Jason -

this is a great question.

There are a couple things that I did when I started that I think were really helpful.

1) I raced small motorcycles

I started racing on an FZR400 and it was a really good move. This forced me to adopt lesson #2 and focus on being a really good rider instead of a really "fast" rider. The skills needed to maintain corner speed are much harder to learn and implement if you have 160 HP on tap.

If I was starting today I would get either a Ninja 250 an SV650, or an EX650. These bikes are viable in a large number of classes for racing. All are raced in our club by experts as well as new riders because they offer some challenges that large motorcycles do not and they are capable bikes that you can't really outgrow. (mind you a 250 lb guy on a Ninja 250 might be a real stretch, but we've had some really big guys race RS125's in our club over the years and do really well). The thing to remember in club racing in particular is that the rider is probably 80% of the equation. A good rider on a slow bike will still go pretty well, where a not so good rider on a really fast bike is going to get beaten.

2) I focused on being a good /smooth consistent rider.

This has helped through my whole racing career. As I've changed bikes over the years this has been extremely valuable as I can make changes to something that is consistent. If I never get that consistency it's impossible to make a meaningful change.

3) I got some help.

When I found myself at plateaus I got some help. I took lessons from riders who were both better than me, and skilled teachers. In my time that was mostly Mark Schellinger. Today you would get in touch with our new rider director, Jeff Brown, for guidance.

I hope that helps.

Scott