Could you go motorcycle racing? Should you go racing? And just how hard is it to start racing your motorcycle? In this episode of The Motorcyclist Podcast we cover how you can start racing your motorcycle, the benefits of doing so, and if you really should.
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Hey, welcome back to the Motorcyclist podcast. This is where we talk about motorcycles and what makes them great.
00:00:05Topics on the show constantly change, but the one thing that always remains is two-wheeled fun.
00:00:11In this episode, we're going to talk about racing motorcycles.
00:00:15We're going to talk about how easy or difficult it can be, should you race dirt or street, what's the minimum needed, and basically just like why you should do it.
00:00:25So before we get started, we always do our introductions.
00:00:28We've got Adam Waheed, editor for Motorcyclist.
00:00:32We have got our photo guy, Jeff Allen, and we've got myself, executive editor, Justin Dawes.
00:00:37As always, we start with what we've been riding.
00:00:41So Jeff, you've been gone for a while. What have you been riding?
00:00:44Yeah, as you guys know, I was on vacation. I was surfing. I was on a surf vacation in Sri Lanka.
00:00:49And as I told you in the past, when I go on vacation, I like to rent two wheels.
00:00:54So this time I rented, while I was there, I rented a Honda Dio or Dio, D-I-O, 125 scooter with a little surf rack on the side.
00:01:05Nice.
00:01:05Yeah.
00:01:06Very cool.
00:01:06It was cool. It was definitely maintenance neglected.
00:01:09I was always sure I was going to stop. That was for sure. And throwing the helmet under the seat, you know, when you go surf, if it rained, your helmet was wet when you got back.
00:01:21Oh, geez.
00:01:22Yeah, it definitely didn't hold out the water.
00:01:25It was not weather sealed.
00:01:26No.
00:01:28Right on. Okay. Well, I think Adam and I both have been riding stuff a little more high-powered than that.
00:01:34So, what about you, Adam?
00:01:38I've been riding the Aprilia RS660, and wow, what a magnificent little middleweight sport bike.
00:01:45You know, talk about Aprilia with getting that charisma of their RSV4 into a smaller package, you know, and a more affordable package.
00:01:53That RS660 definitely checks the boxes.
00:01:57Nice. Where did you ride it at?
00:01:58I got to ride it at Circuit of America, so a big, long track, you know, probably a little bit bigger of a track than meant for an RS660, but at the same time, it's cool to go up and down through the gearbox and just, you know, feel the power.
00:02:13And, again, those bikes are just so easy to ride, and you get that big bike, super bike-like experience in a much less intimidating format at a much more reasonable price.
00:02:25I mean, I know that the RS660 and RS457 is going to boost Aprilia's sales in America, but, I mean, those bikes are just awesome.
00:02:33They should be selling quadruple the amount they do in America just based on how awesome those things are.
00:02:38Yeah. Yeah, it must be nice on a big track like Coda when you're riding a bike that's not a bajillion horsepower.
00:02:44Like, you can use all the throttle coming out of corners and, you know, because that track, you know, there's some spots where it kind of binds itself up towards the end, and a big bike makes it work.
00:02:58I mean, well said.
00:03:00I mean, you get to use all, you know, 90 horsepower or 85 or whatever horsepower that thing has.
00:03:06You get to use all of it, and it's just a non-intimidating way to experience, you know, the thrill of sport biking, you know?
00:03:14And if you want to eventually move up into super bikes, you can cut your teeth on this, learn the skills you need because the skills you learned on that bike are absolutely going to apply to an RSV4.
00:03:24And then when you're feeling ready for more power, you can upgrade up to the RSV4, and you can really feel some Aprilia super bike excitement.
00:03:33And, I mean, we're talking about going racing.
00:03:36Hey, that's a great choice to start off with with racing, right?
00:03:42Yeah, I mean, if you can even believe it, I didn't really know this, but the RS660 Aprilia makes a homologated factory race bike in its RS660 Trofeo.
00:03:53So, if you want, you can literally purchase a factory Aprilia RS660 race bike that's already kitted out, already has the headlights, taillights removed, the key ignition removed.
00:04:06It's got all the parts you would need to go racing.
00:04:08You literally buy the motorcycle, put gas in it, and you go racing.
00:04:12And I think that's so cool that they offer that for a purchase.
00:04:15Yeah, it is super cool.
00:04:17That is super cool.
00:04:18Do you happen to know what that costs?
00:04:20I forgot to ask Dan Trotty, who runs Piaggio or Aprilia America's demo fleet.
00:04:27He actually has one, or it's not quite his yet, but he's working on making it his.
00:04:33And he actually let us ride the thing.
00:04:35And, yeah, it's super trick.
00:04:37Like, the key ignition's gone.
00:04:39It's got a bunch of, like, MotoGP-like buttons to start the bike.
00:04:43To adjust the Aprilia engine management, which is, like, their combined engine power and throttle mapping.
00:04:51You can control that on the fly.
00:04:53You can control engine brake on the fly.
00:04:55It's got all these, like, buttons, these big buttons that you push.
00:04:59And you can just manipulate that as you're riding.
00:05:02And, you know, of course, that's cool.
00:05:04But, really, what it does is it feels like a real race bike.
00:05:07Like, it just feels sick.
00:05:09It's not, like, some hodgepodge crap.
00:05:11This is, like, a factory Aprilia race bike that you always dreamt of as, like, a kid.
00:05:15Yeah, it's not your mechanic skills building a race bike.
00:05:20It's somebody that knows what they're doing.
00:05:22Correct.
00:05:23Which is good.
00:05:23Correct.
00:05:23Which is good for some people.
00:05:24Some people, there's a – we'll talk about it later.
00:05:26But there's a fun in building race bikes.
00:05:28But it's not for everybody.
00:05:30So, for myself, I went – this week was quite the opposite for me than you in terms of manageable power.
00:05:40Well, I guess it is manageable with the right electronics.
00:05:42But I rode the 2025 Street Fighter V4S, which, at this point, and they are very apt to tell you this at every chance, it is a Panigale V4S without a front fairing.
00:05:57So, 200 – well, 205 horsepower in the U.S.
00:06:03In the bikes we rode, we rode in Spain at Andalusia track, which is one of the hardest tracks in Europe to ride and learn.
00:06:14The bikes were 214 horsepower because they're EU spec, which is only two horsepower less than the Panigale.
00:06:21Wow.
00:06:21And, my God, what an experience.
00:06:24Yeah, how great – those bikes are just – they're – it's crazy they sell those for Americans to ride on the street.
00:06:32Oh, man.
00:06:33It is insane how much performance is packed in that motorcycle.
00:06:38I mean, it's got these big biplane winglets on it now.
00:06:40And they're like, those add almost 100 pounds of downforce at, like, 167 miles an hour.
00:06:49And they were like, if those weren't on it, it'd be unrideable because the wind pressure on your body lightens the front end, and then the front end gets wiggly.
00:06:56And it also keeps the front end kind of planted when you're coming out of corners.
00:07:00And they're like, yeah, we took the wings off just to, you know, to test.
00:07:04And it was like – it was unrideable.
00:07:06Wow.
00:07:07You know, and it's got, you know, all the electronics you need.
00:07:11So, I mean, you could knock it down to wet mode, which is only 160 horsepower.
00:07:18Right?
00:07:18In the wet.
00:07:19In the wet.
00:07:19Yeah, in the wet.
00:07:20If you're going to ride in the wet, 160 horsepower is what you need.
00:07:23But we – the bikes we rode, we rode on slicks.
00:07:29You know, it's very Ducati-like press launch, right?
00:07:34So, on the track only, slicks on warmers.
00:07:38Everything turned up to 11, you know, at some point.
00:07:43Yeah.
00:07:44Yeah, it was pretty wild.
00:07:47How crazy – how crazy does that engine sound?
00:07:51Oh, dude, it is beautiful sounding, obviously.
00:07:54It's not as loud as you would think from the side of the track.
00:07:59I mean, you can still hear it, and it still sounds like a V4 Ducati, and it's like – it sounds awesome.
00:08:03But, you know, it's got these two big mufflers underneath the body of the bike, underneath the belly of the bike.
00:08:10And it keeps it not obnoxious.
00:08:13Like, you have more, like, intake noise that you hear that sounds really good.
00:08:17But it's just – you know, you've got these big wide bars, and you're going into these corners.
00:08:22And, man, it's a track – that track is a track that can jam you up really quick if you miss a mark.
00:08:31And I was missing marks a lot.
00:08:32And it's got that DVO, the Ducati Vehicle Observer System, which is, like, this predictive traction control safety system.
00:08:45So it's like, oh, like, this guy – like, it pretty much knows what you're going to do before you do it.
00:08:51And it's like, oh, he's trying to tighten up the corner.
00:08:54I'm going to add more rear brake, and I'm going to cut the power here.
00:08:57And, like, there was times when I completely blew a corner where I was learning the track, and I was still able to – you know, I think on other bikes, I might have been out in the gravel.
00:09:08So it's really cool.
00:09:10But, man, it is so extreme.
00:09:14So extreme.
00:09:16Wow.
00:09:17Nice.
00:09:17Yeah.
00:09:18Yeah, very cool.
00:09:18You and I were opposite ends.
00:09:21Yeah, yeah.
00:09:21The two-wheel spectrum.
00:09:22I was almost on a bicycle.
00:09:24Yeah, you had, like, five horsepower, and I had –
00:09:27215 horsepower.
00:09:30And down the back straight, we were going, oh, 260-something, 250 kilometers an hour.
00:09:39So, like, you know, 150, 160.
00:09:43And that's the only point on the track where I was wishing I was on a Panigale instead of a Street Fighter.
00:09:49Because the rest of the time, Street Fighter, for me, you have more room to move around.
00:09:53The foot peg position isn't as compact.
00:09:56And you can move around the bike a lot more with these big, wide bars.
00:09:59But, man, when you're going that fast down the back straightaway, it's a workout holding on.
00:10:05It's nice having a full fairing.
00:10:07Yeah.
00:10:07So, that's the only time I would say you need it.
00:10:11But I think for most people, don't get a Panigale.
00:10:13Get a Street Fighter V4S because it's got all of it.
00:10:17And it's just, you know, especially if you're not going to go to a track a lot, it's way more comfortable.
00:10:24So, anyways, but that kind of takes us to tracks and racing.
00:10:30So, I want to talk about, to start off, like, why we should go racing.
00:10:38Like, what are the reasons for someone to do it besides just the challenge of doing it?
00:10:44Well, it's always a fun thing to do.
00:10:49I mean, it's fun in theory until you start doing it and things get hard.
00:10:53But, in theory, it always starts as a pretty fun thing.
00:10:57And, you know, I mean, even, like, when you think about it, I think a racing, I know this kind of sounds cheesy, but, like, think of Steve McQueen.
00:11:04And on those Triumph TR6s through the desert, and, oh, this is going to be fun.
00:11:08And then we're going to have some suds after the race with our buddies.
00:11:11And, you know, like, it's supposed to be a fun thing.
00:11:15It's absolutely a fun thing.
00:11:17And for 99.9% of people that are racing worldwide, it is for fun, right?
00:11:25They're not professionals.
00:11:26They're not going for a paycheck.
00:11:28They're doing it for fun.
00:11:30And if there's that many people doing it for fun, there's something to it.
00:11:32And, you know, like Adam said myself, I think it's fun as almost anything until you're in the middle of doing it.
00:11:42And then sometimes you're like, why do I do this to myself?
00:11:45But then as soon as you're done, you're like, oh, man, that was fun.
00:11:47I want to do it again.
00:11:49Yeah.
00:11:49Yeah.
00:11:50Anytime you do it and the conditions aren't, you know, exactly how you like them, it's raining or it's hot or something.
00:11:57You're like, why are we doing that?
00:11:58So I'm about to throw up in my helmet right now.
00:12:00Yeah.
00:12:01But then as Dawes said, the sense of accomplishment after, you know, realistically, win or lose, as long as you, you know, had fun and you stayed safe, you're going to have a sense of accomplishment.
00:12:13At least I would.
00:12:15Yeah.
00:12:15Well, and the setting goals and the, you know, getting the stuff ready and the, at least in all the times I've ever done it, we're always late getting the bike ready.
00:12:26And so there's that.
00:12:27You don't say.
00:12:28Yeah.
00:12:28So there's that, uh, you know, there's that, that part of the accomplishment is like being ready and getting stuff, getting stuff pushed out the door at the last minute.
00:12:37And, you know, and then.
00:12:38Yeah.
00:12:39I think, uh, you know, there's, there's.
00:12:41The exercise of goal setting when you go racing, right?
00:12:45Like you set a goal to do something and then you have to follow through with it.
00:12:49And, and that, that, uh, that's a healthy exercise for any human being to do is to set a goal because you can, you can apply that to other parts of your life.
00:12:57Once you're, you're race, you're doing these things.
00:13:00Right.
00:13:00So, um, and then competition, it exposes your strengths and weaknesses as a rider, right?
00:13:09You learn real quick when you're racing, what you need to work on.
00:13:13Yeah.
00:13:14Yeah, exactly.
00:13:16But it's also a nice, you know, we do lots of things in our lives as like distractions from the, you know, the other parts of our life, whether it's watching TV or staring at your phone or something, but getting ready for planning, getting ready for racing.
00:13:30And that's a nice distraction, you know, compared to those other things.
00:13:34Very much so.
00:13:35Yep.
00:13:35It is.
00:13:36And it allows you to really hone in and hone in on your focus on a particular thing, you know, especially in today's world where there's a lot of noise coming from all directions all the time.
00:13:45Yeah.
00:13:46You know, racing kind of allows you to, you know, focus a little bit, which is cool.
00:13:50Yeah, very much so.
00:13:51Um, and then there's the aspect of you're going to make new friends, right?
00:13:56You're going to, you're going to become buddies with those people that you go to the racetrack with.
00:14:01And maybe even some new enemies.
00:14:03And maybe some new enemies, depending on, depending on how it goes, how good you are or how bad you are.
00:14:08Because you could, you could make some enemies making mistakes, but you could also make some enemies, uh, just by being better than other people.
00:14:14But for the most part, uh, you know, racing for fun, everyone's there to have fun and you all are sharing in this experience.
00:14:22And at the end of the day, everyone's given each other high fives and sharing drinks and bench racing until you're blue in the face at the end of these six.
00:14:30Yeah.
00:14:31And good memories, you know?
00:14:32Yeah, very much so, you know?
00:14:35So, uh, those are, those are all the really big reasons of doing it.
00:14:40But number one is still, it's just fun.
00:14:43It's really fun.
00:14:44Right.
00:14:44So, um, let's talk about like how, how easy is it to go racing?
00:14:50Like, is it hard?
00:14:52Is it difficult?
00:14:53Um, is it somewhere in between?
00:14:55I would, I would propose that, um, there's all kinds of racing to do and you could find something that fits you that wouldn't be difficult to get into.
00:15:06Right.
00:15:06You've got, you've got all kinds of racing to do, like, you know, um, anything from dirt to street.
00:15:12So, uh, motocross, you know, which Adam does time to time.
00:15:18Jeff does time to time.
00:15:19I don't do time to time.
00:15:21It's not my jam.
00:15:22Um, off-road racing, all kinds of off-road racing.
00:15:24Like if you're, if you've got a dirt bike, off-road racing is probably one of the easiest ways to get into racing.
00:15:30Um, you know, um, all over the United States, there are so many different types of dirt bike racing you can do.
00:15:38So, you know, um, you do enduro, you know, you could do the traditional enduro that you were, you're doing like timekeeping.
00:15:45Basically, you're starting on a minute.
00:15:46You have to finish at a certain speed.
00:15:48Those are pretty fun.
00:15:50They're less, uh, less common these days, but they're very cerebral and kind of fun.
00:15:54And, um, usually you're not fast enough to stay on time.
00:15:57Anyways, um, there's hard enduro, which is basically just a course that makes you cry.
00:16:03Some people love that.
00:16:05It'll make your motorcycle cry as well.
00:16:07Yeah.
00:16:07Yeah.
00:16:08Yeah.
00:16:09Yeah.
00:16:09Um, there's hair scrambles, which is, you know, desert racing type of stuff.
00:16:13You've got Grand Prixs, which are, you might go out on a motocross track and then out in the desert and back.
00:16:18Really fun.
00:16:19And then one that's super popular in the U.S. is GNCC.
00:16:22Holy smokes.
00:16:23I didn't, I had never been to a GNCC until a few months ago at Ironman.
00:16:30It is insane.
00:16:32The number of people, both racing and spectating.
00:16:35It was awesome.
00:16:37It was one of the coolest events.
00:16:39Unfortunately, I wasn't racing.
00:16:40I was shooting, but it was amazing.
00:16:43Yeah.
00:16:43Thousands of people there just packed, you know,
00:16:48but that's also one of those races where, you know, halfway through, you're like,
00:16:53why do I do this to myself?
00:16:54Yeah.
00:16:55Yeah.
00:16:55I've done a few GNCCs and actually I did one where I, I hit my shoulder so hard.
00:17:00The nerve that goes like through your shoulder, it got the, everything around it got inflamed
00:17:05and my whole arm went numb.
00:17:06I couldn't hold on.
00:17:07Um, and I didn't, I didn't finish that one and it was supposed to be, I don't know.
00:17:11I think the amateur races are two hours and the pros are three.
00:17:15Yeah.
00:17:15You know, and so you, you get to a point where you're just like, you have to like embrace
00:17:21the suffering to finish.
00:17:23Where, where's that flag?
00:17:26Yeah, exactly.
00:17:27Yeah.
00:17:27I hope, I hope the leaders lap me before the finish line, you know, but the, the racing
00:17:33is fun.
00:17:33It's fairly inexpensive, uh, you know, and there's classes for, for everybody in those,
00:17:40you know, everything from a beginner class to, uh, intermediate pro kids.
00:17:48Um, they even race, do they still race the electric bicycles at GNCC?
00:17:53They, when I was at Ironman, they did not.
00:17:56They did not.
00:17:57I don't know if that's still a thing.
00:17:58For a while they had like an electric, cause everyone had electric bicycles, pedal bikes,
00:18:03you know, pedal assist bikes.
00:18:04So they just were like, well, let's just add a class for that.
00:18:06And they had like, you know, they had a, I don't know if they still do that, but they,
00:18:10you know, and then there's other offered racing where, you know, so you've got vet
00:18:14class, so you've got age classes, you've got vet, you've got masters, you know, you've
00:18:18got, so you could be old like me and still go racing and you'd be fine.
00:18:23So there's something for everybody.
00:18:26I forgot to mention.
00:18:28That's the one cool thing about racing too, is it's fat.
00:18:30It's really is a family sports, family sport.
00:18:32And it really is inclusive.
00:18:34Like racing is like the ultimate inclusive sport basically, you know?
00:18:38Yep.
00:18:39Very much so.
00:18:40Um, and, and, you know, I think it's also some of the fairest racing because of all
00:18:49the classes there is, you can find a class that fits your skill level and you're going
00:18:53to fit in there.
00:18:54You're not going to feel like, oh, I'm lining up against someone that's just way faster
00:18:58than me.
00:18:59And I'm going to get smoked, right?
00:19:01You go sign up for a beginner vet class, go sign up for a beginner master's class, right?
00:19:05And you're going to be racing against people that are learning to race and, and learning
00:19:10to ride.
00:19:10And it's fair, you know?
00:19:12Yeah.
00:19:13And then, and they're fair about moving you up when you start winning, you know, they're
00:19:17like, okay, you've won enough.
00:19:18Now you get to go to the next class.
00:19:20You have to, which is cool.
00:19:23Again, that's the, that's the, the accomplishment you feel by going racing and improving, improving
00:19:30your skills.
00:19:31Yeah.
00:19:31So it's definitely a dirt bike stuff is, is for sure.
00:19:36Then there's track racing.
00:19:37Adam's done some, some road racing.
00:19:41Let's talk about that.
00:19:42He'd.
00:19:44Well, I would say that's a lot more complicated than the dirt bike racing, you know, in terms
00:19:49of time, money, commitment, everything, maybe even danger level two, maybe, you know, but
00:19:55uh, yeah, I mean, it definitely is a way, a great way to, you know, feel the exhilaration
00:20:01of, of your, your sport motorcycle, you know, is to do it racing, you know, you get to, to
00:20:07compete on track with other like-minded racers and, you know, it's, it's obviously way more
00:20:14safe than trying to do some illegal street racing, you know, it's a sanction event, so
00:20:19it's legal, it's safe.
00:20:20You get to really hone the performance of your, of your body and mind and, and your
00:20:27bike for this purpose-built racetrack.
00:20:30And yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot of fun.
00:20:32And, you know, the coolest thing probably is like these, these high performance sport
00:20:36bikes, you know, maybe not so much the RS660, but like the RSV4, like those things are built
00:20:42for racing.
00:20:42Like those are racing bikes that are made for the street more than street bikes made
00:20:47for racing.
00:20:47So when you're racing an RSV4, you're getting the experience, really the, the whole engineering
00:20:54behind this vehicle out on track.
00:20:56And I think that's just awesome.
00:20:57Yeah, absolutely.
00:20:58You get to, you get to stretch the legs of your bike.
00:21:02You already have it, right?
00:21:03So why not do it?
00:21:04It's a safer environment.
00:21:06Um, you should have all the stuff already to go do it, but, you know, and there's different
00:21:10types of road racing that you can do.
00:21:12You could go out and do, um, normal road racing, club racing, you know, all over the United
00:21:17States, there's clubs where you just go and, you know, you, you sign up for just the same
00:21:23thing.
00:21:23You can sign up for being in your class.
00:21:25You can sign up for a CC class.
00:21:27So you're racing against someone that's on a, you know, a, a, a small twin, you know,
00:21:32lightweight class, same age bracket, same skill level.
00:21:37You know, it, it, it's not like you're going to get blown out of the water most of the
00:21:40time, which is the fun part about it.
00:21:42And then you could go do like endurance racing.
00:21:44Like that's, that's a really fun thing to do with your buds.
00:21:47Right.
00:21:48Yeah.
00:21:48Go in like.
00:21:50Endurance racing.
00:21:51That's my jam.
00:21:52I really like doing the, uh, the Glen Helen stuff that they have this, their, their series
00:21:57of six, it used to be 12 hour and that, but it's 10 now, six, 10 and 24 hour.
00:22:02And like you said, doing it with your buddies, it's, it's, uh, that's my jam because the thing
00:22:08about endurance racing, it's, that's a super, it sounds daunting, you know, if you're an
00:22:13inexperienced racer, but it, I think it's, it's better because you have to be more aware
00:22:22of just finishing.
00:22:23You don't need to go flat out for a short period of time.
00:22:26The main thing is to finish because other people are going to have problems that usually
00:22:32you just want to outlast people.
00:22:35Yeah.
00:22:36It's almost like a long extended trail ride with your buddies, but like a trail ride with
00:22:42a real purpose, you know?
00:22:43Yeah.
00:22:44And then, and there is endurance racing on road race stuff too.
00:22:46That's what, that's what I was getting at is like, you can go to the track and you know,
00:22:50you're spending 24 hours at a local track and, and going around and sharing a bike with
00:22:55your buddies.
00:22:55And, you know, you get to kind of defer some of the costs through multiple people to go
00:23:01racing.
00:23:01Right.
00:23:02It's not all just you footing the bill, which is cool.
00:23:05And plus if you're lucky, you race your buddy's bike.
00:23:07Yeah, exactly.
00:23:08Yeah.
00:23:09Yeah.
00:23:10Yeah.
00:23:10Speaking of which our, our old colleague, Michael Gilbert, he, he, he just came back from
00:23:15Le Mans, France and he, he's doing some type of, uh, endurance road race with, with some
00:23:20European team.
00:23:21And that's exactly what they're doing.
00:23:23They're going to do the 24 hour and they're going to race their Yamaha YZFR one for a period
00:23:28of 24 hours and all weather conditions day and night.
00:23:32I mean, how cool is that?
00:23:34And also how daunting does that sound?
00:23:38Both, both.
00:23:39But at the end of that, even if they don't win, they're going to have a, they're going
00:23:43to feel accomplished finishing that thing.
00:23:45Like if you, if you can even finish the 24 hour Le Mans, you're, you're a bad-ass for
00:23:52sure.
00:23:53For sure.
00:23:53And like growing up as a kid, I mean, you too, Justin, or you'll remember this, like
00:23:57Suzuki eight hour, remember Suzuki eight hour and the video game.
00:24:01Like, honestly, that's one of the earliest memories.
00:24:05I mean, even before I was obviously riding motorcycles, I would see this video game, you
00:24:09know, Suzuki eight hour, like, Whoa, what, what is that?
00:24:13Like, Oh, you race the motorcycle for eight hours and Suzuki, Japan.
00:24:17It's just like, this is cool.
00:24:20Yeah.
00:24:20There's something about endurance racing.
00:24:22Cause like you're talking about the, the eight hour, even currently when, um, MotoGP
00:24:27guys get the call up from the, their, their manufacturer, they get excited.
00:24:31Like they want to go do these cool endurance races.
00:24:34Everybody loves it, you know, all the way up to the top.
00:24:37Yep.
00:24:37Yeah, exactly.
00:24:38I think that event is kind of lost a little bit where in, in, in, in modern culture to
00:24:45lost a little bit of its allure, but it's still really cool.
00:24:48And, and the Japanese manufacturers that do participate, they, they still take it very,
00:24:53very, very seriously, even though maybe it's lost a little bit of pop culture, you know,
00:24:58uh, uh, intrigue, you know?
00:25:00Yeah.
00:25:01Yeah.
00:25:01Which is, which is, which has happened with, with road racing in general anyways, besides
00:25:06MotoGP, you know, um, but it'll come back around, especially like we said, all these
00:25:11new sport bikes are coming, they're going to capture people and they're going to move
00:25:14into bigger bikes and bigger bikes and bigger bikes, and they're going to get into racing
00:25:18again.
00:25:18So, you know, hopefully it comes back around.
00:25:20Um, then you've got all kinds of other different, weird, let's say weird, but different types
00:25:27of racing, like drag racing.
00:25:29Like you get, like that's, that's just as much racing as other things.
00:25:32You've got to go set up your bike to go drag racing and, and do the thing.
00:25:35Right.
00:25:36And you're racing against like-minded people, flat track, flat track is super fun.
00:25:40Um, you know, it's a very grassroots type of racing.
00:25:45Um, you know, it's, it's probably the closest racing to Steve McQueen days that you can do.
00:25:52Right.
00:25:54Yeah.
00:25:55Yeah.
00:25:55Or maybe hair scramble, like desert hair scramble.
00:25:57Yeah.
00:25:58That's kind of, I would say that even, even desert hair scrambles though, like there's people
00:26:02that, you know, you're in your big motor homes and like you go to a flat track racing, there's
00:26:08still like people out of the back of vans.
00:26:10Like, you know, it feels very 60 ish at a flat track race.
00:26:17Yeah.
00:26:17That's a good point.
00:26:18You know, it, we're kind of getting a little on top off topic topic, but still on topic,
00:26:23but I'll go to those speaking of pulling up in trucks and stuff like that.
00:26:27I'll go to those moto for kids, which is a youth racing organization in Southern California.
00:26:32And it always trips me out because I'll go to these things and these little kids racing.
00:26:37And you'd think that most of the people would be showing up in like semi truck or I'm sorry,
00:26:41pickup trucks and these little vans.
00:26:43No, they're showing up in renegade toy haulers.
00:26:46It's just like, Oh yeah.
00:26:47Yeah.
00:26:48It's factory racing effort for eight year old Johnny.
00:26:51And it's just, I just blow.
00:26:52It's just crazy to me, you know?
00:26:53Yeah, that is, that is one thing about motocross and all these things.
00:26:57It's like, you could do this as, as a little kid to, you know, being in your seventies.
00:27:02So there's something for everybody, but, um, some of the parents, man, they're trying to
00:27:07relive their heyday through their children.
00:27:09Right.
00:27:10And they're trying to like, all right, I didn't make it, but my kid's going to make it.
00:27:13I'm putting everything into it.
00:27:15And like you said, like freaking semi trucks for, for an eight year old with seven bikes,
00:27:21you know, he's got, he's got five practice bikes, one for every day of the week.
00:27:24And he's got his race bike and his backup race bike.
00:27:26Like, you know, yeah, it's just, it's, it's, I don't know if it's like that in other parts
00:27:32of the country, but in the American Southwest, when I see that, it just, it just is mind bending
00:27:37to me.
00:27:38I was at one of our local motocross tracks here one day and I saw one of those parents,
00:27:43you know, who are, uh, very serious about their kids racing.
00:27:47It was just a practice day and it was a mom.
00:27:49It was in the afternoon.
00:27:50So maybe the kid had just gotten out of school.
00:27:52She pulls his, his 65 out of the back of a minivan, no ramp.
00:27:57She just, the mom grabs a swing arm and just hucks the thing out and then changes his air
00:28:03filter.
00:28:03Like for little, little Johnny to just have his practice day.
00:28:07And the kid was a ripper.
00:28:08So he was definitely, that was definitely their, their thing was that he was a racer and mom
00:28:13was going to participate.
00:28:16Speedway.
00:28:16Yeah.
00:28:18Yeah.
00:28:18Very much happens.
00:28:20Um, you know, uh, other types of racing.
00:28:23I mean, I've done, I've made it a point to try to do almost every type of racing and I
00:28:28only have a few left on my list, but, um, Speedway, I haven't raced Speedway, but I've
00:28:32ridden Speedway.
00:28:33That's a very specialized type of racing and probably one you wouldn't get into easily.
00:28:38Um, when you say specialized, do you mean terrifying?
00:28:42Yes.
00:28:42And terrifying.
00:28:44It is, it is a type of racing, roundy round racing, right?
00:28:47It goes around an oval, very small and everything is backwards on a Speedway bike.
00:28:53You, you give it gas to slow down cause you got to spin the rear tire, right?
00:28:57And you spin the rear tire and you slide the bike to slow down and you let off the gas,
00:29:00everything hooks up and it accelerates.
00:29:02And, um, after you go around two corners and every time you left the gas, you start going
00:29:07faster.
00:29:07It is absolutely terrifying in, in, it is a, a rush of info and speed and everything.
00:29:17And just the ergonomics.
00:29:18I I've never ridden a Speedway bike, but just the ergonomics are just like, what?
00:29:22Like it doesn't even, why would you sit on this there?
00:29:25How do you operate this thing?
00:29:26You know?
00:29:27Yeah.
00:29:27You step off to the inside and basically you ride on your foot on a steel shoe.
00:29:30You like in flat track, you put your steel shoe up, but you're not really putting all
00:29:35of your weight on it, but on a Speedway bike, you're putting a lot of weight on your foot
00:29:38and it's way out there.
00:29:39I've never had a leg cramp so bad in my life as I did after riding Speedway.
00:29:44Um, yeah, I thought I was going to have to cut my leg off.
00:29:47So I got drag racing, flat track, Speedway, um, mini bike racing used to be huge.
00:29:52Still some people do it.
00:29:53I mean, back in the day when I was in my twenties, I was at mini bike races that first place
00:29:59was 10,000 bucks.
00:30:01Wow.
00:30:02Right.
00:30:02But you could get into that easily.
00:30:04Remember that they had that big mini bike race in Las Vegas in conjunction with the motorcycle
00:30:10show and they had those big purses.
00:30:12Yeah.
00:30:12Oh yeah.
00:30:13Yeah.
00:30:13Full on super cross indoors inside a stadium, um, but also grassroots, right?
00:30:18You could go to a mini bike race in your local town on a stock one 10 and just bang bars with
00:30:26your friends and have a great old time.
00:30:28If that's all you had, and it would be just as competitive and just as satisfying as doing
00:30:33any of these other types of racing.
00:30:35Um, now you can race adventure bikes too.
00:30:39I, yeah, I don't know much about the adventure bike racing.
00:30:42What, where is that happening?
00:30:44Well, I did one.
00:30:45I raced a venture bike.
00:30:47Yeah.
00:30:48But it wasn't exactly an adventure bike race, but yeah, your class was, yeah, I'm, uh, but
00:30:54there's, um, uh, AMA flat track has that adventure flat track thing.
00:31:00GNCC has a adventure bike class that you can, you can go sign up for, uh, some of the hair
00:31:06scrambles in the, in the West district 37 and stuff, they've got an adventure bike class.
00:31:10So, you know, you, if you have an adventure bike, you could go racing.
00:31:13Yeah.
00:31:14I can see that.
00:31:15I can see that class, like kind of like not ever becoming crazy popular, but growing.
00:31:21I mean, with the popularity of adventure touring bikes and everyone is making them, you know,
00:31:25the middleweight bikes are crazy capable.
00:31:27Like I could see that being a little bit of a thing, you know?
00:31:30Yeah.
00:31:31It sounds like a good way to make the affordability of off-road racing, not affordable.
00:31:36Sure.
00:31:37Yeah.
00:31:37Very much so.
00:31:38But I mean, like if you owned a nice adventure bike and you just wanted to try your hand at
00:31:42it and go sign up for whatever it is, a hundred bucks, 40 bucks, 50 bucks, whatever it may be.
00:31:47I mean, just go out on the course and bash down the course and enjoy yourself.
00:31:52Yeah.
00:31:52Um, you know, I mean, hooligan off-road racing is big.
00:31:57I mean, there's guys racing Harley sportsters in the mint 400 and, you know, all these off-road
00:32:03races, same thing as the adventure bikes.
00:32:05It's kind of just a weird fringe thing, but man, really fun, really fun to do.
00:32:10And, and different, um, if you live, uh, where Waheed is originally from, you could go ice
00:32:16racing.
00:32:17Yeah.
00:32:18Yep.
00:32:19I mean, I guess in Minnesota and Wisconsin though, the days of the, uh, from what I've
00:32:24heard, the days of the crazy cold, you know, ice filled winters are kind of going away,
00:32:28like a little bit of global warming action where, you know, they don't really get that
00:32:33snow and cold temperatures like they used to.
00:32:35I was actually just talking to some of my old Minnesota buddies and they were saying that
00:32:39just the winters aren't like they used to be, you know, the snowmobile segments kind
00:32:44of drying up the, the lakes aren't as frozen as, as they are, but when they do freeze ice
00:32:49racing is a great way to do your, to get your fix.
00:32:52And, you know, Anders Carlson, who just joined the UTV driver team, he recently penned a nice
00:32:58article about ice racing for us.
00:33:01And, you know, I've never done ice racing, but I read those kinds of articles and man,
00:33:05it looks fun.
00:33:06Yeah.
00:33:06Um, Paul James from Harley Davidson, he goes rice racing all winter long, man.
00:33:11He loves it.
00:33:12He's totally into it.
00:33:14Um, he's got a, got a crew that they go out and, you know, a few weekends out of the,
00:33:21the winter, they're out there dicing it.
00:33:23Yeah.
00:33:24And you always hear, like, at least I hear that when you put those studded, those purpose
00:33:28built studded motorcycle tires on there, that the grip you have against the studded tire and
00:33:34the ice is just, it's more grip than a, uh, road racing bike with brand new racing slicks.
00:33:40Yeah.
00:33:40Which is just crazy to me.
00:33:41Super grip.
00:33:41Yeah, definitely.
00:33:43So I think the point we're making here with all these naming, all these series and how you
00:33:47can get into it is that, um, there's plenty of choices for everybody to go motorcycle racing,
00:33:55right?
00:33:55There's something that's going to fit you, your bike, and something that can pique your
00:34:01interest in terms of, of, of racing.
00:34:04Right.
00:34:05And you've already got the bike, you've already got the gear.
00:34:09So, you know, in a lot of cases, all you really need to do is, is especially in the
00:34:14dirt bike stuff is just step up to the plate, put down your money, um, sign up for a race
00:34:19and go do it.
00:34:20You know, um, you know, some of the, the road racing stuff, you may have to do some more
00:34:25work and you're going to have to maybe go to a new racer school, which is good because
00:34:30you're going to learn how to have all the proper track etiquette and learn to go around
00:34:35a track.
00:34:35So it's a, it's a plus for sure.
00:34:38Right.
00:34:39Yeah.
00:34:39And that's, that's a good moment to, you know, plug some of the, you know, motorcycle street
00:34:43bike motorcycle schools out there, like Yamaha's champion school and, and, uh, California
00:34:49super bike school, you know, if you're kind of thinking about getting into racing, you
00:34:53maybe not that these schools are race schools, but you can go there, you know, learn some
00:34:58practical information that will help you stay safe, uh, on the bike.
00:35:02When you, when you transition into a little bit of amateur road racing.
00:35:06Yep.
00:35:06Absolutely.
00:35:07So, um, you know, it, it really comes down to, I mean, when I was a kid race, starting
00:35:15to race, it was basically just load up a cooler, family and friends and just go do
00:35:21it.
00:35:22Right.
00:35:22Like it's as simple as that for the most part.
00:35:26I mean, you have to do a little preparation.
00:35:28You got to make sure your bike is in good shape or whatever.
00:35:30But, um, if you've got the stuff, why not, why not give it a go?
00:35:34You might find something you really like doing.
00:35:36Right.
00:35:37Yeah.
00:35:38Especially like you said, the off-road stuff, because those bikes are pretty much already
00:35:42purpose-built to be racers.
00:35:45Yep.
00:35:45Mm-hmm.
00:35:46Mm-hmm.
00:35:47Yeah.
00:35:49Um, Daz, you were talking about your, your mini moto race days.
00:35:54Um, uh, I mean, some of those were kind of weird, like places.
00:35:58Like I remember attending one, like in backyards.
00:36:01Oh, it's that Langtown.
00:36:02That was a $10,000 purse at Langtown for first place.
00:36:05Yeah.
00:36:05In somebody's backyard.
00:36:06There was also one out like in Murrieta or Moreno Valley that they built one.
00:36:10But I did a mini moto race.
00:36:13We were, we, me and some other guys in the industry, we were headed to, uh, uh, Cooperland.
00:36:18Oh, yeah.
00:36:19The guy, Cooper's motocross track.
00:36:21And on the way we stopped in, uh, Stillwater and we raced this place at a bar.
00:36:29It was, it was, it was a night race in a bar on, and the bar was open.
00:36:33And it was, and busy because it was like nickel beer night.
00:36:37And the race started in the back.
00:36:40They had a gate and everything.
00:36:41The race started in the back.
00:36:42You went across the field and then they built a track with a metal ramp.
00:36:46It had metal ramps.
00:36:47And then the thing that the course turned and came in the back door of the bar.
00:36:53And then you went off the stage between the pool tables and then back out a side door
00:36:58right through the bar while it was open.
00:37:00And there were, I mean, they had that area kind of cordoned off, but there were spectators
00:37:04just standing there on the other side of the pool tables.
00:37:06And, uh, it was fantastic.
00:37:08Craziest thing.
00:37:10That's so fun.
00:37:12That is awesome.
00:37:13Wild style.
00:37:14I remember seeing photos of that at some point going, oh, that would be fun.
00:37:18Yeah.
00:37:19So it was a little sketchy.
00:37:21The metal ramp was a little slippery because it was at night and wet and they, they had
00:37:25covered in, covered in beer and fit in nickel beer.
00:37:27Yeah.
00:37:28And they had it, uh, they had a light on it and they had it pointed straight into your
00:37:32face.
00:37:33So you couldn't see.
00:37:34Yeah.
00:37:35Yeah.
00:37:35Uh, right on.
00:37:38So what about, um, uh, where's the best, where do you, what do you, what do we think
00:37:44is like the best way to, to really start this?
00:37:47Like we, we keep just saying, just go sign up.
00:37:48But, um, if we were to, if you were to like, someone was to come and say, I want to start
00:37:53motorcycle racing.
00:37:54Where do I start?
00:37:55What do I do first?
00:37:57Where do I go?
00:37:58Like, should I start with street bikes?
00:37:59Should I start with dirt bikes?
00:38:00Should I, you know what I mean?
00:38:02Like, we already touched on it.
00:38:04You, you start with a dirt bike, dirt bikes.
00:38:08Yeah.
00:38:09Yeah, absolutely.
00:38:10Yeah.
00:38:10There are more places that they happen virtually every single weekend.
00:38:13Yeah.
00:38:15Yeah.
00:38:15And, uh, you can do an SRA GP, you know, or some Grand Prix style racing series, wherever
00:38:22you live, you know, Grand Prix races are cool because it's a course and it's not usually
00:38:27a terribly long course, but not a short course either.
00:38:30So you get to learn the nuances of a course.
00:38:33You're never going to be lap.
00:38:34You're going to be doing laps.
00:38:35You're going to get to learn the terrain, you know?
00:38:38And then typically those GPs, they're people want to race and they want to win, but it's
00:38:44more mellow than maybe a motocross race or a flat track race.
00:38:47It's just, it's just more mellow, you know?
00:38:49So it, all you really need to do a Grand Prix motocross races, you just need a dirt bike
00:38:55and maybe some not super worn out knobby tires.
00:38:58It's that easy.
00:38:59Yeah, that's it.
00:38:59It's that easy at home.
00:39:00And what's nice about Grand Prixs is they're usually shorter too.
00:39:04They're like 45 minutes.
00:39:05So if you're, if you're not like, man, I couldn't go race dirt bikes for three hours
00:39:10straight.
00:39:10You don't need to.
00:39:11You can go do a GP.
00:39:13Um, you don't have to like, I mean, you don't even have to invest the full day if you don't
00:39:18want to, if you, if you're in a class that's in the morning, you could go race and be
00:39:21done and home for lunch sometimes, you know?
00:39:24Well, that's the big alluring thing about those kinds of races is you show up in the
00:39:29morning at, you know, 7am, you do your practice, your quick one lap practice, eight, you race
00:39:34in the morning, you're home by, you know, after lunch.
00:39:37That's one of the really great things.
00:39:39You don't even need more than a tank of gas.
00:39:41You know, you just use your existing dirt bike gear, helmet, goggles, pants, boots.
00:39:46You don't need any special gear besides what you normally wear.
00:39:50You know, it's just, it's cheap and easy and it's, it's, it's fun.
00:39:54Yep.
00:39:54And that, that's about the most approachable style of racing, you know, because no, not
00:40:01many just basic amateur riders are fit enough to go flat out for 20 minutes, let alone 45
00:40:10minutes.
00:40:10So it makes it like, it makes it more approachable, I think, because you have to sort of manage
00:40:15your energy and, uh, that you ride in a, in a bit of a safer zone.
00:40:20Yeah, for sure.
00:40:21I think if you have a dirt bike or if you're thinking about buying a motorcycle to go racing,
00:40:27it's absolutely get a dirt bike and go Grand Prix racing.
00:40:31Um, it's the, it's the, it's the simplest way to get into it.
00:40:35It's the least time intensive and it gives you a really good flavor.
00:40:39If you want to keep doing more and doing different, right?
00:40:42What about like road racing?
00:40:44Like what would be, you know, just go sign up for a club race, maybe go hang out at one
00:40:50before you go do it, see how the world works and that sort of thing.
00:40:55Get to know some people, get some info and go do it.
00:40:57I don't, you know, I don't know you went club racing, Adam, you should know.
00:41:01I think, you know, I think just go into a local amateur race and just checking out the
00:41:07scene and just go in there, not even to participate, just to look and stuff.
00:41:11I think that's always a great, you know, introduction to things, you know, walking around, talking
00:41:16to people, you know, and then if you're ready to, you're like, Oh, this looks fun.
00:41:20I want to do something like this.
00:41:21You know, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to participate in a Yamaha champ school or
00:41:26something similar.
00:41:27You know, they have, they have more racing S programs there, which is going to, you know,
00:41:33just kind of get you up to speed, not so much speed on track, but speed mentally on, you
00:41:38know, what to do, what the flags do, you know, just pacing of the day, that kind of stuff.
00:41:43So, you know, in those, that those champ schools, they're not, they're not ridiculously
00:41:47expensive.
00:41:48They're not crazy, you know?
00:41:50So I think that would be a good way to get your teeth wet.
00:41:54And then if you wanted to decide to do it afterwards, you know, you take your street
00:41:59bike, invest in some aftermarket body work.
00:42:02There's a lot of great aftermarket body work out there.
00:42:04You prep your bike, you know, you do some safety wiring, some of the components that
00:42:09could traditionally leak fluids and create mayhem on track.
00:42:13So you do that.
00:42:14You do a couple other small modifications, like put racing tires on your bike.
00:42:18And, and, you know, show up at a club race and enter the beginner class.
00:42:23And yeah, you'll have a great time.
00:42:25And after that, you'll know if that's something you want to pursue or not.
00:42:28And if you don't want to pursue it, the great thing is you take off that body work, you sell
00:42:32it.
00:42:32No big deal.
00:42:33You put your stock OEM body work back on the bike.
00:42:36And now you're right as a street bike.
00:42:37Again, no harm, no foul.
00:42:39And you're a better street bike rider.
00:42:41And you're a better street bike rider.
00:42:42Yeah.
00:42:42The skills are correct.
00:42:44But knowing how things go, you're going to try that.
00:42:46You're going to like it.
00:42:47You're going to want to do it.
00:42:48Exactly.
00:42:49Yeah.
00:42:49As it, as it goes with racing.
00:42:51If someone were to ask me for advice on that, I would, for, you know, racing, uh, uh,
00:42:57on the pavement, I would say supermoto, supermoto, like approaching that, that stop of pavement or
00:43:04racing on the tarmac.
00:43:06It supermoto is a much like moto.
00:43:09Like the bikes are cheaper.
00:43:10The tires are cheaper, uh, cheaper only because you don't go through them as quickly.
00:43:15And, um, at least in our area out here, there's, there's stuff like that going on pretty regular.
00:43:21I would say supermoto and you, that's a, with supermoto, there are small displacement
00:43:26classes, just like in all this, all the moto racing.
00:43:30Honestly, that's a really good point, Jeff.
00:43:32You know, in the American Southwest, we, we have access to that more readily than they
00:43:37do maybe in other parts of the country.
00:43:38And yeah, it's a great way to get your feet wet.
00:43:41I mean, again, you're using a dirt bike.
00:43:42Dirt bikes are relatively inexpensive.
00:43:45They're high performance racing bikes.
00:43:47You do a couple of modifications.
00:43:48I mean, realistically, you don't even need to do some modifications.
00:43:50You go buy a stock Kawasaki or, you know, KTM's coming out with its three, three 90 SMR.
00:43:59And I mean, these aren't race bikes, but you buy these things, you try your hands, see how
00:44:03you like it on the supermoto.
00:44:04I like this.
00:44:05Well, then you could maybe invest in a more high performance supermoto and then you can
00:44:09graduate from that industry biking.
00:44:11You know, that's Cody cop is doing that right now.
00:44:14Yeah.
00:44:14Yeah.
00:44:15Yeah.
00:44:16Cody cop's doing that right now.
00:44:17He's the, you know, reigning, uh, AMA flat track, four 50 singles chap, you know, back
00:44:23to back.
00:44:23And, you know, he accomplished all he needed to accomplish in that.
00:44:26And now he's trying to go road racing, you know, and he did that, that talent comp at
00:44:31circuit of the Americas last weekend that was his inaugural race.
00:44:34So, you know, he's kind of transitioning into street bike riding, you know, via flat
00:44:39track via supermoto.
00:44:40Now he's going into street bike racing.
00:44:42Yeah.
00:44:42And supermoto makes it super easy because you have the, you know, you have the, the big wheel
00:44:47classes.
00:44:48So you could, you can just show up with a, basically a dirt bike with your dirt bike
00:44:52wheels and just change the tires.
00:44:54And I have been to races where they actually have a knobby class, a supermoto knobby class.
00:45:02So you don't, you just bring your, your roached out knobbies and just run them again on the
00:45:07pavement.
00:45:08Yeah.
00:45:08Very, very true.
00:45:09And that I like that, the big wheel class where you don't have to buy 17 inch wheels and
00:45:13you don't have to, you know, I mean, there's plenty of bikes you can buy that are all set
00:45:17up like that.
00:45:17Like you said, you can get in cheap with like a KTM SMR, maybe like a DRZ S model, DRZ 400
00:45:24S, you know, those types of bikes, like they have 17 inch wheels on them.
00:45:28They're good to go.
00:45:28And you can go try your hand at it and have fun.
00:45:31But also you could take your dirt bike, put some, some streetish tires on it and go do the
00:45:36thing and not have to get different wheels, different brakes and all that stuff.
00:45:39So now then you're gonna go down the rabbit hole and you'll end up doing that.
00:45:42But, um, you know, to, to get a taste, you don't have to, you don't have to go all out
00:45:47to get a taste in some of these things, you know, and then there's, you know, there's
00:45:52other, all these other types of weird racing we talked about, you know, those are a little
00:45:55bit tougher to get into, but some of those might speak to you a little more.
00:46:02Right.
00:46:02So like, I love doing rally because it's a very silly cerebral racing.
00:46:08You have to like read a road book.
00:46:10You have to pay attention to the notes and where you're going and navigate and don't
00:46:15get lost.
00:46:15And, and that brings the speed down a little bit and it brings the danger down a little
00:46:20bit.
00:46:20And it's a really satisfying way to go racing.
00:46:23And sometimes you could do multiple days and, and all that stuff.
00:46:26And it's, it's, I think it's one of the funnest ways to get started racing, but you're
00:46:31going to need some specialized equipment.
00:46:32And I think that's maybe the hardest part about all motocross motorcycle racing, besides
00:46:37going, riding and dirt bikes is you're going to need some specialized equipment.
00:46:42Yeah.
00:46:43That's when the costs start rising quickly.
00:46:45You can, you know, but you know, I think the hardest part is, is making this, this decision,
00:46:51the jump to do it in the first place.
00:46:54Right.
00:46:54Cause there's a lot of people that would just be like, Oh, like that looks really fun, but
00:46:58I don't know where to start.
00:46:59I don't know who to talk to.
00:47:02I don't know if I can do it.
00:47:04Just go do it.
00:47:05Just give it a shot.
00:47:07Like it's not to give it a shot.
00:47:09It's not that tough.
00:47:10You just got to make the decision to do it.
00:47:13Right.
00:47:14Yeah.
00:47:15Crack open a couple of beers with your bodies and get them committed.
00:47:20That's the thing.
00:47:21Get, get a bunch of friends together and all go racing.
00:47:25Decide to do it together.
00:47:26It makes it easier.
00:47:27Absolutely.
00:47:28Let the bench racing begin.
00:47:29Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:47:31Everybody's ready to go, you know, on a Saturday night.
00:47:34Yeah.
00:47:35Yeah, exactly.
00:47:37What about, um, what are some other like hard parts about going racing?
00:47:41Cause it's not all easy.
00:47:42Like we were like, Oh, just go do it.
00:47:44It's easy.
00:47:44But I mean, it does take some effort and you do have to invest some, some time and money
00:47:49to do it.
00:47:50So what else is, is a hard part of racing?
00:47:53Um, the, the, the, the, the, the cost, I mean, it is, I mean, but as we were saying, you can
00:47:59choose affordable ways, but the more you do it and the, you know, you're going to wear
00:48:03out stuff and then you're in, uh, or damage it.
00:48:06But yeah, it's just the cost.
00:48:08As you get more serious, the costs get more serious.
00:48:10That's the big, that's the big obstacle.
00:48:13And then associated with that is if you're really into it, you're going to have to travel
00:48:18and then that's, you know, even more costs.
00:48:21You can help mitigate costs though.
00:48:24I mean, just by like, obviously, you know, we all want to hop up our bikes and get the
00:48:29cool exhaust and the cool this and that, but realistically you don't, especially in the
00:48:34beginning, you don't really need that stuff.
00:48:36You know, you don't really need it.
00:48:37These, a lot of these bikes these days, I mean, of course, a dirt bike, you'd want to
00:48:41put on exhaust exhaust is not that crazy expensive, but these bikes are very, you know, they're
00:48:46very high performance and well-built from the OEMs where, you know, especially
00:48:51nowadays, I mean, like look at, I mean, KTM's built their whole business on race ready,
00:48:56you know, coming with the stainless steel brake lines, coming with some of these high
00:49:00end components that typically, you know, on a Japanese bike, you would replace.
00:49:05And KTM's made their business out of offering this bike as a production bike that you just
00:49:09buy and go race, you know?
00:49:12Yeah.
00:49:12But I think your, your point is like, you don't need to upgrade right away, even a Japanese
00:49:17bike or something else.
00:49:18It's like in the beginning, your skill is going to win, get you further than all the
00:49:25parts and all the fancy things you put on your motorcycle.
00:49:28Your skill is going to be what really sets your path or defines your success when you're
00:49:35first starting out racing above anything else.
00:49:37Because you're a beginner and you don't know how, and everyone in that class doesn't know
00:49:41how to fully utilize a 65 horsepower 450 or 215 horsepower Panigale V4, or, you know,
00:49:50like if you, if you're green to it, it doesn't matter.
00:49:54Like you could go out on an RS660 versus a Panigale V4.
00:50:00And if you're both beginners, it's going to be a, it's going to be a tight battle for
00:50:06a long time.
00:50:06The machine is not the limiting factor.
00:50:09Yeah.
00:50:09Yeah.
00:50:10Long, long time.
00:50:12Yeah.
00:50:12I would say some other hard parts about it though, or you're putting your bike on the
00:50:17line, like, right.
00:50:18You are, there's a chance of crashing crashes can happen and you are going to incur those
00:50:25costs and in some cases you may completely destroy your motorcycle.
00:50:31Absolutely.
00:50:32I mean, that's something that's real on the street bike side, you know, dirt bike side,
00:50:36you know, usually your mishaps, not going to totally destroy your dirt bike.
00:50:40It can, but it usually doesn't.
00:50:43But yeah, street bike.
00:50:44I mean, I mean, I, for some people, this is their street bike.
00:50:48This is literally their bike.
00:50:49They arrived at the grocery store and now they're taking off the fairings and racing it.
00:50:53And when they have an accident and that bike's destroyed, now you can't ride to the grocery
00:50:56store.
00:50:57You can't get to work on Monday.
00:50:59Yeah.
00:50:59So yeah, damage and is an accidents are a real thing, but that's why, you know, it's good
00:51:05to invest in a little bit of training, a little bit of, uh, uh, you know, going to a school,
00:51:11just kind of getting some, some firsthand knowledge to help mitigate chances of accidents.
00:51:16Exactly.
00:51:17Skills wise.
00:51:19Um, also in terms of adrenaline or wise, right?
00:51:22Like if you, if you go to a tricycle and you go and you, you start to normalize the
00:51:27speed and the closeness and the, all that kind of stuff, then when you go racing, you
00:51:32don't get as much of the red mist and you just send it.
00:51:36Right.
00:51:37I mean, you're totally right.
00:51:38I mean, just getting comfortable with, with those kinds of speeds and those kinds of closing
00:51:43distances, you know, it's, that's applicable in any type of racing, but you know, that's just
00:51:48all practice and putting the time in, you know, doing a track day.
00:51:52You don't have to begin by racing.
00:51:54You can go to a, you know, a closed course motorcycle track day, a cop compact octane
00:51:59track day and get familiar with those speeds, you know, same on a dirt bike.
00:52:03You know, you can go do a, you know, ride with some of your buddies that maybe are faster
00:52:07and get comfortable with just that kind of stuff.
00:52:10Yep, exactly.
00:52:11So, I mean, yeah.
00:52:12So the hardest part is putting your bike up, banking the jump, you're going to travel,
00:52:16you're going to spend some money, time investment after you start doing it.
00:52:19Those are all the hard parts, but you know, like putting your bike on the line, there's
00:52:24another way you can do it.
00:52:25You can do a ride, ride and race, ride and drive.
00:52:28Like there's, there's times where you can find companies that will rent you a dirt bike
00:52:33or a street bike, you know, and you can fly somewhere and go somewhere exotic and go
00:52:37racing.
00:52:38Right.
00:52:39Totally.
00:52:39Yeah, I know there was this one company, I can't remember them, but they used to service
00:52:43Thunder Hill Raceway in Willows, California, and they had a fleet of Ninja, you know, 250s
00:52:50and then into 300s and the 400s where you show up, you just fly into Sacramento airport and
00:52:56you could rent a car and you go to the track and they'll have a shiny new Ninja 400, all race
00:53:01prepped for you to compete on.
00:53:02And, you know, I never, I've never participated, but gosh, that's gotta be a hoot.
00:53:07You know, it's gotta be fantastic.
00:53:09If you don't, if you do it, make sure you get the insurance.
00:53:13Do not skip the insurance.
00:53:15Well that, but that is like the full on factory experience is show up at the airport with your
00:53:20gear bag.
00:53:21And now that sounds awesome.
00:53:23Yeah.
00:53:23Is my steed ready?
00:53:25Yeah.
00:53:25Yeah.
00:53:26And then we, we didn't really talk about it, but like, you know, the whole, we've talked
00:53:30about in a prior, uh, motorcyclist podcast episodes of the motorcycle safety and apparel,
00:53:36how it's, you know, the airbags and, and a lot of the safety tech.
00:53:39We didn't have this stuff, uh, not too long ago.
00:53:41And now to be able to have, you know, tech air five plasma, where you have a wearable
00:53:45motorcycle airbag to protect you and, you know, any sport you do, whether it's riding
00:53:49on the street or off road, like that's amazing, you know, especially for a thousand dollars
00:53:54to have that kind of safety and technology protecting you in case of an accident.
00:53:59Like that's absolutely a worthwhile investment in my opinion.
00:54:02Yeah, for sure.
00:54:03Absolutely.
00:54:05So, okay.
00:54:06Well, let's, let's talk about ourselves.
00:54:08Like what, what do we personally get out of racing?
00:54:13Right.
00:54:13Like what, what's the, um, what's the, the reason we all, cause we all do it.
00:54:21We all race.
00:54:21I mean, we've been in motorcycles forever.
00:54:23We, we are blessed to be able to have more access to motorcycles and racing than everyone
00:54:29else.
00:54:30But, um, you know, we've all been doing it for a very long time and we all have not given
00:54:34up on racing.
00:54:35So Adam, what about you?
00:54:36What do you get out of it?
00:54:37Why, why do you do it?
00:54:38Well, I think it's really cool to do some type of racing or competition just because,
00:54:45you know, we spoke about it a little bit earlier, but you know, in today's world, there's a lot
00:54:49of, a lot of outside things that, that are coming at you, whether it's, you know, work,
00:54:53school, you know, your girlfriend, your phone, whatever racing is really cool because it allows
00:54:59you to kind of get all that noise to go away and you get to focus on something and whether
00:55:04that's focusing on, you know, you know, training and getting your body up to speed.
00:55:08You know, as Jeff said, getting your program, right.
00:55:11With getting all your parts and accessories and, you know, getting all the logistics of
00:55:15racing to actually going racing, you know, when you, when you're on the starting line
00:55:20Dawes and you're zeroing in on what you have to do and nothing else really matters.
00:55:24Like that's the coolest thing to me is just being able to like lock in and just, you get
00:55:29to focus on something and all that other stuff that bugs you or just bothers you just fades
00:55:34away into the oblivion.
00:55:36And that's really cool.
00:55:36Yeah.
00:55:37For sure.
00:55:38Yeah.
00:55:38To Adam's point, I mean, like the excitement of getting up, even like getting up early,
00:55:42like if you have a local race, you know, like how easy is it to get up at four in the morning
00:55:47when you have a race that day?
00:55:48Like the alarm goes off.
00:55:49You're like, boom, I'm up.
00:55:51I'm ready to go.
00:55:52No, no, no.
00:55:53That's how I am.
00:55:54Like I, all of it, that's that, that excitement and that anticipation.
00:55:58It's, yeah.
00:55:58Well, and that's, that's the point of, uh, I think for me, the, what I get out of racing
00:56:03is that buildup, that anticipation, that nervousness, all that, like all those emotions
00:56:09of like the uncertainty, the, you know, how am I going to do like, and this could be a
00:56:15simple screw around race, like a GP, or like when we did the rally, um, on the Vstrom, like
00:56:21there's a lot of nerves and what, how's this going to go?
00:56:24And then, and then when you're done with it, you have that satisfaction of doing something
00:56:29tough and following through with it.
00:56:31And it's like this release of all of that pent up, um, emotion that you had before you
00:56:37got there.
00:56:37You know, you have this build, build, build, build, and then it's awesome.
00:56:41Yeah.
00:56:41And it continues to build, right?
00:56:43Like, at least like for us racing dirt bike, like that moment where you're sitting on the
00:56:48gate and the revs are up and you're, you're, you're trying to find the, you know, that
00:56:53engagement on the clutch and that moment is super, super exciting.
00:56:57And it seems to last forever.
00:57:01And then, and then, you know, within a split second, you know, if you got it right or not,
00:57:06you know?
00:57:06Yeah.
00:57:07I mean, that's cool.
00:57:08It's like, it, it, time slows down when you go racing.
00:57:10Yeah, it really does.
00:57:11You're going to live longer.
00:57:12If you go racing, you're actually going to live longer.
00:57:14Yeah, exactly.
00:57:18There are times when you like, it seems like, uh, uh, it never ends.
00:57:22And that could be too, when you're off-road racing or something, and something is super
00:57:25hard and difficult, you're like, this is never going to end, you know?
00:57:29I guess.
00:57:30Yeah.
00:57:30There's that part too.
00:57:32So there's that part.
00:57:33So, uh, let's talk about our favorite type of racing, uh, before we close this up.
00:57:36Um, Adam, uh, what, what's your favorite type of motorcycle racing?
00:57:44Uh, you know, me, I, a variety is the spice of life.
00:57:47So I, I think all of it's pretty cool.
00:57:49You know, uh, there'll be phases of life where you think one is more, is one's better
00:57:54than the other, but I think it's all cool, you know, from dirt bike racing to street bike
00:57:59racing, like racing is one of the oldest forms of, you know, as soon as the motorcycle was
00:58:05invented in the late 1800s, early 1900s, what were they doing?
00:58:09Racing.
00:58:10Yeah.
00:58:10So it's like the joke.
00:58:12How's the joke go?
00:58:13When did motorcycle racing starting when started when the second motorcycle was built?
00:58:17So, you know, it's just, it's just cool having some competition and, you know, we're really
00:58:24lucky in today's world where we were, you know, manufacturers are building these awesome,
00:58:29incredible machines and basically every category.
00:58:31And, you know, now's the time if you want to experience the thrill of competition, you
00:58:36know, motorcycle racing is really fun.
00:58:38Great way to do it.
00:58:40Yep.
00:58:41Uh, I'll say like at all.
00:58:42Yeah.
00:58:43I knew you were going to say that, uh, like Adam is the spice of life guy and he, he does
00:58:48want to taste every flavor and we all do that in a way, but I think for me right now, my
00:58:53favorite is rally.
00:58:55Um, I'm really, really enjoying like learning that skill, maybe because it's hard in terms
00:59:03of learning to navigate and the bike prep and the way you go about things.
00:59:07It's, it's really fun.
00:59:09It's a safe type of racing.
00:59:11It's cerebral.
00:59:12Um, but it's also can be fast and exciting and dangerous and all those things.
00:59:17Um, but for me, that's, that's my favorite right now is rally racing.
00:59:24Yeah.
00:59:25Jeff.
00:59:25Uh, I would, for me, I would say endurance racing and I mean, I've done endurance racing
00:59:31both off-road and on the pavement and I love the endurance racing.
00:59:35I, I, like I mentioned, like I don't, I, the first time I did the 24 hour race at Glen
00:59:42Helen, I thought it was fantastic.
00:59:44Like having someone you're sleeping in the back of the van or whatever, and someone comes
00:59:48and knocks on the window and it's like three 30 in the morning.
00:59:52And they're like, you're up in 15 minutes and you're like, Oh my God, like you're so
00:59:57exhausted.
00:59:57Cause you only went to sleep at midnight and then, uh, so the, the endurance racing, I
01:00:03just love that on off, you know, make a quick switch, all that stuff, doing the pits, maintaining
01:00:09the bike.
01:00:10Cause you know, with the endurance racing, you there, there's usually some sort of maintenance
01:00:13required during the race, either changing tires or, you know, quick air filter, or we've
01:00:19even done oil changes.
01:00:21So yeah, for sure.
01:00:22Yeah.
01:00:23Yeah.
01:00:23Yeah.
01:00:24It's to me, it's fun.
01:00:26Um, but, uh, that three o'clock wake up for me is rough.
01:00:34I love it.
01:00:35I didn't, and then, and then you get out on the track and it's three o'clock in the morning
01:00:39and like at Glen Hill and there was sometimes there's places you're up on top of the hill
01:00:43and you can see the freeway.
01:00:44There's hardly any cars.
01:00:46And for, I'm just thinking everyone else is asleep right now.
01:00:49Like everyone I know is sleeping and I'm out here racing a dirt bike and that just that
01:00:54the air temperature, the air temperature, the smells, the different smells, you know,
01:01:00and just like, you know, it's just plus, plus you kind of like, you kind of lie to yourself
01:01:05a little bit.
01:01:05Like I'm out there.
01:01:06I remember I was out there hauling ass and just like, man, I'm just hauling ass.
01:01:12I'm like, come on, it's so good.
01:01:13And then some dude just blows by me.
01:01:15Like one of the pro guys goes right by me.
01:01:17I'm like, yeah, well, yeah, well, still, it's awesome.
01:01:21You're doing it.
01:01:21Yep.
01:01:22So, uh, yeah, we all love it.
01:01:24We all love right racing motorcycles and all shapes and forms.
01:01:28And, um, it can be easy.
01:01:31It can be fairly inexpensive, but it could also get expensive, but any way you look at it,
01:01:38you should do it.
01:01:39It's absolutely worth it.
01:01:41I don't think any of us would ever discourage anyone from going and trying motorcycle racing.
01:01:47Yeah.
01:01:48Well, I got my kids in it, so.
01:01:50Yep.
01:01:51Exactly.
01:01:52You got to try it at least once.
01:01:53You got to do it at least once.
01:01:54If you have a motorcycle, find a place to go race it and go do it.
01:01:58Even if that's going down to a local drag strip, you know, put your, put your skills in,
01:02:03in your motorcycle to the test.
01:02:05And you're going to find some stuff out about yourself that you may not have known.
01:02:09So, um, that's it for this episode.
01:02:12Uh, let us know what your favorite type of racing is.
01:02:15Like, what was your first race?
01:02:16Like, where did you race the first time?
01:02:18What did you do?
01:02:19You know, put it in the comments.
01:02:20Let us know.
01:02:21Love to hear your stories about racing.
01:02:23Um, good, bad, ugly, whatever, you know, um, with that, we are, we are finished with this
01:02:29episode of the Motorcyclist podcast.
01:02:31We appreciate your support.
01:02:33Um, like subscribe, tell your friends, share it, you know, engage with us.
01:02:38We'd love to hear it and we will see you on the next episode.