Kawi 250r race setup recommendations

No shit.

Where is my bracket?

 

Can we modify the rear rotor? Like the guys on the bigger bikes do in SS classes?

 

Yes, rear rotor is ok.

 

E-ss rules are the same as any SS class except no engine mods and no bodywork restrictions.

 

Then why are they saying replacing the rear shock is illegal?

 

It's not although some believe a really expensive shock is too much for the frame to handle. Don't know where you heard that.

 

You can replace the shock all day long under Superstock rules. The linkage can only be replaced under Superbike rules, as it was explained to me.

 

Uhh.. heard that on the previous page.

 

Thrak,

Let me try to answer your question. As was clearly stated above SS rules apply, period end of that story, if you have questions about how to interpret the rules see Mongo he is the ultimate authority. I think the interpretation may be where the confusion lies. I see it one way, you see it the other. End of that story.

Second story.
As Old Slow Guy and Kessler alluded above this whole class has come a long way, be it for better or worse depends on the camp your in. The original intent of this class on the east coast was to take a bike that no sane person would want to race and run the living snot out of it. The bikes were cheap ran on pump gas and there are tons of them around. Keep them pretty well stock and really see who the better racer was. Kind of like the old IROC series in racing if your old enough to remember that....sorry to say that I am. A second benefit to the class was that it was a sort of a stepping stone for adult racers to get involved. Because it was so cheap and the speeds were relatively low it attracted a somewhat eclectic group of racers. Guys with tons of experience and folks with almost none.

Well just as racers always do people saw us having fun and decided to join in. The more people that got involved the more rules became an issue. Yes the rules state this and that, but it just wasn't really done before kind of a gentlemens agreement....and I use that term very loosely. Now the class has reached the point that there seem to be two pretty isolated camps of thought. I don't know that either is right or wrong, just different.

The first camp is the original group who want to keep it simple and fun. Make as few changes to the bikes as possible and still keep it safe. pretty much run them stock. They don't see the need to spend big money on something that was just for fun.

Camp number two also wants to have fun, but they want to push the rules and the bikes to the absolute limit. 500 dollar shocks. 350 dollar CDI's, constant jetting changes and dyno tuning and so on. This mentality was somewhat proliferated by Kawasaki offering some pretty huge contigency money. It made sense to chase that.

I can honestly say that I don't see any other threads on this BBS which has the comradery of this group. There are really very few secrets and a good reading of this whole thread will give you about every answer you could ever hope to have from jetting to shocks to fuel types. Everyone helps each other and that is pretty rare and very cool.

I hope I have given a pretty unbiased and fair description of where this group stands right now. The big question is where is the class going? What would happen if Kawasaki drops the money? What happens if the folks from camp one continue to leave the class as seems to have started happening? Is the class strong enough to stand as a true racing class? Mongo and WERA have already been eliminating and or combining classes because of need. I hope that the E class is not a victim of it's own division. We got our own class because of grid sizes, I hope we can keep the numbers required to keep it alive. Let's face it we are not that cool, for the most part we are old guys racing on girls bikes. Eventually someone is going to notice!

I feel better! Did I just give birth?

Chris

 

Thanks for that post dude... old dudes on girls bikes lol

Just coming into it this year, I just want to be legal but also have a good bike ya know. I'm not keen on getting a $500 shock to put on my $800 bike lol...

I'll just keep it stock for now and see how I do.

That reminds me, I need to renew my license.

 

That is a very good summation of what has occurred. It can also be divided into 3 camps: the father Kesler have some fun class; the Motions West coast new bike but close to bone stock class, and the make every possible legal mod that has occured in WERA SE. When I bought my new 2-fiddy last year I was mesmorized by the hope of a West coast style class and rule enforcement where the stockish rentals run as fast as customer bikes where all bikes are equal and $$$ has little influence on the class. Unfortunately, that is not what evolved over the course of the year so myself and many others on new gens decided to sell-off our new Ninjas and purse smallish bike racing where 2 or 3 HP doesn't make a night-to-day difference in performance.
I now have a SV, where old and new gens run happily together and close to stockers keep pace just fine in the right hands. I also have a very modded clubman EX500 that is in a class where imagination runs the course on many bikes.
If we would have followed the West coast model, I would still have the 250. And please take note that I am not criticizing my friends that have gone the mod up route on the new gens; there are many great racers running at the front and are providing some really exciting racing. The reality is that if you are an OK rider that doesn't have the bucks to keep up, you will be destined to run midpack and never realize the dream of going bar-to-bar with a hoard of other similar minded racers. That's what I was after; that is not what has evolved. There was a hoard with me (Smoke and others), but most of us have sold out as the group was only 2 or 3.
Don't believe me? Rent a 250 from Kevin and see if you can run at the front or even get a sniff after the first straight (unless you are Miles Thornton).

 

if the bikes were kept stock, it still would have been peter, stroud, and ted at the front of the race at the gnf. they just went a little faster because of the rules.

 

Thanks Kris, I was having a good day and I really like RA. I am all in favor of West Coast Willow rules. I don't think Sean has the time or patience to monitor the class, so this would have to be done amongst ourselves. Where do we go from here? I don't know. After Tally this month, I think you will see another escalation of equipment at Nashvegas. I can see all the views of the competitors, I will say that most of the guys running up front have been VERY open about things they have done to eek out another HP or two...let the fireworks begin.

 

Maybe there should be an ESB class?

 

So then why not? Although I believe there would have been more folks sniffing their exhaust and more folks at least keeping them in sight for awhile.

 

because the majority of racers would rather race under ss rules. policing certain items being legal, and certain ones not being legal would be difficult for wera. plus the class is playing by the same set of ss rules that all the other classes play by. there's parity there.

 

Morris, I want cheaper racing, Willow rules will work, but no one is going to enforce them and I dont see Sean going for it. Going to SB rules would bring out the 37hp one race, wonder engines....You think race fuel is bad now....

 

Whats left that can be "escalated' ?

 

I think that now the cat is out of the bag, it will be as advertised SS rules with the few exceptions in the rulebook. I will disagree with Kris again and state this was not the spirit in which the class was created, but rather the spirit to which it has evolved. We didn't buy into it to go SS rules. Naive, sure. No argument there; hopefull for a low cost turnkey alternative, yes. All the magazine articles, publicity, etc was espousing the near spec class rules of the West coast. This was what a lot of folks bought into. Of course the best riders, aka Peter, Stroud, Chris, Jamie, etc will run at the front; but the class has lost many decent riders (me) that would have filled the mid-pack races. Proof? DJ can't keep the lead pack in sight on a long track and he rides as good as anyone. Proof: my bike is sold; Jason's is sold, and many others.

 

Who is DJ?