Hello again, Devil's advocate here....
forget about those that want to chuck all the effort and money into being 0.2bhp off the limit, and let bill and ben have a ding-dong for 2nd place if they want. I've just finished a season's racing with enduro, me in the pits and mate riding the bike, and each race was about doing the best we could with what we had, and that was it...
I sure don't want to be negative, and if I find myself in last place then I'll probably end up in the gravel chasing down the bloke in front. But at entry level racing I'd imagine it's got to be more about the rider than the bike - let me ride the series on a factory 999rs and skids will probably still kick my arse!
So I ask without the benefit of experience - is it really worth spending money on making the bike quicker? Are we likely to find ourselves more skillful than the bikes?
Purely speculation, cos my knowledge in this is somewhat weak, but I reckon the novice riders will be better off working on themselves rather than the bike... on a 600ss what I lack in cornering skill I reckon I can make up on power-2-weight ratio... anyone who's ever seen me might agree :P
and what the rattly one loses on me down the straight cos he's a "few" stone heavier, he'll make up with his css cornering skills.
I think what I'm trying to say is there must be so much more to it than who's got the fastest bike!