BHF to a 1 day race sechdule for the rest of the year.

[J Farrell / Speed Tech Motorsp]

You guys are all missing the most important thing that has changed in the past 10 years and made this sport to expensive. You used to be able to get in and race Supersport, which had to best contingency with very little mods. This is something that has gone overlooked for to long. Everyone has to build a motor, get kit ecu,run race gas,ect,ect. that used to be for the guys that had money and could not ride. If I could buy a bike and have strict SS rules I would still be racing.

I don't know that I quite agree with that. I can recall racing in the mid 90's and you could get Kit HRC blackboxes,cams, velocity stacks, transmissions if you called the right people and had money. Back then if you knew a bit about motors you could really gain some power in Supersport compared to stock engines. Now the motors are built so good from the factory that you really don't need to do much to them but throw on a pipe, Power Commander, Air Filter, etc and you have a great bike.
Suspension is so much better than it was back then also. If you had the money you could spend huge money on a set of forks or internal adjustments and the bike would handle WAY better. In 04-08 I ran stock forks with absolutely NOTHING done to them other than maybe adjust the spring rate for my weight.
I have been racing on the same shock since 1999. It is now on my 2009 ZX6R. I just updated the stack only a couple months ago. So I have had the same shock for 11 years. My brake lines are hand me downs from a street bike I bought wrecked to part out over 5 years ago. Same brake lines.

Remember in the 90's when your bike had a 530 chain on it and you had to sport for a 520 conversion kit? They all come with 520 chains on 600s now. The Kawasakis still have the same sprockets as the ZX7's. Haven't changed.

One thing that has changed is the engine electronics just like everything else in the world electronically. Lots of power is made with electronics. If you are behind the digital divide you will fall behind. More riders are going faster by understanding how to put the power down on the road through electronics.
I have seen a change in CCS throughout the years. A question I often bring up is when was the last time you saw an engine teardown in CCS? I can't even remember. Even if one occured, who would have the knowledge & tools to tear it down & inspect the parts? So for those who think they don't have a chance against faster riders cause they MIGHT have cheater parts there is no reassurance for them to have somebody tore down.

About engine building: You have to let riders freshen their engines. Some do it more than others like myself. I tear it down at least every other weekend and check parts, replace anything with the slightest wear. If I blow a motor I rebuild it myself at the track if I have to. How many guys can do that?
I learned when I was 18 in my first season racing that I couldn't afford racing by paying someone else to do it, so I took it upon myself to learn absolutely everything inside & out about motorcycles. After 16 years I still can barely afford it but I have learned how to save money by doing it myself, riding my ass off, practicing every angle of riding, crashing to find out what doesn't work, working on my marketing skills to advertise.
I was a broke ass 18 year old back then racing and couldn't afford it. Now that I spent all these years learning, starting a performance shop, teaching riding at my own shop, I can finally do what I love and do it well. Thats what being a good rider takes. If your not willing to do that kind of sacrifice someone will always be faster than you.

I really don't think racing has gotten more expensive. Its all relative. One thing that the media keeps trying to push is that this is the summer of recovery. That is all bullshit. Times are tough everywhere and there is less money for the average guy to race.

So you say to make a competative class by keeping things stock. I have to say that the AMA is doing a great job of that lately. The racing has gotten much closer, more fun to watch. Still there are less riders & spectators. The economy is causing that. I own a bike shop. Trust me. Just look at all the bike shops that have closed in the past 2 years. I'm surviving because I'm not a quitter and will do what it takes to pay the bills.
We could try to go with a spec fuel, tires, more scrutinized techs, but in order to do that the series will have to pay some pretty knowledgeable staff with no bias to any teams. All that cost money.

You can't limit their use of blackboxes because the blackbox controls the fuel & ignition.
Stock exhaust would cause major crashes and be unsafe for everyone.
Stock suspension wouldn't be fair for one sized rider who is 130lbs or a 230lb rider. It would be unsafe not to allow suspension changes.
Stock brakelines are dangerous to all.

If you think about it. Pretty much all the aftermarket parts thrown at a motorcycle are there to help you control the bike better of which is safer to ride.

If you have more rules, the team or riders that always excel are the ones with more knowledge, money. They will have the money to find other ways to make the bike handle better to help the rider go faster, safer & easier.

The fastest riders are not the ones with a bigger set of balls. They are the ones that did their homework. And the ones that did their homework will get the good grades! If you think you can ace a test without studying your wrong.
Time to sharpen your tools and get to work.

Racing will always be expensive no matter how you look at it. This sport is not for everyone. This sport is for the dedicated teams and individuals. If you want be competitive in racing motorcycles but the money flow or time isn't in your schedule its time to accept that you need a better paying job, need to sacrifce more things in life to get it, be happy not winning, or do another sport.

I posted a comment earlier of what my father once told me: It all about how bad do you want it.

Tonight I sat and went over my bike with a fine fine toothed comb to get ready for this weekends races. I have been getting ready for my race weekends weeks in advance.

I know I might come off as a bit brash or hard core but I'm sick of Bullshit comments from a couple riders I know who congratulate me on my finishes but say I running a cheater bike. All I gotta say is F*&k you! I work my ass off for what I got and I won't ever let anyone try to discredit my riding, & bike building skills.

I'm trying to bring riders to the track to help the sport grow. CCS has a bit to work on with their advertising if they are going to make it. Their races have to change (too many), Tech needs a facelift. (I'm talking Supersport inspections). CCS should be asking the riders what they as an orgainzation do to make it better.

In my previous post my rants were a lot about the motivation / drive of the racers / track day riders of recent seems low. The "I can't do it" syndrome. That I wish would change in todays society. I look around the pits and wonder who will take my place when I'm gone from racing one day.

[riderupred]

WELL SAID!!!!!

Jim has worked at his company for 15 years and when times got hard they laid off a ton of people, putting Jim at the bottom of the seniority list. Then the company and Jim had to deal with absorbing employees from the areas that were no longer operational. Jim kept his job thankfully but took a steep pay cut of $3.00 an hour. The economy tanked and is no where near making a come back.

And to the people that have ever said you run a cheater bike.... what the hell are they smokin?  You are by far the most determined person I have ever meet in my life.Your dad is right, it is all about how bad you want it. I have seen your bike from many different angles, on the ground wadded up, in rubbermaid totes, and pretty and polished on stands.. You do not cheat. You are just super talented and missing a screw or two ;) 

Tech does need a facelift for sure, to much gets threw and not nearly enough stuff is given proper attention. There are quite a few very knowledgeable bike guys at the track, like your self, that could volunteer for tare downs. Jason,You are a very unbias person, you have to be due to your business, your tweeking your competitors bikes for a living. 

One suggestion to this issue is to get the racers more involved in the organization, going beyond racing... tech, corner working, timing,  registration and so on.... you would be surprised at how many at willing to do so without being paid a dime, they will do it just to see the club racing succeed.   Where there is a will there is a way right?

[HerbigCBR]

You guys are all missing the most important thing that has changed in the past 10 years and made this sport to expensive. You used to be able to get in and race Supersport, which had to best contingency with very little mods. This is something that has gone overlooked for to long. Everyone has to build a motor, get kit ecu,run race gas,ect,ect. that used to be for the guys that had money and could not ride. If I could buy a bike and have strict SS rules I would still be racing.

I dont necessarily agree either. Enforcement is one thing, but you dont need to build a bike with all the bells and whistles to be competitive. Sure there are fast guys with all that stuff done, but there are also a few with relatively stock bikes running with those guys too. This is club racing, its about the rider. Heck I raced on street tires, pump gas, and a bone stock motor last year. I was one of the few guys doing that, and maybe I wouldnt have done as well as I did if the grids were larger, but it can be done.

Back to the topic of what CCS might be able to do to help...

I presume they went to a 1 day race to cut costs. If they are losing money every weekend, there's really no sense for them to keep racing, so they have to cut costs or raise their prices. Nobody wants them to raise their prices because that would result in even smaller grids and a downward sprial. They will not be able to make a large enough profit from the spectators to help them much anywhere in the near future, so by lowering the gate fees to get more of a crowd is prettymuch out for CCS.

We all agree that they need to do something to help increase grid size. Sure there are factors that are playing into this problem right now, whether it be the economy, trackdays, girlfriends, or whatever else, but what can CCS do to fix those problems directly? Not much I would guess...

Things have been said about changing tech, and there may be some valid arguements I would presume, but I dont think that would help get ppl into the sport. Maybe help keep a few, but if they had the tech problems fixed tomorrow, I dont think many ppl would come back to race because of that.

Marketing, I dont know. Its a matter of making back what they spend on it. It's club racing, I dont ever really see it as a spectator sport. Maybe marketing toward trackday riders like mentioned before would have an impact weather "racers" like it or not. Times are changing, its not 19xx anymore where trackdays were prettymuch non-existent and you had to just start racing if you wanted to go fast.

Maybe we can continue to offer some more suggestions while times are rough to help make it through.

Im suprised nobody has said anything about online registration. I understand it would cost a bit of money and time, but pretty much every trackday org has it, along with several other racing orgs from what I've seen. Would it make a big difference, probably not, but its not 1995 anymore and we know how lazy some ppl are. Plus would cut down on some data entry for them in the long run. There are several other pros / cons on this too I'm sure.

Another suggestion I have been thinking about is offereing a pre-season race entry package. For example, offer a package where somebody can buy 25 races for $1000 before the season starts or whatever. Sure it's a good chuck of change to shell out for some ppl and CCS wouldnt be making as much on a few entry fees, but it may be an additional way to secure some grid spots without altering the current pre-reg or standard entry fees.

Anyway, just my .02. Don't be to harsh on me 8)

[Grasshopper]

I posted a thread on Chicagolandsportbikes asking why people don't race. Here are the answers.

http://www.chicagolandsportbikes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106420

[truckstop]

Top three reasons people give me at track days as to why trackday riders don't race:
1. Too expensive.
2. Not fast enough.
3. Too dangerous.

I posted a thread on Chicagolandsportbikes asking why people don't race. Here are the answers.

http://www.chicagolandsportbikes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106420

Looks like I was pretty close.   

[spyderchick]

I found the 'meat grinder" reason pretty funny.
If today's grids for middleweight are "meatgrider", what would it have been called back in the late 90s/early 2000s? Pate? Eggbeater? 

[spyderchick]

To Jason: Damn straight. I remember asking the Boyd boys how much they had into their bikes back in the late 90's and I was told about 20K, for one machine. It was still expensive to be competitive back in 'the good 'ol days'.

To Herbig CBR: you're getting the gist of it. Entry fees are a fixed cost for the racer, they don't change during the season like fuel prices, maintenance (your results may vary), and crash repair. Some of your ideas could very well appeal to Kevin. I suggest you flesh them out a bit with some focus and detail then forward them on.

[stlrainman]

If the one day race format becomes the norm, I think the race day should be saturday. Racers tend to travel further. It would be nice not to have to pull an all nighter after just running one day of racing.

[twilkinson3]

Here's one - I'm a software engineer - if Kevin needs donated time to build or spec a online reg system or such...I'll donate the time to get it done...I hate Faxes......

[riderupred]

Here's one - I'm a software engineer - if Kevin needs donated time to build or spec a online reg system or such...I'll donate the time to get it done...I hate Faxes......

see we need more people like you to step up to the plate......free is awesome!!!! and we got some damn smart people in the community.....Yeah getting a hand out means swallowing your pride at times but it seems that at this point and time Kevin needs everybody's help to get through this rough time.