So I'm looking to get into road racing, and my friend is also.  The choice for my track bike is a little easier than my friend's though.  He is looking to race 250s, but doesn't know where to find many bikes for this class.  Any recommendations from anyone, or websites to get information about them?  I rememer the NSR250s, and RS250s, but that's about all I can find as far as 250s go, and they're not new.  Aprilia is about the only company I can think of that even makes smaller displacement bikes, and right now as far as I know, they only have a 125.

Any info?  I'm new to the smaller bikes.

NSR 250s will sometimes show up on e-bay but bring your wallet when you see them.  They go for a LOT of money.  You are probably not going to be able to find one new, honda and Yamahahahaha only sell those over seas right now.

I see you are in NV, you may wish to check out scsportbikes.com, they do track days a lot and have discounts for there group buys.  Of course thats if you are based in Las Vegas.  Also lots of experiance in the motorcycle world there.

If you guys really want to race 2 strokes, you are better off with actual 2 stroke race bikes than grey market 2 stroke streetbikes. You can get parts still for the race bikes....

Most people running 250's are racing Yamaha TZ250's. In the 125 class, most guys opt for the Honda RS125. These are true GP bikes (no electrical, push start, reverse shift pattern etc) and offer a LOT of bang for the buck. For reference, there's a 20 horsepower difference between a new Aprilia 250 and a 6 or 7 year old TZ250-and the TZ's going to be cheaper.

Try tz250racing.com and look in their classifieds.

Dave

keep us posted on what you get!  

http://www.rscycles.com/250cc.htm

They are imported and go for ~ $20,000.  I can't see paying that for something you'll be crahsing a lot.

Why not get a sv-650.  I heard they are really cheap used and parts are easy to get.

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/SV650SK5/Default.aspx

Have you done any track days yet?  If not go and rent to make sure it's for you before investing lots of $$$.  Besides the bike there is the gear which is required.  Also, you'll go through tires fairly quick and they're not cheap either.  

Where do you live?  NHIS (Loudon, NH) has a one day track program.

I'd go eitehr a SV650 of a 600

Money being the deciding factor.

My last year racing expert, and FUSA, I spent in excess to $50,000 not including the bike.

THat being said, 600 racing is probably the most competitive.

Thanks for the advice and links, guys.  I'll show it to my friend.  The TZ250s seem like a fairly priced bike.  

I definitely plan on doing a bunch of track days before I really try to get into racing.  The 600 class is where I plan to end up.  My friend is still undecided... but the 250 thing seemed pretty appealing to him.  Though he was looking at a couple used SVs.  That said... 600s are in abundance here, so finding a bike for that is no problem.  I was hoping for a twin, the few ducatis around here are still going for $$$$.  Kind of a bummer, because they seem to have the best ergos for me, and I've heard nothing but good things about the way they handle.  But like someone else said, its hard to put that much money into a stock bike when I know I'll see it sliding across the track one day.

Thanks again guys!

Quoted: Thanks for the advice and links, guys.  I'll show it to my friend.  The TZ250s seem like a fairly priced bike.   I definitely plan on doing a bunch of track days before I really try to get into racing.  The 600 class is where I plan to end up.  My friend is still undecided... but the 250 thing seemed pretty appealing to him.  Though he was looking at a couple used SVs.  That said... 600s are in abundance here, so finding a bike for that is no problem.  I was hoping for a twin, the few ducatis around here are still going for $$$$.  Kind of a bummer, because they seem to have the best ergos for me, and I've heard nothing but good things about the way they handle.  But like someone else said, its hard to put that much money into a stock bike when I know I'll see it sliding across the track one day. Thanks again guys!

2 stroke will teach you corner speed.

The sled ( 4 stroke ) you will have to adapt to after riding the two stroke.  Weaker brakes, heavier, more power, bigger.

Two strokes are done for the most part.  They were cool when they had factory support, but they are and have been getting fazed out.

I wouldn't race a Duc if you gave me one.  I had the opp. to race one, where I would just pay for parts and maintainence, and I passed.  Thats getting the bike for free!!!  They are expensive, and they don't hold up.

Instead I raced a Gixxer in Northeast and Florida region.  That Suzuki NEVER had a problem.  I even went down in a rain race and injested water through the airbox ducts and hydrolocked the motor.  I went back to the pits, took out the plugs, and turned it over while spraying WD40 in the jugs.  I went on to win my next race.

My advice would be to buy a 600, and a new one if you can afford it.

I'd go RZ350 there are lots of aftermarket parts available. They are light and very fast 2 strokes.

You can find them used as basket cases or ready to race.

Here's mine

Don't know how much experience you have, but another thing to remember with 125 and 250cc two-strokes is that the full-race ones are VERY peaky. You've got to keep 'em buzzing to get any power, unlike your garden-variety four-stroke. If you can ride a 125cc two-stroke motocrosser around a track without finding yourself in the wrong gear all the time, chances are you'd do fine on a two-stroke racer.

Going back a couple decades when I decided to go club racing, I opted for a two-stroke because I preferred them (still do) and had the opportunity to get a grey market RD350LC shipped here in '81. Lots of fun racing that thing. Went to a 500 Interceptor in '85 and still had fun, but I still liked the two-stroke sound and feel, plus the agility. IMHO, you learn more as a rider if you start out on a smaller street-based machine, keep it pretty stock for reliability (and to stay within production-class rules) and work on learning basic racecraft. My biggest expense was tires; the LC was my ride-to-work bike so for races I just took off just the lights and mirrors as required, safety-wired things and that was it. Nowadays, it looks like SV650s would be the ticket for someone looking for an inexpensive way to get into road racing. Four-cylinder 600s would be my second choice just because they're comprised of more parts which, to my way of thinking, means more stuff you've got to keep an eye on.

If anyone knows of a '90 VTR250 for sale, or sitting around, PM me... I'm dying for one, though, I'm damn near broke.

I wanted to add to my orriginal opinion for the 600cc bike.  It is the reason why I decided to race it.  You can compete in quite a few classes:

-Middleweight Supersport
-Middleweight Superbike
-Middleweight GTU
-Heavyweight Supersport
-Heavyweight Superbike
-Heavyweight GTO
and there are probably even more I missed.

Your limited to classes with the lightweight(SV650)

Before you do ANYTHING first take the California Superbike School.
www.superbikeschool.com/

09-30 Firebird Raceway AZ All Levels $395/$595
10-01 Firebird Raceway AZ All Levels $395/$595
10-17 Sears Point CA All Levels $395/$595
10-22 Streets of Willow Springs CA All Levels $345/$595
10-23 Streets of Willow Springs CA All Levels $345/$595
12-05 Sears Point CA All Levels $395/$595
12-06 Sears Point CA All Levels $395/$595
12-12 Laguna Seca CA All Levels $395/$595
12-13 Laguna Seca CA All Levels $395/$595

Reg Pridmore's CLASS
http://www.classrides.com/

Jason Pridmore's Star Racing Class
http://www.starmotorcycle.com/

Fredie Spencer's Fast Racing School
http://www.fastfreddie.com/

If you are REALLY serious about racing two-strokes then you need to take Rich Oliver's class
http://www.richoliver.net/

There is only one place to buy a REAL race only two stroke in America and that's at Thousand Oaks Honda.
www.hrcusa.com/site.aspx?page=grandprix
Too bad they are sold out for the year.
Talk to Kevin Dunn, tell him that I sent you.