i hear kyalami is a sweet track. the bike can be preped dirt cheap for the racing school. you'll want to start with some good tires, race compound tires arent required for school. good brakes and everything should be tight. swing arm should have no or very minimal play. steering head should have the same as well as no leaky fork seals. no oil should be comming from your bike anywhere. there is some safety wiring you have to do. you'll need a drill, lots of drill bits (tiny ones) a spool of stainless wire, and a 20 dollar twister. take off the headlight and all of the turnsignals. you'll need some kind of number plates. real ones are cheap and available.
now for the expensive part.
you'll need some decent leathers. they should be onepiece or 2 piece zip together. all of the way around your waist. no flesh should be exposed. they should have some good armor. i buy the best. i have a 2 piece vanson custom suit with all of the armor and a seperate carbon/kevlar back protector. aaron uses the same but a one piece. you'll need some gloves and a snell 95 helmet or newer i think still. also some boots that cover your ankles at least. you can get used suits from vanson for just a few hundred bucks (if you can find your size) or spend the big buck and have one custom made. 1000 and up. aaron, jeremy and anyone else here who has hit the track hard will tell you you need the best gear you can buy. ive seen guys race with 50 year old ww2 leather bomber suits. (a really really dumb idea)
the school i think if you have all of the gear and dont need to rent anything, they'll rent you a bike boots gloves leathers etc.., is about 200 bucks. and it gets you a free race against the other students in the class the next morning. (if you do the penguin school) check out
http://www.penguinracing.com
for school details.
also check out the uscra at
www.race-uscra.com
there is an online rule book that outlines everything you need to have safety wired for racing. i thnk the penguin site has a bike prep page too.
the racing school was one of the high lites of racing for me. it was such a blast to finally get on the track and have sooo much fun. you should go to the local track and check it out a few times before going to the school on it. thatd be louden for you.
there is also a guy in the club who runs a school in june just for vintage racers. probably worth doing. getting buzzed by some guy on a gixxer 1000 or busa @ 175 mph is kinda fun but not all day long! i used my 350/2 for the school and during the follow the leader sessions (everyone gets to be the leader for a lap then rotates to the rear of the pack) i was getting left behind so badly the following class was passing me! after you survive the school, you'll have a license to race with any club in the country. most of the time its just a matter of paying for the club membership then paying entry fees. uscra fees are generally about 80 bucks for the 1st race then about 30 for each additional. we all usually camp at the track.
health insurance is HIGHLY recommended. the uscra will not let you race unless you have it. i think you can take the school without it though. i have racing specific insurance through the ama and it basically provides a box to put me in if i get hurt racing. in 4 years i have never needed it or been to the hospital from crashing at the track although some of us have better luck than others, right jd?
thats not to say i havent crashed though. we all have i think, its definitely going to happen. unless you go really slow the chances are pretty good.
an rd400 is a good bike to start on for you. the uscra has an rd only class. just run it rich. if youre good with 2strokes, you shouldnt have any problems. i highly recommend a 4 stroke cb 350/360 twin or a 350/4 the 350gp class is 90% box stock 350/2 hondas. thats not to say we havent done some really great work to our bikes though. they are worked pretty well. the only real stock part is the motor. the nice thing about the honda 350/2 is that it has alot of potential. there are guys getting almost 50hp out of them for the next class up the ladder. thats a hp jump of about 40%! but thats big money. im running a 350/2 with a set of 550 trees, 750ss tubes, a 450 drum brake on the front. i have a modified dyna ignition. total loss system. alum rims custom racing brakes 520 chain with alum sprockets clip ons racing clutch custom pipes etc etc etc...but i started out on basically a rat bike with drag pipes. (some people still hate parts of my bike!)
dont worry about being a fat guy on an underpowered bike. thats what the majority of vintage racing is!!! we're the few sknny guys and even im pretty much a fat bastard. 5'10-170 every year i have to diet around april 1 to fit back into my leathers. (hey, hip expanders, now theres an idea!!!) the real idea is to get out there, ride fast have fun and maybe beat a bunch of guys. hell, if youre lucky and pick a class with only like 3 bikes, you might even win a championship like aaron did!! (when you can do it with a grid with like 25 bikes regularly i'll have more respect for you aaron, and john!....just kidding) get out there and have some fun with us. now is the time to start planning. if you need help or direction, this is a great place to start. we have an absolute blast. unless someones knocking aarons bike over, then the whole weekend is spoiled for all of us.
was that long enough??
jc