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First, I chose to keep this out of Cycle Aslyum for a reason. I know that many of us car/bike/boat/train/plane guys are all bound by the same drive - to have fun, whatever that weird method of fun may be. Well here's mine, and here's why you should join. Many of you are familiar with many of the 'low-cost' forms of motor racing. Autocross comes to mind (low $ entry but low track time), or even Lemons racing, which we all know is really a lot more than the $500/car to go race. Well, last fall, my friends and I entered into a truly cheap form of motor racing: MiniGP.  I live in Philly, about an hour from NJMP, so we would be racing in the NJMiniGP series. Numerous classes exist, and seem to be common across the country: http://njminigp.com/ code:Choosing a class was simple. My buddy had a 2003 XR100 in his garage that had been sitting for 5 years. We were going to race Stock 100. Bike Prep Our XR hadn't been used in 5 years. It still would start on the first kick, but would sputter under throttle. Classic case of gummy carbs. Our shopping list looked like this: $15 Brake Shoes $65 Tires $48 new chain/sprockets $33 carb rebuild kit $10 engine oil $50 XR80 front wheel. $15 Front Tube (to match 16" wheel) $10 fork oil $10 air filter $28 sprockets $5 race numbers Pricey. $290 between four guys, $72 each between the four of us. The carb rebuild was cake: two screws to get it off, literally rebuilt in less than 5 minutes start to finish. The air filter was a good call, given that something had been nesting in the bike:  Also, here's a tire for size reference  It's a Pirelli ML75, the OE tire for a 50cc Aprilia Scooter...  Now that it was running, I took it for a spin with the flat front tire Next I took care of the fork oil and front wheel. Again, cake. Starting to look like a really small motard!!!   The chain and sprockets weren't necessary, but later proved to be a good call. We ran the tallest gearing available and still were topping out at the track. With a slight downhill, we hit GPS-verified 46mph. Right before the cops showed up.... although they were there for something else. I guess they couldnt be bothered to care about grown men playing on a little girls bike.  Practice Well, lets just say this isn't the typical crew you expect on the paddock:  A few practice sessions in, things were clear: This was racing. Real, fast, racing. Sure, the actual speeds were low, but when you're leaned over dragging a knee tyring to pass somebody on the outside (kidding - I didn't pass anyone), you don't realize you're actually doing 13mph. There were lots of fast adults, but the kids were the fast ones: When you've only got 6hp, being 100lb less than the adults really shows. Also, I started to really appreciate the ease of riding a modern motorcycle. The XR is pretty a pretty terrible road racer (as to be expected). The tires we got would slide all over the place, the suspension inspired no confidence, the brakes were nonexistant, and there was no power. I was convinced we screwed something up until I realized we were all dead even on the straightaway. However, it was great fun. You really need to push your riding and get comfortable with sliding or you wouldn't keep up. I didn't dump the bike, although my teammates did several times. I was also the slow one   The kid here is in the middle of giving advice to my buddy who's an Expert WERA racer in the 600 class. Classic part of the convo: Kid: "I'm racing an SV650 next year! My Dad said if I keep up with my progress, I'll have a 600 by the time I'm 16!" The kid had just whipped us like we were nothing, and he's 13. Great. I also had a chance to take an NSR50 for a spin. Despite the crazy pic, there's actually a lot of room on the bike and it's pretty comfortable. Unlike the XR, the brakes are real, the suspension is fantastic, 6 gears, the tires are great... it's just super, super slow. You can rent one of these for $199/day I believe, track fees and fuel included.  The Race Since we got started with the series so late in the season, we only made it to one race: a 4hr endurance race on "Tempest," which is the 1.03 mile combination of the two kart track at NJMP. The race is pretty simple: 1) LeMans style start 2) Race for 2 hours with Mandatory rider changes every 30 minutes 3) Stop Race, refuel, line up again. 4) LeMans start again, going the other direction 5) Race til 4hr mark 6) Winner is determined by laps on transponder. Placing is posted every 30 minutes so we know who's ahead.  We had a hard time telling our bikes apart. Same color, same number. Bah. We ended up putting blue painters tape on ours near the number so we could spot our teammates Mini Racing is not like big bike racing. We showed up at 8am for tech and realized half the field wasn't there yet (or the organizers). Registration was late to open, tech was late to open... there was no sense of urgency. This was definitely 'just for fun.' That would have been good to know, given that it was about 30* with 40mph winds that day. Practice got under way around 10am, with lunch at 12 and the actual race getting under way at 12:30. Rules were explained prior to the race: -2 Lap Penalty for excessive speed in pit lane (during rider changes) -2 Lap Penalty for cutting the track in any way -2 Lap Penalty for for missing the flag for mandatory rider change -2 Lap Penalty for passing under yellow -2 Lap Penalty for not shutting bike off for refuel So basically, don't break any rules -- we were assured that even though the race was 4 hours long, it always came down to a lap or two total. <will add link to youtube vid of LeMans Start> Unlike our practice day, where we were only on the track with bikes of similar speed, the four hour race had a huge variety of bikes, from our Stock 100s to SUPER fast KX65 2-smokers. The lengthy 1+ mile course was also nearly double that of the track we practiced on. As I mentioned earlier, it's a good thing we went up a tooth in the front and down one in the rear... I can't count the number of times I tried shifting to 6th.  I snuck up the race control a few times to warm up as well...  Freezing:  There's also a bunch of good photos here from our race. I only recently got a decent camera so most of my pics are terrible. http://tristatemediaonline.com/phot...gp-racing-njmp/    Conclusion: So we did the race. We only dumped the bike maybe 6 times, we went through maybe 1.5 gallons of fuel, no real damage, and the tires were barely even scrubbed in. For less than $1k, we have a bike that's easily setup to do the entire 2013 season as well. We finished 5th, which was a real bummer as 4th place and better got a little plastic plaque. But truly, we had only one complaint after all of this. The four of us really wished we could race each other, 2 on 2. So last week, we bought another XR100 for $240. We're no longer teammates, we're rivals. MiniGP season starts again in 2 months. Game on.  To be Continued...
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 19:47 |
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| # ? May 21, 2013 20:31 |
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Do they rent suits if you don't have your own? Is that unheard of?
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 09:46 |
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This is goddamned amazing. I really hope you post a lot about this because it looks hilarious and a lot of fun.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 13:19 |
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kimbo305 posted:Do they rent suits if you don't have your own? Is that unheard of? NjMiniGP doesn't rent, but it would be silly to if they did. Speeds are <50mph, you'd be safe with any $200 new or used suit (try STG close outs). My buddies don't wear their nice racing gear, just the old beat up stuff they don't mind crashing on. Technically, you can wear textile gear or even MX pants, but that'd be a little sketchy. Blaise fucked around with this message at Feb 9, 2013 around 15:22 |
| # ? Feb 9, 2013 15:05 |
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This used to be really big in Oklahoma. Silver and I went to a few events, (He went to many more than I did) But it just sort of fell off the face of the earth, and everyone sold their stuff went the economy went south. Some guys had waaaay too much money tied into their bikes, and cheating was a bit out of control or at least it seemed that way with the accusations that were thrown around. That was probably another reason it died out there. But yeah, one day on an XR100 on the track and you will be hooked. But, heed my warning, mini bikes can mess you up in a wreck as bad as, or worse than a full size bike. So make sure you get good gear.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2013 02:07 |
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I cant stop checking out your cute little tail pipe
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| # ? Feb 10, 2013 05:00 |
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The exhaust is pretty funny too.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2013 17:32 |
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MetalClawWolf posted:cheating was a bit out of control or at least it seemed that way with the accusations that were thrown around. That was probably another reason it died out there. Yeah, NJMiniGP seems to have the cheating under control. They even have a class for 'outlaw' bikes... but they're pretty insistent that STOCK 100 be kept stock 100. I cant imagine having 4k+ tied up in a minibike...
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| # ? Feb 11, 2013 13:02 |
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Well I imagine with bikes that evenly matched it would be pretty easy to tell who's cheating when somebody pulls way ahead on the straights. This looks like fun. So what are the best/cheapest bikes to look for? I'll have to see if they have any events down here in FL.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2013 15:39 |
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leica posted:Well I imagine with bikes that evenly matched it would be pretty easy to tell who's cheating when somebody pulls way ahead on the straights. Stock 100 is def the best and least expensive. $200-700 gets you a bike, plus a few hundred bucks for prep, unless you buy a prepped one which is ideal.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2013 15:54 |
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Great, now I am going to buy a TTR125L this weekend. 
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| # ? Feb 11, 2013 21:49 |
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Best part about the 100 or 50cc racing is you crash constantly but rarely break anything or get injured. We do 50 racing here with most of the bikes having a 88cc kit, 10-12" tires, "big boy" bars and beefy suspension...there is a fair amount of cheating as well. Friend of mine won last year and I think the last or second to last race he averaged 2 crashes a lap but won because he got a lead in the beginning and everyone else was crashing more. Here's a video from last year - http://youtu.be/8IeCOoK-1T8 I might need to pick up another 50 this year to build, great way to spend a Saturday night.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2013 22:32 |
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This looks like crazy fun. Friends and I had two of the minibikes from pepboys that we would time-trial in a parking lot with cones in the evenings. Something sanctioned would be rather awesome I assume.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 00:07 |
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Wow, I could do this so easily. I think I need to get a few friends together and start looking for some XR100's. I've been planning on picking up my first (real) bike this summer, and I've always intended on eventually getting into trackdays for fun/learning/being safer and this would be such a fun way to do it. Looks like I'll have to buy two bikes  e: a big rebuild on a little tiny dirtbike sounds like a fun project too, probably more fun than rebuilding a japanese standard or something.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 00:52 |
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FYI, a nearly-full XR100 engine teardown takes a full hour. Including taking it out of the bike. (Ben, if you're reading this, stop reading now.)  It's really not bad. Ours has only a (really) bad exhaust valve seal. The carb was also sealed shut with JB weld  Glad I could still get it apart.A $6 seal and some new gaskets and we'll be ready to go (enginewise).
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 01:17 |
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gently caress this looks awesome. Please keep posting when the season starts. I just did some googling and it looks like Supermoto USA is the group that runs this sort of stuff around Seattle, unless someone knows better. When I've got the wherewithal for a racing hobby it's probably going to be scooter racing, though
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 02:19 |
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:gently caress this looks awesome. Please keep posting when the season starts. Well, since you mention it, I'll actually be in Seattle for most of my time over the next 9mo. That site seems out of date though. 2010?
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 02:26 |
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Blaise posted:Well, since you mention it, I'll actually be in Seattle for most of my time over the next 9mo. That site seems out of date though. 2010? Hm, didn't notice it was all 3 years old. WMRRA doesn't have anything in their rulebook about a class like this, so if this group isn't active anymore maybe the Pacific Scooter Racing Association is the best way to get into small-bike racing around here.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 04:22 |
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Supemoto USA was run by WHR motosports in the northwest, but they stopped doing supermoto in 2011 when PGP decided to do their own SM race series. Then PGP got sued and can currently only allow rental karts on the track. So now the local Seattle SM race clubs are OMRRA and Supermoto BC. There is some sort of warehouse minibike racing league though.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 14:41 |
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 Not quite all the way stripped, but close. One of the forks is bent  Will probably finish tearing it down to the frame this weekend. It's really funny to be able to pick it up like a bicycle!
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| # ? Feb 14, 2013 03:17 |
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Looks like the enemy is working hard.... New BT45 (dual compound) tires compared to our old tires. They're ninja 250 front tires I believe.  MOTOGP OFFICIAL TIRES 
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| # ? Feb 26, 2013 16:18 |
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Ok. Can someone tell me where you can find one of these? Racing a 50cc Sportbike sounds absolutely awesome, but apparently they aren't sold in the US anymore?
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| # ? Feb 28, 2013 19:48 |
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Mao posted:Ok. Can someone tell me where you can find one of these? Racing a 50cc Sportbike sounds absolutely awesome, but apparently they aren't sold in the US anymore? That's a Honda NSR 50, I think Aprilia makes/made a RS 50 and RS 125, that were kinda similar. blugu64 fucked around with this message at Feb 28, 2013 around 20:34 |
| # ? Feb 28, 2013 20:32 |
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Honda had the NSR50, Yamaha had the YSR50 and there might have even been a few others. Neat little bikes and they pop up on craigslist around here once and a while. Recently sold a YSR50 with a YZ125 engine in it to an old roommate, that little thing was scary as hell.
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| # ? Feb 28, 2013 23:30 |
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This looks like a blast, I could definitely get behind this. Keep the updates coming.
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| # ? Mar 1, 2013 00:05 |
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blugu64 posted:That's a Honda NSR 50, I think Aprilia makes/made a RS 50 and RS 125, that were kinda similar. Thanks for this. Googling about the Honda's and stuff just showed a few rare/old listings that seem to cost almost as much as they did new. The Aprilia though looks like its still being made. Going to have to call a local dealer and see if they are available for sale here in the US. Unfortunatey, living in North Carolina my googlefu is failing me for finding minigp races nearby.
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| # ? Mar 1, 2013 04:54 |
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There's an Aprilia dealer in New Braunfels (Texas) that has some RS50 and RS125s. A couple years ago I went down to test ride the new Shiver 750 and saw they even had one or two RS125s with plates. Not really sure how they managed that one. AF1 Racing I think the place was called.
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| # ? Mar 1, 2013 05:00 |
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Aprilia makes a kit to hook up the lights on your RS125. In theory in a state that allows plating of offroad bikes I don't see any reason why you couldn't plate an RS125.
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| # ? Mar 1, 2013 05:40 |
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So I've been in Seattle for work and my friend has been busy assembling the bike. And by busy assembling, I mean assembling in his apartment bedroom. Two weeks to practice. Getting close right??? 
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 23:45 |
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I used to run BT-45s on my '83 GS550. They are good distance tires with more touring in mind than sport. They do not like the cold and will be as hard as comb rubber if the temps drop below 50 degrees. They are "ok" in the wet. They wear rather well and I got almost 12K miles on mine before they started to get noticeably square (I lived near Chicago, not many corners out there). If pirelli still makes them, the sport demons were awesome by comparison. Turned in faster, stuck to the road like glue and did a little better when the weather got cold and damp. On the bad side though they were completely toast in about 8K miles.
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| # ? Mar 22, 2013 00:10 |
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Well, if its any indication, the BT-45s are on every competitive bike. I considered the Sport Demons but went with the proven stuff.
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| # ? Mar 22, 2013 04:01 |
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So I head over to my buddies place on Saturday. I've been away for work so he's been doing all the wrenching on bike #2. He says the bike is 'almost done' and just needs some help to finish up. This is what I show up to:  Actually, when I showed up, the triples weren't even on the bike. Note the exposed cylinder. Four hours later:  gotta love how 1) simple this thing is 2) that you can easily pick it up and carry it
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| # ? Apr 1, 2013 16:57 |
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Ok, that's pretty cool 
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| # ? Apr 1, 2013 18:58 |
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NitroSpazzz posted:Here's a video from last year - http://youtu.be/8IeCOoK-1T8 You guys raced through a gas station? Isn't that kinda... dangerous?
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| # ? Apr 1, 2013 19:38 |
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Ziploc posted:You guys raced through a gas station? Isn't that kinda... dangerous? Na only if you clip the pump/posts/curb or anything else. Keep in mind this is the small two pump gas station at the NC end of Tail of the Dragon so by 6pm it doesn't see much traffic other than people racing and locals running the hill.
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| # ? Apr 1, 2013 20:59 |
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| # ? May 21, 2013 20:31 |
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Favorite pic from this weekend: Plenty more here... http://www.njminigp.com/forum/index.php?topic=2764.0
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| # ? Apr 22, 2013 06:42 |
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