Please help me pick a bike and figure costs......

[Lowe119]

The company I work for is talking about sponsoring my racing and wants me to get them all the information on what bike to buy and how much it is going to cost. I haven't paid attention to all the improvements since 2000 since I never had the money to buy another bike. And I raced a lot from 2001 until 2004, so I know the basics. But I need help figuring out what brand has the best 600 for the money and what pays out the best contingency.

I also need to know what I'm going to have to put into the bike to make it race-worthy. I replaced the chain, sprockets, springs, fork valves, rear suspension, fairing bracket, clipons, tachometer, rearsets, case covers, exhaust, and a couple other things on my '00 R6, but I see that a lot of the new bikes have a lot of that stuff stock - like the 525 chain.

• So am I going to have to replace the chain or can I just get a different sprocket or two?
• Which bikes require me to replace the case covers?
• What do I have to buy for suspension (racing Supersport) or is the the same things I needed to do to my '00? Springs, valves, rear shock?
• Do the aftermarket exhausts still help a lot or can I run stock and still do well?
• Are there still places where I can get a fairing bracket for under $150 and clipons for about the same?
• Do the new bikes come with stainless braided lines or am I going to need those, too?
• Is the 600RR the only bike with a tank cover or do the other bikes protect their tank damage another way?
• Should I figure in some sort of Power Commander with the new injected bikes? If so, what does that cost and is it hard to setup?
• Is it easy to get an extra set of wheels for an 06 for a decent price?
• And I printed off the bike contingencies, but they are hard to figure out. Does Kawi pay the most or am I reading this wrong (I plan on doing most of my racing in the Midwest CCS Expert)

I know there are a lot of questions, but the sooner I can get this information to my boss, the better chance he will sponsor me - before he is out of the mood.


PS - I can take care of the bodywork - since I make my own ;)

[Jason748]

Since I just put together the 600RR in Feb of 05, here's my basic list of what I did (I'll let you look up the pricing, becuase if I start adding it up it will ruin my day ).

Woodcraft rear sets
Woodcraft clip-ons
Woodcraft case covers, left & right
Frame sliders
PC3 usb
Custom Mapping for PC3 (optional but if you want the best out of it, figure around $200.00)
520 chain & sprockets (15 & 16 front, 43, 44, 45, 46 & 47 rear, two chains - one 112 link & one 114 link)
Fork re-valved & re-sprung
Shock re-valved & re-sprung
Full racing exhaust system
Racing Brake pads, front only.

Spares:
Frame sliders (2 extra pairs of pucks & one extra set of bases)
Woodcraft bars (2)
Woodcraft foot pegs (2)
Front & rear wheels (with rotors & sprock mount)


There's some other stuff I'm forgetting, but I think that's most of it.
Last time I looked Suzuki still has the best contingency, but Kawi & Yam are good as well.

[Jeff]

It took me 20 mins to find it, but 2 years ago some kid was spouting off about how he was going to go out and buy a new GSXR-1K to race (although he had never really ridden).  I don't know if any of it will be useful for you, but here it is...

wow.. where to begin... To avoid carpal tunnel, I'll try to be as brief as I can.

Racing is not something that is just 'jumped into' and all fun, etc. It's more of a lifestyle than anything. Most people cannot handle racing for more than 2 years. At that point, they're fed up with the unGODLY expense, and tiresome effort required to run a season.

I've seen people lose homes, spouses and sometimes lives (on and off the track) due to racing.

The best possible advice I could give you would be to start as small as you can. Throwing around the comment of buying a GSXR-1000 and removing all the street parts to go racing, is not a very wise move in my personal experience. 3,4 or 5 years from now, if you're still racing, then, sure, go buy a new bike to race. This is what I do, but I've been racing a LONG time, and I'm well sponsored.

Pick up a used RACEBIKE. A used racebike will already have many necessary modifications already done, and you will save and benefit from this. Personally I would not recommend ANYONE "Start" out on a 1000. Start small, learn throttle control, enjoy the fact that a smaller bike uses less tires and is far more forgiving.

A used 600, or better yet, a used SV-650 which you can run lightweight classes with would be a very wise choice.

Here's what I whipped together in about 90 seconds that it will take to get you TO the track. This is "out of the gate, 1st initial costs". There are MANY other costs which I've left out (dzuz's fasteners $3/ea, safety wire, etc etc etc). This takes into consideration your 'new' bike.

Bike $9,000 (I gave you the benefit of a good discount here)
bodywork $600
paint $200
clipons $125
rearsets $300
damper $400
brake lines $100
exhaust $800
rear shock $1,100
fork work $500
power commander $300
dyno work $250
frame sliders $75
tires $350
fluids $200
gearing $100
Chain $100

Bike Total: $14,500


helmet $300
leathers $1,000
boots $200
gloves $100
back protector $150

Gear Total: $1,750

Tire warmers $300
Stands $250
canopy $200
tools $500

Misc Total $1,250

Grand Total: $17,500

And that's assuming you have a truck/trailer/van to GET to the track with. Again, this is day ONE. You haven't even touched the track yet (yep, that will cost you more).

Here's a MODEST race weekend:

Transportation $200
fuel for weekend $150
tires $350
entry fees $200
gate fees $50
practice day $100
food $100

Total: $1,150


This doesn't account for ANY repair or crash damage, or basic consumables (oil, brakes, coolant, gearing, etc etc).

If you've gotten this far, good, you're paying attention... Now that you're turned off and scared, let me go back to my original statements:

START SMALL!!!!

A used racebike already prepped should run you around $3-7k depending on how new, what work and how many spares/etc come with it.

Run 1-2 races per weekend and LEARN... Learn everthing you can, and make decisions from there. Listen to people who tell you to spend money on suspension, and riding schools. We know what we're talking about and we've made the mistakes.

Too many people jump into this, dump a wad of cash which they don't really have, and then give up because they crash a couple of times.

The sport can be incredibly rewarding and a great "lifestyle", but again, it truly is a lifestyle change which needs to be looked at carefully before making a serious plunge into it.

Hope that helps! :-)

[Jeff]

Contingency is a horse a piece...  Yam/Suz pay out pretty decent, but you have a shit ton of competition on them.  Last year I brought home around $1500 from Honda because I placed well in a couple of races on Honda weekends which weren't yam/suz weekends.  Honda also paid out with TINY grids.  I.e., if you placed 5th out of 5, you got paid.  Suz/Yam have field requirements which aren't always met.

If you're a regular on the expert podium in middleweight & heavyweight races, pick whatever pays the best and run with it...

[Lowe119]

Thanks for all the numbers. I am actually not "starting" out. I raced CCS since 2001 and have only taken the last year off. I'm just getting back into it and have the opportunity to replace my 00 R6 race bike with a new one.

So I have the truck, trailer, leathers, helmet. air tank, stands, tools, expert license, and everything else to race. As you can see, I'm not new to this site either. So I'm not some squid off the street who has never been on the track and wants to buy the fastest bike so I can wad it up into turn 7. 

I want to get a new 600 to replace my old 600.  Back in 2000, all the 600's were about the same. The R6 had a little more aggressive geometry and that's what I liked about it.  So my buddy got the Honda and I got the Yamaha. But I've been out of the loop since then and haven't even sat on a newer bike. I'm thinking that we'd be going with Suzuki, but I'm still looking for more information.

[Jeff]

I knew you weren't a newbie.  As mentioned, the post was just cut-n-paste for a guy who was.  I just figured it might have some info you could pull out, and then discard what wasn't applicable.

[Lowe119]

I knew you weren't a newbie.  As mentioned, the post was just cut-n-paste for a guy who was.  I just figured it might have some info you could pull out, and then discard what wasn't applicable.

Ah. Didn't catch that part.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Jeff, that about covered it.  Nice!

[Super Dave]

Jeff did good.  I always figure a good $14k for a new bike.

If you're really serious, then you need to have an assortment of front and rear springs to try.  Spares? 

Contingency winnings should be considered that...winnings, or income.  A reward. 

Tires?  Have you covered that?

[Snacktime]

Buy a new Daytona 675, trick it out and ride the s^%t out of it. Then let me know if I should buy one of those or the new R6.                                                          -Snack

[Lowe119]

Jeff did good.  I always figure a good $14k for a new bike.

If you're really serious, then you need to have an assortment of front and rear springs to try.  Spares? 

Contingency winnings should be considered that...winnings, or income.  A reward. 

Tires?  Have you covered that?

I'm thinking contingency shouldn't be a big factor for me at this point. I'm sure the top racers show up on those weekends just to get that money. So winning an Expert race (especially on contingency weekends) will be a stretch at my level.

I switched to Michelin a couple years ago and loved them. I don't know what has changed on them since - but I have them in my budget.

[Jeff]

If contingency is a stretch, then either consider a Honda (which still has great payouts and has fewer bikes on the grids and also runs separate weekends), or possibly a used model which may be more attractive to your financier.