Intro

Motorcycle racing is an expensive sport. It is a fact that effects every rider from beginners to full time professionals and has even seen many a talent fall out of the sport. Navigating what seems like never ending costs can often mean the difference between racing and never starting. One of the best ways to handle the costs is a detailed and planned budget.

Just like any business, you must know all your costs before you can set your goals and achieve them. For most motorcycle racers, as athletes, sitting down with an excel sheet and researching to create a budget is just alien work, so in the following article we hope to break it down into small steps and even share a basic layout to help you create the best budget you can.

Although our budget outline is focused on the Kawasaki ZX-4RR International Championship, the steps and content are the same for any other championship from hobby to World.

3 riders Teams are not cheap, but they look fantastic!

The Basics

Before we get into specifics, there is a few basic points to remember. Firstly, any costs or prices we list are NET (without sales tax). There are several reasons but the main one, which can save you a huge amount of money, we will come back to at the end.

Next, when you start entering your own costs into a budget, be as accurate and detailed as you can. There is an old English saying, “watch the pennies(cents) and the pounds (euros) will look after themselves.” This is important for any budget, but for a race budget is particularly important as a small cost you think doesn’t matter, can easily mount up to a large one and leaves you at the end of season wandering why you have no money left for the final round.

Research for actual costs as much as you can. Guessing will become a problem later. If you must make an educated guess, until you get the actual amount (entry fee costs not published yet for example), then guess higher, much higher!

Lastly, sponsorship, or your potential income. We will not cover this much in this article as it is whole other subject, but if you do decide to add sponsorship into your budget to see how you can cover costs, only add amounts you have in the bank. I have known way too many race teams go bankrupt because they worked on a promised sponsorship only to never receive it.

With the basics covered, lets dive into making your budget.

**Race Bike**
It is going to be a little difficult to go racing without a bike! Chances are if you are reading this, you already have a bike or maybe you are going to convert your road bike to race and use that. Whatever your circumstances are, you will have costs buying or preparing your bike for the coming season.

Already have a race bike or converting a road bike – Then consider these possible costs to add to your budget

Engine refresh – Do you need a refresh or a full engine rebuild and tune?

New Parts – Do you need new parts to make your bike eligible for the championship you want to enter, or to make the bike competitive?
Do you need help – When considering the above be realistic on what you can do yourself and where you need a professional’s help. If you are new to racing, we highly recommend having your bike prepared professionally.

For the Kawasaki ZX-4RR International Championship (KZIC from now on), new professionally built race bikes are available from 15,500 euro and if you already own a bike, basic compulsory race kits can be tailor made depending on parts you already have at a discounted price. You can find out the cost of a basic race kit by filling out the form here.

“watch the pennies(cents) and the pounds (euros) will look after themselves.”

— English saying

**Equipment**

If you are just starting out, there is way to much for me to list here, but you can find a great list of essentials here https://precisiontrackday.org/checklist/ . Anything in that list you do not have, add the cost to your budget.

For most who we believe are reading this, you have already been racing and have most of the equipment you will need. Here is a list of some things you may not have and need for international level racing

Grid trolley and generator
Grid umbrella
Extra tyre warmers for wets on wheels or grid trolley
Pit Board
Good Awning Lights

Many of the above will soon be available from our online store at discounted rates to KZIC riders.

Registration Fee

For Hobby and amateur lever championships, registration fees are very rare. International will nearly always ask for this fee, and normally very early in the off season.

There are many reasons for this fee, but the most important is usually media. Motogp and WSBK for examples will have media contracts which will contain clauses to ensure there is a minimum number of competitors on the grid for every race. It is why you will see replacement riders when a rider is injured. The teams are contracted to have a rider on the grid for every race.

It is also very important for the integrity of the championship and its partners. Companies that support the championships with discounted or free products need to ensure that this support is going to riders who will compete in the championship and a registration / deposit is one way to ensure this. For example, Kawasaki is offering new bikes at a huge discount for the championship but have made it a clause this can only be received with proof the rider is taking part.

Registration Fees normally take the form of a deposit paid between Oct and Feb in the off season. The KZIC registration fee will be 1000 euro. 500 euro of this will be a deposit towards the rider’s entry fee, and the balance 500 will be returned to the rider after they have completed 4 rounds.

Organising, managing and running any racing event is **very expensive**.

Entry Fees

We all hate these. “Why should I be paying, when I am the one putting on the show?” The question is, who else will? Unless you are entering Moto GP or World Superbike, there is no huge media rights income or 50,000+ paying fans coming through the gates, and even then, you will still pay an entry fee, just a bigger one!

The fact is organising, managing and running any racing event is very expensive. Circuit rental, medical cover, helicopter, services you take for granted and the huge staff needed all cost money! If you think your budget is complicated and big, take a minute to think how much the organizer needs to cover.

Most international level championships will have an annual fee paid before the season starts. Some will even offer a discount for early payment and others will allow you to split the payments asking for an initial deposit and balance before the season begins.

NOTE – The KZIC entry fee was not published at the time of writing, but I will add it here when it is.

TYRES

Although technically tyres would come under your consumables list, I am putting this separate as there is some outside factors to consider, and the tyre bill is often the largest bill of the year.

For beginners and hobby racers, you can set your own tyre budget by simply adding how many tyres you feel you can afford per event. Reality is you do not have the skill set (YET), to get those extra tenths of a second from new tyres and it unlikely everyone on the grid is adding new tyres per session or gets any real benefit even if they do.

This all changes at higher levels. Your competitors and their crew chiefs will have the experience to gain from new tyres and they will be putting new tyres in as often as they can. So, if you want any hope of competing, you also need new tyres every time.

There is some good news, however. Organizers know how much difference new tyres mean and know this means the team with the biggest budget, who can add new tyres all the time will win. To combat this and reduce budgets, most, if not all, international championships have tyre limits. In addition, some championships will negotiate special tyre rates for competitors.

Tyre limits and rates mean it is easier to calculate your Tyre budget for the season.

KZIC will have a tyre limit of 1 new front and 2 new rear tyres for qualifying and the 2 races. Free practice and warm up you can use whatever tyres you want but to keep costs down we recommend using the part worn tyres from the races from previous round. When to use your new tyres during a weekend becomes a tyre strategy decision.

**Staff**

For most riders, paid staff is not a consideration for the budget. Just about all of us start out with family and friends as the team, and for many this is the setup even in top level racing. However, there comes a time when you must consider professional paid staff. Having a crew chief stood by your side for the whole season will make a huge difference to your performance.

Why do you think Motogp riders often take their crew chief with them when they change teams?

Staff costs will come in many forms. Some will volunteer, some will just want their expenses covered and others you can pay in beer! Real professionals will want a wage.

As the KZIC is aimed at riders moving to international competition, technical support will be available in the paddock at every round. This means your team can still be just family and friends, but you have professional crew chiefs and mechanics on hand to help if you need it. You can still have your own paid staff if you prefer.

NOTE – Professional staff will significantly increase your budget. When you get to this level, it is worth considering if you want to run your own team or pay to join an established team?

Consumables

For anyone who has ridden a motorcycle and maintained it, or even done a track day, consumables are obvious, but we will list them here with some notes you may not have thought about when making your budget.

**Race Fuel**

99% of the time this will be fuel available at the pumps. However, it will still be racing level fuel. 100 octane is much more expensive, so make sure you use the price of this per litre. Some championships have controlled fuel you have to buy at the circuit. Make sure you find out the cost from the organisers in this case.
You also need to know how much fuel your bike uses. The ZX-4RR we have found uses 1 litres of fuel for approximately 7 kilometres at race pace!

**Chains**

You should be using a light weight, race only chain. These are great to release that extra free horsepower, but they are not made to last. Ask the manufacturer their recommended use time and then calculate how many chains you will need for the season.
The RK GB520RUWR Race chain that will be used for the KZIC needs to be changed after 2 events and has a recommended retail price of 190 euro each. Riders will get a significant discount on this price.

**Brake Pads**

There are many makes and compounds of race pads available and the only way to find the ones that suits your riding is by testing as many as you can. Again, once you find the pads you like, you can test the life use and calculate how many sets you will use per season.
For the KZIC we are recommending the SBS Dual Carbon pad which we will expect to need a new set per round.

**Sprockets**

As with chains, you should be using light weight racing sprockets. Again, these wear out faster and you will need different sizes for different circuits.
KZIC competitors will receive 2 front and 4 rear Gandini race sprockets in the basic Race Kit.

**Oil & Filters**

Racing bikes puts extreme pressures on your engine. We highly recommend changing oil and filters for each round or track day. Look how much oil you need when replacing filter in owner’s manual, find the best race oil you can and multiple by rounds plus filter cost per round.
KZIC is supported by Motul and OEM filters will also be discounted from Kawasaki.

**Clutch**

Race starts, and fast gear changes kill clutches, so budget for new plates and springs a lot more frequently.
At World level, clutches are checked after each qualification and race, so budget to always have a complete clutch assembly in stock and for the season we estimate a change every 2 rounds.

**Engines**

It is impossible to say how many engines or rebuilds you will need per season, but a basic rule is the higher the tune, the more maintenance it will need. Your engine tuner should be able to tell you the estimated kilometres the engine should last before needing a refresh.
If you raced your ZX-4RR last year, then you should add a refresh cost to your budget for this off season. If you will be buying a new bike, then we estimate only needing a refresh at the end of the season which would go onto the following season budget.

Spares

Simply put, you can never have enough spares. No team has unlimited budget or space to carry an endless spares box.

From our extensive racing experience this is a short essential list

One set of bodywork (minimum)
One set rear sets
2 x extra foot pegs
4 x handle bar tubes
1 x handle bar switches
1 set crash protectors
1 x exhaust end can
1 x exhaust hanger bracket
1 x chain
1 x brake pads set
1 x oil & filter
1 x clutch
1 set sprockets

For the KZIC, you will be able to reduce the spares you need to carry as you will be able to purchase online discount parts you need before each round and there will be a limited number of consumables and spares available at the circuit.

There will also be an optional spares package available to buy at a discount for competitors.

Crash Damage

This is particularly hard to set an accurate budget for. How much a crash costs varies significantly from a simply slide to an end over end bike destruction. It is also often said if you are not crashing you are not trying hard enough, yet many riders can win championships and hardly ever drop the bike.

From our experience, to be on the safe side, we budget for 4 crashes per average season length, at a cost of 1000 euro per crash.

Testing / Practice

Like spares, you can never have too much testing. The more saddle time you get the faster you become. But as with spares, testing increases budget, and you must be realistic on how much testing you can afford. Even professional riders, for large teams will only likely get one or two official tests with the team, the rest they will be expected to arrange and pay for themselves, so it is good practice to learn how to budget for testing.

For budgeting purposes, look at the circuits you will race at and determine which tracks you have the least experience on. This is where you should focus your testing.
Next search for track days at these tracks and create a testing calendar for yourself. You will also find the track day entry costs to add to your budget. Then, as with your race budget, you need to add all the consumables you will use and logistics of getting there which you will find calculations for below.

An ideal test calendar would be a test at each circuit you will race, but this will likely double your seasons budget, so be selective.

NOTE – Winter testing. Going to Spain for winter testing is not a cheap option, but I can tell you from experience, if you have the budget, it will significantly help your race pace for the coming season. We are currently looking at options for KZIC riders to winter test and more information will be available shortly.

Logistics & Food

It is not uncommon for riders to forget logistics when setting a budget, but that is a big mistake, especially for international championships where you will be driving long distances.

Here are the costs you need to calculate and add to budget

Distance to travel – Use Google maps to find out the kilometres you will drive per round

Fuel – Find out the average litres per 100kms your van / race transporters uses and now multiple by distance from google maps. Multiple that by average cost per litre fuel.

o Example – 500kms to circuit = 1000kms round trip

o Van uses 10 litres per 100 = 1000/100 x 10 = 100 litres fuel

o 100 x 1.5 euro per litre = 150-euro fuel cost.

Accommodation – If you do not have sleeping room in your transporter / van, you will need accommodation at or near the circuit. First check if there is a hotel available at the track and search costs. If none, then use booking.com to find accommodation as close as possible and note prices. Remember you need to accommodate your whole team and need to be at the circuit on the Thursday before race weekend.

Food – If you have cooking facilities in your transporter, you still need to budget buying the ingredients. If not, then you need to budget for restaurant costs. We allow 25 euro per person per day as a rough guide.

**Sales Tax**

We have already touched on this but saved it until the end as sales tax can have a dramatic impact on your budget, but there is a way to reduce it.

Now you are on your way to international competition and professional level riding we highly recommend you establish a company to manage your racing as a business. Firstly, this will present you professionally to potential sponsors, but also it will mean you are able to claim back sales tax on your purchases.

With cross border purchases within the EU, you can even purchase without sales tax. Obviously, we are not tax advisors, and you must speak to an accountant and lawyer in your own country before setting up any business, but if you intend to become professional, you are going to need a company to do it.

Summary

We hope you have found this article helpful and informative. It certainly became longer than we expected! Creating a race budget is not simple or easy, but it is time well spent and can save you money and stress.

We cannot recommend doing a detailed budget breakdown enough. To help you start yours, please download our template below. We have even added months of the year. By adding when you pay each cost to the month it is due, not only will it create your yearly budget but give you a basic cashflow to tell you when to pay it all.

Using the above guide, and with our inside knowledge of costs, we have estimated that a seasons budget for the Kawasaki ZX-4RR championship. without bike purchase or crash damge, comes to approximately 10,000 euro. Although a big number, at international level racing this is extremely affordable when compared to a 1000 Superstock tyre bill for a season being about 12,000 euro alone!

If you have any questions, then please feel free to leave in the comments below or send us directly to info@mindenmoto.com and we try and answer them for you. If you would like to know more about the Kawasaki ZX-4RR International Championship, then please fill in this form to get news and updates.

Featured