Hey hey hey....

Jandro615

Jandro615

Member
Posts
9
Reaction
4
Yo so I am a newbie to the desert community I am pretty deeply involved in stock cars and super modifieds. I'm wanting to make the jump to desert racing on my quad. I have a 04 Trx450 it pretty well put together I mean I've had it on the track a time or two pretty much everything is fresh on it from the motor to the suspension. I'll drop a parts list a little later when I'm not at work..... I want to know what I need to do to be legal to get out and race. Score bitd etc. I know it's expensive I know it's not for everyone yes I know just looking for a good answer to get me pointed in the right direction.... thanks


Sent from the RDC Mobile App. Get it for your IOS device today
 
El Mamito USMC

El Mamito USMC

Well-Known Member
Posts
2,133
Reaction
363
post pics when u can...

and ill chime in later
 
Jandro615

Jandro615

Member
Posts
9
Reaction
4
ImageUploadedByrace-deZert1475987904.222884.jpg


This is she like I said it's all fresh. Pretty much all stock exhaust and long travel and I have a 4 gal tank for it in my garage.


Sent from the RDC Mobile App. Get it for your IOS device today
 
Cris Lepiz

Cris Lepiz

Well-Known Member
Posts
93
Reaction
70
You should check out the Big 6 series. They dont really hold true desert races but it's a great way to get your feet wet and see what others are doing. Courses are normally 8 - 9 miles long and a bit cheaper than BITD or Score.
 
JDDurfey

JDDurfey

Well-Known Member
Posts
3,034
Reaction
3,414
Since you are new to off road, I would do what others above have suggested and get some shorter races under your belt. Go out to a local riding area and see what kind of extra goodies guys are running on their quads. Most people will gladly share (brag) about their equipment. Take it all with a grain of salt and see what will work for you. I would definitely put some hand guards on there. Keep a spark arestor on your bike no matter what.

I never raced a quad, but I raced bikes for years doing both shorter races in AZ, Nevada and CA and then also raced all the SCORE races for several years with teammates. SCORE or BITD race's entry fees are much higher than the D37 entry fees. You can go do a Big 6 or D37 by yourself if you want with no pit crew or chase crew. You may have to gas yourself in the pits, but often you will find people or bike clubs that will "adopt" someone for a race and help you out. I did that at a National Hare and Hound one year in Lucerne. I had one name of a Desert MC member and I went looking for him and told him I needed help, and they welcomed me with open arms to camp with them and then they gassed me up at my first National. And if you are seriously interested in Baja, there are plenty of guys that race down there that would probably welcome the assistance for a race. My first two trips were not for me to race, but to help wrench on their bike and "chase" for them. I also took my own bike and pre-ran with several of them. This gave me plenty of insight so when the next race came up I was invited to ride on the team because they knew I was fast enough and could handle anything Baja threw at me.

I think the best place to start is just finding someone you can get out and ride some long distance stuff to see if you can keep a decent pace and it is something you enjoy. There is a big difference between riding on a track some when your pick up is only a few turns away and being 50 miles out in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire or a jacked up bike because you screwed up and crashed your brains out. I rarely rode alone, except when pre-running in Baja. But if I was alone, I took it pretty easy if I was very far from help.

Hope that helps.
 
Jandro615

Jandro615

Member
Posts
9
Reaction
4
Thanks for all the help guys I'm just gonna get out and put some miles on my quad I've been researching different areas and shorter races I'll keep y'all posted hopefully see y'all out at some of the races


Sent from the RDC Mobile App. Get it for your IOS device today
 
trentk

trentk

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,082
Reaction
135
There are no rules in desert racing atv's, you could drop a small block chevy in it with 28" tires if you wanted to. But the entry fees for SCORE and BITD are huge so you will really want to finish, so prep and spare parts will be key. Like the others said do some local stuff first...a $75 entry fee is a lot easier to swallow than a $750 entry fee.

You could do an entire season of smaller races or WORCS for the cost of a single BITD or SCORE race. In BITD and SCORE you need a great motor (that requires a lot of maintenance), a flat prevention system (tireblocks, tireballs etc) and a big cache of spare parts in order to compete at the top. None of those things are really necessary to compete at the local level or even WORCS if you ask me.

good luck.
 
JDDurfey

JDDurfey

Well-Known Member
Posts
3,034
Reaction
3,414
I hope you don't think people here are trying to discourage you from following your passion for racing off road. It is a costly "hobby" and a dangerous one for a new comer. The racing community welcomes new comers with open arms, but I have seen on more than one occasion guys out in the middle of nowhere during a race crashed, hurt, and dehydrated that had no business being there because they didn't work their way up to the "big races" This was seen after the movie Dust to Glory came out. There were a whole bunch of newbies to Baja, and some of them had no business being there. I rode on a team full of them. Looking back, it was foolish to do what we did. Myself and a good friend were the only ones on the team that had ever been to Baja, much less even raced a motorcycle and we did the 1000 with this team. We had some close calls that week that could have been avoided if they had been more experienced. The next year one of those guys returned for the 1000 and broke his femur pre-running simply because he did not have the experience needed in my opinion.

Get out and ride. The best thing you can do is put miles on that quad and enjoy the sport. Go spectate some races, and see what it is really like, and then try it yourself. But I will warn you...you will get hooked. Obviously the competition is something you are used to, but off-road can suck you in and drain your bank account, and that was a good thing for me. It kept me out of trouble because I always needed to buy more parts or pay entry fees.

Good luck
 
Jandro615

Jandro615

Member
Posts
9
Reaction
4
Thanks bud and no not at all I know how it is man I remember coming in as a new guy on the dirt track. I agree 100% because I would say something kinda similar to a person wanting to get into stock cars, and that stuck feeling is what I'm looking for again I used to be that way with race cars. That's all I wanted to do is race but now I don't feel that way and I think off-road racing might be calling my name. Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions guys I will be putting some major miles on my bike and hopefully I'll be able to join y'all out at the races in the future. Once again thanks a bunch..


Sent from the RDC Mobile App. Get it for your IOS device today
 
Top