I recently read in RRW that WSBK is mucking with rev limits to "balance" out the playing field. Now, when I think of World Superbike I think of names like Chili, Foggy, Slight, Russell, Edwards etc, so I'm definitely out of the loop. But, this really surprised me. What's the incentive for a manufacturer to build a better Superbike, only to have it strangled in competition? I thought I read on this forum awhile ago that World Supersport used to be "true ss" racing and a benchmark for just how good certain machines were. Is this still the case? What's the best racing to see which manufacture has developed the best machine? I used to really enjoy Michael Rutter's bike tests in Performance Bike. His lap times were a pretty good measure of the bikes' capabilities, especially when they started doing laps on a control tire instead of the OEM rubber. Oh Jeez, I see now that Peformance Bikes has merged with Practical Sportbikes. I wonder if Mr. Rutter is still doing those tests even. Damn.
Not that new really....its been employed for a couple of seasons now in WSBK. Hell, even here in MotoAmerica in the Junior Cup series they were limiting the performance of the Ninja and I think maybe the RC390 so that the lesser displacement R3's could keep up. World Supersport still allows a decent bit of modification to the engine. I think at this point in time its pretty much just the R6 and maybe a couple of ZX6's that are competitive. I would say the best racing to see which manufacturer developed the best machine would be Australian SBK and Canadian SBK. Their Superbike classes are very much Superstock in nature. Stock wheels, forks, swingarms, brakes for the most part, no advanced electronics, engine internals can't be modified. Still some great racing though.
Real roads like the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix. Alternatively, FIM World Endurance. Superstock gets a head gasket change but that's pretty much it then the engine and trans are sealed. And yes, Australian Superbike is great racing. They stream the races free on youtube.
Because even a "balanced" good bike will dominate a bike that's shitty from the factory. No amount of balancing on the Ducs, Kaws, etc will make the Honda competitive.
The thing with Junior Cup is that they're making those changes to compensate for displacement disparities. Just about everyone is on a 400 this year. I have a friend in the car racing world and he says it's better to have a handicapped larger-displacement engine because, even with the restrictor plate, the car has more torque. I don't understand the nuances of how the bikes performed last year, but the fact that all but a few are on Ninja 400s might be a good indication. I'll look into the Ozzie and Canadian series. Thanks.
I don't feel like it's quite the same. The powers that be said something to the effect of "bring your homologated 998cc twin or 749cc I4" and see who comes out on top. Clearly, they thought the additional revs/HP of the 750s would made up for the lack of displacement. History has shown it didn't, and Ducati (and ultimately Honda with the RC51) had the advantage. But think of the R&D (and progress) the Japanese must have made trying to overcome the disadvantage. And Honda did win with Kocinski in 97' on the 750. And, the racing was phenomenal. Nowadays (and probably always), money is the issue. We see it in MotoGP with the control ECU and other rules designed to level the field and contain costs. But nobody says, "hey, those Ducatis are really fast down the straight, let's make them carry extra ballast to give the other guys a chance." The rules are set and the factories bring their A game within the framework of the rulebook.
It's simple. Professional racing is not about the racing. It is a show put on for spectators. Whatever makes things better for the fans to keep them buying tickets and watching the broadcasts is what they do. They don't care what bike is best or who wins just so long as the racing is good and appears close.
Beat me to it. Motorcycle racing is an entertainment product. At the end of the day, WSBK (and other racing orgs) is trying to make a business decision regarding what's best for the 'product' that they are marketing and selling. Can't blame them!
