I'm on a Supersport N400. It's 2024 and the Ninja 400ss, the Ninja '500' coming, CFMoto450ss, this 457... I now know exactly what the poor R/3 racers felt like in 2018
Yeah, one of the shitty things about racing little bikes is that the class has been a little volatile for a bit. The Ninja 400 had a good period of dominance and was/is THE platform.
I think you'll be ok for 2024. The Ninja 500 and the RS457 haven't hit the US yet. At the most you will see 1 or 2 on the track, same with the 450SS, and that's if they're allowed in ESS and ULW Endurance. The ZX4RR is a D class bike so not in your primary class.
Put it in an ADV platform: 21/18 wheels, longer swingarm, a bit more travel, a bit larger tank (plastic maybe?), upright bars, keep it at 360 lbs., . . . it would be a market icon. Small market? Perhaps, but the ADV market is the fastest growing worldwide, and if one wants sales, go where the interest is. Cheers, Dave
Sounds like the Tuareg 660's aren't selling well, I doubt a 457 version would do better unless it was aggressively priced
Mounting the footpeg bracket directly to the engine seems like a great way to crack the case in a crash. Is that common?
The RS660 has the same design and after 3 years of racing and several yard sales, we never had a case break at the rearset mount..
By the time Yamaha does anything about the R3, they'll need to leap frog just to keep up. Like maybe a R6? Hmmmm
