It's both who and what you know.

The case for buying an ex-racer.

Modifying a stock sportbike into a racetrack razor can be an expensive and difficult task.  When you're done,

the motorcycle will be essentially useless for street riding and worse, the thousands you've spent on the project may have actually decreased your machine's resale value.  One obvious solution would be to buy a slightly obsolete racebike to use exclusively for the track.  You'd get all the costly part, skillfully bolted to a lovingly crafted and finely tuned machine by a highly experienced builder.  Best of all, you'd pay the depreciated value on all the time and money that's been invested during the bike's competition career.  Hey, what could go wrong?

You could be cheated

Obviously, plenty could go wrong.  This is an essentially dishonest world.  Any time you decide to buy used, you're giving somebody the opportunity to cheat you.  It's crucial that you put in the time and do the research to be sure that you know what you're buying.  Perhaps more importantly, you need to find out who you're buying it from.  If the person has a shady reputation, walk away.  Quite often, a deal which is too good to be true is exactly that.  If you've made the decision to acquire a dedicated track bike, then you and your money will soon be going separate ways.  It's up to you not to be a fool.

Knowing what you're buying

Let's say that you've found a bike which suits your fancy.  Presuming that it's a racer, there'll be a list of aftermarket parts which have been installed on the machine.  Some parts are visible, while others can't be seen without hours of disassembly.  How do you verify what you've been told?  The internet is a great place to start.  If the machine in question has ABC rearsets and an XYZ shock, these are parts which can be readily seen.  Google these things and study pictures so that you know what the parts in question are supposed to look like.  At least once you view the machine, you'll be able to tell if those parts have indeed been installed and actually are what the seller claims them to be.  Internal mods are more difficult.  Fork valving, aftermarket camshafts or a rebuilt engine are essentially invisible without performing a major teardown.  Time for some detective work.

Who did what?

When verifying what's been done to a bike, receipts would be an excellent place to start.  This presents a problem, though.  It's been our experience that almost everybody in this sport is in some kind of denial, either to themselves or more likely, to their spouses.  Keeping a paper trail that shows what you've spent can be painful, especially if it falls into the, um.... wrong hands.  Aside from that, parts which have been swapped, traded for or bought used won't likely have come with documentation at the time of purchase anyway.  So how can you verify the seller's claims if he has no recipts?  Your best bet is to find out who did what, then call those people and see what they have to say about the seller in question.  If the forks are claimed to have been modified or the engine rebuilt by a given shop, call that place and ask.  Professional suspension tuners and engine builders keep meticulous records.  If these shops don't have a record of what the seller claims they've done for him, consider it a lie.  If the work can't be verified because the owner previous to the current seller had it done, then you're almost unquestionably being sold a line of bull.  If the seller claims to have performed internal modifications or rebuilt major components himself, then he would have to be a very accomplished racing mechanic for this to be considered something other than a liability.

Background check

Researching who you're buying a machine from is quite possibly the most important part of a purchase.  Again, the Internet is a great tool.  Ask which organizations this racer has run with, then check his stats.  Sleuth around a bit on the forums which pertain to the model of bike he's selling and the clubs he's raced with, as well as Facebook.  As you're verifying your seller's patronage with the shops he claims to have used, go ahead and ask a few questions about the person.  It's unlikely that you'll hear anything bad; however, if the person stands out for positive reasons, you'll probably hear about it.  Beyond that, ask around your own circle of friends in the sport.  Your favorite coach or the fast racer who uses your local trackdays for practice might have had dealings with your seller or know someone who has.  Again, if the seller's claims about who he is, where he's raced or what shops have worked on his machine are unverifiable, consider these details to be lies.  In such a situation, it would be best to walk away.

The sum of its parts

When you're satisfied that your seller isn't a blatant liar or a known swindler and you've satisfied yourself that he's representing his machine honestly, your next task is to add up the parts list of the bike in question and determine what's been spent on it.  As usual, the Internet is your best resource.  It's not unusual to come up with pretty staggering numbers.  Here are some rough estimates of the retail prices of popular modifications:

Rearsets, clip-ons and engine guards - $1000

Fiberglass bodywork and paint - $1000

Exhaust - $200 to $600 for a slip-on; as much as $1500 for a full exhaust

Electronics - $500 to $1500

Aftermarket suspension - $1000 to $3000

Spare parts - Check the going rate on EBay

Because motorcycles in general and racebikes in particular depreciate so quickly, it is almost expected that the retail price of a machine's modifications will exceed the asking price.  This is particularly true if the bike is more than the magic two years old.  Once a bike turns three, it no longer qualifies for manufacturer's contingency money.  A winning racer will want something new enough to make him money when he finishes well, so older machines sell cheap.  If you're dealing with the type of seller who quotes retail on every dime he's spent and then adds it to current clean book value for the machine in question, laugh and walk away.  Folks like that don't understand the reality of what used track bikes are worth and won't appreciate your efforts in trying to explain it to them.

The inspection

Sooner or later, you're going to go take a look at this machine you're considering.  When travelling a long way to see the bike is required, the chances are good that you intend to bring it home with you.  If this is your plan, you've essentially already decided to make the purchase, sight-unseen.  This isn't unusual; however, you must bring common sense as well as cash.  If you get there and find that things aren't as you expected them to be, get back in the car.  If the phrase, "But I drove all this way" pops into your head as you're fingering that cashier's check in your pocket, just leave.  There are plenty of other machines out there for you to buy.

Provided that an initial look doesn't scare you off, give the bike a good going over.  Make sure that all the specified performance parts are actually in place.  Inspect the bike for cleanliness and craftsmanship.  If a bike looks like it was built with real love and care by an experienced mechanic, it probably was.  Competence is hard to fake.  On the other hand, if the bike is a filthy mess that's being held together with duct tape and bailing wire, you should pass.

The seller's demeanor must be taken into consideration as well.  It's not unreasonable for you to request removal of the bodywork or to want to roll the bike out into the open where you can get a better look at it.  The type of owner whose bike you want to be buying should be proud to let you see it undressed.  If he's treating you like your inspection of the bike is an insult to his integrity, he's likely trying to hide something.  Rather than try to figure out what that is, you should probably just leave.  Removing the fairings on a racebike takes mere minutes and will give you the chance to inspect for overall cleanliness, leaks, road rash or other damage.  By standing back a bit and eyeballing the bike, you can usually tell if the frame is grossly twisted or de-raked.  Just a degree or two of bend at the steering head can add up to an inch or more at the axle end of the forks and that much of a tweak is noticeable if you look closely.  If the wheels don't look like they're in the same plane horizontally or tracking directly in line with one another, they aren't.

The buddy system

When heading out to inspect a bike for potential purchase, especially if the deal will likely be made then and there, it's best to bring a friend.  Ideally, this companion would be more knowledgeable than you and would therefore be able to assist in making your buying decision.  If you've been riding the racetrack for awhile, you almost certainly know somebody from your area who's an old hand.  Most often, you can get some experienced help for the price of a decent meal.  After all, going to look at a bike is more fun than doing chores and if a guy can get fed in the process, what's not to love?  It's also good to have a second opinion any time your heart can get between you and your wallet.  If you've fallen in love to the extent that you're missing or excusing obvious flies in the ointment, your partner may be the one to save you from yourself.

What is and what will never be again

Have you ever held a thousand dollars in twenties?  How about five grand in hundreds?  That many bills forms an impressive roll.  As you make your purchasing decision, remember that once an inch or two of money is spent, it will never be yours again.  That much cash takes a lot of time and effort to earn.  You should be willing to invest a fair amount of effort before you turn loose of it.  Keep in mind that there will always be other bikes to consider and never allow yourself to feel that you'd be losing something if you passed on the deal you're currently considering.  If the wad of bills is still in your pocket, you haven't lost a thing.  On the other hand, buying the wrong machine will cost you both the initial investment plus whatever additional cash is required to make the thing usable.

Paper

Sadly, stolen motorcycles do occasionally find their way to the racetrack.  If you're buying a machine, make damn sure it comes with paperwork.  There are four acceptable forms of documentation that might come with a racebike and you need to make sure that you get one of them.

Bill of Sale:  If your motorcycle of choice happens to be a purpose-built racing bike such as a 125 cc or 250cc two stroke GP machine, a Moto2 bike or a MotoGP refugee, (wouldn't THAT be nice?) it would never have had a real title.  In this case, a bill of sale is acceptable.  Make sure that it includes a description of the machine, any identifying serial numbers that might be present and the name and signature of the seller.

Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin:  When a racing team has reached the level where it is being provided new, production model motorcycles by a manufacturer with the intent that they be built into racers, those bikes will be delivered with certificates of origin.  Such paperwork proves ownership and will be keyed to the serial number stamped on the bike's frame.  This serial number may or may not make sense when compared to road-legal versions of the same bike that were intended for public sale through dealerships.  Expect this type of paperwork if the cycle started its life with a major professional racing team or a really top level privateer.  While you will never be able to turn this certificate into a street-legal title, it does prove that your bike isn't stolen.

Salvage Title:  This is a reissue of the bike's original title, stating that it has been sold for salvage.  A vehicle gets this designation after it has been disposed of by an insurance company following a total loss wreck of theft recovery.  Depending on the laws of your state, this machine may or may not be allowed to be reconstructed for legal road use.  Possession of a salvage title proves ownership.  No matter how nice a machine is, it's usually worth about a thousand dollars less if it carries the word "SALVAGE" on its paperwork.

Standard Title:  This is the paperwork that you'd expect to receive when you buy any street-legal vehicle.  It proves ownership and allows the bearer to register the machine for road use.  Since this piece of paper and a frame with a matching serial number represent the legal ownership of a road-going vehicle, together they're worth from $1000 to $3000, even if there's not another nut, bolt or part included in the deal.

Pricing the pile

Obviously, there's a lot to consider when you're buying a used racebike.  Once you've decided that you trust the seller and like the machine enough to own it, the next concern will be price.  A good rule of thumb is that a racebike will usually never be worth more than a mint-condition original version of the same machine. Clearly a hand built $200K championship winning World Superbike would be an exception to this rule but for the most part, Supersport-spec ex-racers that have been run at the club or AMA privateer level aren't worth that much.  Things that can change that equation are really expensive and unusual items like a full data acquisition system, aftermarket billet or carbon fiber wheel rims, extensive use of exotic materials, aftermarket forks or gas-cartridge fork conversions.  Usually though, such expensive add-ons are removed and sold separately.  If a bike is represented as being the former ride of a pro racer, expect extensive documentation before you give up an extra nickel. (If we had an extra nickel for every purported ex-whoever racebike we've seen at the track...)

Pulling the trigger

Obviously, "Buyer Beware" is the key phrase to consider when shopping for a used racebike.  Deals are out there and if you shop hard, you may find an absolute jewel that cost many times more to build than what you end up paying for it.  You might also come home with a worn out, bent up pile of parts that were once worth a lot of money.  Even this isn't so bad if you're capable of rebuilding the machine and didn't overpay for it in the first place.  We've seen some $2000 two-wheeled manure wagons that if sold to the right guy, were just a grand and a winter's hard work away from being trackday terrors.  The keys to finding the right ex-racebike are to assess your own abilities as a mechanic, do the research on both the bike in question and its seller, bring a friend of equal or superior knowledge to the deal and lastly, do not allow yourself to fall in love with the machine.  There'll be plenty of time for that once you get it home.