MA 2023 Silly Season

Sharky - I dont know if its because Im a 230 lb fatass or if it affects 'typical' scrawny racers too, but raising the front and dropping the back just didnt work enough for me.

I did a hack job. I shifted the upper triple clamp ~3 mm forward, which moves the axle backwards a proportional amount. Yes that twists the fork tubes in the lower triple but it wasnt a problem with the skiny fork legs on the 250 that I could tell. To modify the upper triple, I used a hole saw to open up the rear of the center hole ~3mm. Then when you reassemble, you put a shim in the front of the center hole to take up the slack with the triple clamp spindle. Put the shim on the other side and you are back to stock geometry.

Yes the rear of the center hole gets thinner when you do this, 3mm was all I was comfortable with. I ran it like that for 1.5 seasons and it still looked fine.

 

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

 

Hopefully -23 is the last time we see Kayla in MA and hopefully she’s off to Spain in -24.

 

Without backing from Yamaha that wouldn't be as helpful as you think imo. There have been lots of Americans go to Spain and win and none have gone up from there yet.
Connections with a factory seem key.

 

with my little Ninja, I made some custom dogbones to clear the aftermarket shock but left the length stock, and I ran .07 kg springs w emulators in the front (bike weight was around 290lbs), and left the it at the stock ride height as well. That front end was pretty neutral and had really good feel. Super confidence inspiring in wet or dry. I guess you get that from a flexible flyer chassis

 

How does that work for minors? Parents have to up the move the whole family yeah? Or is it more similar to an exchange student program?

 

He didn't do too great last season, so I don't think he got that seat from talent. Has some big $$ to buy him that seat IMO.

 

I mean I guess? ..He's 16, never raced the American tracks, new team, and new bike/tires. He finished P5 in the championship..

Curious to understand what you'd constitute as a "good season" with all that being said.

 

he did well imo, finished 5th overall and got a 2 podium's on his maiden year. however, he has michael hill helping him out from what I can tell.

 

Sounds like Hayden Gillim is ready to have another crack at it in 2023

 

I wonder if WarHorse will move JH2 up to the V4R?

 

I remember Josh in a post race interview talking about how he wanted to stay in the middleweight class so he can sport the #1 plate. Then there was talk about him riding the big bike at Barber but that never happened. Probably because Danilo still had a chance at the championship mathematically and it was raining. You'd think that with the several tests they have ran already post season you'd see Josh on the big bike by now.

 

In the context of "World" I would say he should of been fighting for the championship. I'll concede, in a relative sense he did well for a rookie in MotoAmerica. But now he's going to World Supersport. The world level is for the elite of the elite. In my opinion (and it's just that, a couch racers opinion) the elite of the elite would fight for the championship with a new team on new tires and new tracks.

 

Issue with JH2 not riding the V4 was multi layered. Certain sponsors raised 'concerns' as they paid to be on the V2 and it race all the rounds. And especially as he already won the championship, they wanted the entire season with names on the V2. So if JH2 rode the V4 last rounds and they parked the V2, said sponsors felt jipped.
Another big reason was the SBK guys are so fast, team owners / bosses felt just would not be enough time that weekend for JH2 to get up to speed and make any difference.
Also, team staffing along the only other bike was DP9's backup bike, so if he happened to dumpster the A bike, the team would have been jacked on multiple levels.

 

Aden Thao is leaving MA Jr cup and going to Spain to race R6 Cup with Andifer Race Team

 

Jesse Hwilka confirmed his return next season on the Podcast!

 

So looks like Petrux off to Barni Ducati in WSBK? That's what I'm reading. Not sure if already discussed.

 

Maybe Warhorse can come up with a program where they value the rider and develop a decent bike so they can have some continuity. If I were a top rider I would only consider them if I was paid a whole bunch of money or had no other option to stay in MA. Maybe Hector Barbera is available? I think on a good, developed bike he can run at the front.
Maybe PJ would ride for them? OOPs, they already screwed him over, didn't they!!!

 

It just keeps happening and happening over and over.
I've had a couple of their bikes here at the shop and they were not really that well built. Silly things, amatuer things done or not done to them. Kinda weird.