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Racers, what's your typical weekend budget?

GetaGripGreg

GetaGripGreg

Active member
Joined
Jan 14, 2003
Location
Somewhere else.
Moto(s)
The one that runs today.
Obviously it depends on the class, bike, and level of competitiveness... but what are some typical weekend expenses like?

I raced 125cc shifterkarts for three years, and typically spent $300-400 a weekend at the club level... $500-1000 for a National.

I plan on going bike racing after I can afford a season of trackdays to get prepped... looking at 125 GP, 'cause I know the motors, or 450 Prod, perhaps twins with an SV650. I want to stay away from 250's, because it seems like folks are spending way to much on motors.

Care to share your budgets?

Cheers,
Greg
 
To race a "stock" RS125, it costs me about $280 in consumables each race weekend. That includes fuel, pre-mix, top-end, transmission oil, tires, chain, clutch, plug and cap, reeds, and bottom end. That's if you buy tires every other event. Add another $125 if you buy tires at each event. Add another $75 if you have someone rebuild the bottom end for you.

Entry and gate fees are $150-$180 depending on where you go and what you do. Pictures are $5 ea, unless you race WSMC, in which case they are $20 ea.

Gas to get you to and from the track, food you eat while you are at the track, money you spend to keep your significant other/pit crew happy and hotel costs are something you'll have to figure out on your own.

If I can get through a weekend for around $500 I figure I'm doing pretty good.
 
I am a one man team. I show up and race. Lets see, tires $400, practice and race fees $130-$150, fuel (all) $70, food and misc. $50.

I don't wanna think on what I paid to get here, ughh, my aching credit cards...
 
Just the weekend is about $1,000 for two bikes...
 
equals D said:
To race a "stock" RS125, it costs me about $280 in consumables each race weekend. That includes fuel, pre-mix, top-end, transmission oil, tires, chain, clutch, plug and cap, reeds, and bottom end. That's if you buy tires every other event. Add another $125 if you buy tires at each event. Add another $75 if you have someone rebuild the bottom end for you.
Click to expand...

Wow, only 125 a set for rubber? that's cheaper than karts ($150-180)

What do you do to the crank after each race? The hot CR's (in karts) can go several races w/o touching the bottom (40ish HP). And pistons are good for about 3 weekends.

It's funny, most people I talk to about starting in GP all say "those guys are always working on their motors!", but I'd rather be able to change the top end in 30 minutes than deal with cam chains, valves and shims... :barf

Greg
 
Uh... no... tires are $246 a set. If you buy a set every other event then you are spending about $125 each weekend on rubber. But if you buy a set every weekend, then you have to add another $125. Sorry for the confusion.

The $280 I quoted amortizes the cost of the crank over the number of weekends you don't have to touch it. Usually you don't do anything with it but after 1200 miles you have to split the cases and yank that bad boy out of there and replace it (along with bearings, seals, gaskets, springs, etc). For instance a top end costs about $80 and lasts about 3 weekends. So $27 of that $280 is for the top end even though that money doesn't actually leave your wallet every weekend.

If you decide you want to run A-kit stuff, a top end costs about $175. Reeds are more than 4X stock at almost $70 a set and last half as long. I don't know if I really want to know how much a crank is going to cost...
 
A crank for a CR125, complete, costs $130. :laughing

I wonder if the mounting points are the same on a CR vs. RS?

Did you know that Swedetech's CRs for shifterkarts are pushing 50 hp? They're starting to crack the cylinders. Of course, they need rebuilding after every weekend.
 
GetaGripGreg said:
A crank for a CR125, complete, costs $130. :laughing

I wonder if the mounting points are the same on a CR vs. RS?

Did you know that Swedetech's CRs for shifterkarts are pushing 50 hp? They're starting to crack the cylinders. Of course, they need rebuilding after every weekend.
Click to expand...

The best RS 125s in the country are just barely at 50hp. Most of them are in the low 40s. The stock crank is less that $300. The A-kit crank is custom built.

I saw a bike crack a cylinder once. It split horizontally and the spark plug punched a hole in the bottom of the tank. The next time the plug fired, the bike became a ball of flame. That happened at T'hill on the front straight. The bike was going about 100mph at the time and the rider just jumped off the back of the bike.

The CR motor isn't a drop-in replacement for an RS motor.
 
For my R6... running saturday practice, 2 races on sunday and staying at a motel for 2 nights, the average weekend was about $800. (less for Sears Point)

But, add in 3 crashes and subsequent repairs and the second bike to prevent missing out due to slow frame straightening services... and you've got an hombre seriously wishing for some decent sponsorship deals... heh.

Camping and running a smaller bike could easily cut that figure in half, I would guess.

_David
 
And the lap dances at nite while at Freddie Spencers...
 
not good to keep track

I use to keep track of everything I spent on racing, but man you find out you spend a lot lot more than you think you would.

If you plan on doing 2 races per weekend, at the very minimum you will spend about $450, as follows:

- tires: $175 (one set at $350 will last you 2 weekends)
- entry fees $100
- practice fees: $50
- motel one night (if you split it with a friend): $40
- food and liquids (no restaurant, all groceries packed in a cooler): $50
- gas for truck to and from track: $50

Notice how that does not include stuff like oil changes after race weekend, suspension rebuilds, other maintenence stuff, crash damages, upgrades to bike, eating out, bringing the girl friend to hang out.. etc.

If you decide on 4 races per weekend with fresh rubber every weekend, a realistic figure is about $800 per weekend, and that's only if your bike does not need any major repairs along the way.

Some will tell you they can do it for less, and they probably did for like 2 weekends, but in the long haul you will find yourself spending $800-$1000 per weekend like everyone else.

My bike is pretty much all fresh and ready to go (fresh suspension, all mods on it) and I have all the goodies (such as tire warmers, generators, stands, tools, etc) and I still budgeted myself for $800 per weekend. If I were to get major damages along the way, that money I budgeted will not cover it and I'll have to dig in the credit card for more.

I have a friend that races in the MRA, and does selected WERA, SMRI, and AMA events, he is semi-sponsored, and he still spent $25k of his own money last year!
 
Depending which club you ride, like ccs events tend to be more in entry fees, but they pay out more if your up front and finish top 3 so it has the potential to even out(almost). An average weekend for me would $1000 for one bike. I'll run usually 2 new sets of tires for race day, go throught a whole 15 gallon drum of MR1 or Ultimate 4, Entry fees for usually 4-5 races, the rest is all the normal stuff, food, transport gas, gate fees, etc.
Running the nationals is a whole other story. Did Pikes Peak last year and ended up being around $4000 for the weekend. 5 sets of tires, 2 15 gallon drums of MR1 and again, all the normal stuff.
Not cheap at all!!

Chris Siglin
 
First weekend at a track and the season can be pretty damn expensive. This is how mine went.

Friday track day SOW. $125
Sat. New Racer School. $150
Sun. Liscense fee $100
Sun. 2 Race entries $120
10 gallons of 92 oc. $23
Gas to and from Fremont and the track $130
Food $50
New rear tire $200
Hotel 3 nights $140
Total cost $1038

Now if you take away the costs that just involved the first race/track visit it would be
$743 Just a guess anyway.
 
Sucks, doesn't it? That's why I scrapped my plans to run the F3 this season. Just gonna putz around in lightweights on my EX 500. I know I'm gonna spend way less on tires this way.
 
OMG, that is a lot of money!!!!!!!!!! I have to rethink my racing plans.
 
$500 to $1,000 or more sounds right for cl

It varies a lot depending on whether you're just starting off and can get through half a season on a set of tires, or you're chasing a championship and buying new tires every race weekend.

I spent about $1,000 per month year round on my racing habit.

$325 Tires (new ones every race weekend)
$125 Friday practice (as much as $250 sometimes)
$180 Three days hotel
$40 Fuel for transporter
$40 Fuel for race bike (blend of race gas and pump gas)
$200 Repairs/upgrades between races
$50 Food, water
$165? AFM fees

Local races meant no hotel bill, but higher practice cost.

During the off season, the amount remained about the same because I rebuilt my motor every season and would usually upgrade things.

In a season where you crash a lot, you can spend a lot more per month on helmets. I had three weekends in a row during 2001 where I ruined nice Arai helmets. Then I didn't crash at all during the 2002 season.
 
$150 in entry fees.
$350 in tires.
$100 in fuel ($5 / gallon 110 octane for practice, $15 / gallon Nutec for races).
$50 in food and transportation to / from the track.
$100 in miscellanous maintenance and costs for race prep (knee pucks, oil changes.

Add to that the cost of actually developing a racebike from the ground up.
 
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