Starting up racing.

[lostinflyz]

OK so i have manned up and bought a race bike to go have some fun. but its not much more than a road bike (viffer 400) with race fairings.

do people specialize in doing up (or starting to do up) race bikes or are you on your own. Where to start??

Whats the most important bits to improve first. without blowing the budget. and whats the best way to go about finding bits and pieces (aka suspension or tyres ect.)

Cheers

[roadracingoldfart]

OK so i have manned up and bought a race bike to go have some fun. but its not much more than a road bike (viffer 400) with race fairings.

do people specialize in doing up (or starting to do up) race bikes or are you on your own. Where to start??

Whats the most important bits to improve first. without blowing the budget. and whats the best way to go about finding bits and pieces (aka suspension or tyres ect.)

Cheers

First off , congrats on the purchase of a racebike.
Second , What is your budget.?
Thirdly , Why not just make sure all the vital bits are lock wired and everything secured etc and see what its like before you spend money on things you may not really need to.

You can spend a fortune on a bike if you really want to but if your just getting started then have a crack first and then see what you have to do to the bike to make it into what you want.
Do some track days and a meeting or two and just have a bit of fun first. Then you can do what we all do , BLOW THE BUDGET

Paul
TEAM CANBRACE RACING.

[Deano]

I would start by making sure everything you have just got is in good nick.

Start with the basics - good brakes, check wheel bearings, steering bearings, drivetrain, suspension etc.

Then just get out there and test it all out, and most importantly, have some fun !!

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

most 400's arent very modified so just make sure the basics are in good condition as Deano has pointed out.

[Hoon]

Whats the most important bits to improve first. without blowing the budget.

The rider.

A stock bike is all you need. Invest your money in track days and learning. Fix bits as you reach their limits and they start holding you back. Don't fall into the trap of thinking faster parts make you a faster rider.

[lostinflyz]

haha fair nuf.

Obviously the rider is useless and needs much work. money spent there will be well spent.

not crazy enough to go running about a race track without making sure the basics aren't covered. But thanks for the reminder.

Will take advice about trying a few meetings.
After that the budget is as much as i can make (then prob. how far the debt can run based on previous motorcycle investments)

The one thing i know is tyres are important (and expensive) whats the best way to tyres for someone starting out. Second hand or new ect. Slicks or just soft road tyres. It comes with GPR80's and i havent used those before so advice.

[westie]

Dude these guys give really good advice. Take a stock bike as they say and ride it till you need to change things to go faster.
I think I got told to wait till I could ride the tits off my bike before spending much money on it. Still cost heaps.
Check the advice given to me in my zxr 400 thread.
Have fun

[Shaun]

OK so i have manned up and bought a race bike to go have some fun. but its not much more than a road bike (viffer 400) with race fairings.

do people specialize in doing up (or starting to do up) race bikes or are you on your own. Where to start??

Whats the most important bits to improve first. without blowing the budget. and whats the best way to go about finding bits and pieces (aka suspension or tyres ect.)

Cheers

Hi mate, if you are from Christ Church, get in touch with OYSTER off here, he will give you good advice I am sure, or his son, Dom Jones may advice you

[feral1]

Hi ya mate,

Some good advice given here. Work on getting your VFR clean, lubed, workin right and feeling good. Do plenty of laps out there and see how it goes.
It is awesome how fast some people can get on stock bikes (two smoker on his ZXR was one example, a Israeli guy in our Canty club is another). You can take it from there once you are pushin it hard.
I see you're in Chch, head on out to the Canterbury Club's KOR series and get to know some other F3 folks (track me down in the paddock, #227, happy to say hi).
GPR80's will be mint for your VFR for now. You can think about a 17inch rear conversion later.

Get out there and have some fun.

See ya