information.

Now I'm tending towards the 650's to start out. I ride a twin on the street and like the powerband. Having other riders my speed is important as well.

Not familiar with the SV650 though, is it important to get a 2003 or later to be competitive?

Similar question for the ninja 250's; is it important to get a 2008 or later?

I've raced motocross for years and it seems most the bikes on the track are all pretty new.

Check out the results of the last round at Infineon (link below). Scroll down to the 650 Twins results and you'll find that most of the bikes in that class are pre-2003. Granted, it's a Formula class and those riders may or may not have a newer engine installed. But these are not new bikes by any stretch of the imagination.

http://www.afmracing.org/downloads/results/2009/inf-0809.html

Also, to second what Dave posted, the 450 superbike class is extremely fun and inexpensive to break into, probably about the same price as the Ninja 250s. I read an ad that saw two race prepped FZR400s with spare motors, frames, body parts, suspension, brakes, wheels, multiple sets of new slicks, trailer chocks, stands, and on and on. Basically everything you would need minus tools and time. The package sold a week ago for $3000. The same package in 650 form could run you well over 10$ grand. Granted, the sale was in South Carolina, but there are deals like in LA and the bay area as well.

This is the ad:
http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=223103&page=3

You may not be in a budget situation right now but if you are, you should consider this to be an option. 60-70 horsepower is a great place to get a start in club racing, in my humble opinion.

There seems to be a lot of 600's on the market. I'm not seriously considering one, but am curious as to how these bikes are to race...

rule of thumb, don't start in slowest or fastest class. everything in between is fine

just race what you want. the only people who care about corner speed are people on ninja 250s and SV650s.

I'm with Joy on this one - go racing. Even if you race a broom, it'll be fun!

one more thing--gsxr 1000s are actually really really easy to ride. 750s are easier and 600s even easier than that. *Especially* if you've been racing in motocross. Come out and ride with Pacific Track Time, they will teach you how to race any bike you want, whether its a ninja 250 (i think michael earnest was the ninja 250 class champ at one time) or a gsxr1000 - most of the novices who are winning clubman heavyweight come from pacific track time. pacific track time also graduated 2 girls (that i know of, maybe more) on gsxr 750s this year...bess and karen. yes, i've ridden ninja 250s and sv650s and i agree that they are a LOT of fun. but racing a gsxr1000 is 100000000x more fun!! there's nothing like passing people doing 170+ mph without doing anything except twisting your wrist and tucking behind the windscreen!! pat blackburn let me borrow his gsxr1000 to race a couple of years ago and i've never had sooo much fun in my life! the only reason i'm sticking to the 600 is i want to race ama one of these days. Hope to see you out at the track soon!!