GET INTO RACING THE EASY WAY

I reckon that getting into racing purely for the fun of it, especially at a more senior age, is a lot harder than becoming involved at a young age with aspirations of being the next world champion. For a start, youngsters have no fear and usually have the financial backing of their parents. Old blokes like me are pretty big into self-preservation, don’t have a great deal of time and need to ask their significant other for the finances – not an easy path to the fast lane.

For years I have wanted to feel the thrill of racing, however, the cost, effort and time required was always an easy excuse for me to mask the fear that was really holding me back.

When Yamaha launched its YZF-R3 Cup series as a support category to this year’s ASBK Championship, the rules which were specifically designed to attract young first-time racers also fitted perfectly into my schedule, ticking all the right boxes for me to become involved. I already had a road-registered Yamaha YZF-R3 sitting in the car park at Gassit HQ, so basically I had run out of excuses as to why I could not go racing.

If you are considering entering this year’s inaugural championship, this How To will show you how stupidly easy and reasonably affordable it is. Yamaha also offers a great support network to answer all your questions and help you get on track.

If you already own a Yamaha YZF-R3 you can purchase a race. If you require the whole box and dice, the bike plus race kit costs just $7900 and can be purchased outright, or financed through YMF with repayments over a 12 or 24 month term.

The Yamaha YZF-R3 at Gassit HQ was practically begging to be converted into an R3 Cup race bike.

Totally out of excuses, and realising it has only been fear holding me back, I took the first step towards racing by joining a Motorcycling Australia (MA) affiliated club – I chose the St George Motorcycle Club. This allowed me to apply for my National Competition Licence through my state controlling body Motorcycling NSW.

Because I already hold a motorcycle licence for the road I was not required to undergo any form of riding test, and once I had scored a pass mark for the license test the only thing left to do was pay my $320 licence fee. Before I knew it my shiny new licence had arrived in the mail.

Things became really serious when it came time to fill in the entry form for my first race. I had reached the point on no return. All I needed was a bike to race, so it was time to head to the workshop and start building my race bike.

There are certainly a lot of goodies supplied in the race-kit. Time to lay them all out and get a sense on what needs to be fitted. Stripping off the all the road-gear was important as ability to refit all the Yamaha gear back on after the season. Don’t want to lose anything.

Race-glass fitting is time consuming and I had to constantly dismiss the idea that ‘what the heck the stuff is only there for the stickers’ and they will get blown off anyway as the fast guys come past after my amazing hole-shots.   .

Most of the hardware fitting was easy but it pays to have quality tools around. I boxed all the stuff like the mirrors, footrest assemblies and sidestand into zip bags. Being logical and organised will overcome forgetfulness in a six months.

Things were starting to take shape and a few hours in the R&G protection shields, rear-sets and muffler mount were in place.

We still have another few days to finish off the project before the first practice session. The suspension, oil and filter and most importantly getting all the controls to work around my lanky frame

The final thing required was a good set of tyres. There’s a range of tyres available for R3 Cup competitors and I decided to go with Pirelli’s Super Corsa. Link International, the Australian distributor for Pirelli tyres, were nice enough to send me a shiny new set and a few stickers for my bike. Pirelli tasted success in the R3 Cup at round one with this tyre so I won’t be able to use my hoops as an excuse for slow lap time.

R3 Cup Race Kit

• Fairing kit – including front fender and tank cover – uses stock screen
• Akrapovic full racing exhaust system with Ti muffler
• Racing rear sets with multiple adjustments
• Handlebar lowering kit
• Gearing set JT – optional sizes – 1 front, 2 rear
• MUPO Suspension kit – complete rear shock absorber with adjustable preload, ride height and rebound damping. Front fork kit with springs, spacers and shim stack
• Graphics kit with all series and bonus sponsors logos supplied
• R+G protection kit including – crash knobs, engine case covers, rear stand pickups, chain guard, radiator protector
• R+G muffler mounting bracket
• AIS pollution system block off plate
• Yamalube Service kit – 4 litres of synthetic engine oil and engine oil filter
• Oxford rear race stand
• CD with parts book, service manual, kit fitment manual, etc.