Moto America | Dynapac Superbikes | The Ridge Motorsports PRK | JUN 24-26

Heard those RS 660 are flying off the truck. Barely enough time hitting the showroom floor before being sold.

 

I think depends on the platform you are racing.
Last year one of the front runners on a RS660 had a bone stock engine (not even mapped), suspension and exhaust.

 

When I first heard about this class, it was when I was at the shop with James Morse and Andy Palmer. James was the tech guy for MA, but I don’t know if he had that job yet?

I hated the idea because I said it was checkbook racing and I always tried to avoid those classes. I liked twins, just didn’t like the crazy unlimited motor building required to be competitive.

Andy was pushing modded F7’s hard, because he was one of the first in building up those FZ7’s, making bodywork, crazy builds, etc. Plus without the huge amount of mods you didn’t see on a SV, I don’t think it could compete with the SV, but @regularguy has forgotten more about that than I ever knew.

Tige Dane the current MA tech was partners with James Morse and around that time they merged with Andy’s shop. Plus Tige owned flashtune or part of it, before Chuck Graves bought it.

Kinda interesting how all these guys are tied together, and how one bike shop had two business partners who have been the last two guys that ran tech for MA.

 

Regardless of the engine build, people are spending more money in Twins than in SS right now. Look at the top 3 teams, they are showing up with semis and hospitality suites.

The R7 is by far the most expensive to make competitive, we've detailed the engine builds over and over. I still think the class idea was a good one- and the balancing seems pretty darn close. It's harder for an SV to keep up at the HP tracks, but then again, we haven't seen the fastest guys on one in a while. The Aprilia seems to be the great equalizer, as it can compete without an engine build and the reliability seems to be improving. Many of the top Aprilia teams are still running stock engines with only ECU mods.

It's impressive that the class has grown so much, Twins really has brought the talent this year. Supersport on the other hand averages 15 entries. Show up and qualify and you're in the points.

I think Supersport is in for a resurgence. Same amount of money on tires and other consumables (top teams are using the full allocation no matter what the bike) better purse money, and less crowded grids.

If it wasn't for Andy Palmer, I don't think the class would have ever gotten started. He showed the bike to Wayne and he loved the idea of a grid full of those things. I think it reminded him of the 250 days.

I remember showing up on a borrowed SV for one of the first rounds in VIR in 2018. This bike was solid but it looked like a typical club race SV. I was pushing it through tech and Wayne was sitting there staring at it silently. I think in that moment he questioned his decision. But it has grown into one of the more popular and profitable classes for MA. Not so much for the riders.

 

Also, I think SuperSport suffered this year because there was too many unknowns with the balancing. You could invest big bucks making your 600 faster, or building a Duc or Triumph only to have it unreasonably restricted. But I think MA has done a great job with the balancing, and shown that it can be fair and competitive no matter what bike you choose- I think it will bring more teams into the SS class next year.

 

Would be nice to see a Triumph on the grid next year!

 

There were 2 at Daytona!

 

What were their trap speeds?

 

Well done .

 

They are going way faster this year in the twins class though

 

Holy smokes, I just noticed that.

Last year at the Ridge Blackmon on a Yamaha with a fastest time of 1:48.1

This year that time would of got you 7th! The winner fastest time was 1:46.8 (Ape)

 

Pro tip: it’s not due to the trap speed.

 

Well who woulda thunk it...

"Checkbook Racing", I like that term.

 

Kind of hoping the 750 ends up being a major contributor to a resurgence in supersport. Seems like a really good platform that could allow people to be competitive without spending the same cubic dollars as building a works 600.

 

In terms of development and prospects for America I' ve been very happy with supersport. The sub 20 age group is looking great with potential European talent. Scott, Landers, and Lochoff learning from Herrin, I cant ask for anything else.

Superbike, not so much, really wish Dumas was here as he seemed like the only up and comer interested in it. Got Paasch too, but otherwise idk just seems like no one cares about it anymore.

 

There's more than just those three making serious noise in the twins class. Blake Davis for example is showing real promise, won Daytona and just as fast as the front runners. Once he figures out qualifying...watch out.

 

Ducati seem pretty interested,

 

I thought I saw a pic of a Kawasaki 700 twin???
Now to just get Honda to revamp their CBR650 twin into a more track oriented racer bike!!!

 

Track temp at the Ridge last year was probably 30 degrees hotter. It was unbearably hot, probably why the track was slower.

 

I bet the cost isn't that different. You have to buy the throttle bodies / wiring harness / ECU kit for the 750. OR you can put stacks on the R6. The rest of the build is the same.