Official 2019 MotoAmerica silly season thread.

In my opinion, tape delay is useless in the current age of instant news showing up on everyone's social media at the races end. At least for the current close fans. Maybe it would get exposure to the casual fan, but the folks arguing the point on this thread know who won, who wrecked who, who blew up nearly as it happens. How many people are going to watch a race they already know the outcome? If the answer is not many, then the ratings suffer.
It would only makes sense to be live.
I do 100% agree on the divorce from Bein needs to happen. It just isn't getting the product into enough households. Even the AFT TV package isn't ideal. Tape delay (like weeks delayed) on NBC Sports gets it into most cable/satellite households and the hardcore among us can at least stream it live on Fanschoice. Live on NBC would be much better.
I'm glad J.D. got a ride. I love watching the dude race. I was hoping it was going to be on a 2nd Attack bike or a Moto2 deal, but he's real fun to watch on the dirt too.
I've attended several AFT and MA races. Not sure what draws better at the gate. MA fans are spread out on a bigger property. AFT almost like a stadium. Williams Grove AFT drew a huge crowd last year.
Here's hoping they get the details figured out and both can grow.

 

Wow, sounds like Peterson is starving. Someone get the guy a sammich.

Sounds like AFT could be coming to Loudon (Bike Week Put Em On The Bar) next year. That would be bitching and draw a great crowd given the Harley style crowd we have up here IMO.

 

it would help a lot because it might more than double the number of paid rides, which is what matters most IMO.

 

Wanna make more exciting racing with more exposure?

Scrap the superbike rukes.

Make them Superstock rules and still call them superbike.

Aft made indian make the top bike affordable. Now anyone has a chance to win. It comes down to the rider 95%.

Right now with the exception of Herrin on a few occasions you know what one of 4 bikes is gonna win the race.

That’s not fun or exciting.

 

I disagree. The Superbike rules make it more exciting. It’s part of the reason while road racing languished under DMG.

It’s not like a flat track engine is cheap. Other than displacement and restrictors (depending), isn’t it pretty much anything goes in the motor department? Unlimited compression ratios, valve lifts, etc. So much so that Harley had to have a billet head made to them together - that’s some NHRA Pro Stock level stuff.

I also seem to recall another privateer winning and podiuming. Only half the top 4 were on factory bikes

There were also A LOT of runaway races in AFT this year.

I think flat track, like motocross, is way more accessible and thus the first reader program is a lot better and fields are more full due to the lower barrier to entry. Josh Hayes harps on it, but he has said the feeder programs aren’t what they use to be (talking now amateur racing). The only way to go flat track is to flat track - not many track days in those circles.

 

they really don't. u cant see the performance difference btw a SBK and Superstock1000* bike on track unless they are running against each other. hell, there were a few performances in '16 and '17 showing how small the difference could be. if a Superstock ruleset taints the series so that u find it less exciting, thats your fault. but it has little to do w/ the actual results.

IMO, the biggest factor for excitement of a racing series is parity for the field. the closer the worst teams are, the better. unfortunately, full SBK rules can really fuck that up.

*Superstock1000 != Stock1000

 

I gotta side with Robby on this one. The average fan doesn't know the difference between a superstock or superbike. Hell, Herrin proved in Atlanta that a full blown superbike isn't necessary to put on a good show.
You know what would be really fun to watch and would attract fans? Really deep fields of competitive bikes/riders. Let's say 15 or 20 teams fielding good riders on competitive bikes. Thirty plus bike fields in all classes. Battles all the way through the field. More than a few factory bikes and the Attack anomaly able to race for the podium every race.
Road racing cars suffer from the same problem. The equipment costs a fortune to go race for peanuts. It then becomes a rich guys playground. Not exactly a good business model.
Fans want good racing. If you think they give a rats ass between a 167mph and 161 mph trap speed or 2 seconds in a lap time, you're kidding yourself. They want 5 guys in a pack laying all over each other and swapping positions...and another group of 5 fighting right behind them.
Make the rules shocks/springs open, allow internal mods on oem forks, brake pads open, stock calipers, any exhaust allowed, balance/blueprint and timing adjust on stock bore motors, minimal electronics. Not only would that permit more bikes on the grid, but it would force the oems to build a decent product for the showroom. Fields swell, fans come, everybody makes some cash.
Three levels...small bore 400cc capped at 18 year old riders, 600cc, 1000cc. Maybe keep the twins class for older guys and young ones bridging the gap to 600s. Allow 115% qualifying times in 400/600/twins, 107% in 1000cc.

Or keep running $100 thousand dollar bikes with a few riders that may as well be in the witness protection program and younger riders that lose interest due to zero opportunity to make a living doing it.

 

Not sure anyone caught it, but a couple weeks back ESPN had an onboard shot from MotoGP qualifying in the show intro. I didn't watch all of SportsCenter to see if they made any further mention of it - but I figured it was just a MotoGP fan working behind the screens, sneaking some racing coverage in.

He was subsequently fired, most likely.

 

Is anyone besides Beach and Peterson signed for next year?

 

Who's Omega Yamaha?

 

This just in: That's a full-blown superbike.

 

Who's picking it up?

 

No it was a stock R1 he used for the street... their rig broke down on the way there... at least that’s what JH said in the interview...

 

Hey if a certain amount of peeps find watching ten year old SVs running around 12 seconds off the pace, I’m pretty confident that a field of Superstock 1000 based superbikes will do just fine.

 

But I have no interest in watching superstocks, showroomstock or bigboxfullofcocksstock bikes race as the premier class. I want to see the best in the country and world race on bikes that'll maul you, pee in your mouth and then buttf@ck you at a second's notice.

 

his R1s?

i’m pretty sure it wasn’t.

 

all 10’s of us...


then there’s everyone else who could give a rats ass and don’t know the difference... THOSE are the people this sport needs.

 

Yeah we use to have Formula USA. And it didn’t survive.

But now you only want to watch Motogp then?

 

Come on man, you know why Formula USA died. They dumbed the bikes down until the the Formula extreme bikes were the shit to watch if you were a nutball that wanted to see diesel axe murders being ridden by complete nutballs. Not to mention they left WERA and a whole bunch of other mistakes.

You do know that Formula Extreme was an ass hair away from becoming an american 500cc GP class backed by big tabacee, right?

 

From what I was lead to believe by all the coverage, that was his streetbike that he was running around last minute to make track worthy when their rig broke down and didn't make it to Road Atlanta. Your finger is way closer to being on the MA pulse that mine, so correct me if I'm wrong.
And whatever he was riding that day was not a Stanboli Attack bike and he ran up front for a large portion of the race.