ADULT RIDERS - GETTING STARTED IN MOTORCYCLE DIRT TRACK RACING
So- you’ve seen some photos of crazy guys going sideways at speed, or you dropped by the Cycle Bowl and watched an evening of Sportsman racing, or perhaps a buddy used to race and has convinced you to try- however it started, you’re now interested in trying some motorcycle dirt track racing and you’d like some ideas on what to do next. Allow us to suggest…..
The very best first step for any new racer is to go watch some races. If you’re reading this article, you’re on the LMC website, so click on "schedules" and you’ll see what races are coming up next. "ST" stands for short track, "TT" means it’s a TT or "tourist trophy" event. STs are on the oval, left turns only, no front brake; TTs are on the larger track that has at least 1 right turn and one jump, plus you are required to use a front brake. Show up early enough to watch practice, then heats, then mains, and you’ll not only have a better idea how the racing schedule works but you’ll also get to form a better idea whether dirt track is something that you really want to try.
Once you’ve decided that you do want to give our sport a shot, you’ll need a couple of things. First, of course, you’ll need a bike! More on bike choice later, but start thinking about the classes you might want to try and thus the bikes that will fit those classes. Second, you’ll need both AMA and District 36 memberships. You can buy those in advance of your first race or you can pay for them at signups at your first race, it’s up to you. If you want to have your cards out of the way, you can click on the AMA and District 36 icons at the bottom of the page to apply for both.
OK, you’ve got your cards, now comes the tough question- what classes do you want to ride in? Try thinking about it in terms of bikes and riders. Bikes can be broadly broken down into vintage and modern bikes. With a number of little twists, nuances and exceptions, District 36 basically defines a Vintage bike as one 1978 and earlier, modern bikes are anything 1979 and later. Riders can be generally divided up by age groups. There are also some classes that don’t make age distinctions.
Here are some examples-
18 year old rider, CRF450- Open and Open Am classes.
30 year old rider, CRF450- Open and Vet classes.
20 year old rider, modified CRF100- 100 Modified class.
25 year old rider, TT500- Vintage, Open, Open Am classes.
30 year old rider, TT500- Vintage, Open, Open Am, Vet classes.
20 year old female rider, CRF450- Open and Open Am classes.
30 year old female rider, modified CRF100- Women’s class, Modified 100 (bike is too small for Vet class).
There is another class breakdown to be aware of- within most (but not all) classes, riders are further broken down into A, B and C divisions. For example, in the Vintage class, there will be Vintage A, Vintage B and Vintage C divisions. C riders are also known as "novice" riders and everyone starts out in the C class. As you earn "advancement points", which are based upon races that you win or finish high enough in, you get "bumped" to the B class (also known as the Junior or Intermediate class) and when you earn enough more advancement points, you get to the A or Expert class.
There are a large number of classes at Lodi and it would take a lot of time to lay them all out. The above will give you an idea how they generally work. The LMC referee will be happy to tell you where you would fit on any given bike.
While you’re thinking about what bike and class to ride in, and assuming that you’ve got your AMA and D36 cards sorted out, you can also start working on your riding gear. The rule-required basics are a DOT or Snell-approved helmet, sturdy boots, gloves, eye protection (if not part of your helmet), heavy pants and long-sleeved shirt/jersey.
What riders actually use falls into 2 categories- leathers or ballistic gear.
Leathers do provide the best protection and if high quality do last a long time. They are also hot, expensive and awkward to get into and out off. Ballistic gear is the general name for armored riding wear that use lighter mesh body panels to help keep you cool while also having hard impact protection at the points where you are likely to strike the ground. That’s the basic idea behind "ballistic gear". The drawback, of course, is that the lighter mesh wears and tears more quickly than leather, most of us who don’t crash too much find that a good brand of ballistic gear lasts 2 to 3 years, leathers can last a lifetime if you take care of them. Don’t be confused- the rules don’t require either leathers or ballistic gear. Many of us rode our first few races in jeans, a jean jacket, work boots and work gloves. Once you fall, and you will fall in dirt track, you’ll start to see why most of us use something more substantial.
So, let’s look at some examples. You are a brand new 42 year old rider and you bought yourself a CRF450R Honda. As you are a newbie, you yourself are a C rider. As you are over 29, you also qualify to ride in several classes. As you have a newer bike, however, you cannot ride in the Vintage classes. Thus, you can ride in:
Open C
Vet +30 C
Vet +40 C
If you had purchased any year of TT500, you could ride in:
Open C
Vet +30 C
Vet +40 C
Vintage C
Again, Lodi offers a lot of classes (some nights we have as many as 30 heats and some of those are combined class heats!) and there are too many to give a full description of them all here. The important thing to keep in mind when looking for a bike is to try to make sure that there is a class that you can ride that bike in and that the bike you are thinking about buying will be competitive in that class. One quick example- one of the best bikes Honda ever built was the XR200- simple, strong and with a reasonable amount of power. Unfortunately, not enough riders have chosen the XR200 as a dirt track bike and there is no "XR200" or "200" class at Lodi. That model isn’t legal in Vet (bikes in Vet have to be 201cc or bigger), nor is it legal in Vintage (as none of the XR200s were built before 1979). The only class that it even "fits" is the 250 class and in that class, you’d get paddled hard by the CRF250s and YZF250s. Stated simply, there is no good, competitive class for XR200s at Lodi so don’t get one if you’re looking to race at Lodi.
OK, you’ve got lots of stuff to think about now- what classes do you want to ride in, do you have your AMA and D36 cards, what about riding gear- lots to ponder. To make your pondering easier, here are some sources for parts, tires and dirt track-specific stuff:
Tires- 2 brands make up 95% of all of the tires used in full-sized dirt track bikes at Lodi- Goodyear/Dunlop and Maxxis. They are available through A&A Racing, Durelle Racing, and locally at S.H.Y. The Goodyear/Dunlop is the spec tire in GNC racing and has been around for many years. The Maxxis tire is a newer design but used by many at Lodi. Both tires come in at least 2 compounds and both come in the 27.0 X 7.0 x 19 size for the front wheel and 27.5 x 7.5 x 19 size that big bikes use on the rear. Both sized tires use the same sized tube, 100/90-19.
Obviously, these are tires for 19" rims, so if you’ve just bought an unconverted dirt bike with the older 18" rear and 21" front rims, you’ll need new rims (and spokes) front and back. If you’ve got one of the newer 450s, most of them come stock with a 19" rear rim and while it’s just a bit narrow, a 27.5 tire will work on those rims, so then you only have to get a 19" front rim. In very general terms, most Lodi riders using Goodyear/Dunlop tires run between 12 to 15 pounds in the front and 13 to 16 pounds pressure in the rear. Maxxis riders use between 16 to 20 pounds in the front and 16 to 24 pounds in the rear. Tire pressures are very individual and subjective; these figures are meant to get you started only.
If you’ve been lucky enough to find a used dirt tracker that’s already been set up for dirt tracking, you’ve saved yourself the work of converting a stock bike. Generally, a stock older bike (let’s use a TT500 as an example, as they’re so popular) will need the 19" rims, stiffer forks and shocks and then some basic technical-inspection stuff done. Modern bikes (such as the CRF450 Honda) can get away with the stock rear rim, but they’ll need a 19" front rim, and they’ll need a fair bit of work done to the suspension, mostly shortening the travel and stiffening up the dampening.
The technical-inspection stuff is pretty much as follows: all oil drain plugs on the motor must be drilled and safety-wired. Any metal edges on the foot pegs must be covered over with rubber (several companies, including A&A, sell kits to allow proper rubber pegs). If your bike is water-cooled, you must install a catch bottle so that the radiator vent tube doesn’t just spew hot water onto the track and you cannot use anti-freeze in your radiator- that stuff is very slippery once on the Lodi track surface. Plain water doesn’t protect well against corrosion, so most riders use Engine Ice or Water Wetter or something like that, both of which are legal at Lodi. If your rear axle is adjusted using bolts or studs that project out the back of your swing arm, those projecting bits must be covered in rubber, you can use duct tape but that goo’s up the threads, short pieces of fuel hose are better. Your throttle must snap closed on its own and your brakes (rear only for STs, front and back required in TTs) must work. If you have any other bits or pieces that stick out, the tech inspector may ask you to cover them; you can always tape them up that night and then do a nicer job with rubber later.
Folks ride dirt track for years and years and still learn something new; we cannot possibly tell you everything you’ll need to go fast at Lodi. We hope that we’ve told you enough to get you started. Once you start racing at Lodi you’ll find that most riders are happy to help you and to give you tips. An awful lot can be learned by just walking around, looking and asking questions. You can always ask the referee (he’s the one wearing the striped shirt) and if he doesn’t know the answer to a technical question, he will send you to someone who does.
Get your bike, your cards and your gear and join us in the oldest form of motorcycle racing in the US. We think you’ll be hooked too.
The very best first step for any new racer is to go watch some races. If you’re reading this article, you’re on the LMC website, so click on "schedules" and you’ll see what races are coming up next. "ST" stands for short track, "TT" means it’s a TT or "tourist trophy" event. STs are on the oval, left turns only, no front brake; TTs are on the larger track that has at least 1 right turn and one jump, plus you are required to use a front brake. Show up early enough to watch practice, then heats, then mains, and you’ll not only have a better idea how the racing schedule works but you’ll also get to form a better idea whether dirt track is something that you really want to try.
Once you’ve decided that you do want to give our sport a shot, you’ll need a couple of things. First, of course, you’ll need a bike! More on bike choice later, but start thinking about the classes you might want to try and thus the bikes that will fit those classes. Second, you’ll need both AMA and District 36 memberships. You can buy those in advance of your first race or you can pay for them at signups at your first race, it’s up to you. If you want to have your cards out of the way, you can click on the AMA and District 36 icons at the bottom of the page to apply for both.
OK, you’ve got your cards, now comes the tough question- what classes do you want to ride in? Try thinking about it in terms of bikes and riders. Bikes can be broadly broken down into vintage and modern bikes. With a number of little twists, nuances and exceptions, District 36 basically defines a Vintage bike as one 1978 and earlier, modern bikes are anything 1979 and later. Riders can be generally divided up by age groups. There are also some classes that don’t make age distinctions.
Here are some examples-
18 year old rider, CRF450- Open and Open Am classes.
30 year old rider, CRF450- Open and Vet classes.
20 year old rider, modified CRF100- 100 Modified class.
25 year old rider, TT500- Vintage, Open, Open Am classes.
30 year old rider, TT500- Vintage, Open, Open Am, Vet classes.
20 year old female rider, CRF450- Open and Open Am classes.
30 year old female rider, modified CRF100- Women’s class, Modified 100 (bike is too small for Vet class).
There is another class breakdown to be aware of- within most (but not all) classes, riders are further broken down into A, B and C divisions. For example, in the Vintage class, there will be Vintage A, Vintage B and Vintage C divisions. C riders are also known as "novice" riders and everyone starts out in the C class. As you earn "advancement points", which are based upon races that you win or finish high enough in, you get "bumped" to the B class (also known as the Junior or Intermediate class) and when you earn enough more advancement points, you get to the A or Expert class.
There are a large number of classes at Lodi and it would take a lot of time to lay them all out. The above will give you an idea how they generally work. The LMC referee will be happy to tell you where you would fit on any given bike.
While you’re thinking about what bike and class to ride in, and assuming that you’ve got your AMA and D36 cards sorted out, you can also start working on your riding gear. The rule-required basics are a DOT or Snell-approved helmet, sturdy boots, gloves, eye protection (if not part of your helmet), heavy pants and long-sleeved shirt/jersey.
What riders actually use falls into 2 categories- leathers or ballistic gear.
Leathers do provide the best protection and if high quality do last a long time. They are also hot, expensive and awkward to get into and out off. Ballistic gear is the general name for armored riding wear that use lighter mesh body panels to help keep you cool while also having hard impact protection at the points where you are likely to strike the ground. That’s the basic idea behind "ballistic gear". The drawback, of course, is that the lighter mesh wears and tears more quickly than leather, most of us who don’t crash too much find that a good brand of ballistic gear lasts 2 to 3 years, leathers can last a lifetime if you take care of them. Don’t be confused- the rules don’t require either leathers or ballistic gear. Many of us rode our first few races in jeans, a jean jacket, work boots and work gloves. Once you fall, and you will fall in dirt track, you’ll start to see why most of us use something more substantial.
So, let’s look at some examples. You are a brand new 42 year old rider and you bought yourself a CRF450R Honda. As you are a newbie, you yourself are a C rider. As you are over 29, you also qualify to ride in several classes. As you have a newer bike, however, you cannot ride in the Vintage classes. Thus, you can ride in:
Open C
Vet +30 C
Vet +40 C
If you had purchased any year of TT500, you could ride in:
Open C
Vet +30 C
Vet +40 C
Vintage C
Again, Lodi offers a lot of classes (some nights we have as many as 30 heats and some of those are combined class heats!) and there are too many to give a full description of them all here. The important thing to keep in mind when looking for a bike is to try to make sure that there is a class that you can ride that bike in and that the bike you are thinking about buying will be competitive in that class. One quick example- one of the best bikes Honda ever built was the XR200- simple, strong and with a reasonable amount of power. Unfortunately, not enough riders have chosen the XR200 as a dirt track bike and there is no "XR200" or "200" class at Lodi. That model isn’t legal in Vet (bikes in Vet have to be 201cc or bigger), nor is it legal in Vintage (as none of the XR200s were built before 1979). The only class that it even "fits" is the 250 class and in that class, you’d get paddled hard by the CRF250s and YZF250s. Stated simply, there is no good, competitive class for XR200s at Lodi so don’t get one if you’re looking to race at Lodi.
OK, you’ve got lots of stuff to think about now- what classes do you want to ride in, do you have your AMA and D36 cards, what about riding gear- lots to ponder. To make your pondering easier, here are some sources for parts, tires and dirt track-specific stuff:
Tires- 2 brands make up 95% of all of the tires used in full-sized dirt track bikes at Lodi- Goodyear/Dunlop and Maxxis. They are available through A&A Racing, Durelle Racing, and locally at S.H.Y. The Goodyear/Dunlop is the spec tire in GNC racing and has been around for many years. The Maxxis tire is a newer design but used by many at Lodi. Both tires come in at least 2 compounds and both come in the 27.0 X 7.0 x 19 size for the front wheel and 27.5 x 7.5 x 19 size that big bikes use on the rear. Both sized tires use the same sized tube, 100/90-19.
Obviously, these are tires for 19" rims, so if you’ve just bought an unconverted dirt bike with the older 18" rear and 21" front rims, you’ll need new rims (and spokes) front and back. If you’ve got one of the newer 450s, most of them come stock with a 19" rear rim and while it’s just a bit narrow, a 27.5 tire will work on those rims, so then you only have to get a 19" front rim. In very general terms, most Lodi riders using Goodyear/Dunlop tires run between 12 to 15 pounds in the front and 13 to 16 pounds pressure in the rear. Maxxis riders use between 16 to 20 pounds in the front and 16 to 24 pounds in the rear. Tire pressures are very individual and subjective; these figures are meant to get you started only.
If you’ve been lucky enough to find a used dirt tracker that’s already been set up for dirt tracking, you’ve saved yourself the work of converting a stock bike. Generally, a stock older bike (let’s use a TT500 as an example, as they’re so popular) will need the 19" rims, stiffer forks and shocks and then some basic technical-inspection stuff done. Modern bikes (such as the CRF450 Honda) can get away with the stock rear rim, but they’ll need a 19" front rim, and they’ll need a fair bit of work done to the suspension, mostly shortening the travel and stiffening up the dampening.
The technical-inspection stuff is pretty much as follows: all oil drain plugs on the motor must be drilled and safety-wired. Any metal edges on the foot pegs must be covered over with rubber (several companies, including A&A, sell kits to allow proper rubber pegs). If your bike is water-cooled, you must install a catch bottle so that the radiator vent tube doesn’t just spew hot water onto the track and you cannot use anti-freeze in your radiator- that stuff is very slippery once on the Lodi track surface. Plain water doesn’t protect well against corrosion, so most riders use Engine Ice or Water Wetter or something like that, both of which are legal at Lodi. If your rear axle is adjusted using bolts or studs that project out the back of your swing arm, those projecting bits must be covered in rubber, you can use duct tape but that goo’s up the threads, short pieces of fuel hose are better. Your throttle must snap closed on its own and your brakes (rear only for STs, front and back required in TTs) must work. If you have any other bits or pieces that stick out, the tech inspector may ask you to cover them; you can always tape them up that night and then do a nicer job with rubber later.
Folks ride dirt track for years and years and still learn something new; we cannot possibly tell you everything you’ll need to go fast at Lodi. We hope that we’ve told you enough to get you started. Once you start racing at Lodi you’ll find that most riders are happy to help you and to give you tips. An awful lot can be learned by just walking around, looking and asking questions. You can always ask the referee (he’s the one wearing the striped shirt) and if he doesn’t know the answer to a technical question, he will send you to someone who does.
Get your bike, your cards and your gear and join us in the oldest form of motorcycle racing in the US. We think you’ll be hooked too.
