| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
I sat and watched two races last night... I wish I could get that time back. I don't understand. What is the point of racing these bikes? Am I missing something? They don't handle, they're slow, and apparently even racing teams can't sort out the suspension on these pigs. Overweight, squishy, underpowered.... and all 12 people remaining in the grandstands looked as bored as I was. Am I thinking about this too much? | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
You won't have to worry about this much longer. The XR1200 is cancelled. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Having ridden one myself, I couldn't see any reason to take it to a track, much less race it. And here it was on Speed channel, taking up my time. First race, one of the bikes blew oil all over the track and they called the race because it caused a pig-iron pileup. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
same reason for people racing ninja 250s, its a spec class and the riders seem to like it, close racing | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
While I liked the XR, the ride height and bars sorta sucked. It doesn't really feel like a 575 lb bike, but I didn't like it enough to buy one. | ||
| Pwnzor |
same reason for people racing ninja 250s, Ninja 250 handles like a pair of ice skates. XR1200 handles like a marshmallow. | ||
| Teeps |
Pwnzor, Thanks for the review. Glad TiVo has a delete button... | ||
| Paint_shaker |
"I don't understand. What is the point of racing these bikes? Am I missing something?" Racing is racing. Be it on overweight, hard to handle xr1200s, lawn mowers or Moto GP bikes. Some will do it just because, some for the money and others for fun. | ||
| Strokizator |
The thing that struck me was that whenever a bike went down the rider needed help to get it back upright. I think even a flyweight like Danny Pedrosa can lift his machine after a spill. | ||
| 1313 |
You won't have to worry about this much longer. The XR1200 is cancelled. That's odd... Even though it wouldn't bother me one darned bit if the XR1200 is cancelled, but I digress. I got an Email yesterday from either the AMA or M1 Powersports saying that the XR1200 racing class was re-upped for 2 years. I can't access that Email address while at work, so this will have to do. H-D = odd? 1313 | ||
| Pwnzor |
whenever a bike went down the rider needed help to get it back upright Yeah... I was waiting for somebody to throw his back out trying to lift it. I understand racing "just to race" but other than pure curiosity there is really no reason to watch this. Now, if you show me people racing souped up lawn mowers or even motorized skateboards, I'm there. I guess I'm jaded, especially after watching 3 spectacular races in a row earlier in the day. Anybody want to lay odds on whether Ben Spies will be riding a Yamaha next year?? He seemed... shall we say, "disenchanted" with his team after the bike blew up. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Old news, Spies is out of Yamaha anyway, Rossi is coming back to Yamaha. Would like to see Ben on an EBR.  . | ||
| Cityxslicker |
racing - any speed competition against something else. we used to race dorm furniture down the iced hill at campus when it snowed - it was all fun and games until some crew decided to try the refrigerator sporty is a HEAVY bike. The CITY X is a HEAVY bike - especially when picking up from the side of pitched hill in questionable footing traction. | ||
| Strokizator |
The trick from my dirt riding days is to grab one of the wheels and spin the bike around until the tires are pointing downhill. Then it's easy to pick up. | ||
| Rick_a |
I find it reminiscent of the old AMA Twin Sports races. I found that racing very entertaining and it really sparked my interest in motorcycles. Still, those races were a lot more interesting than the modern rendition. The old XL's were modern classics and the new XR's are trying to be something they're not. They have modern tires and suspension but the action is pretty similar. This is all crash footage but it's all I can find of the series. If I ever get an H-D it'll be a replica of the above. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
I thought it was cool. I get that it's not a premier class. I get that HDs are easy to make fun of. I get that 250cc singles were turning far better lap times. Dunno, I still enjoyed watching it for what it was. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I used to love watching the 883 races on TV. I loved how tight the pack was and how slow the overtakes were. but yeah......My bike of the time would be a threat to them. (1989 KLR250) | ||
| Trojan |
XR1200 racing is what it is. A spec class raing mechanically standard heavy bikes with just a few suspension mods and sensible changes for racing. It is very well supported by sponsors and more and more good riders seem to be joining the AMA series all the time. It isn't helped by racing at GP tracks though, and maybe they should limit the XR1200 races to tighter tracks more suited to their ability. XR1200 racing was also a very popular addition to the BSB series last year but has unfortunately been replaced this year by the Ducati 848 cup, which believe me is REALLY Boring! Faster bikes don't necessarily make better racing (MotoGP is a prime example of that!). Racing slowly shouldn't be any less exciting if the racing is close and the competitors are trying hard. If speed was the only factor then lots of classes would get cancelled including Moto3, and nobody is suggesting that was a bad race at Indy are they? If you don't like it, don't watch...simple | ||
| Pwnzor |
Moto 3 was great, I enjoyed it. XR1200's were boring. The preceding statement has been a public service announcement containing the jaded opinions of an individual who enjoys watching interesting things. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
we had a mini sumo track day - all bikes limited to UNDER 200 ccs It was some serious fun, most were riding 125 pit bikes. scooting from pavement to dirt, to whoopdees and back was too much fun. Next time I would change my tire preference though - I never would have thought there would be a time when I said I had too much knobby | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
city - that sounds awesome! I have a klx140, would love to try that sort of thing! | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
"The thing that struck me was that whenever a bike went down the rider needed help to get it back upright. I think even a flyweight like Danny Pedrosa can lift his machine after a spill." At home watching the motoGP from Indy and thought about this post Cal Crutchlow went down and it showed him trying to pick his bike up. I dont know if he did, camera cut away as the track workers got right near him...but up until that point he was struggling to get it up, lifting it about halfway at one point and then it falling back down. Just saying. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
"That's odd... Even though it wouldn't bother me one darned bit if the XR1200 is cancelled, but I digress. I got an Email yesterday from either the AMA or M1 Powersports saying that the XR1200 racing class was re-upped for 2 years. I can't access that Email address while at work, so this will have to do." HD is supporting that effort due to its relationship with V&H I was told. | ||
| Daves |
I would love to run one! Racing anything is fun. | ||
| P47b |
You all talk about how about bad the xr 1200 series is, remember, that there are 2 ex Buell riders racing in that series. 1 of which is busted up with the destruction of two bikes in the last two races. If and when EBR brings out a lower cost race bike I believe they will be racing them. EBR gained a crew chief from this series also. | ||
| Jaimec |
We refer to it as "Tractor Racing." I found it amusing that the new Moto3 bikes which are four stroke, 250cc singles, were turning far faster lap times than the 1200cc twins. And this is in only their first year of development. Imagine how much faster they'll be once they're all sorted out. | ||
| Speedfreaks101 |
Ninja 250 handles like a pair of ice skates. Is this a.good thing or a bad thing? Not too much ice skating in Texas  | ||
| Pwnzor |
Is this a.good thing or a bad thing? "Like it's on rails" | ||
| Crusty |
Last year at the Moto GP in Indy, the Sportster races were the two most exciting races of the weekend. A Sportster will easily last over 100,000 miles on the street with minimal maintenance. How many miles would a Moto GP, Moto 2 or Moto 3 bike last? | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Have you been watching AMA Superbike this year? You already know who's going to win before the race even starts! How many races has Josh won now? I'm going to start turning the Speed channel off after the DSB races. |
