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MotoAmerica rides for 2018

Discussion in 'General' started by ryoung57, Sep 17, 2017.

  1. ryoung57

    ryoung57 Off his meds

    That last press conference sure seemed to have a tone of finality to it. That thing with the helmet was just weird. It was almost like "we know you're not going to be around next year to get your 25th Anniversary helmet, so we made you a 24th".
     
  2. Yeah, that's kinda what I was getting at (maybe I didn't word it properly).

    IMO, I wish there would only be one 1000cc class, with rules somewhere between current SB and SS rules.

    1. It makes no sense to try to mimic WSBK or even BSB rules (which I know are completely different), our riders don't go over there anyway. So for the sake of growing our series, and our fans, we need rules that work for us. Only 2 teams being able to build true Superbikes doesn't help the show.

    2. Outside of people walking through the pits, nobody cares about $15k forks and $10k calipers; you can't see that shit on the track or on TV, and it doesn't make the racing any better.

    But what you can see are small grids and that there are only 4 bikes truly capable of winning (under normal conditions).

    But on the flip side, we also need OEM involvement and would OEMs go along with having a rules structure that makes it so anyone (even Privateers) can win? Would they back an org with rules that negate their Factory advantage?
     
  3. I would LOVE to see Hayes do some WSBK Wild Card rides on a truly competitive bike, and with at least a couple of weekends to test/setup said bike (and get used to Pirellis).

    I've always felt like he could hurt some feelings in WSBK given the opportunity.
     
    JustaNobody and cav115 like this.
  4. cav115

    cav115 Well-Known Member


    Yeah, but other than that, a great machine!:D
     
    Sabre699 and 5axis like this.
  5. :crackup:

    I remember when Hayes (and Spies) started winning on the 09 R1. So many people jumped on the bandwagon. They started showing up on club racing grids everywhere.

    Graves had the resources and engineers to figure it out, and Hayes is super talented and can make anything look good.

    People quickly learned that without a Graves/Monster effort, they were shit bikes. Off the showroom floor they only made about 146-148hp, were much heavier than the rest (aside from the MV), and the frame was like a wet noodle (which is why you saw so much frame bracing on the AMA bikes).

    It didn't take long for those bikes to start showing up in the classifieds. :D
     
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  6. cav115

    cav115 Well-Known Member

    Yep.

    My son raced one a few times. POS was the description. (though he finished well on it).
     
    Gorilla George likes this.
  7. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    It makes a lot of sense. The OEMs can build race kits to the one set of rules. That being said, MA rules aren't matching FIM totally, they are tweaking to build their series. The issue with number of teams is purely cash. You'll see more teams stepping up to SB next year as well with the class change but also as they have proved they can do well even on SS bikes. The current rules are a good balance.

    Fans at the track pay money directly to the sanctioning body to be in the pits and help pay the bills that gets the show on TV. Keeping the hard core come to the track and love the SB bling factor fans happy is hugely important to pro racing.

    Scholtz put it on the podium under normal conditions. As did Kyle. Discounting that to make some sort of point is silly.

    Having worked with the OEMs in writing pro rules they don't care. Yes they prefer their bike wins, they don't really care who is riding it and they all understand that the show and racing as a whole is more important than any one of them dominating. They of course love domination but not without competition, that proves nothing.
     
  8. Skter505

    Skter505 Well-Known Member

    Don't forget the win factor. Toni can stay and fight for wins and championships in a place he looks to really enjoy or go to WSBK and fight for 4th-5th + maybe higher until Suzuki can be competitive again. Look at the Yamaha, got a good podium last race and that's the best they can hope for and no one would say that is a crappy bike. They have had a couple years now.
     
    ShadowBoxer likes this.
  9. ryoung57

    ryoung57 Off his meds


    It's kind of gotten to this strange balance where the various manufacturers have decided which series they want to dominate. Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, and Aprilia have thrown everything at GP. Suzuki has always been fond of the US. Kawasaki has put all of their cards in WSBK/WSS. Nearly everything else is privateer with maybe a little factory support. I'm not sure the we'll ever see everyone going for everything again. It's just not that kind of market any longer. Maybe if they start letting cigarette and liquor companies advertise again, but I doubt it.
     
  10. Technically, I said "winning", but that's neither here nor there.

    In fairness, I haven't seen all the races because not all of them are on YouTube, so I could be wrong. But I don't remember either of those guys beating the Yosh and Graves bikes bikes heads up, in the dry, where nobody ran off, crashed or had a mechanical.

    That's what I meant by "normal conditions". I mean nobody ran off, nobody blew a motor, just simply a heads-up fight to the finish in the dry.

    If they have, then I retract my statement.

    And that's not a slight on either of those riders. I've known Kyle for a long time and truly feel he has earned and proven his way into a shot on a Factory bike. Both of those guys are great riders (not to mention they are both powered by Livengood :D).
     
  11. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    It's wasn't a Suzuki in Japan thing back with Mat and Ben, that was all Mel Harris at US Suzuki - as was the Suzuki Cup stuff. All him and his love of racing.
     
    lonewrench likes this.
  12. Same can be said for Triumph. Before there was a "leadership change", the big dog at Triumph USA loved racing (and track days) and believed in its power of advertising.

    There were multiple AMA teams, Triumph partnered with STT, and they sponsored the DiSalvo Speed Academy. They gave use several bikes for the Staff.

    ...and it worked. Triumph won in the AMA and at Daytona, and was big in the paddocks (racing and track days). I started seeing more and more of them. In the beginning it was pretty much just Rojas, myself and a couple others racing them, then after all of their involvement and advertising, they were everywhere.

    ...then they had some organization changes and it went to shit.
     
    5axis likes this.
  13. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    That's pretty normal - and very normal with Triumph. Mel was at Suzuki and supporting roadracing in the US for decades. Part of what made the good times so good.
     
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  14. Skter505

    Skter505 Well-Known Member

    Its a shame but that's certainly the situation right now. I don't see Suzuki jumping full bore into WSBK with the way their GP efforts are going right now. Kawasaki seems to not have the desire to do anything but dominate WSBK which is a shame because a MotoAmerica Superbike team of Fong/Herrin would be awesome. That ZX10 could definitely fight for some wins. We have too many talented riders and not enough good spots unfortunately.
     
    lonewrench likes this.
  15. racesbikes

    racesbikes WTB a Size 50/60 Race Suit

    You've obviously never ridden a RC51 or ZX-7R before......:D:D:D
     
  16. ryoung57

    ryoung57 Off his meds

    Kawasaki is a mystery to me as well, unless they know it just doesn't work well on Dunlops. It's not like it would take a lot of resources. They could toss the lefter WSBK stuff our way and the bike would be super competitive. IIRC, that's more or less what got Graves going with the R1 in 2010.
     
  17. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Nothing new for Kawi either - they've just never been into doing a real full effort in the US since Muzzy. They support riders and teams but just never seemed to have an interest in marketing their stuff through racing.
     
  18. lonewrench

    lonewrench Mr.Charles

    no
     
    5axis likes this.
  19. :Pop:
     
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  20. The Great One

    The Great One Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
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