AFM, whats your annual spending?

[jacob11379]

Im far away from being AFM material. And not even sure if its something I would want to do yet. But I will say it looks like a Fkn blast!

Just doing some schools, track days, new bike and leathers ive spent a lot of money already this year.

If its not to personal, im curious what an annual spending budget to race might look like?

 

[Smash Allen]

$1000/weekend for a liter bike, seven rounds is $7000

$400 tires
$300 race fees
$150 Saturday practice
$150 gas, food, misc.

 

[jacob11379]

$1000/weekend for a liter bike, seven rounds is $7000

$400 tires
$300 race fees
$150 Saturday practice
$150 gas, food, misc.

Race fees and Saturday practice are essentially the same thing as paying for a track day?

Is Saturday practice just riding an A group track day?

 

[thedub]

Is Saturday practice just riding an A group track day?

No, it's much less track time.

 

[Smash Allen]

Race fees and Saturday practice are essentially the same thing as paying for a track day?

Is Saturday practice just riding an A group track day?

Saturday practice is five sessions, 20 minutes each

Each race is around 15 minutes

Saturday practice is faster than any A group track day

$99 New Racer School gets you Saturday practice and as many races as your bike qualifies for on Saturday

One round and you will understand :ride :teeth

 

[jacob11379]

Saturday practice is five sessions, 20 minutes each

Each race is around 15 minutes

Saturday practice is faster than any A group track day

$99 New Racer School gets you Saturday practice and as many races as your bike qualifies for on Saturday

One round and you will understand :ride :teeth

I was reading on the AFM site about the NRS, and the Clubman. its a lot to digest.

it references lap times in rules under 6.1....But i only see one set of lap times and i would have thought there would be lap times for different size bikes and different levels so i dont know that im reading it right.

what is the times for T-hill and Sonoma that need to be met for liter bike? I see 1:59 and 1:47 is that correct?

 

[Mechanikrazy]

I was reading on the AFM site about the NRS, and the Clubman. its a lot to digest.

it references lap times in rules under 6.1....But i only see one set of lap times and i would have thought there would be lap times for different size bikes and different levels so i dont know that im reading it right.

what is the times for T-hill and Sonoma that need to be met for liter bike? I see 1:59 and 1:47 is that correct?

The lap time cut offs were removed previously, but that referential language stayed in the rule book. It will be removed in 2019 (it was brought up at a meeting, according to the meeting minutes). I had that exact same question earlier last year.

One way to compare your lap times is to just look at the race results on Speedhive for your class, and see what the general lap times are.

Track time wise, you really only get about one trackday's worth of track time for $450. That is like 3 trackdays at some tracks.

 

[Smash Allen]

I was reading on the AFM site about the NRS, and the Clubman. its a lot to digest.

it references lap times in rules under 6.1....But i only see one set of lap times and i would have thought there would be lap times for different size bikes and different levels so i dont know that im reading it right.

what is the times for T-hill and Sonoma that need to be met for liter bike? I see 1:59 and 1:47 is that correct?

Sonoma clubman heavy had ten racers ranging from 1:44-1:54; 1:47 would have podiumed :ride

 

[Smash Allen]

Thunderhill in October clubman heavy had ten racers ranging 1:55-2:05 :ride

 

[jacob11379]

Formula 40 Heavyweight N

thats over 40 years old, liter bike, Novice?

 

[Smash Allen]

Correct!

 

[jbawden]

If you add consumables outside of tires (brakes, drive components, general maintenance), cost to acquire/build the bike, crash repairs, upgrades to the bike, gear, spares, accessories to support the hobby and make the weekend more pleasant (E-Z Up and similar)...it adds up to a big pile of money. A full season on a 600 or bigger bike is probably more like $15,000 if you accounted for every direct and related expenditure.

I once calculated that at the end of my serious riding career I spent 3 times that per season to try to be the fastest. This was 2001-2006, so different circumstances (no wife/family, reckless economy) but I wouldn't change a thing even when I was completely out of money as a casualty of 2008-2010 bust. One rule I had and think is a good one, do not race on credit. If you can't afford to pay cash (or pay your card off each month) then you should find a less costly machine to race.

 

[csik magnet]

I'd also estimate a bit over $1000 a race weekend for budgeting as well and assume no major mechanical issues and no crashes. That's on a 600 doing 6(!) races.

$400 entry fees
$400 tires (this should go up to $600 now though, I've gotten faster and tires don't last as long)
$70 moto gas (20 gal)
$100 tow vehicle gas (live in Reno)
$40/day misc expenses (food, gatorade, margaritas, etc.)

Regarding laptimes for advancement, yeah they did away with that a while ago. If you don't crash out of your Clubman race and you're not puttering around doing 2:30 they'll let you run all you Sunday races. And I promise you, as soon as the green flag comes out you'll beat your previous personal best by a few seconds! :thumbup

 

[trey]

One rule I had and think is a good one, do not race on credit. If you can't afford to pay cash (or pay your card off each month) then you should find a less costly machine to race.

I think this is the best advice I’ve ever seen on barf and about racing. :thumbup

 

[jacob11379]

If you add consumables outside of tires (brakes, drive components, general maintenance), cost to acquire/build the bike, crash repairs, upgrades to the bike, gear, spares, accessories to support the hobby and make the weekend more pleasant (E-Z Up and similar)...it adds up to a big pile of money. A full season on a 600 or bigger bike is probably more like $15,000 if you accounted for every direct and related expenditure.

I once calculated that at the end of my serious riding career I spent 3 times that per season to try to be the fastest. This was 2001-2006, so different circumstances (no wife/family, reckless economy) but I wouldn't change a thing even when I was completely out of money as a casualty of 2008-2010 bust. One rule I had and think is a good one, do not race on credit. If you can't afford to pay cash (or pay your card off each month) then you should find a less costly machine to race.

Great advice on credit...Seen so many people that screw that up!

I was running a generic numbers list through my head last night after finding out race costs. Just trying to run 7 races and double that in track days would put you upwards of 20k not including all the variables that could be additional fees.

And obviously trying to compete with top runners, have a spare bike, nice trailer to bring everything you need, something to sleep in like an RV, extra sets of practically everything.....I can see how someone could throw a lot of money at this...:wow

 

[jacob11379]

Regarding laptimes for advancement, yeah they did away with that a while ago. If you don't crash out of your Clubman race and you're not puttering around doing 2:30 they'll let you run all you Sunday races. And I promise you, as soon as the green flag comes out you'll beat your previous personal best by a few seconds! :thumbup

Good to know

If and when I can run times that will keep me from getting lapped ill revisit this.

 

[Tumbleweed]

During my NRS years ago, one of the instructors (Jason Butler) said, "If you are comfortable taking all the money you have, putting it in a big pile, and lighting it on fire, you should race. If you are not comfortable with that, you might want to reconsider." :rofl

The racing experience is priceless as far as I'm concerned. Thus far, worth every-damn-dime. Screw logical, financial planning, I'm goin' racing! :teeth:ride

C. Harris
AFM #970

 

[Honey Badger]

I budget $1500-1700/weekend depending on which track we are going to. That covers everything for the weekend, and generally leaves me some wiggle room. Estimates below are for Buttonwillow.

$510 tires (4 races + practice)
$100 bike gas
$120 hotel
$495 entry fees
$300 pit crew
$50 my share garage cost
Remaining ~$200 is for truck gas and food/drink

If you're doing a Friday track day, tack that on to the above amounts. If the weather is looking pleasant, I will often camp at the track rather than hotel to save that money if my budget is a concern.

Pit crew is something I started last year - I raced my first 3 years without that "luxury" but TBH, I don't think I'll ever go back to NOT having some help at the track unless it comes down to that or not racing.

Of course, this doesn't cover anything else like crash repairs, gear, increased maintenance, inventory of spares, etc that comes with racing vs a few trackdays.

You can run on a trimmed down budget. Smaller bikes are cheaper to run (less gas, generally easier on tires, etc). Cooking at the track, camping, etc all reduce overall costs.

 

[89fj]

$1000/weekend for a liter bike, seven rounds is $7000

$400 tires
$300 race fees
$150 Saturday practice
$150 gas, food, misc.

sponsor me, Chris! :laughing

 

[sckego]

Riding with Feel Like a Pro, $700 gets you a Ninja 400 for the weekend, which covers tires, bike, maintenance, fuel, transport, pit crew, pit setup, etc.

Race/practice is what, $150 for practice, $300 for races? $450?

Then it's just getting yourself to the track, which you can now take your fuel-efficient econobox since you're not hauling a bike + pit setup, and hotel if you're spending the night - call it another $150.

$1300/weekend?

One thing to note about the tabulations in previous posts its that none of them are counting the cost of the bike itself, or maintenance.