New (maybe) racer questions

[Jeff]

It depends on the level of competition you want to run and maintain.

If you're out to have fun and really don't care what you race or where you finish, you can do it for a couple hundred bucks a weekend.

If you want to be competitive in MW/HW/UL classes, $2-3K (yes, $2000 - $3000) per weekend is very realistic.

Figure in crash damage, food, transportation, gear that wears out and needs replacing, bike wear parts (chain, gearing, brakes, etc).

It's ungodly expensive.  (and that's not including initial purchases of bike, tools, gear, trailer, vehicle)

Between my expense and what my sponsors/advertisers contribute, I go through around $22-25k per season.  A Dan Ortega, Dan Doty, Jeff Purk or Andy Feursthaler could realistically 1.5x - double that I'm sure.

But here's the deal that I tell people...  Look at someone who golfs with as much passion as I put into racing.  They're dropping just as much in country club fees, equipment and a few trips to those ultimate courses per year.

I don't hunt, fish, drink, bowl, golf, ski, go to movies...  I race...  For me it's more of a lifestyle than a sport.

And my favorite quote on this is by Peter Egan:
"Racing makes heroin addiction seem like a vague wish for something salty"

The next time you're at the track, take a look around and start considering the cost of EVERYTHING you see in a paddock.  There are people rolling in with half a million dollars worth of RV/Trailer/Bike/Tools/Canopy/Gear/Etc...  And the number of those people are growing every year...

Used to be that people rolled in with vans or pickups and camped in tents.  Now I'm betting that RV's, toy haulers, 5th wheels etc will have to park in designated sections at BHF because they're taking up too much space.

Where does all the money come from?  Well, probably the bank.  But my guess is that many people live like they're poor so they can race like they're loaded...

[Super Dave]

If you want to be competitive in MW/HW/UL classes, $2-3K (yes, $2000 - $3000) per weekend is very realistic.

I don't spend that kind of money.

Rear tires wear more than fronts.  I can usually do three rears to one front.  Then I can still use the rears for schools or some practice.  I know that I've worked with teams that endurance raced an SV, and they'd use the front tire for three events...CCS Team Challenges.  Even used a rear twice.  

Vintage bikes are not cheap.  They have issues, and you have to focus on riding something that has issues.  Sometimes you can only push as much as the chassis will let you.  Sometimes, it will spit you off...but, I guess, it depends upon what you're calling vintage.

[tshort]

Keep up with current events.  No GT winnings anymore.  Only Unlimited GP.

Well excuuuuuuuse me.  But if you'd read *my* post, you would have seen that I was basing it on my actuals, not budget for coming years. :P

Before I got into this I read a lot of posts on this same topic, and couldn't believe how guys were justing tossing around numbers - "allow $500 per weekend and you should be fine."  Then arguments would break out on the board.  Unbelieveable.

Always made me wonder how they could argue about historic fact? ::)  That's why I put my actuals in.  And btw, my numbers don't reflect contingency/GT payouts, I just mentioned it so that the guy could decide for himself how much he might want to allow for those - which would require doing more research, which would lead him to the conclusion that GT don't pay no mo.

[tshort]

Oh, and one more thing...as a racer once said:

"Roadracing makes heroin addiction seem like a vague desire for something salty."  

Be realistic about what you're willing to spend, and where you're going to get it from.  Then pull the trigger and don't look back.  Most fun you can have with your clothes on, I reckon.

[tshort]

Holy crap Tshort!  Are you saying 850 per weekend?  My god, I had no idea how comparatively cheap racing a mini is.  2 sets of tires get you through a season, no race fuel needed, etc.  Is a bunch of that money tied to the hotel, or is most of that actual race money?

We spent a good bit - $2300 -  on hotels; and about the same on food and gas for transport.  Food was probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the second $2300.  

So if you only raced locally, and didn't buy food, you could probably get away with just entry fees and tires - which would come to $629 per weekend, based on my actuals (five races per weekend).  If you eliminate race gas, you get to $592.  Depends how bad you want to go fast, and how many races you want to enter. If you run three races instead of five you could reduce entry fees by about $70 or $80 per weekend (I'm sure SD will have the exact number here).  This would also stretch your tires out - I was getting two weekends from a front, and one from a rear (pushing this, as I figured out - and was repeatedly told - is penneywise and pound foolish: crashes usually cost more than tires.).

[H-man]

Crack addicts tell similar stories....

ROFL!  ;D