Pre-work

There were a number of things to think about prior to racing, such as which bike and which club. Neither the Kawasaki nor the Ducati were able to be raced as neither were manufactured to be raced. The decision to race 400’s was taken, as being novices to racing it made sense to start off small without much power. The ZX6R was traded for a race inspired Kawasaki ZXR400. The ZXR is a thinly disguised track bike by design so seemed a reasonable bike to start with.

The ZXR bought was a road legal standard bike with original parts. Learning point from the ZX6R was that servicing and correctly set up suspension revolutionise a bike. The ZXR had new suspension fitted to the rear and the front suspension renewed. The engine was left standard although a new exhaust was fitted and the carburettors were synchronised using a dyno to show that the bike produced a mighty 55 bhp. The ZX6R produced 105bhp which is in itself not a lot compared to the current Ducati Paginale 1199 with 195 bhp. Braided hoses were fitted, speedo, rear seat and side stand were all removed. Plastic race fairing was bought and fitted. The bike was fully serviced, sump plug, oil filler cap and oil filter were all lock wired. The bike was mechanically ready for the track. Huge thanks to PDQ http://www.pdq1.com who performed the pre-work and JHS who have serviced the bike since http://www.jhsracing.co.uk. Strongly recommend getting a bike garage with racing experience to perform the servicing over a standard garage. Someone like PDQ or JHS will be able to help source parts and provide good advice on anything you are unsure of.

Which club to choose is dependent on type of bike and geography. If the desire is to race a 400 then a club with a 400 class is best. If you live in Anglesey then a club which only races at Brands Hatch will be less than ideal. Is also an idea to join more than one club as this will increase the options for dates and circuits. It is worth checking that a proposed race number works for both clubs otherwise there may be a need to change numbers during the season which can be a pain in terms of time and money.

Once a club has been joined then a race license can be applied for. In the UK bike racing is governed by the Auto Cycle Union, ACU. To apply for an ACU license a one day training course needs to be attended which gives a good understanding of what racing is about, the meaning behind different coloured flags and what you need to bring on race day such as spare fuel, spare foot pegs, water, paddock stands and the like. After passing the one day course, application form is sent to the club who process the application and send on to the ACU. All you need then is a team...