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Bomber
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 12:50 pm: | 
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racing is good
broadening the list of makers that race is better
getting American makes into racing (other than my personal favorite, dirt track racing) is even better
I didn't buiy my MaDeuece cuz it is/looks like a great race bike, but it makes me smile to see a Buell compete (at any level at all -- club, USA, World/Pan-galactic)
easy to badmouth someone else's effort -- tougher to try and do better yourself, so many don't make the effort (signed, an ex-racer) |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 03:46 pm: |
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Yeah! Besides if you feel compelled to criticize, you might start with his snowmobile riding skills. That kind of constructive input might actually help the man. |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 03:47 pm: |
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Xb9er
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 04:39 pm: |
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Erik
Love my XB. Going to Deal's Gap for the first time Memorial Day Weekend. Should be lots of fun.
Amazing to see and hear (on TV) the race Buells in FX. Good finishes for Barnes and Ciccotto thus far. I hope to see them in all the races this year.
Mike. |
Gonen60
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 04:53 pm: |
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I once in a while also post, as anonymous for pretty simple reasons.
simple reason being?
If you have something to comment on, and I am sure everyone here, loves to hear them, including myself, It would be great to know it's really you (if that is possible)
This is Buell world, right here. No reason to be a stranger or wear a mask. You are always welcome here of course.
Now if you will just let me ride a race bike... |
M1combat
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 05:17 pm: |
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ooh ooh ooh... How about a raffle for a race engine? |
Oconnor
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 05:37 pm: |
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Hey if that is really Erik, I think that is the coolest thing since sliced bread. ANd BAtes 924 boots so I don't have metal plates in my boots anymore. Suck to run in. Anyways, if its you thanks for stopping by and letting us know that our rants raves wishes and disgusts are heard.
I like knowing that the guy who I am paying his kids college tuition for is listening.
Thanks |
M1combat
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 05:40 pm: |
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If it's NOT Erik (which I doubt), Blake will almost certainly expose the fraud. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 05:56 pm: |
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Blake (and other custodians) have a stated policy that they will not allow the "anonymous" feature to be abused. That being said, there is no way to tell for sure that person X is really who they say they are. Nor would we, even if we could, as it could cause legal headaches with the mother ship that nobody wants. It is impossible to verify for a reason... it is deliberately made untraceable. So you just have to speculate.
Further, there is more then one anonymous that posts here frequently, and information that has been published under some anonymous's has not always turned out to be 100% accurate over time.
You can assume however, that if Blake or other custodians, believed the anonymous feature was being abused, they would deal with the posting. You will additionally note, that the posting is still there.
Just one more reason to enjoy a bike made in the good old USA. |
M1combat
| | Posted on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 06:17 pm: |
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"It is impossible to verify for a reason... it is deliberately made untraceable."
I don't believe that's the case Bill... No offense of course. Just my opinion. I'll gladly eat my foot if need be  . |
Davegess
| | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:40 am: |
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Gonen 60
simple reason being?
I don't think H-D appreciates employees participating in internet discussion involving company products or policies that could in any way shape or form make their lawyers uncomfortable. Since some of those lawyers can feel th eproverbial pea under the matress the anon post is needed to reduce the amoung of grief one mike take as an employee.
Also If someone came on the board claiming ot be someone they are not there is a person who can determine this and who will deal with it.
The big guy is one of the true stand up guys around and if he feels that he needs the anon then don't give him grief.
You can give him grief about snowmobiles however 
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Davegess
| | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:42 am: |
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I also think we need to do a Team Elves thing with FX racing. Put together a plan tht would increase TV coverage of the class and maybe focus on Buell a bit. I will start a new topic and ask for ideas. |
Blake
| | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 12:48 am: |
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Actually we log the DNA of every Buell enthusiast who visits the site, and are thusly creating a horde of clones to help Buell increase market share. |
Trojan
| | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 04:58 am: |
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Remember our XB racer from last year? well it is racing in Italy this year in a championship just for women. After qualifying troubles in the first couple of rounds Cristiana finally scored some good points on 16 May at Vallelunga. Here is the report from Claudio (ex-UKBEG regular and boyfriend of Cristiana). It must be stressed that this is Cristiana's first season of racing EVER, and she is up against some very experienced riders on some very sorted machinery.
Vallelunga - May 16th, 2004
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
Friday training reduced to only one session due to the rain.
Two sessions for the Saturday's official qualifications. Enthusiastic first round. Cristiana starts at a low pace but she grows very quickly in the following laps, moving from 1'42 to 1'41 and finally to 1'40.941 which puts her at the 32nd place upon 48 racers (just 36 will compete on Sunday).
Second round not so brilliant, we have to hold back our horses until the time results confirm a 35th place worthwhile qualification.
Last row on the grid of the Sunday' race. Cristiana has a good start and she overtakes few opponents but she pays the inexperience in the following laps. She scores a 32nd place overall, and 9th in class fetching points in both general and beginner placings of her category.
Results - Over 750 category
Pos. Racer Bike
1 Betti A. Yamaha R1
2 Zaccardi S.. Yamaha R1
3 Baio C. Suzuki GSX750R
4 Palmucci S. Suzuki GSX750R
5 Valentini C. Ducati Multistrada
6 Capannoli E. Ducati 900SS
7 Teverino G. Ducati 998
8 Cinnirella M. Honda CBR900
9 Toria C. Buell XB9R
Not Classified
Racer Bike
RIT. De Nardi S. Aprilia Tuono Racing
RIT. Fei P. Ducati 748R
N.Q. Cambianica F. Yamaha R1
N.Q. Vita M. Ducati 916SPS
N.Q. Papagni M. Ducati 749S
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Elvis
| | Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 07:33 am: |
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That's GREAT Trojan! Let Christiana know we're pulling for her. |
José_quiñones
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:16 am: |
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Again, I simply took issue with a statement in a press release that I thought was PR spin.
It was not meant a cheap shot, if you want to take it that way, that's fine.
I appreciate all the Buell racing efforts, but I am fully aware of the limitations that YOU have put upon them by trying to race a heavily tweaked wonderful street bike engine against a bunch of pure race engines which make horrible peaky street engines.
Race SV650's, BMW's, air cooled Ducs? Great, that's fun to watch and good close matchup of equipment, unfortunately those clases are not that popular and get no TV coverage.
But go up against pure race bikes? Sure, I'm all for it, more power to you, but that's a steep hill to climb and people need to be realistic about what they are up against.
It does get the bikes on TV in an interesting way, the funniest part of the SPEED broadcast of the FX race from California was that no matter what bike they were following during the race, you could HEAR the Buells. If they get closer to the front, you will be able to see them more and more.
The AMA has given you the most favorable set of rules that you could have possibly imagined given your BMW temper tantrum a couple of years ago, well maybe except the minimum weight that the twins will have a hard time getting to.
Top ten is actually very good considering the competition, and you should not be so quick to throw out the usual excuses (lack of money, practice time, etc.) for lack of podium results or the fact that the same rider can go faster on his Supersport spec bike than on his FX spec bike.
It's not lack of money, practice time or any of that, it's the ENGINE. That's my opinion, I understand and accept that I am in a minority by having that opinion in this group. Flame away if you wish or tell me when you see me in about a week.
Let's see how HMC Ducati does with less time to prepare and no direct support from Ducati. |
Elvis
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 11:47 am: |
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“Temper tantrum” or “passionate and righteous indignation”, I think it all depends which side you’re on. I’ll freely admit I’m on the side of Buell.
All of our friends have strengths and weaknesses, but we focus on their strengths and forgive their weaknesses.
If a friend of mine ran a marathon for the first time and finished in the top 100, I’d say: “That’s great! That’s fantastic! I probably couldn’t even finish.”
I wouldn’t say: “Why didn’t you finish in the top 10?” or go through the list of people who finished ahead of him and point all the ones who were older or heavier or had been training for a shorter time. Only a complete ••••••• would do something like that.
Would I like to see a lighter, more powerful Buell? Absolutely, and I believe Buells will continue to get better and better in the coming years just as they have been improving over the past 10 years.
My opinion may be clouded by my pro Buell bias, but I generally find your posts to be more captious than constructive.
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Anonymous
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 12:16 pm: |
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HMC Ducati had less time to prepare and no factory support? That's a works 749, you •••, and of course Chandler decided to ride for free out of the goodness of his heart. Jose, you are absolutely full of it. |
Blake
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 12:17 pm: |
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Count me on the side of Buell. I think you can count RRW on the side of Buell too, at least with respect the AMAPR's utter lack of integrity and history of lies and doublespeak. I will admit that of late AMAPR seems to have shown real improvement. Could it be they took some honest yet harsh critical words to heart? I think so, very much yes. |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 12:38 pm: |
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I am very proud of the showing made by Buell.
Finishing in the Top 10 is:
Impressive - viewed from a nominal sense (all teams would be pleased with a top 10 finish)
More impressive - viewed from a relative sense (where Buells have traditionally finished)
INCREDIBLE - for the statement it makes regarding reliability.
Unimaginable strides from the folks at Buell. From "recall to most reliable in a single model". Racing success will follow.
Most of all...label me as "PROUD to be associated".
Court |
José_quiñones
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:33 pm: |
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For your benefit, this is the article I linked to above, maybe you didn't click on it earlier:
quote:ROAD RACING - Chandler Getting up to Speed
By Henny Ray Abrams
Home, Sweet Home 5/22/2004
Doug Chandler spent a session tinkering with his footpegs and shifter and handlebars, but it didn’t take long for him to feel at home. The 1999 winner of the Superbike race at PPIR was back on a race bike for the first time in nearly a year, since leaving the No Limits team after Road America last June. Being a private team-the HMC Ducati Formula Xtreme effort gets no factory support-Chandler was able to run promoter’s practice on Friday. He ended Saturday’s first Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme practice session-the only one he’ll get before afternoon qualifying-in second at 55.262, splitting the Hondas of Jake Zemke (55.802) and Miguel Duhamel (56.462).
“I was pretty impressed with how the bike was straight away,” Chandler said on Saturday morning. “It seems a lot like the old Ducati.” The power isn’t there and what is there is reduced by the Rocky Mountain altitude. The frame flex and seating position seemed the same, Chandler said. “Here you don’t need something awful fast. You need something to carry corner speed.”
Chandler used the first laps of the Friday’s first session to shake down the bike and shake the cobwebs off. (His only on-track time since last June was aboard a Keith Code California Superbike School Kawasaki ZX-6RR at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca a month ago.) “Then I started focusing on my riding and it started to click from there. Each time out I felt more comfortable.”
There were more adjustments to make and he had to be deliberate with his shifting, but that would eventually become second nature.
Chandler had only one Ducati 749 at Pikes Peak, the second one in pieces on the truck. They were hoping to be ready for last week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, but were waiting on parts.
Can Chandler put a scare in the dominant Hondas? “I’d like to think I can,” he said. “I just don’t know if I can straight out of the box.”
Crew chief Gary Medley was in the pits, but missing was the Chandler family. His wife Sheri was home with the children, Jett, Rainey, and Quincey, who are still in school. They’ll miss the next round at Road America for Jett’s junior high school graduation.
If you have evidence that they are in fact Factory Supported (however the AMA defines that), call the AMA, call Cycle News, you have a major scoop and HMC had an unfair advantage on the rest of the FX field this weekend with the extra practice time on Friday.
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José_quiñones
| | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 09:37 pm: |
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FX race results:
Provisional AMA Formula Xtreme Race Results:
1. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600RR, 29 laps
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600RR, -3.019 seconds
3. Doug Chandler, Ducati 749R, -12.494 seconds
4. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R600, -13.460 seconds
5. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R600, -20.664 seconds
6. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600RR, -20.889 seconds
7. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R600, -36.000 seconds
8. Danny Eslick, Suzuki GSX-R600, -43.272 seconds
9. Michael Barnes, Buell XB9R, -43.395 seconds
10. Nicky Moore, Suzuki GSX-R600, -48.607 seconds
11. Mickey Lane, Yamaha YZF-R6, -51.904 seconds
12. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R6, -58.583 seconds
13. Heath Small, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1 lap
14. Martin Sims, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1 lap
15. Perry Melenciuc, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1 lap
16. Hector Romero Moreno, Honda CBR600RR, -1 lap
17. Nathan Hester, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1 lap
18. Shannon Moham, Suzuki GSX-R600, -1 lap
19. Tim Knutson, Yamaha YZF-R6, -2 laps
20. Chad Rolland, Yamaha YZF-R6, -2 laps
21. Charles Sipp, Buell XB12R, -2 laps
22. Bob Siebenhaar, Honda CBR600RR, -2 laps, crash
23. Michael Applehans, Suzuki GSX-R600, -5 laps, DNF
24. David Lambert, Suzuki GSX-R600, -11 laps, DNF
25. Mike Ciccotto, Buell XB9R, -17 laps, DNF, mechanical
Not bad at all for HMC, podium on their first time out.
Another top 10 for Michael Barnes, well done.
Charles Sipp, well done
Bummer about Ciccotto.
edited by josé_quiñones on May 23, 2004 |
Wyckedflesh
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 01:51 am: |
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What broke on Ciccotto?
I am sorry but a 749 is more of a pure racebike out of the box then the Buell's. The Buells come from the factory tuned for street riding. The 749's come from the factory tuned for the racetrack. As I also understand it from the talk I had with the dealer at Firebird during Springfest, quite a number of the race parts for the 999 and other highend Duc's are useable on the 749. So you could easily build in what you need for the 749 that just isn't there for the XB's. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 04:12 am: |
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Both bikes wound up having a fuel injection issue that did not get resolved, and in fact got worse. In Mike's case it was cutting in and out enough to make him pull out before he fell down, while Barney's was not as bad, although it definitely slowed him. They believe it had something to do with the altitude, because it hasn't been an issue before. Yes, it's a completely different system than stock, and it isn't closed loop. |
Wyckedflesh
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 04:22 am: |
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~Nods~
Thanks for the update. Its good to see that even with a legitimate difficulty he still placed in the top 10. Its giving even more credence to the bikes. |
Benm2
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 08:21 am: |
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Reassuring to hear that the "Mechanical DNF" was OUTSIDE the engine cases. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 10:59 am: |
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I talked to one of the guys in the pit crew and they said the Temp sender failed making it run to rich. That was on Hal's Buell. |
M1combat
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 11:08 am: |
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I too am glad it was supposed to be listed as "Electronic DNF".
Thanks for keeping us in the know Anony . |
Blake
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 02:48 pm: |
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Way to go Ducati and Doug Chandler!!! WOOHOO!!! Man, this FX series looks to be shaping up to be a great and highly competitive event in coming years. |
José_quiñones
| | Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 07:00 pm: |
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BUELL RACERS TACKLE MILE-HIGH CHALLENGE AT PIKES PEAK
Kosco Team Continues Top 10 Run; Hal’s Team Suffers Electronic Gremlin
FOUNTAIN, Colo. (May 23, 2004) - Buell Firebolts entered by Hal’s Harley-Davidson/Buell and Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell mounted a challenge to factory-backed teams in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme class during the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship Series at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Hal’s rider Mike Ciccotto ran as high as fifth position while Michael Barnes pushed his Kosco Firebolt as high as seventh spot before dropping back to ninth at the finish.
“The Pikes Peak course presents some special challenges, and our dealer teams responded with a good performance,” said Erik Buell, chairman and chief technical officer at Buell Motorcycle Company. “The guys were running strong and it’s clear these teams are making some real progress, and learning more at each race.”
Located at an elevation of 5,300 feet in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the tight, 1.3-mile Pikes Peak course demands that teams re-tune for the oxygen-thin air and cope with higher engine temperatures. Ciccotto qualified in 10th position, with Barnes right behind in the 11th qualifying position.
Both riders got a great start in the Formula Xtreme race. Ciccotto jumped up to fifth position after the first lap, but a faulty engine sensor that started acting up on the warm-up lap caused him to lose power. As the race wore on, he dropped back steadily before leaving the race on lap 13 of the 29-lap event.
“This was a really disappointing result, because the Hal’s team made some set-up changes in the morning warm-up session and gave me a bike that was just about perfect,” said Ciccotto. “I moved right up at the start and we made our best lap times of the weekend, and I think a top-five finish was in the cards. But we learned a lot this weekend. We made some internal fork changes and tried a wider rear wheel. I’m looking forward to bringing this Buell Firebolt to Road America, which is the home track for Hal’s and Buell.”
Barnes moved up to seventh place on lap five, and finished ninth for his third top-ten finish of the season. The race was won by Honda rider Jake Zemke.
AMA Formula Xtreme is a class open to highly-modified motorcycles with 600cc four-cylinder engines or larger-displacement V-Twin engines. The next stop on the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship schedule is June 4-6 at the Road America course near Elkhart Lake, Wis.
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