To race or not to Race?

[Carnage R1]

Ok I've been going back and forth trying to decide if I want to race or not.  I already signed up for the school to get my license hopefully and would like to start racing at VIR for the June 23rd Weekend.

Ups and down on racing.  Why do people do it over track days?

How many of you have given up street riding for straight up racing?
How many of you use your street bike as a race bike as well?

Thanks

Sorry if the question has been asked before but it's been bothering me the past couple days if i want to start racing or not.

Any suggestions or ideas?

[tug296]

I would think that 100% commitment should be a target.

[PJ]

Apples and oranges.

In general, you get more track time during open track days. Much more. And, yes, you can run around and learn to cut good lap times. You might even dice with a guy or two. But it's not really racing.

There's nothing like racing 20 other guys into the first turn. Pushing harder and harder, up to and sometimes past your personal limits. Learning race craft is different than learning race tracks. Winning your first race is an experience you'll never forget.

The experience of real racing is much more intense. It's also more expensive. You'll spend more on tires, more on engines and if you get sucked into racing for championships, more on travel (and even more on tires and engines). And since you are pushing harder, you're probably more likely to bin a bike due to a mistake you make, or one that someone else makes, also pushing harder.

There is room for both. I really enjoy the occasional track day. But racing is a whole different master.

[racrx451]

this is my first year racing.  the past 4-5 years I have done several trackdays, but finally decided to race and I love it.  I am addicted.  I don't know if I will ever do as much street riding as I did in the past and my streetbike is a Ducati 996 so that is saying something.  I prefer racing over trackdays, because you actually have something to show for it... i.e. a finish.. and something to work towards other than better lap times which is also a huge goal and I like to compete.  Today was one of the most rewarding days... I opened the mailbox to a check from Trackaddix for my finish at MAM.. I have never gotten money for finishing a race (I raced motocross for 12 years).... it put a smile from ear to ear... Take the class and enter a race and Im sure it will all make sense......

[stephenr928]

I had been doing track days for a few years.  It was neat.
One year I got a shiney new R1.  It was really neat.

I thought I should go racing because I was a fast track day rider.  (Plus I was a bit nervous about the price of fixing my R1 if I should get a scratch on it....I pondered if it would be cheaper to get a used race bike rather than have to pay for new street fairings on a trashed Yamaha.)

I was living in Alabama around the time, & thankfully I received (& heeded) some advice from some guy who makes m/c stands named after some dog.   (Even now I wonder how he kept a straight face when I explained my plan to race the R1 as a novice.....)
He said I should perhaps consider racing in the Sportsman classes as a newbie, getting a used race bike as a starting point.

I'm so glad I followed his advice.  The only thing I would have done differently is (perhaps) have purchased an sv650 as my first platform.  Regardless, the F2 has been great in Thunderbike (& MW sportsman in CRA).

Good luck,

[Jeff]

Once I started racing I no longer wanted to street ride.

Now I ride a zuma around town when destination and weather permits.

[Sobottka]

racing pushes you in way that track days dont (or cant). i agree w/ jeff... street riding loses its appeal after racing (i dont own a street bike)

[JBraun]

Once I started racing I no longer wanted to street ride.

+1
I don't own a street bike, but I had the opportunity to borrow a bike and ride to RA last weekend to spectate. It just wasn't appealing anymore. I drove my truck instead.

It's weird how much I used to enjoy riding on the street. I gave up street riding 5 days a week to race 5 weekends a year, and it was worth it.

[spyderchick]

      To race, or not to race: that is the question:
      Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
      The bruises and anguish of outrageous highside,
      Or to take wrenches against a sea of troubles,
      And by more wrenching end them? To crash: to lowside;
      No more; and by a perfect lap to say we end
      The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
      That ego is heir to, 'tis a consummation
      Devoutly to be wish'd. To ride, to race;
      To race: perchance to win: ay, there's the rub;
      For in that race of champions what dreams may come
      When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
      Must give us pause: there's the respect
      That makes joy of such long life;
      For who would bear the bumps and scorns of Dorn,
      The competitor's wrong, the better man's humility,
      The pang of lost seconds, the backmarkers delay,
      The insolence of young gun and the spurns
      That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
      When he himself might his street bike make
      Into raw race machine? Flags would cornerworkers bear,
      To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
      But that the rider and machine be safe,
      The undiscover'd country from which
      No mere rider returns, puzzles the senses
      And makes us richer for having
      Tried the tracks that we know not of?
      Thus the act of participation does make winners of us all;
      And thus the native hue of resolution
      Is made brighter through riding past checkers waved,
      And enterprises of great pitch and moment
      With this regard their efforts made whole,
      And gain respect of all.-- Fast you go!
      Two Wheeled Racer! Triumph, in thy efforts
      May all wins be remember'd.


     -William Shakespeare, not! 

[Addicted2Danger]

My former streetbike is wadded up in the corner after learning how to race on it (or maybe how to crash??).  Not in the slightest hurry to fix it.  I would probly get a second or better race bike before I even bothered putting the streetbike back together.  Street riding simply does not compare.  I only use track days to practice for races.  After I rode my 1st trackday about a year ago I was already bored and my next trip to the track was for LCR school.  But racing isnt for everyone, you must have a passion to compete, and to get about 1/2 the sleep that you are used to when its racing season.  Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

[cbirk]

How many of you use your street bike as a race bike as well?

This may sound ridiculous (did I spell that right?) but I have my street bike all wired, set of race plastics, seperate gas tank and I'm working on the tires to race. My bike will be My race bike and my street bike. I'm still in college ,so I guess I'm giving it the old college try... I'm going racing because I'm out on the street using up my knee and toe sliders, and that is just plain stupid. I'll be a late starter in this season ,but atleast I'm out there this year.

[lbk]

I started off riding on the track, decided to give racing a try did 1 or 2 race weekends my first year on a GSXR-750 next year switched to an SV650 did most of the local rounds, finished well. The following season ran every round until a crash put a huge dent in the race budget. This year I didn't think I was going to get to race, and it was killing me now things have worked out and I'll at least be out there a couple weekends. Like others have said don't bother if you are not dedicated, passionate, and have a drive to want to do it. It is far more expensive than track days, takes far more preparation, and usually there is just as much to do for racing even when you are not at the track. However lining up on the grid, waiting for the green flag to drop, well there's not much else I have experienced in life that can compare.

Oh yeah and just sold the street bike, that was after having it for a couple years and only putting 4k miles on it, and just didn't enjoy the street anymore.