Race and practice bike?

[MX450]

For you mx guys, when do you get to the point that you acctually need a practice bike, i know some kids just have the money, but when is it acctually needed, like A class?? or just depends how much you ride?

[CannondaleRider]

I have two bikes, but not really designated as "Practice Bike" and "Race Bike"

Just both race bikes, and I will ride either one as I so choose.

I think anybody CAN get away with one bike, if they have to..I've been doing it for years....having two bikes just makes some things easier.

But, obviously...twice the parts lists, twice the maintenance costs, twice the maintenance time, etc.

It all depends on your own racing.

well its for a bike that is a lil harder to ride an a lil slower...
an so if you crash at practice you dont brake the race bike an so if you brake the race bike you can race the practice bike

sorry i was wrong make the racebike have better handling but make the practice bike faster

[Wills77]

Originally posted by 450killer265R
sorry i was wrong make the racebike have better handling but make the practice bike faster


why make the practice bike faster and race a slower bike...pros practice quads usually have stock, if not close to stock motors on the same chassis as their race bike

Wills 77

[Warnerade]

my practice bike is slower, harder to ride, and the suspension isnt as good as my race bike...but I try to ride it as much as possible. I know how fast I am on my race bike, and I try to push myself to ride the same pace on my practice bike, which means I gotta ride it harder and make it do what I want. If I can get to that pace on my practice bike, when I hop on the race bike my lap times improve even more...

[JRP]

After this past season, we now know i need a practice and race quad. Things break 24/7 and your left stranded with nothing to do after you made a 4-6hr drive. All the money in gas, entry fees, and just time is wasted becasue your stuff broke in the first practice. lol. Reason why as soon as the honda is sold, we will be going out and buying another 08 LTR, and having that one as my race quad and the 08 im riding now is my practice. Once you start traveling far distances and take it seriously, i believe its a must.

[BlaineKaiser450]

as soon as i finish my 04, im getting an 06+ 450r as arace bike. What im doing is keeping the 04s motor relativly stock and then going ballz out on the newer one's motor.

[MX450]

thats what i am think about doing, i might start lookin around for an 04-05 450r that hasnt been beat on but is cheap, then start building it up for next years race bike, then my current ride will be the practice, but idk if i can even afford that so who knows.. im really wanting to run most of the nats next year in b

[zukirules]

Originally posted by BlaineKaiser450
as soon as i finish my 04, im getting an 06+ 450r as arace bike. What im doing is keeping the 04s motor relativly stock and then going ballz out on the newer one's motor.

I rebuilt my 04, biggest mistake I ever made. I spent prob a lil more than 6500$$, and I've just been having problems with everything. I will be getting rid of it soon, and getting a lt-r with just shocks and exhaust, and all the lil things.

[FHKracingZ]

Ehh jordan i wouldnt go that far.. Theres plenty of riders that travel the national series with one quad, including me. Its all on your exspenses. Im still on an 04 trx, it has been totally rebuilt and gone through twice but its good to go. I practice every day during the week, and race almost every weekend. I rarely have break downs. Its about keeping up on things and going over them.

To many times people talk them selves into something they really dont need. If your not racing the full national series and ride ATLEAST 3 times a week, its honestly a waste.

Weinen rode a whole national year when he went pro-am with only ONE yamaha, and practiced all the time and traveled around..

[Warnerade]

lol...waste. Thats a good one.

I would rather ride the piss out of a bike that is already worn out and ride a nice fresh bike in the races that matter.

As long as you can afford it, and ride them both...its far from a waste.

[wvspeedfreak]

I can't see any down sides to having a practice quad besides expense.If you can afford it I would say it is a good idea.

[SRH]

if you race and take it seriously its a huge advantage to have 2 it means more ride time and less stress, having a back up is always nice too i have mine setup the same so the transition from one to the other shouldnt be hard

I think it is a very good idea to have both. I am planning on running my 04 450r this season and next and picking up either a new ltr yfz or trx and having my 04 as a back up.

[Aceman]

Originally posted by CannondaleRider
twice the maintenance costs, twice the maintenance time, etc.

How so? You're now riding each quad half as much, right? Seems like the same amount of maintenance, it's just spread across two quads.:)

[CannondaleRider]

Originally posted by Aceman
How so? You're now riding each quad half as much, right? Seems like the same amount of maintenance, it's just spread across two quads.:)

Although that would be nice for it to work exactly like that, it doesn't always.

Maybe spreads maintenance costs a bit, but the time is there either way...at least with the way I prep my stuff for every race.

A race bike, with me, is torn down quite a bit between races...so I'm doubling the tear down time.

It is worth it though.

[Aceman]

I gotcha.

[STEVENJANNA]

I really hate to say this, because I don't want to offend anyone, but if you're not breaking things and/or wearing things out than you're not riding hard enough. I've had the privilege of riding with some of the smoothest racers out there and they break stuff constantly. I feel that if you're going to race any series you'll need a practice bike of some kind. Your race quad should be exactly that, a race quad. Some of you mention the "budget". "We" (everyone of us but a select few) make $0 doing this so it's a hobby that when Food, Shelter, and Clothing are taken care of we persue with our expendable income. We spend top dollar on our race quads to get them in top form and that comes at a cost. Now you're going to take that out 4 or 5 days a week and beat on it practicing? So you have to rebuild it before you race it on the weekend? Like it was previously stated, once you've reached the point where you're going to spend serious money on a race bike, you should already have a handle on you're abilities so I would invest in a "close" to stock pratice quad. You're not going to have the same maintenance costs and when you ride it, it will cause you to ride harder. It's kind of like swinging a weighted bat.