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MotoAmerica Pre-season test live timing

Discussion in 'General' started by Henrybgood2, Mar 26, 2018.

  1. That’s only part of the equation, decent size part but only part of it.
     
  2. regularguy

    regularguy Always Krispy

    For sure, but it will at least give them some data on the power curve to figure out the proper rpm limit. The 400 already has a pretty stiff weight penalty
     
  3. assjuice cyrus

    assjuice cyrus Well-Known Member

    I seen where yates said the 400 he was riding at the test was completely stock.
     
  4. sbk1198

    sbk1198 Well-Known Member

    Exactly. And from the last season in WSS300 it was clear that the Honda CBR500 was definitely the fastest bike on the straights, but that didn't make it the best bike to have. Speed isn't everything. In the case of the 400 though, I really think it's basically a 300 (which is a great bike) with added power. Hence I think this year the 400 is the bike to have for that class, unless they get crippled by the rules. For club racing, that's definitely the bike to have.
     
  5. sbk1198

    sbk1198 Well-Known Member

    Yeah I think all racers do. That way I don't end up with a $7500 R3 and the following year a better bike comes out (the ninja 400)! But unfortunately we are a very small percentage of the overall sales for these bikes and most non-racers always want to have that "little bit more".
     
  6. Agree. It’s very tough to balance. One may have a ton of power but a chassis that flexes more than a stripper doing yoga on stage etc.
     
  7. motodog650

    motodog650 pissed-off bloody wanker

  8. Boman Forklift

    Boman Forklift Well-Known Member

    Well....I did go back and look at the results of the "big boy" 600 class and the R6 dominated 1st and 2nd in class. I think that was the only class where a Honda hit the box a few times, so I can only assume that is the class you are talking about? Benny only made it on the box if one of the two top teams had problems. There was the round both R6's took each other out and that round had both m4 bikes on the grid and another Yamaha.

    If you are talking about the other 600 class, Conner made it on the box 3 out of 17 times, and R6's took first and second in the championship, so still sounds like a R6 cup to me.

    Lastly, who was the rider on the Graves bike that was down 9mph? Was that rider equal to Ashton in talent level?
     
    metricdevilmoto likes this.
  9. wrlamkin

    wrlamkin Well-Known Member

    The trap speeds changed for the same riders from Monday to Tuesday.
     
  10. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    I don't see a 9mph deficit. the gaps seemed larger for the first day. but they ended up like this for the second.

    the fastest trap speeds of the test go to the KTMs of Dumas and Ungvarsky at 109 and 108mph.
    the fastest Kawis were Daniels and Yates at 107 and 105mph.
    the fastest R3s were Blackmon and Blasius at 105mph.

    but its only testing, and drafting, and stock Ninja, etc etc. we won't really find out until Rd1.
     
    wrlamkin and Kelly Rees like this.
  11. Kelly Rees

    Kelly Rees Well-Known Member

    Rob, you can go through the season points and it paints a clear picture. Debise was 3rd in the championship on a Suzuki SSP 600. Out of the top 3 he is the only one with a DNF... and he had 3 of those. In SSTK Nick was 3rd in the Championship on a Suzuki. He won a couple of races. Of the top 3 Aguilar is the only one who didnt have a DNS or DNF. He won. Richardson was a title contender all season on the Kawi, 4 DNS or DNF's on his season. Doesnt matter what bike you are on, if you dont score points you cant win a championship. I honestly think Nick could have won the whole deal if he hadnt broken his collar bone.

    As for the speed differential, Yates wasnt always the fastest through the traps. I was off on my 9mph (I wrote a twins number down by mistake, I'll own that) There were other 400's out there. I'm looking at Sector 5 times that are pretty much identical between an R3 and the KTM (neither my rider) and the KTM is consistently 3-5 mph faster through the trap (thats 3-5% on average). The Kawi was close to that and they were in stock trim. When they put a pipe, a thin head gasket and a tune we will see what they do. Its difficult to judge speed vs skill, all I can do is go off sector 5 times that are close then look at speed through the traps. The kawi has a 25% larger displacement than the next largest bike with the same engine configuration, thats like running a 750 in the 600 class. Its obviously going to be faster, the Ninja 300 wasnt a slouch by any means compared to the R3 or the KTM390. The R3's in race trim were running 40-41's this week, same pace that was top 3 in the race last year. The kawi was running a second faster in stock trim.

    To make it clear, I'm not bitching about any rider or their choice of bike. I was very excited to see this class opened up to all manufacturers in the hopes it would give these kids more opportunities for their futures. What I am hoping for is parity between the bikes so the talent level is what comes to the top, just like it did when it was a spec bike class. If the 400 proves to be an overdog and they cant find parity my choice is simple. Build one.
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2018
  12. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    also, Barber is one of the worst tracks on the calendar to judge HP discrepancies. the smaller bikes may well get pwn'd elsewhere.
     
    Kelly Rees likes this.
  13. Kelly Rees

    Kelly Rees Well-Known Member

    **cough** Road America
     
    sbk1198 likes this.
  14. sdiver

    sdiver Well-Known Member

    Completely agree with the sentiment, but in the 390 Cup some of the RIDERS were carrying a significant size penalty. Not only from a power/weight perspective but some of the restrictions on suspension.
     
  15. motion

    motion Nihilistic Member

    Isn't Ashton like 6' tall and 160ish pounds? Makes his speed on the Kawi 400 even more worrisome.
     
    Canadian Bacon likes this.
  16. regularguy

    regularguy Always Krispy

    Ashton may be the biggest Jr cup rider in the series. Rd Atl will be interesting. Whoever is behind him will be getting a nice draft out of 7 all the way down into 10.
     
  17. sbk1198

    sbk1198 Well-Known Member

    Are we just going to ignore the 470cc Honda CBR500 which is also legal in this class?? 56% more displacement than the 300 but nobody seems to care about that one lol...why? Because it's a shit bike. But whose fault is it that Honda made a shit bike and Kawasaki made a great bike (the 400)?? lol At Daytona a friend of mine hit 126 mph (on the GPS) on a CBR500, which was a bit faster than the guys he was racing with who were on 300s and R3s.

    It will be interesting to see how the WSS300 championship goes this year. If it's clearly being dominated by guys on 400s, I'm sure they will do something about it to even out the field more and then MotoAmerica will follow suit. I don't expect much changes before the first couple of rounds though.
     
  18. Kelly Rees

    Kelly Rees Well-Known Member

  19. sbk1198

    sbk1198 Well-Known Member

  20. Kelly Rees

    Kelly Rees Well-Known Member

    ahhhh I missed the date also!
     

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