Road racing equipment
| What
do you need to start road racing, in addition to a desire
to compete? By Deb Cartwright |
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Bike
(£1-4k)
A "ready to race" bike is better for a first bike.
Motoforum
is a good place to look in the "for sale" section,
especially towards the end of the season. Have a word with
any of the Bemsee girls on the Bikegirl forum as they may
know the seller and be able to tell you a little of the history.
Look at buying a whole package with wets on wheels and lots
of spares paddock stands, etc. |
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Transport
(£2-4k)
A van is definitely the best form of transport in my opinion,
unless you can afford a motor home of course. A trailer is
OK, but you have to carry an awful lot of kit around with
you, plus, the back of a transit van can be turned into a
nice bedroom. Staying in local hotels eats into race budgets
and camping every weekend would become a drag as there are
not always grass areas. I’ve used transits for the past
few years and they have been ideal. I’ve kitted out
a few, the last one being well sorted, able to carry 2 bikes
and sleep 4, with an upper bed. I now have a smaller van/people
carrier type thing, but I also have a caravan. This for me
is the best combination as I am selling my car, so I only
need to tax and insure one vehicle. I can just about fit the
bike and all my gear in and also have a shower, toilet, nice
bed, and oven, etc. |
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Generator
(£2-300)
Most circuits have power but for the few that don’t,
you will need a generator. Again, a good second hand one can
probably be found on the Motoforum.
I have a 1.8kw, which I would say is a bit small. You need
to power your tyre warmers, 550 watts each, and your battery
charger as your bike should run total loss. After that I can’t
run much else. An average kettle is 2200kw, to big for my
genny, and microwaves are around 850 watts, so I have to turn
the tyre warmers off to cook my dinner. Hair dryers are about
1200 btw. Look at getting a 2.5kw generator minimum. |
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Spare
wheels (£200ish + £200 for wet tyres)
Spare wheels are also a must, you’ll need wet race tyres
on spare rims. They’re quite a lot of money which is
why it’s good to get them in your package. |
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Tyre
warmers (£250)
These are a must have: you get 1 warm up lap before your race
and your tyres need to be good and hot before you go out there.
Again try for second hand ones, but look to pay around £250
for a new pair. |
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Paddock
stands (£80)
If you don’t get them in your package then these are
also a must. You won’t have a side stand on your bike
and you won’t be able to use tyre warmers or do basic
maintenance without them. |
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Tools
(£100-300)
This is something that will get built up over time. Every
time you borrow something of somebody, you’ll feel the
need to get your own, or at least I did. An excellent start
would be to get a multitool box.Halfords
do a cracking one; it’s one I’ve had from the
start of last season and find it has almost everything you
need. I’ve looked into replacing it as I have lost and
broken bits and pieces, but I’ve seen nothing as good
with such a good selection of tools for anywhere near that
price. You’ll also need other bits of kit like Optimate,
torque wrench, lock wire kit, brake bleeding kit, fibre glass
repair kit, a decent tyre pressure guage and foot pump. Another
tool which I use a lot, which isn’t part of a normal
tool kit is a hollow bar. This slips over spanners when the
shagging nut you’re trying to undo is too tight. It’s
definitely a girly tool but it’s better than having
to ask a bloke to do it. I also carry a drill, grinder, blow
torch and soldering kit. These are all things I rarely use
but I have at some point needed them all. Don’t forget
the trusty Haynes manual. |
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Spares
(£500ish)
Things that commonly break are fairing, screen, rears sets,
clip ons and levers. Carry these as a minimum. Although these
are available from the race shops at circuit for most bikes,
so you may be able get away with buying them as you need them,
although this definitely depends on what your bike is. If
you crash in practice on Saturday, you could loose 4 races
for the sake of not having a replacement. |
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Jerry
cans
For bike fuel |
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Gazebo
(£20-200)
Only some circuits have garages, and often you’re lucky
to be in one. The small, cheap party gazebos are OK, but if
it's really bad weather then a sturdy 3m x 6m canvas marquee
with sides is much better if you can afford it. Share with
a couple of other racers to spread the cost (and transportation
weight). Make sure you check that the poles aren't flimsy
before you pay your money. |
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Lap
timer (£150)
It’s not totally necessary but it’s a good tool. |
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