Jump to content

desert racing

By wcorbett,
in XR600R & XR650R/L

 Share

Recommended Posts

Community Regular

wcorbett

Posted
Posted

So i am looking into trying a desert race. i have thought of the San Philipe 250 but then heard its all whoops, iv thought of vegas to reno but its longer than the baja 500 which iv also thought about. sombody please help. i am 15 will be 16 next september the 3rd, i have a '00 650 plent able to ride long distance and it has a plate. i have also looked at score's site and see nothing of age limits or anything like that so i need some help. thank you all in advance:ride:

P.S. sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but i wasn't sure

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Experienced

mexihonkey

Posted
Posted
So i am looking into trying a desert race. i have thought of the San Philipe 250 but then heard its all whoops, iv thought of vegas to reno but its longer than the baja 500 which iv also thought about. sombody please help. i am 15 will be 16 next september the 3rd, i have a '00 650 plent able to ride long distance and it has a plate. i have also looked at score's site and see nothing of age limits or anything like that so i need some help. thank you all in advance:ride:

P.S. sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but i wasn't sure

Go to www.bitd.com. The season starts with Parker 250 - Jan 5th and 6th. BITD is a great organization. Good luck and have fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Veteran

BajaBoundMoto

Posted
Posted

Don't do Felipe just yet (spelled Felipe). Who knows what the course might be like, maybe the usual whoops maybe not.

Try things out in races closer to home (BITD AZ/NV) like has been mentioned.

Baja is a whole different dimension compared to the BITD events.

Parker by invite only? That doesn't sound right.

The races in the US will be far less hurt to the wallet and a good place to start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

ThunderChicken

Posted
Posted

You should start racing AMA District 37. We have 30+ races a year typically held at Red Mountain (near Ridgecrest) and Lucerne Valley (east of Victorville).

Depending on the promoting club, race courses range from 60 to 100 miles over varrying terrain. D37 would be a good environment for you to cut your teeth.

http://www.district37ama.org/home.php

Take a look at the 2007 calendar. You are more than welcome to guest pit with my club, Four Aces MC.

That goes for anybody interested in coming out and doing a D37 race.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Proficient

Kenaroo

Posted
Posted
You should start racing AMA District 37. We have 30+ races a year typically held at Red Mountain (near Ridgecrest) and Lucerne Valley (east of Victorville).

Depending on the promoting club, race courses range from 60 to 100 miles over varrying terrain. D37 would be a good environment for you to cut your teeth.

http://www.district37ama.org/home.php

Take a look at the 2007 calendar. You are more than welcome to guest pit with my club, Four Aces MC.

That goes for anybody interested in coming out and doing a D37

race.

I'd second this... D-37 will be much cheaper on the wallet and better competition via more riders in different skill classes. Score and BItd charge quite a bid for entry fees plus they have trucks and car coming up behind you .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Contributor

NAW

Posted
Posted

I also recommend District 37 as a place to start. I'm more than 2x your age and finally decided to try racing. 2 races done so far, and they were both great.

Re: your mom - hey, she's just looking out for you. The good thing about Desert Racing is that it is self-teaching. Meaning, you will find your comfort zone and if you use a little judgment, you'll come through it just fine. Anyone can go out and crank the throttle wide open and hang on till they crash - but the game here is to make it to the finish, so you very quickly learn to find a good speed to match your ability. The other thing I found is that just about everyone is very helpful, and very encouraging.

Print an AMA membership and send it in (Or do it on-line)

https://home.ama-cycle.org/amajoin/new_application/step1.asp?tmpnum=IJAP05

Then, check the race calendar that should be updated for 2007 soon.

http://www.district37ama.org/offroad/calendar.html

You can check the off-road message board for the 2007 calendar too, someone already posted a link.

http://www.district37ama.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Pick a race, and go. In Lucerne, the directions on the race flyer are enough to get you to the right road, then you can follow signs and/or arrows all the way in. You eventually come across a trailer set up with an place that is obviously the sign-in area. If it's the morning of the event, you'll see a bunch of people signing up too. Walk in, you can join District 37 if you want points, that's like another $33 or so in addition to the race fee. You'll get a temporary number and you "Pie-plate" it for the day. You tape a paper number (Or actual hand-written pie-plate) on your front plate and that is your number until you get your permanent number. You are not "Required" to sign up to D37 if you just want to try it out.

Good luck getting into it! It is worth it and D37 makes it pretty easy to get into racing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Community Regular

wcorbett

Posted
  • Author
Posted

thank u all for the tips. ever since i got my 650 which was in september ive been practicing speed and control with the bigger bike but it wasnt to hard cuz i started on a 50 at agee 4 so ive had alot of expierience and now i want to see how good i am with other guys so im lookin forward to racing

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Experienced

AngryShawn

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the great info guys. I've also had desert racing daydreams for a long time and would love to give it a shot next season. I don't care if I come in last, I just want to ride! I may just take you up on that open offer ThunderChicken :worthy:

Cheers

Shawn

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

ThunderChicken

Posted
Posted

No problem. That invitation is open to anyone.

My only advice is to make sure you pit with a club. Most clubs will let you guest pit with them without any pressure to join.

Once you get your name on the pit board you have a promise that there will be an entire club of people waiting for you to cross the finish line. If you stack up, or break down, there will be an entire club of people out looking for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Contributor

NAW

Posted
Posted

Heck - ThunderChicken -

Maybe I'll take you up on the offer. The 3 guys I go with from time to time that all decided to try racing; One guy keeps talking about benefits of a club. But, we only do one loop so we don't really have a formal "Pit-Stop."

Assuming the stars aligned, do we just approach your camp and ask someone to "Take us to your Leader?" Is that how it works?

Oh, not to hijack this thread, but, my dad hung around a few 4-Aces events back in "Olden times." Raced one on an old Van-Tech bike, with a 70 cc Hodaka Engine installed. I can't prove it thanks to the 94 earthquake, but he had a trophy from one of the 4-Aces events too that I used to idolize when I was little.

I don't think we'll be out there until late Jan. or Early Feb., but maybe I should try to stop by 4 aces camp. at one of the events.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

ThunderChicken

Posted
Posted
Heck - ThunderChicken -

Maybe I'll take you up on the offer. The 3 guys I go with from time to time that all decided to try racing; One guy keeps talking about benefits of a club. But, we only do one loop so we don't really have a formal "Pit-Stop."

We have lots of one loop riders in the Four Aces too. You would be more than welcome to camp with us and put your names on the pit board. Remember, having someone to dump your gas and give you clean goggles is only one benefit of having the support of a club when you race. It is just as easy to stack up or break down on the first loop as it is the second. You have the benefit of 30+ people in camp working on bringing you in.

Assuming the stars aligned, do we just approach your camp and ask someone to "Take us to your Leader?" Is that how it works?

Just send me an email or pm when you know you are going to race and I'll keep an eye out for you. The first time you come and pit with us I'll take you around and introduce you and your friends to other club members "hey, this is so and so, he's going to guest pit with us for the time being." Real informal.

I'll show you where we keep the pit board and get your name on it. After that, you are free to continue guest pitting with us. Just show up in camp, get your name on the board, and go. It's very organic with us. You will start talking to the guy you parked next to, he introduces you to other folks in the club, over time you decide if you want to stick around. Every club is different as far as guest pitting, joining the club, etc.

We don't pressure you to join and we leave you alone about it until you are ready. At the same time, we are looking at you and evaluating whether or not we want you and "your kind" around our camp. LOL. I'm half joiking, but basically, we consider our club a family club. We have a good mix of old and young, slow and fast. We like to drink beer by the campfire but are "low key" compared to the other clubs in D37 with party stigmas.

Oh, not to hijack this thread, but, my dad hung around a few 4-Aces events back in "Olden times." Raced one on an old Van-Tech bike, with a 70 cc Hodaka Engine installed. I can't prove it thanks to the 94 earthquake, but he had a trophy from one of the 4-Aces events too that I used to idolize when I was little.

Yeah that was well before my time. The Four Aces are among the 5 oldest clubs in District 37. There is a lot of history in the club. We have a wonderful woman named "sidecar suzie" who has been around since day one. Her father was one of the original Four Aces. She would know all about the events your dad raced in.

I don't think we'll be out there until late Jan. or Early Feb., but maybe I should try to stop by 4 aces camp. at one of the events.

We are low key and won't hassle you. You are more than welcome to try us out. Just shoot me an email so I know to watch for ya.

kellchris@gmail.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Reply with:

ThumperTalk

Register a new account Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...
Terms of Use
Copyright
Privacy Policy