SBKs have come a long way since 2005...

Or have they?
A K5 faster round a track than a 2020 1100 V4S in the hands of Henning and Courts? Worth risking a ban (repost)

 

Some guy named Johhny will be around shortly to give you a prize!

 

Already posted in the Yootoobz thread yesterday

 

Johnny who ?

 

Outside of electronic gizmos bike have been stagnant for quite sometime. Bold new grpahics are the future.

 

fixed

 

You know what, thanks for posting this. Ive always felt older gsxr and Honder frames were so good at feel and that the new stuff tried to compensate feel with technology and this kinda confirms it.

 

What's shocking ,is that in a respective comparison ,the K5 being the modern bike this time, you'd have to compare it to a 1990 sbk

 

What? Couldn't disagree more. However the faster and faster you go the less and less likely the rider is able to take advantage of what the machine has to offer. And we all know the more comfortable you are on the bike the faster you go despite the machine's capability. I think this is clear in all forms of motorsport and is why we've had Rea, Hamilton (F1), Marquez and Baubier dominate their championships for over half a decade running.

I don't think anyone is truly surprised by the video's outcome are they? We all know setup is absolutely everything; truly everything in terms of feeling confident on a bike to go fast. Would we be surprised if an amateur racer was as fast on an SV650 as they were a 600 at Jennings? No. Same thing applies here.

 

This is true. While I don't agree that bike's have become stagnant over the past 15 years, the relative geometry and positioning of things was chosen and set long before then and has remained as such. But go back ANOTHER 15 years (to 1990) and things were different, especially with 16" wheels and before perimeter aluminum frames and such.

Wild to think the progress we've made.

 

Really enjoyed it. It shows that newer isn't always better and that change sometimes is just change.

 

I think I’d go faster on the K5 based solely on the fear of crashing a $28k Ducati.

BTW, I’m still rockin’ a 2008 CBR1K and the only “modern” thing I wish it had after sampling my friend’s 2020 ZX10r at Barber is an auto-blipper.

 

I think there are of course too many variables at play to really say what is what. It makes for good headlines for clicks and views. I also think in terms of "mortals" that it becomes very much diminishing returns when it comes to extracting the maximum out of the newest, greatest 1000cc bikes. One thing that I haven't seen discussed much is the difference between the SPs that come on a V4S and the slicks on the K5. I know a mag did a test on a 400 and the difference between the TD and the Slick was over half a second. And the TD is a faster tire than the SP. I could be wrong but I imagine slicks on the V4S would be worth a second a lap or more.

 

They fitted supercorsas to the K5 and it was still faster.

 

They own the K5 but not the Ducati right?

I know Ari is super fast, but would be nice to know what kind of lap times he was running

 

For people that didn't watch the whole video, they changed tires and switched bikes, and the K5 was still faster. They later decided the shock on the Duc was probably to soft.

 

It seems like the guy with the K5 likes to wrench and did a very good job setting up the suspension.

 

They didn't say what the lap time difference dropped to with the tire change either. And I would have liked to see it the other way around. Slicks on the Ducati - instead of "handicapping" the K5 - give the V4S more tire to use its power. Either way, it doesn't change the result or the "egg on the face" of the $28K bike.

 

Isn't Ari running lap record times or near that in a few of the smaller bike classes? He certainly isn't just someone who threw a leg over a bike and spun some laps in my eyes.

 

Guess you haven’t watched it yet. They put the same SPs on the K5 and it was still faster. They reckon the softer shock spring on the V4S made the most difference. Kudos to them for doing their best to mitigate rider and equipment variables as best they could.

Agree with you on the diminishing returns on more powerful bikes though. I bet if you compare the progress in middleweight bikes to superbikes over the last 20 years, the lap time delta for middleweights is bigger.

Also second the point that setup of the bike is most important for both us mere mortals and the pro riders. How often do we hear from the pros when they’re slower that they suffer from feel at the front or traction at the rear? Sure trick bits like seamless transmissions and hole shot devices can help, but only to the degree of tenths (which is enough at that level).

Look at MotoGP the last few weeks where the power-deficient Yamahas could put up a fight with the stronger Ducatis and KTMs, particularly if they got in front of the monsters.


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