(No sure I do but) If I understand the spirit of the super sport class, I can justify aftermarket Master cylinders, rear sets and parts like that as necessary and safety. But can someone explain why the thinner head gasket and mild engine mods are allowed?
i preferred to use the small screws that came with the removable cone for the bmc filter, after prying an oem cone off an oem filter.. they fit tightly in the plastic and won't come out. if they do, they are below the air filter, so can't get into the intake tract. makes taking it on and off easy-peasy to clean. Until i got to lazy to clean the bmc filter and just went back to OEM filters I just use an oem filter with the cone pried off on my superbike motor.
I was speaking more about supersport. Although I mentioned master cylinders as well, I'm just saying I can understand certain items for safer racing but why the engine mods allowed and yet we are arguing over an air filter ???
It actually wasn't a slight at you, I think WERA has one of the best rule books. Which is why I keep racing with y'all. I actually think you guys have the best interest of the racers at heart regardless of what anyone else says or thinks. I just think that we have too many clubs in the country that all work against each other sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. In the grand scheme of things I do wish all clubs would just follow the FIM rules but I also understand you can't just implement a new rule book mid season and it would need to be announced beginning of the previous race year. Plus people would need reminding at every event, every riders meeting, every damn day and people would still complain.
For something like that to work, it would take a coordinated effort and proper notice. At the club level, there are guys still racing bikes from the 60's to brand new, minis to 1299's, carb'ed and FI'ed. So at the club level, the rules have to cover a few more bases. I agree, it would be cool if every org just followed FIM standards. But like I said, that would take a huge coordinated effort and long notice period. Some people would likely end up having to buy new bikes (or new motors) because theirs are "too far gone" to get back to those standards. Not to mention there are 3 classifications (rules packages) in the FIM. They have Superstock, Supersport, and Superbike (rather than just SS and SB for everything like we have). Perhaps at the commencement of the 2020 season, all clubs could agree there will be 3 different categories...Superstock, Supersport, and Superbike. The 2 categories/options available will depend on the size of the bike (to fall in line with the FIM classifications). For example, Liter bikes will be classified as either Superstock or Superbike, MW machines will either be Superstock or Supersport, SV's could be either Superstock or Superbike, E and F class bikes could race under Superstock. So on and so forth. The rules for each category will mirror the FIM rules for that respective class. From there, state the rules...."As per FIM regulations, the rules for Superstock machines are as follows....", then so on and so forth listing the rules for Supersport and Superbike. Then if someone wants to race a 600, they see that they can race it in either Superstock or Supersport trims. They decide which way they want to go, then see the rulebook for their desired class, and build their bike accordingly. BUT.....one big "kink" that club racing would have to address that the FIM/Pro levels don't have to address is "racing up". Meaning, if someone has a Supersport trimmed 600cc bike and they want to race in the 1000cc classes...would they have to race in the Superstock or Superbike class? I would have to think for the sake of performance indexing, the rules would say something like "Bikes racing up into a class of higher displacement will be allowed to enter races with a lower spec level" (or something along those lines). Basically stating that (for example) 600 Supersport machines can race against 1000cc Superstock machines. Or SV Superbikes can race against 600cc Superstock machines, so on and so forth.
With the aforementioned MA 600 SSTK rules listed/currently in place and what Sean asked, what bikes would not be covered under this classification: MotoAmerica 600 Superstock: 2.7.8.16 Air box a. The air box must be the originally fitted and homologated part with no modification. b. The air filter element may be modified or replaced but must be mounted in the original position. c. The air box drains must be sealed. d. All motorcycles must have a closed breather system. All the oil breather lines must be connected ( may pass through an oil catch tank) and exclusively discharge in the air box. e. Additional heat shielding is not allowed (i.e.gold or silver heat tape). What about these rules wouldn't work? Accommodating certain bikes, a distinction on where the airbox and air filter start and end, etc .. ?
Some are leftover from maintenance items per manuals. Some are in our rules because pro racing allowed it and I didn't want our guys to get caught out after buying a used pro bike. I think they're ridiculous mods for SS racing.
I do keep trying to match the pro book and they're trying to match FIM so we are getting there - slowly but surely Some stuff for club racing will always be different just because we don't want to have the impression that a fast bike isn't attainable without a full on factory team. We need the new guys to think they have a shot at taking a lightly modified streetbike and being able to be competitive - which they would be if they're a good rider even against factory bikes (at our level) but the impression they get is it isn't possible - which keeps them from even starting. We don't want that so some of the rule stuff is marketing.
I like them. Wouldn't bother me a bit to use them - although I would add that any plastic attached to the filter is considered part of the filter - but that's because my customers aren't race teams.
Tried in the past, we're too far apart on why/how we do things. I'll just keep working on our stuff. Once I get a chance to see the R6 in person and get it straight in my head I'll probably reword/clarify the rule even for this year with a press release etc... It'll be a while tho (no need to pile on the bs happening with the 200 either even if it is what got me thinking about it more).