2026 Rules

How many people were protested in 2025 for a M/C ?? I’d say none at all.

 

Because everyone ignores it, which begs the question of what good is a rule if it's just going to be ignored anyways...hence the debate.

 

GSX8R - should absolutely be in LWT; you can decide mods between SS and SBK as you see fit, but it should be included. It's equally competitive amongst its peers.

And +1 for aftermarket MC in SS

 

Here's some real world experience running the GSX8R for 2024 and 2025 in both WERA and ASRA:

I did 3 rounds with WERA in 2024 on the 8R - No one protested even with an aftermarket MC and I actually won North Central region Superstock

Winning had nothing to do with the bike (or me) and everything to do with attendance. In the 3 races I entered for the class I took 7th, 3rd, and 2nd. That shouldn't win a championship with 6 rounds.

Comparing to the other bikes in the class, the rs660 has more power and is much lighter. So are the built r7s that everyone runs. The only hope for finishing near the top is beating people on the brakes. I have TONS of video showing the 660 and r7 walking away on every straight. The argument for not allowing these in the class because it's over the displacement limit holds water like a sieve.

The power numbers for the 8r are deceiving when you consider how much heavier the bike is. Displacement doesn't give the full picture.

For 2025, I only did VMD with WERA.

With ASRA, I won 3 championships (GTL, LWSB, LWGP) and 3rd place overall in Thunderbike which allows MT-09 type machinery. This was again the result of consistency more than the bike or myself. I saw the podium a handful of times all season and most were 3rd place.

It's a competitive platform and Suzuki's response to Aprilia and Yamaha dominating the class that was once owned by the SV650. The SVs are still competitive enough with the right mods and let's face it, racing a stock twin does not sound fun anyways. Plus they're still plentiful and cheap.

I'll bring up another topic that this thread is already flirting with, why even have a superstock class? Especially with LWT. I can see back in the day when manufacturers were offering contingency, but Yamaha is the only one now. Good luck to anyone on a stock r7 with rs660s on the grid. It's a laughable comparison. Can it be done? Sure, but the caliber of rider required is certainly not club racing a stock r7. Most of the lightweight bikes on grid in superstock classes have motor work or other "illegal mods". No one cares.

 

This is a great summary of the argument being made. I understand the attempt at making things competitive as possible (like what's an R3 supposed to do against a Ninja 500? Just a super clear example used here.), but I feel like the guy who spent their last cent on a clapped out 2001 600 and wants to update a few things to modern OEM components will still have to compete against the guy who just bought a race package R6 with full electronics and more (by the way they both still have to spend over 3k on suspension), and somehow now he's disqualified because he wanted to run a 2025 MC (which his competition is running only because it came with the bike his bank roll could afford). Sorry Sean... I still can't wrap my head around that logic.

So. yeah, maybe Davis is right and the class isn't doing what it's meant to do

 

The way riders are bumped up to "Expert" needs to have a hard look at.

Under current rules, and with low participation numbers,

bumping all "top five" year end points earners to "Expert'' is advancing riders with very little skill up to soon.

In the past couple years a few classes have bumped everyone that raced. Even some racers that only did one round.

Maybe look at requiring a set number of points in a year for advancement ?

Maybe bump those that meet the required number of points and the top five finishers from the GNF ?

Cheers.

 

See my signature.

 

This isn’t the N2 forum

 

We know that group is flooded with the utmost talent.....

 

Pretty sure this was already said but it’s not that we’re asking for it to be a requirement to run superstock, but for it to not be something that disqualifies you from superstock. If it’s really not a performance booster, then what’s the harm of adding it. So many people, including myself, get into the sport through track days without reading a racing rule book until it’s time to register. I already had an aftermarket MC before I started racing cause I crashed and the oem one broke and the aftermarket was cheaper than ordering from the factory.

Also depending on the year and model of the bike, the stock MCs, brakes, and electronics will be completely different. Yamaha likes to do upgraded brakes for anniversary years/models for example.

 

you can always request to remain novice and post results, they will leave you as yellow plate

 

There have been a lot of posts so sorry if someone answered this: why is MR12 allowed in SS but aftermarket MCs are not?

 

Sure you could.
It's still a participation trophy that leads to unhealthy grids when those that accept it still lack the experience to be in that group.
Go look at the points page and the amount of classes that had fewer than five participants in a region, some doing as little as one and/or two race, weekends, and earning an expert plate.
That kind of degrades the sport.

 

What is this experience line you are drawing? Time on track? Time racing? Lap times?

 

It takes two weekends to surrender your provisional license.
So maybe twice that to even be considered expert.
Maybe accumulating 100+ total points in a season?

 

Because aftermarket MC's are a cost barrier for those millions of inquiries that Sean gets about guys wanting to get into racing.

 

Don't overthink it and just look at how MA does it. Need X amount of points as an expert.

If the point you're trying to make is "Well, 100 Novice points doesn't mean the same guy got any faster than if he had 25 points as a Novice"

Which is a fair point, but also, generally speaking, the more points you have, the more overall racing experience you're gonna have - setting you up for a better experience as an Expert. No one exact system is going to be perfect, but I think that's the best course of action.

 

Have you looked into the absolute hell it is to actually police fuel? It's one thing to say 'no race fuel' and another to actually be able to authoritatively enforce said restriction.

 

Comparing OEM vs The least expensive MC on STG for a 2018 r6 as an example, the oem is cheaper by roughly 150 bucks. I’m fully aware of the racing benefits of an upgraded MC. I’ve got a damn nice brembo on my fzr400. Hoodufuk does that?? But It stays connected to its own accompanying lines and calipers. Then on weekends when I’m running in superstock classes, my oem mc with its lines and calipers goes back. I’m not buying the cost excuse, nor do I feel bad for guys that upgraded theirs as well, since they still have plenty of classes to race in competitively. And as far as either street guys or TD guys goes, if they already upgraded their mc, and they are put off by the rules just for superstock and now refuse to race. Then maybe they weren’t racers to begin with. Again, there’s classes they can go race in as is. If they really have that desire to grid up, they’ll make it happen My 2 cents.