The other thing the op ought to realize is that racing can be hard on any machine. If you can't fix it yourself in between heats, then you'll need to hire a mechanic or a crew to work for you. That won't be cheap either. I am not a racer, nor do I have a whole lot of mechanical experience compared to some other members of this forum. I do build/fix/ride my own bikes. I would not recommend that you attempt to race without having mechanical knowledge, unless you have the money to hire a mechanic or two. Have some patience, start off small, learn what you can at each level before progressing. That's what I did. Started with a china kit and a beach cruiser from kmart, and ran it bone stock until my friend cracked the frame. Built my second bike, similar setup but the bike was from wallyworld. ran it mostly stock for awhile, then added some performance parts. Engine broke down one day, got tired of replacing parts. Decided I had gone as far as I wanted to with the kits, and got started on a fully custom project. Now I've got my dream bike, a custom cruiser with a 98cc minibike (4 stroke) engine. There is no kit or manual for putting a bike together the way I did, you learn as you build it. So it is possible to learn how to do things yourself, you just have to have patience and gain confidence in your skills as you go along.