Nicky and the 800??

Disclaimer: Yes, I am a Rossi fan, but I do not hate Nicky, or the Hayden Clan. Earl & Co. were always friendly and fun to watch when they were racing here in the NC region back in the day. I take great pride in telling people that I used to race with the World Champ, and give him riding lessons... ( HA!! )

That said:

It seems that the racers doing well on the new 800cc MGP bike are those who have had major seat time ( And championships ) on 250cc GP bikes. They say the 800 is more like a 250, with the corner speeds & such.

Nicky came from the a Superbike racing background, ( Diesels ) not too much seat time on a 250 GP bike.

Is this the issue he's having this year??

Discuss.

 

Oh sweet baby jesus......how long are people going to keep spewing this crap. "They" have had the "250" theory for 5 years now.

The simple fact is.....if you can ride a motorcycle fast, then you can ride a motorcycle fast. Period. 250, 125, Superbike, Dirttrack, MX, SX, etc...etc..

Qualifying at Jerez, the top 15 guys were covered by less than a second. Do you think any of those guys came in after the session and said...."Man, thank god I had all that time on a 250 or there is know why I would have been able to eek out that last .001 to get 6th place.."

 

So far this year, he's won as many races as the rest of the Hondas combined.

 

didn't he have a time adjusting to the big HP of motogp? I read he had to stop worrying about corner speed, bring it in deep, square it off and get back on the center of the tire sooner to drive out. So what you are saying would be going back to what he was good at on the 200ish HP superbikes. Not quite to the extent of the 250's though.

Wouldn't the 800's be comparable to the liter superbikes in hp? I guess he did ride the RC51 though.

 

Has Hopkins got a wealth of 250 experience? he seems to be doing OK on the 800.

 

from the Colin Edwards articles, he's been changing his style to a more 250's riding.....gotta think there is a difference even though the HP is the same as a SBK.

 

doesn't Hopkins carry more corner speed than Hayden does??? difference riding style isn't it???


give Hayden a couple more races.....

 

The Suzuki was always down on power in the 990 years, so, Hopper had to ride it with a high corner speed style to try and keep up... basically, he has been using a 800 "style" for several seasons and has not had to really adjust much of anything to adapt to the new bike.

 

250 champion Marco Melandri would disagree with you, and so would 125 and 250 champion Loris Capirossi.

Actually all Honda riders not named Bilbo Baggens are having problems with the 212. Tony Elias doesn't count, he shows up for two or three races a year.

 

I agree with most of this, except for mx and sx... I dont think all fast roadracers can necessarilly be fast mxers because of the element of jumps...but the bottem line is for those people on his back after just 2 races (not you chip), give him a break

 

+1 everyone but pedro is fighting uphill

 

That is my point. When you consider that as previously stated the top 15 on the grid at Jerez were seperated by less than a second he's doing OK.

 

Thanks. I just spewed Pepsi across my keyboard. Too funny.

 

Not bashing you, but what makes you say that? How do we know he is not having problems but is just a talented rider?

Colin and Rossi seemed to do just fine on thier last outing. Stoner had his moment of glory, and dropped back to normalcy. There has been only two people consistant over two races, Dani and Vale.

I don't think anyone really answered the question about the SBK comparo and I'm curious myself. Why would it be a disadvantage to ride it like a superbike? It puts just as much power down and is lighter.

 

Mr. Daytona not withstanding I have to agree that if you know how to make a bike go fast than you know how to make a bike go fast. I think King Kenny hisself said something to that effect once. Plus look at the benifits gained by "crosstraining" on mx bikes and even XR100's ala Rich Oliver's school. I think Nick is just struggling which ain't so hard to do what with the level of competition this year.

 

I've never ridden a superbike (nor have firsthand knowledge of the nuances of riding techniques), but I've heard the fast way around a track on a superbike entails going in fast and hard on the front (maybe swinging a touch wide), getting the bike turned, and then extremely hard on the gas. Three steps in three distinct parts of a turn.

I believe what others are saying is that now the old point and shoot technique is somewhat obsolete, and that while in SBK money = horsepower = race wins b/c the point and shoot method is still viable to some extent.

In a few years traction control will probably be so advanced on SBKs that it will look much like the current GP bikes.

FWIW.

 

There are not enough controls and the sample number is too low to validate post #13.

There were extra factors in that example which do not apply to Hayden, Hopper, et. al.

It was a different time, machine and tires, and maybe a different view on partying by the involved persons.

 

That's my point.

Never said Nicky was slow, just seems to me that the Euro-types raised on GP bikes seem to have an edge (*so far*) on the smaller, lighter 800's.

And I recall KR saying a few years back that he was concerned about the downfall of US GP racing as a training ground for World Champ GP's.

 

after only 2 races we're discussing nicky's/honda's lack of competetiveness. at this point i just hope we aren't looking at the downfall of gp racing. snoozefest. with everybody's times this close, it means less passing, as we saw in the first 2 races. and pedrosa must be having problems as he was using a new setup. but at least we can see the battle for last between tamada and jaque. and melandri's tantrums have only just begun. and let's not forget colin's battle to stay in the top 5.