Road Racing School

I have been around motorcycles and the industry for a while. A facebook friend has a race school Mark Morrow Road Racing School so I reached out to him for advice and here is is reply.

"I’m 57 and 240. I’m currently racing a ninja 400 and a ninja 636.

I highly recommend starting out on one of the smaller bikes. Pick your favorite between the ninja 400, the Yamaha r3 or the ktm390. All 3 are excellent bikes to start on and all 3 have classes where they can shine.

If you are very tall, the ktm has the highest seat height and also the best chassis. (Needs NOTHING off the showroom floor to go racing!) It does have the

The ninja 400 is the exact opposite: it has the best motor, but the chassis is pretty bad in stock form, plus it has a horrible gearbox stock and a front rotor that will warp if you use it hard. If you go the ninja route, try to find one that is already set up with aftermarket suspension and an undercut tranny. The otker things are easy to fix but the suspension and transmission will cost you a pretty penny to get fixed.

The r3 is the Goldilocks of the bunch. Its chassis is better than the ninja but worse than the ktm. Its motor is worse than the ninja but better then the ktm. It is also the smallest of the 3 physically, so if you are more than 5’10”, you may struggle to feel comfortable on it.

But all 3 are great bikes to start on and plenty of fun even after you are experienced. They are also SUPER cheap to operate with tires and gas lasting 2-3x as long as a 600/750/1k.

As always, buying a used race bike that’s already set up will also save you a lot of money in mods. "

So the hunt is on for a used bike that I can afford and build up for a race bike. My goal is to participate in the school next year. I also need to get in a bit better physical shape before I start racing.

Let's go...