New Guy Introduction + ?'s

[Gixxer124]

Old race SV's are available.  However, a bike is not just a sum of it's parts;  it should be a sum of the set-up and attention that someone gave to it.  A bike can have all the "good parts" but still handle like a bucket of dung because the person trying to execute didn't know anything about sag, spring rate, trail, etc.

Who have you been talking to? I set my bike up hard to ride on purpose. I have to give Ed Key and Brian Lacy all the help I can. ;D

And "It handles like a truck" were the exact words, not a bucket of dung.

[tshort]

Hey Polish one - welcome to the asylum.  

I was in a similar situation to you about three years ago - thinking about racing and getting ready to take my licence, buy a race-prepped SV over the winter, and start getting my mind and body in shape for racing.  (Oh, and my budget too).

You didn't mention (or I missed it if you did) whether you had done any track days on your R6.  If you have, then we share another key part of the story - track time before race time.  

That's important, because by the time you start racing, it is nice to not have to overcome any initial newbie stuff re the track part of it.  Gives you more of a chance to focus on the racing part of it - and trust me on this, there is a world of difference between the two.

Part I - Riding

I started out on a Ducati that I bought with the express intent of getting out for track days.  At that point I was honestly not thinking about racing at all - "too crazy, too dangerous" was my take on it.

So I did four or five track days summer of 2002, including several with Rick Breuer's excellent Learning Curves..  I had fun, but not *that* much fun doing them at Road America and Blackhawk.  Met some interesting people too, who showed up at multiple events, so we hung out a bit as time went on.  Come Sept that summer I told my wife I'd do one more, Putnam Park in October, and then hang it it up - I'd had my fun.

Got to Putnam, and my rear tire was getting a bit sketchy (or so someone had told me).  So after thinking long and hard about it, and consulting wifey, decided to really go nuts and buy some new tires for my bike, and actually replace the stock Pirelli street tires that came on the bike when I bought it.   I know, I know, it was pretty radical - spending $300 for a new set of tires for a day and a half of riding, but I figured, "what the heck - it's probably my last time anyways." ::)

And it was.  My wife knew we were in trouble when I arrived back in the pits after my first session on the Pirelli race rubber and I had an ear to ear sh** eating grin that would not go away.  I proceeded to shred that new rubber clean off the bike over the remainder of the weekend, and never had so much fun on two wheels.

[tshort]

Part II - Racing

And that turned out to be my last track time on my Ducati.  Because I spent the winter searching for - and eventually finding - a race-prepped SV, and reading up on the WERA and CCS boards everything I could find about how to go racing.

Spring of 2003 rolled around, I took my licencing course with Learning Curves, and decided to skip the first race weekend in early April and BFR - it snowed that weekend, as I recall.

End of April is RoadAmerica FUSA weekend, a doubleheader for CCS, and I entered in 11 races - with some level of comfort that at least I knew the layout a bit, having done a track day there the previous summer.

Goal:  do not crash; and do not finish last.  Really - nothing more than that.

End result:  11 races, 11 places in top five, 11 chunks of wood, some cash (from GTL) and various contingency payouts (whatever that is...I didn't really quite get it at the time).  

Fun huh?   It really was - especially since I didn't know what place I was in most of the time I was out there - I was just having fun riding with all the other lunatics on the track, and trying to keep up with the mob.  

As the season progressed that same scenario repeated, and I ended up rising up in the points in our region, to the stage where it looked like I could actually win the regional amateur title in a couple classes.  Who Knew??  Not us, I can tell you.  When we started all we wanted to do was not crash, and not finish last.  As it turned out, skipping that first snowy weekend was a mistake in terms of points, but I don't know that I'd do it any differently.

[tshort]

Part III - Lessons Learned

So what would I tell someone like you, just starting out on this grand fun?

1. Do some track days before you start racing - maybe even sign up for a race/advanced riding school that provides more individualized track riding instruction. You'll get comfortable with track riding this way, before you have to deal with racing - which is different.

2. Spring for race rubber for the track days - you won't learn how to ride if you don't.

3. Buy the best safety gear you can - before you spend money on horsepower.  This will make you go faster than anything you can do to your bike.

4. Buy a raceprepped bike - my SV was literally ready to go - just had to put a number on it (it was all yellow, too - so it was easy to repaint crash rash when needed - and it was needed).

5. Honestly assess your budget - and ask yourself what you'll do if you find yourself winning, and wanting to run the full season, rather than just part of it.  You're only a winning amateur once (well, most of the time - I'll let the various YPSers chime in here on strategies for that).

6. Never ever forget what SuperDave told me one weekend:  HAVE FUN.  If you're not having fun, what are you doing out here?

7. Listen to the guys with the white plates - they know what they're doing, and they are usually very happy to help you.

8. Have fun.

So there you go - some thoughts that I fondly recall from some of the best days on two wheels I've ever had.

PS - want to by a 2002 SV?  It's ready to go, and it knows its way around all the tracks in the Midwest.

[PolishPete]

Well what are ALL the details of the SV??  What do you want for it??  Where are you located??  How long have you had it for sale...how long will it be for sale??  Thanks for that great info...that's what I need.  I've not had any track days yet, but am very excited to get out there...I say I want to race an SV, but I def. need to ride one first...much different than an R6??  I'm very comftorable on my bike, but like I said earlier, maybe too much to jump into racing with.  We'll see...any other good insider info out there??

Thanks again!!

[tshort]

Well what are ALL the details of the SV??  What do you want for it??  Where are you located??  How long have you had it for sale...how long will it be for sale??  

I'm in Milwaukee - if you send me an email I'll send you the info on it.  tshort9@sbcglobal.net.  It's the bike you need, I think, based on what you've said so far.  You can also give me a call too if you'd rather - I'll include my ph# in return email to you.

[Super Dave]

It's a good bike.

Adult driven...    ;D


Tom didn't mess around when putting it together.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

     I wanted to add something to what I had posted before about starting from the back and working your way forward. When I started racing I didn't know 1 person in the sport, and I didn't have this luxury of the internet either to gather info. I had ridden on the street for 5 years, never raced anything in my life, and had never been on a race track for anything (no track days). I went into the sport completely blind and by myself, no help what-so-ever. There are those that have raced other things or done a bazillion track days before starting this type of racing, though they may not be doing it right, they still had alot more experience than myself on a race track-at speed. Some people jump into this sport and get touted to be god-like in their ability, yet what many don't know is that they may have years of racing experience already in some other sport. If your not 1 of these people (previous racer or track day hog) I can pretty much guarentee that your not going to be winning your 1st race ever. The biggest advantages you could possibly have at the start would be a properly set-up bike and some track time with instruction. When I started I was on street tires, didn't have anything done to my bike other than bodywork (no suspension work at all), and didn't have any instruction other than the licensing school from the previous season.

     I just wanted to add that so you understand where I started and why I was suggesting it to you (being that you have not had any track time or instruction yet).

[PolishPete]

Thanks guys for your help...p.s.  email has been sent...any other info...you guys are a lot more helpful than I expected!!!!!! 8)


And I don't mean that in a bad way...but as in you guys REALLY want to help.  Thanks again.