MotoAmerica | 2024 | Silly Season

Only about the potential for an Exxon Valdez moment. Other than that, they were great.

 

As opposed to a finger or a toe? Not worried at all.

 

The twins way back was comical. Ducatis that lasted single laps, Honda nt650 bikes with more HRC parts than a rc45, complete piles of shit that shouldn’t be allowed in a swap meet much less a professional race grid.

the 883s brought in a lot of very professional teams and was a gateway for a lot of impact riders into “real” classes and for us and world grids.

 

Huh? You took an 883 then put suspension, clip ons, rear sets, a steering damper, then blue printed the motor and you had a long, stable, torque monster bike that was just fucking fun to ride, so that's a win. One could argue that racing a grom that is wayyyy slower is way more absurd than a 883. Fyi an 883 around the carousel at the Sledges was/in a frickin blast!!!

 

I loved the 883. Get two and you could roadrace and dirty track because there was a class in both series and you could turn a profit. Not as much racing the gsxr cup but a profit.

 

. Sorry I couldn’t resist

 

I think Metzeler paid 1,500 for a win per AMA Pro round and Ben won a bunch of Metz cash. Eric did too.

 

I loved them, but they were ridiculous. As I said, they have since been outclassed for absurdity.

 

Yep got it now. But think about cheap racing in 2024 is to bring back the 883 series, or something like that

 

Anything Harley / cruiser will be more expensive than budget Japanese bikes, and the 883 isn't even made anymore.

 

Kid, you’re punchin’ way above your weight.
Just quit now.

 

Like how Harley quit producing the 883? xD "you are 100% right and I have nothing to retort your factual statement, so let me say some boomerism to save my ego instead" - Dave K

edit: 883's were going for 12k+ when discontinued, Ninja 400 was about $5k

 

I know of a Bagger that was on many MA grids, that has a fully functional stereo.

 

Yes but it still costs hundreds of thousands per year including moto5 moto 4 and premoto3 in Spain. It think it's important not to over look that

 

I figured out a long time ago that anything that has wheels and a motor can be fun to race and the racing is fun to watch as well. The best racers will figure out how to extract the best from whatever they are riding in order to win.

 

If they were actually priced at 12k, I'm not surprised they were discontinued.

 

My dad raced the 883 series back in the day. He was a very anti HD guy but when he was told he’d make money racing one he put his morals aside and saddled up a hog.

As a kid watching those bikes rip around the track I was enthralled by the absurdity of it all, and the noise! There’s just something about a large group of push rod twins roaring around the race track, especially at places like Daytona. The close racing was amazing to watch too!

That’s why I love the Baggers class. The absurdity and noise of it all! It brings back some good childhood memories that contributed to me falling in love with motorcycle racing.

 

We arent far from my grand vision after all!

 

I've heard it playing at trackdays as he was passing people.

 

Since when do bikes have to be available new to have a 1 model/spec class? Cheap (As in much less than a 400 Ninja) and relatively low mile 883s will be plentiful for decades to come - they're practically the Ford Flathead V8/SBC/VW Type I of the bike world.

What was that company that made high(er) performance engines based on the Evo XL that are almost giveaways now?

While I'm at it: That's the problem with MA: Way too OEM-centric instead of race-centric. The bagger class was/is a missed opportunity to use those same engines in purpose built chassis - sort of 2-wheeled Can-Am. I really do think that would/could be far more spectacular and yes, CHEAPER than the current spectacular abomination.