| Author | Message | ||
     José_Quiñones |
Another quote from Munroe's Webpage:
Imonabuss said:
Hmm, the one that gets you the championship for the last three years of Pro Thunder!  | ||
| Blake |
Prediction: The XB9R will be eating Duc 748's for lunch next year in Pro-Thunder. | ||
| Jima4media |
If you only race in the Special Olympics, even if you win you lose. | ||
| Robr |
Unfortunetly a read of the AMA 2002 rule changes shows the cancellation of Pro Thunder. If Buell wants to compete, they'll have to go against 750 fours, as will the 748 Ducs. Although such stiff competition can only make the Firebolt stronger I cringe when I think of who will be on the menu for lunch. | ||
| Lsr_Bbs |
Uh, Blake, wake up. Pro-Thunder is no more. All old pro-thunder bikes have been included in the 750 Supersport class as AMA, for some reason beyond my comprehension, is trying to keep that class alive. Makes no sense to me. Should have followed FIM's supersport rules where a stock displacement XB and 748's would have qualified for 600 supersport (where they belong)...instead of bored out XB's that aren't even close to what's sold...ala, VR. All those gixxer 750's are going to STOMP the buells and ducs. The XB would have been competative in 600, and what is sold to the public...hold your head high Buellers. Alas, it'll be another Pro-Thunder/VR-esque situation...has nothing to do w/ a production bike, not sold (in any form) to the public...yawn, who cares. There is a reason those classes are called 'supersport'. I'm more interested to know if BMC is going to sell an "R" version of the XB. Now that would get me interested, if the price is reasonable. Neil Garretson X0.5 | ||
| Blake |
Neil: That SUCKS! The AMA SUCKS!! Obvious yes-men to the big four. Let the XB9R and Duc 748 into 600 Supersport, rename it simply "Supersport", get rid of "750 Supersport". Gee, that's what FIM did. Imagine that. AMA DOLTS!!! | ||
| Lsr_Bbs |
Yep, AMA racing management has really declined...be a member, help vote in new management this year...check out roadracing world for more. I wouldn't go as far to say Big-4 yes men though. The manufacturers really don't want to make 750cc machines as there's really no place for them. Honda, no 750cc sportbike Suzuki - the only one still developing a 750 ride, for now...but did pull out of WSB for '02. Kawasaki - stopped development this year, will not produce another 750cc model (for racing), even pulled out of world superbike because of this and is going GP racing. Yamaha - has one, no further development planned, future uncertain as they re-evaluate all their racing options/efforts. Give it another 2 years, max, and you'll see a supersport class as it should be as the 750SS will still decline. Course, then we're back to whether the XB would qualify for a supersport category. Not with a non-production top-end as reported about the XBR debut. Read the supersport rules, very little modifications allowed, and they do enforce them. In fact, some times too much, there's a great article a few months back in road racing world about a guy who was fined, sanctioned and lost points for some grey area 'mods' - in short, he used 'illegal' media blasting during a recent engine rebuild, and the valves where polished 'too much'...all very subjective, and nothing that would have been externally aparent...still kind of a stinky issue. Neil Garretson X0.5 | ||
| Xgecko |
actually Neil that was a case of witch hunting. they couldn't beleive a Local could ride his home track as fast as a pro racer on a 600. heads weren't blasted they were scrubbed with a green scrubby. The AMA had it in for him from the get go. They told him that they were tearing his bike down so they could find "something" that would disqualify him. This was Louden(sp) NH which wqas a very bad place for motorcycle racing this year. The Pro 600's didn't race because of safety. Malidin was fined for saying mean things. It was a very bad day for the AMA. | ||
| Blake |
Personally I think the AMA is past saving. I prefer the grass roots moto activists. I just wish someone else would take over the premier moto racing series in America. | ||
| Sarodude |
Blake- Although I haven't been around bikes much, I've sure been in and around racing. Be careful what you wish for with regards to sanctioning bodies. Worst case scenarios wind up with MULTIPLE sanctioning bodies with divergent rule sets that can make it impossible for a budget guy to race with more than one group. Sometimes you even wind up with overlapping jurrisdictions. If it's like anything else, the AMA members like to complain about things that should / could be better. Rarely will the concerns be issued to the rule makers in a fashion in which they can act upon it. Again, I'm not even an AMA member and I've never raced a bike, but it's just a difference of 2 wheels vs 4. Egos usually persist across vehicular classes... -Saro | ||
| Crush63 |
I want to see Buell do well in the AMA next year but I don't see it happening. The AMA is killing off Pro Thunder to make room for more double superbike rounds and this year the Pro thunder Buells were over a second slower per lap then both the 600 and 750SS bikes at PPIR and 5 seconds slower per lap then either at Daytona. The Jap teams have fought tooth and nail to keep all non 4cyl bikes out of 600ss so that only leaves 750ss. I agree that the XB9R will handle better then any 750/4 but slower bikes that rely on high corner speeds are often blocked through the turns by faster bikes who then use their power to pull away on the next strait. To make matters worse, the XB9R's will have to run the stock and tiny fairing plus a oil catch pan as opposed to the sleek full fairings allowed in Pro thunder. Even with competitive HP I don't see how the Buells will keep up with 170mph 750ss bikes. | ||
| Lsr_Bbs |
"The Jap teams have fought tooth and nail to keep all non 4cyl bikes out of 600ss so that only leaves 750ss. " Au contraire. AMA doesn't want to appear to follow FIM. AMA is going out of their way to differentiate themselves, their classes, etc. from FIM, to the point that (IMNSHO) if it continues, they are going to loose a lot of market share. In all honesty, I know some people in the Big4 racing programs, and they are all racers at heart, and welcome any/all competition. Some of the Kawi boys for example really want the Ducatis allowed in 600cc cause then they can say they kicked their ass! For the Big4, it is a definate win on Sun., sell on Mon. marketing paradigm. They WANT more/better competition so that when they win, they sell more. AMA Racing management, unfortunately, is going through something akin to a personality conflict. They want so much to be distinct from FIM that [I think] they're in the process of taking the fun and spirit of racing out of AMA racing. Neil Garretson X0.5 ...and avid/rabid race fan; and soon to be race whore | ||
| Xgecko |
Racing ravings/rantings The AMA is beyond annoying. They have killed one class that had a variety of bikes (Thunder) and left a class that has become a one Manufacturer class 750SS. Noone except Suzuki is investing any research into 750's they are essentially a lost class (Honda doesn't have one Kawi has orphaned theirs and so has Yamaha). 600's are by far more popular and in most cases better bikes irrespective of the differences in HP. 600SS is IMHO more enjoyable to watch than Superbike if only because the bikes are essentially what you can buy. I'm bummed that EBoz is no longer racing SS as it was fun to watch him diceing. WSBK has done the right things by opening the class to 1000cc across the board. The big 4's liter bikes are more fun to watch than the (not so)Superbikes are... AMA won't go that route because someone else has thought of it first (hence the reason they decided to let a music production company run 2003 Supercross, no one has thought of that). Racing in the USA is getting to the point where Grass roots racing is better organized than the Pro's. AMA's turf war is so bad it's silly but as long as they keep the big 4 happy and Ducati continues to have a desire to play in the USA the AMA will still rule Roadracing. Ducati will likely jump lock stock and barrel to the USA after 2002 unless something changes in the WSBK as they have no way to make a liter twin run as fast as a liter I4. But those are the unobtainium bikes anyway the mortal bikes are more interesting for most riders because we can own them. AMA is too afraid to have their applecart upset to try anything new. so what we have is 600ccI4 racing in one class and 2 twins and 3 I4's (two of which are Orphaned) in another. I guess I'll be watching GP's at least they will have some variety. | ||
| Blake |
"WSBK has done the right things by opening the class to 1000cc across the board." Bummer, I enjoyed watching a competitive race between 4's and twins. I by far prefer twins. Guess BBoz won't have a chance at a championship after all. That SUCKS! Why didn't they just give them another 50cc's? 1000cc for 4's too? That SUCKS!!! I prefer twins! Shit! *@#$!!! | ||
| Xgecko |
Blake that's for 2003...2002 is esentially the same except the I4's get a weight break. so BBoz has a good chance at the title...if he can stay on all year...and away from EBoz (Who almost cost him the first race at Laguna). I like twins too they sound great and have awesome riding characteristics but in terms of pure HP they are dogs (I know this could get me shot here or at least trampled). It will be interesting to see if Ducati realy goes GP-1 racing and what they do it with...Aprila as well. |
