Thanks!! It's a 1st Gen SV, but the frame is powdercoated black. Also, the race bodywork is GSX-R 600. I love going to trackdays where guys on liter bikes think they just got passed by some GSX-R, until they hear the exhaust note and then realize they got punked by a lightweight twin
I currently race as an Expert with the Chuckwalla Valley Racing Association (CVMA), and we race at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, in Desert Center, CA. I'll also be doing some rounds with AFM in Northern California.
I used to race with Willow Springs Motorcycle Club (WSMC), before it folded, and also with WERA (Western-Eastern Racing Association).
The classes at CVMA are pretty simple. The main classes are as follows:
Open(Primarily 1000cc and up In-Line Four Cylinder motors)
Heavyweight Twins (750cc and Up V-Twins) Primarily Ducati 848's and up)
Middleweights (600cc in-line 4's and 675cc in-line triples)
Lightweight Twins (Up to 670cc Twins) (primarily SV650's and Ninja 650's)
Lightweights (250cc tiwns and singles)(Ninja 250)
They also have various "vintage" classes for guys that have old, oddball bikes....
I used to race the middleweights (600cc class bikes), but in 2009, I switched to the LWT platform because the bikes are relatively cheap (at least to start with). It doesn't take a lot of money to build a competitive bike. They tend to crash well too, so the repairs can be done cheaply. Also, since the bikes are only putting out 75-90hp, they don't chew up tires like 170hp in-line 4 Open bikes or even 600cc inline 4's. So without HP, in order to be really fast, you have to have A LOT of cornerspeed.
And if you race throughout the season, you know that tires are by far your biggest cost to racing. A 600cc bike will use up a set of tires per race weekend. That's $400. A 1000cc bike can use 1 front and 2 rear tires in a weekend. But on my LWT, I can usually get two weekends out of my rear tire, and 3 weekends out of my front, before I start to see a significant drop off in lap times. So my biggest expenditures for racing are cut at least by half by racing this class. And since I am racing and/or practicing about 15-18 weekends per year, that's a lot of cash saved.
Also, the lightweight twins grid is full with a bunch of veteran racers who know what they're doing. It's good, close, but mostly clean racing. At next weekend's race, he LWT classes will be the fullest grids over the weekend, with over 30 racers per race..... 30 racers all fighting for the same 3 feet of real estate at the apex of Turn 1 will be fun
