May I say the words "pot, kettle, black" The participants know to what and to whome I refer.
With 13 years racing experience behind me and 32 races this year I'll add my £0.02 worth. I race an SV650, it's a bit heavier and a bit more powerful than the Dukes but, it's a useful yardstick for coming to the figures I list below.
First off - you have to understand that racing is a financial blackhole. You will never be able to spend enough money, however, the wise person is the one who knows when to stop spending money and what to spend it on. I've seen plenty of people drive themselves to the edge of bankruptcy for no appreciable gain.
I agree to some extent with what CC & Weeksy vis a vis why race if you don't want to win but, I disagree with their assertions (Weeksy in particular) that it's necessary to spend nearly £7k.
Bike: £1500-2000
Tyres (2 sets of Rennsports): £400
Clip-ons: £50
Rearsets: £200
Leathers (Crowtree): £700 (I'll assume you have a helmet, gloves & boots)
Petrol: £20 (1 jerry can per meeting), 6 meetings: £120
Licence: £35
ACU test day: £50 (I think)
Race entries: £140 (I'm guessing here but this is typical), 6 meetings: £840
Oil: Change ever other meeting, 3 changes at £20 a time: £60
Oil filter: 3 changes at £4 ea.: £12.
Lockwire: £20
Total: ~ £4240 Travel costs: I have not included travel costs because it depends upon your location and hence it varies a lot but, let's assume £50 per meeting
Food: If it's done by yourself then £10-£15 per meeting is reasonable. Beer & alcohol costs aren't admissable!
Accomodation: Free - use a tent or your van
So, living costs are ~ £60-£65 per meeting. ~£375.
So now, I make the total ~
£4615 Let me explain my reasoning:
Bike: Can be found on E-Bay costing anywhere from £1000 upwards. I've seen good sound bikes going for £1500. I'll assume £1750.
If the bike has been looked after then the pads, chain & sprockets, belts, suspension etc will all be decent and will not absolutely have to be replaced or renewed (personally I would).
Spend time ensuring your bike is thoroughly prepped and debugged.. To finish first, first you have to finish.
Servicing: What kind of self-respecting racer pays someone else to maintain or prep their bike? Do it yourself!
Tyres: This year I used my wets on 3 occasions - therefore they were hardly necessary. Lads were using wets when it was just damp and wondered why they fell off or got stuffed. If wets are not necessary then spare wheels aren't. I used a set of Rennsports every 2-3 meetings riding as hard as an SV could go - therefore in a 6 meeting series at worst 2 sets are going to be used. Rennsports are not brilliant in the wet but they're not terible either - compromise and get a tyre that can do both like a 207GP.
Fuel: My SV was using a jerry can of fuel over a weekend of 4 races although as I got faster I doubled the usage!
I doubt an SS will use more.
Of course, I spent much more than this because I wanted to win and I take my racing very seriously. I had spare wheels, various tyres including wets & intermediates, a range of chains & sprockets, tyre warmers, lots of spares, a van etc blah, blah, blah. I spent £12k but, this is simply not necessary in an inaugural series such as this. What has to be remembered is the following:
1. It's an inaugural series of only a few rounds. There's a risk of spending many £1000's putting a bike together only to be left high & dry the following year if the series folds.
2. It's by no means certain that it will carry on into 2006.
3. Most of the people who will take part have no or very little track experience let alone race experience. Wets, warmers, different compound tyres, a range of gearing etc will simply be lost on them and will be more than they can cope with - many newbie racers get themselves tied in knots with this sort of stuff - knowledge of which is only gained with lots of experience. There's an awful lot of bling in racing.
I'd suggest that £4k is the absolute minimum spend.
£5k would be advisable.
£6-7k if you want good suspension, a range of tyres, warmers and all the other trinkets.
Crashes and mechanical failure will doubtless bump up the cost and you should be prepared for this but, I believe the figures above are accurate. Some individuals will spend more, some less. What any newbie really needs is to spend money ensuring the bike is sound and reliable first before buying trinkets.
My advice to anyone interested in this is to go in with your eyes wide open. Seek a range of opinions from a range of racers. Set your budget based upon informed opinion and sound evidence, stick to that budget. Spend your money wisely and don't be led down the garden path of having to spend money on stuff that you can't exploit because you don't have the skill or experience.
Aim to do everything right - if that means you can only afford to do 4 meetings then so be it. Better to do 4 safe and good quality meetings than 6 with a bike that is a danger to yourself and others.
Remember.... talent is what counts and a talented rider on a half decent bike will nearly always shine through.
What will determine the success of this series (based on my experience of MiniTwins) is keeping the costs down and making it accessible...not throwing £1000's at it and going bust.
[Edited on 13-12-2004 by twpd]
I forgot to add a note about warmers. The debate rages about their usefulness in many places. I use them, I prefer to use them but, it's not absolutely necessary. What with delays in the collecting area and on the grid by the time the flag drops the tyres are cold again anyway. The biggest impact they have for us racers is physcological and to preserve the life of the tyres by minimising the stress caused by hot/cold cycling of the tyres. You might be interested to know that I didn't always use my warmers because the tyres were up to temperature due to exposure to sunlight on a decent day.
[Edited on 13-12-2004 by twpd]