TIME FOR A TRACK BIKE... just kidding, I got a GoKart

[dirkterrell]

Shhh...I said that and got flamed

Priorities!!! Some get them and some don't

Well, now hold on. Let me relay my own experience with being a poor/broke college student. I worked full-time+ and went to school full time. It was a brutal schedule and was clearly taking its toll on me mentally after my freshman year. Then the '84 500 Interceptor came out and I bought one. It made the financial situation harder, and there were times when I had to skip a meal or two.

Despite the financial difficulties, that bike saved me. I had something that kept my fire lit: riding when I needed a break. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it through school without it, so I look at it as a great investment in my sanity during what was the most stressful period of my life, even though it required sacrifices in ways I now don't even remember. To motorcycle riders, a motorcycle is a hobby that can come or go, there is a "riding season", etc. To a motorcyclist, it is a vital part of life, like eating or breathing. So, let's not be too quick to make pronouncements about other people's priorities.

Mak, enjoy your shifter cart. Work hard. Play hard.

[bulldog]

Well, now hold on. Let me relay my own experience with being a poor/broke college student. I worked full-time+ and went to school full time. It was a brutal schedule and was clearly taking its toll on me mentally after my freshman year. Then the '84 500 Interceptor came out and I bought one. It made the financial situation harder, and there were times when I had to skip a meal or two.

Despite the financial difficulties, that bike saved me. I had something that kept my fire lit: riding when I needed a break. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it through school without it, so I look at it as a great investment in my sanity during what was the most stressful period of my life, even though it required sacrifices in ways I now don't even remember. To motorcycle riders, a motorcycle is a hobby that can come or go, there is a "riding season", etc. To a motorcyclist, it is a vital part of life, like eating or breathing. So, let's not be too quick to make pronouncements about other people's priorities.

Mak, enjoy your shifter cart. Work hard. Play hard.

Riding vs racing is a different thing when it comes to money though!

Riding takes some money for gas, some occasional money for oil and tires. To get serious about racing you will be spending some good money which is hard to sacrifice at such a young age. Everyone has different ways, I just choose to buy a house at age 20 instead of putting it into fun. Still best decision I ever made. To each their own though.....

[dirkterrell]

Riding vs racing is a different thing when it comes to money though!

Depends on how you do it. Racing a 250 isn't bad at all. I don't know about karts, but I suspect it's not too bad either.

Riding takes some money for gas, some occasional money for oil and tires.

Depends on whether you are a motorcycle rider or a motorcyclist.

To get serious about racing you will be spending some good money which is hard to sacrifice at such a young age.

Again, that depends on how you dot it. Maybe kart racing made a lot more sense for him financially.

Everyone has different ways, I just choose to buy a house at age 20 instead of putting it into fun. Still best decision I ever made. To each their own though.....

Exactly. I was working 80+ hours to survive and get a degree in physics. The 8 hours of riding fun was necessary for the success of the latter. Life is a balance of work and play. Too many people let it tip too far one way or the other.

[bulldog]

Depends on how you do it. Racing a 250 isn't bad at all. I don't know about karts, but I suspect it's not too bad either.



Depends on whether you are a motorcycle rider or a motorcyclist.



Again, that depends on how you dot it. Maybe kart racing made a lot more sense for him financially.



Exactly. I was working 80+ hours to survive and get a degree in physics. The 8 hours of riding fun was necessary for the success of the latter. Life is a balance of work and play. Too many people let it tip too far one way or the other.

We all know racing a 250 is a just a "gateway drug" and nearly everyone progresses past this and moves up

I've never heard a racer say racing is cheap...although don't know anyone who races 250's. I don't care what people do, but I think they should know what they are getting into (which is irrelevant now since he went with kart racing anyways).... I do follow this board pretty close and have read what Mac has posted about his financial issues so just questioned if it was a good decision for someone so young. He has also expressed how he wants to do MMA, but can't afford that either and that is literally a $100 fee a month.

Here is what I found from a fast google search:

How much it costs to race really depends on how serious you want to go about doing it. Here is my budget for the season.

Tires: $3200
Entrance Fees: $1200
Bike: $10000 invested so far
General equip: $1000+
New gear: $2500
Bike mods: $900
Race Fuel: $1200

Thats a pretty general estimate but you get the idea. Remember also that i have decent sponsorship and get most of my stuff for less than dealer cost. Crashing can also tack on a few thousand dollars. You literally do feel like a crack whore dishing out money not by the hundreds but by the thousands. One thing you need to do is go to a local shop, talk to the guys there, see if they'll give you better deals on parts and stuff... Its so easy to get carried away moding up your bike, getting new gear thats costs soon soar way higher than you thought possible.


P.S. Basing a lot of this on one of my best friend Hoopty who use to tell me how much he spent a month on racing. I never knew myself how much it costed, so amazed me to find out. Racers get it, but most people entering it don't understand the full picture.

[Mother Goose]

How much it costs to race really depends on how serious you want to go about doing it. Here is my budget for the season.

Tires: $3200
Entrance Fees: $1200
Bike: $10000 invested so far
General equip: $1000+
New gear: $2500
Bike mods: $900
Race Fuel: $1200

Thats a pretty general estimate but you get the idea. Remember also that i have decent sponsorship and get most of my stuff for less than dealer cost. Crashing can also tack on a few thousand dollars. You literally do feel like a crack whore dishing out money not by the hundreds but by the thousands. One thing you need to do is go to a local shop, talk to the guys there, see if they'll give you better deals on parts and stuff... Its so easy to get carried away moding up your bike, getting new gear thats costs soon soar way higher than you thought possible.

Damn, that dude is spending way more than most of us would.

[bulldog]

Damn, that dude is spending way more than most of us would.

Funny, because I talk to Frank (who was Shane Turpins racing partner a few years ago) and he tells me he was spending tons of money racing.

[UglyDogRacing]

Funny, because I talk to Frank (who was Shane Turpins racing partner a few years ago) and he tells me he was spending tons of money racing.

The reality is it comes down to what you want to spend and the resources you have. We have local racers that will spend what an AMA team will spend on their club racing effort. But that is not the norm. You can do it cheap by running the 250 class or picking up a bike like the F2 that Bueller found.
This is what Amber's 250 effort cost this past season-

Tires: $150 (2 sets of used take offs)
Entrance Fees: $1750
Bike: $3500 purchase new 2009
General equip: $0 (i have everything)
New gear: $800 (used leathers, new boots, helmet gloves)
Bike mods: $1200
Pump Fuel: $125

In comparison, this is what my effort cost in 2008 when I got the #3 plate,(and there were plenty of others that spent much more than I did):
Tires: $8000
Entrance Fees: $2300
Bike: $10000 purchase new 2005
General equip: $4000
New gear: $2000
Bike mods: $12000
Race Fuel: $1200

[maktastik_jr.]

Well, now hold on. Let me relay my own experience with being a poor/broke college student. I worked full-time+ and went to school full time. It was a brutal schedule and was clearly taking its toll on me mentally after my freshman year. Then the '84 500 Interceptor came out and I bought one. It made the financial situation harder, and there were times when I had to skip a meal or two.

Despite the financial difficulties, that bike saved me. I had something that kept my fire lit: riding when I needed a break. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it through school without it, so I look at it as a great investment in my sanity during what was the most stressful period of my life, even though it required sacrifices in ways I now don't even remember. To motorcycle riders, a motorcycle is a hobby that can come or go, there is a "riding season", etc. To a motorcyclist, it is a vital part of life, like eating or breathing. So, let's not be too quick to make pronouncements about other people's priorities.

Mak, enjoy your shifter cart. Work hard. Play hard.

thanks dirk, will do. and i still ride street bikes, so banning me would be stupid. assholes. lets go to IMI so i can spank all your asses in my kart.

[Bueller]

thanks dirk, will do. and i still ride street bikes, so banning me would be stupid. assholes. lets go to IMI so i can spank all your asses in my kart.

The banning was sarcasm, you need to do much worse than ride something with training wheels to get shit canned around here.
So bring that thing out to a real track and see who gets spanked
Oh wait they don't allow toys on the big track