Rough idea of racing costs??

[Tony.OK]

Hi all,I'm thinking about giving racing a go and am just wondering how much its gonna cost.
Would maybe run a 600 bike,so assuming bike is sorted,
cost per race meet?
are meets just one day or is quals the day before(do i need time off work?)
do many ppl race on their own(without pit crew?)
how many meets a season.....VMCC?......PacificMCC?
Sorry for the noob ??????

Am currently on an 06 Blade fairly kitted out and doing 1.40-1.41's at Taupo with Diablo's on .
I'd be selling up to have a crack at racing so just trying to work out a rough budget of sorts.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[James Deuce]

3 times what anybody tells you it will cost. Still worth it though.

Don't crash either because it very quickly becomes 12 times what you budgeted.

[Toast]

Cost per meet:
Entry fees: $80ish
Fuel: for 2 classes at Vic Club on a 600, maybe $60.
Tyres: Depends how serious you are. I've made a set of 002 Streets last 4 meets and was still able to sell them at the end, so that was about $150 per meeting (also had some test days in there). Ofcourse this will vary with riding style, suspension set up, tyre choice, etc.
So that's about $250, not including transport costs, oil changes, and other consumable like chains, sprockets, crash replacements, etc.

Most meets are one day, with qualifying and racing all in one day. Vic Club had a two day meet on a Sat/Sun this year. So long as you aren't travelling miles to the venue, you shouldn't need to take any time off work.

Racing on your own is sweet, but help in the pits makes life a lot easier. Just pit beside someone who's not in the same class as you, and help each other with the tyre warmers, stands, etc. thing before and after every race.

VMCC: 6 meets. AMCC: about 4, I think. PMCC: 4 planned but who really knows.

With those times on a 600 you'd have come top 10 at the last round of VMCC at Taupo, and I'm sure you'd go faster with the competition Racing is a fair bit different to a track day though, and first time out in F2 you'll likely find yourself getting crap starts and being stuck behind a bunch who are slower than but you won't be able to pass. That's all part of the learning experience though. Give it a go! One of the best decisions I ever made

[Toast]

Oh, and don't foget the cost of stands, warmers, ramps, tools, spares just in case, transit insurance, etc.

And Jim is probably right, my estimates no exception. The more competitive you get, the more it will cost.

[White trash]

Club racing's fairly inexpensive by comparison. Providing you don't take into account the bike and set up costs.

$600 in tyres a meeting, twice that if it rains. $100 in fuel or there abouts. Somewhere in the region of $100 entry. Travel and accomodation depends on how far ya gotta go.


Cost us around $40K so far on the K7 and it's still nowhere near competitive.

[Shaun]

Club racing's fairly inexpensive by comparison. Providing you don't take into account the bike and set up costs.

$600 in tyres a meeting, twice that if it rains. $100 in fuel or there abouts. Somewhere in the region of $100 entry. Travel and accomodation depends on how far ya gotta go.


Cost us around $40K so far on the K7 and it's still nowhere near competitive.

Is that the bike or Rider?

[White trash]

Lol, the rider. He's got a bit of a mental issue since losing the front trying to be a hero rather than a racer.

All good now thogh I reckon, pretty much got it sorted for this weekend using some tips an old fast bugger gave me

[Tony.OK]

Great stuff guys,I'm sure if i explain it nicely to the MRS that she wont be getting any pressies for xmas cause i need tyres she'll be happy
I guess you dont have to race in every meet depending on bugdet,knowing me the Bug would bite pretty hard.

[dhunt]

Oh, and don't foget the cost of stands, warmers, ramps, tools, spares just in case, transit insurance, etc.

And Jim is probably right, my estimates no exception. The more competitive you get, the more it will cost.

Yeah this what has really caught me out this year is all the setup costs. Hopefully most of them are one offs so should be cheaper next year.

The other thing I would have done different this year is instead of starting off with a road bike and trying to turn it into race bike would be to buy someone elses ex race bike. Would have worked out much cheaper in the long run .

[Tony.OK]

Yeah this what has really caught me out this year is all the setup costs. Hopefully most of them are one offs so should be cheaper next year.

The other thing I would have done different this year is instead of starting off with a road bike and trying to turn it into race bike would be to buy someone elses ex race bike. Would have worked out much cheaper in the long run .

Thats my way of thinking,sell my Blade and its goodies,pick up a reasonable prepd bike,only worry with that is reliabilty though.
I've got nearly 30k invetsted in this bike so would hate to race it and wreck it then find out i'm not having fun.
Mind you a new GSXR600 for 14k,spend another 3k and have a reliable quickish bike.................If only I could pick sum winning lotto #'s

[k14]

Mind you a new GSXR600 for 14k,spend another 3k and have a reliable quickish bike.................If only I could pick sum winning lotto #'s

Reliable yes, quickish no. Make that an extra 10k and you may be verging on quickish. Upgraded suspension is pretty much compulsary (added safety, also better tyre wear), race fairings (painted of course), race exhaust system, power commander (cause race exhaust is no use without it) then maybe some nice rearsets and bars/levers. Then you're staring at 10k and you haven't even hit the track yet.

Have a look around, now isn't probably the best time for a used 600. But after nationals (March next year) you should be able to pick up a decent bike fully sorted for $15k max.

[FROSTY:Me]

I run my racing as a business so If you want accurate figures I can give them to you.
If you stick to north island racing you have 14 meetings you can attend
Costs wise Id allow an average of $150/$200 per meeting for fuel-being transport vehicle fuel and bike fuel- this is based on traveling an average of 600km return to every meeting-300km average each way .Tyres I allow $300 a meeting or 1 set per 2 meetings.-There is no allowance there to sell the tyres afterwards so you could sell them as they will be showing good tread depth
entry fees I allow $100 per meeting. Accomodation I allow $75 per meeting average.
running costs I allow $100 per meeting. This covers oil changes and a lever or two.
These figures are based on the last 3 seasons racing in formula 3 at the 3 tracks --manfeild/taupo/pukie and having the team based in west auckland .Ive removed engine rebuild /crash damage costs Ive also removed all national level meetingsnational level I allow 1 set of tyres per meeting and double fuel /maintainence costs

[Tony.OK]

I run my racing as a business so If you want accurate figures I can give them to you.
If you stick to north island racing you have 14 meetings you can attend at club level

That'd be really helpful Frosty.
Assuming I've got everything I needed to race,whats it costing you to compete in one meeting?
It costs me about 250-300 just to do a track day all up.

[FROSTY:Me]

I did an edit on my last post for ya--those numbers are straight outa the books

[Toast]

The other thing I would have done different this year is instead of starting off with a road bike and trying to turn it into race bike would be to buy someone elses ex race bike. Would have worked out much cheaper in the long run .

Agree with that!

Buying a well looked after and set up race bike from a reputable team is the way to go, in my opinion.

Second to that would be buying an insurance wreck if you can get it cheap. Raid eBay for forks and wheels and you can come out well ahead.