| Author | Message | ||
     Davegess |
The heck with the finshes; They got 10 seconds of prime TV time with the Amsoil and Hero names big, clear and right in the middle of the screen. It was the out shot to a commercial late in race 2 and was really a prime thing sponsors want to see. Big plus for the program! | ||
| Svh |
Now that is optimism! I am positive EBR isn't happy with the finishing positions but its Daytona which of course is different then the rest of the circuits they race on. Should be a great season | ||
| Doerman |
I've been quiet to this point. Reason? This is Daytona. Very difficult to assault Yoshimura and Graves Yamaha on this track. 6th and 9th? I am thrilled! Engine failures/mechanical problems. Well, that just means they are trying to get more out of the EBR. With experimentation comes lessons. This is also Danny's debut on an EBR. Keep in mind, EBR is very different from a Buell 1125 in DSB trim. Danny has some "up to speed" to go through yet. My takeaway from the opener is they did really well. The fact that the EBR bike can produce a trap speed of 205MPH is outrageously promising. Lots of Speed channel coverage and Hero was made know this weekend. Yes, future for EBR, Hero, Amsoil, Danny and Geoff looks great based on this weekend's achievements! | ||
| Xb1125r |
I have to agree, the hero name got time and a lot of people will be wondering what is it. The finishings where not bad for 1st race of year, but its a good step to build on, Great job ebr,hero,amsoil team. It was very eciting to watch the race. As a fan thank you for all the hard work you guys do for us the fans | ||
| Tony216 |
<<<As a fan thank you for all the hard work you guys do for us the fans>>> I agree totally!!! Was I hoping for finishes on the box, yes sir. However, I thought the results were GREAT!!! Anyone know what happened Geoff May towards the end of second race. It looked like he was on his way to backing up a great result in race one and then he wasn't there. I'm really, really happy to see a good showing on a track that is notoriously difficult on V-twins in general. (Message edited by Tony216 on March 18, 2012) | ||
| Paint_shaker |
May had an engine issue. Listening to May describe Daytona,traction was an issue due to the torque put out by the 1190. | ||
| Rde48 |
Huge win for sure. The got a lot more data and pushed the bikes HARD this weekend. A top 10 finish from Geoff and Danny is a win for a small company in WI and everyone in the USA in the USA. Erik has thought it, brought it, and showed that it will run with the rest! It will take some time to prove it to them but we know who's is best.  | ||
| Bob_thompson |
First let me say it WAS an outstanding weekend for EBR, Hero, Amsoil and Geoff & Danny. All did their absolute best to get a win and came up apparently with mechanical failures. A great win for everyone involved. Now with that said: I am wondering if it was a matter of over stressing (too high sustained rpm's, thats Daytona)of a proven engine configuration or just a "simple" failure such as a broken valve spring, keeper failure, or something that small. Many engine builders x-ray all parts before assembling to help insure there are no structural flaws in the individual parts. Time consuming yes, but proven well worth the time. I'm also sure their using absolutely the best quality parts. With 205 mph trap speeds its almost sure they ran the engines at the ragged edge. And I'm hoping they do not have to back down the rev limiter. I'm hoping for the latter since I'm sure Erik and the Elves will find the culprit and correct for the future. They ARE the best at doing just that. Its really going to be a great season and I'm betting they will do fine this year. I think Daytona was a really good test for engine durability. The rest of the season should be better with the upcoming races. Waiting to hear with no speculation. Erik? Well done guys! | ||
| Black |
I say well done to all the EBR AND Buell riders at Daytona!!! Well done to Danny Eslick, Geoff May, and Shawn Higbee on the 1190s! Let's not forget Shawn Higbee, Pat Mooney, and Darren James on 1125s for Daytona Sport Bike either. | ||
| Court |
>>>They got 10 seconds of prime TV time with the Amsoil and Hero names big, clear and right in the middle of the screen. Can anybody point me to that? Any screenshots or video? If you have some please let me know ASAP. This was a spectacular weekend. I'm GUESSING . . I DO NOT KNOW. But I think Bob nailed it. They now have the "boyz n budget" and needed, at Daytona the toughest track for a Buell, to find the limits. The celebration and elation in the pits was consistent with victory not the disappoint of defeat. I think TEAM HERO/EBR came to Daytona with the best equipment they had, tons of talent and all their ducks in a row to do two things . . . . find the absolute limit of the motor and to gain a sense of what they CAN do. I have high expectations. Erik Buell, the staff from HERO, the EBR Pit Crew, Danny and Geoff and all concerned were elated. This is going to be a "Highly Serious Season". Welcome back from your 4 day retirement . . .Erik Buell. | ||
| Bob_thompson |
Court is Michael Tjon still crew chief for EBR or who is? One heck of a great guy. Always had time to talk to us at MMP when not real busy wrenching and give us the straight skinny on what was happening. Below: He and I at MMP in 2011.  | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I've seen pictures of the damage to Higbee's 1190 and spoken with crew members. The issue was the head of the exhaust valve separated from the stem itself, which then did other damage in the motor. I heard Eslick say he thought he dropped a valve. They pulled the motor and replaced it. Don't know what May's exact issue was, but oil was obviously outside of the motor and he had oil on his right leg. He mentioned having to constantly keep the RPMs high. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Mike Kirkpatrick is the EBR crew chief. Also, immediately after the Superbike race he was seen helping Pat Mooney in his pit getting ready for the 200. I am pretty sure this was "pro bono" on Mike's part. Mike is one heck of a guy. From the brief time I was able to chat with him, he seemed like he was getting everything inline to make this a great race season!! | ||
| Sparky |
Court, perhaps I can help with your 10 sec request. Check your email. | ||
| Davegess |
The EBR guys need to take a lesson from Enzo Ferrari; his engines never failed; they had electrical problems  | ||
| Davegess |
Is the suberbike being shown again on SPEED? Maybe someone with an old fashioned VCR could record it and capture that stuff. It was race two about 2/3 of the wat through. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Titanium fails spectacularly. It is very light, strong and endures heat very well. But it is brittle. I have seen the carnage from stem and retainer failures in motors. But can't rule out valve spring failure from fracture or unforeseen harmonics. Besides, who at this point KNOWS if it is valve failure, or did piston failure induce the supposed valve failure, or did something happen with the cam drives that put a valve in the wrong place at the wrong time? Having played with the oily parts of a few motors over the years, my fifty cents is the stem pulled or the retainer failed. How aggressive is the closing ramp? Lots of good questions. | ||
| Court |
Michael Tjon is indeed, not only still on the Team, but playing a huge role in making these motors the best they can be. It really is an amazing team of folks. You've got seasoned veterans like Michael and Kemp being augmented with top level talent like Mike. It's going to be a great year. I photographed all the motors. Tons of data was collected and, while no one likes to go out with a mechanical failure, there were some parameters that needed exploring. Daytona was the perfect place. The team, including Geoff and Danny, were celebrating following the race. I suspect there will be a couple much larger celebrations throughout the course of the season. I'm rarely wrong on these things. | ||
| Blake |
>>> Titanium fails spectacularly. It is very light, strong and endures heat very well. But it is brittle. Highly heat treated alloys of any base metal are prone to sudden failure in fatigue stress scenarios. Titanium is incredibly tough. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I stand corrected. My appologies to Mike Tjon. Go EBR!!! | ||
| Alfau |
Link to Practice Trap speeds at Daytona. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=47572 | ||
| Sparky |
Here are some pics taken from yesterday's videotaping. Eslick interview with Greg White:   Eslick bike in pit:  May/Amsoil/Hero pit:  edited to remove double-wide image placement making page over-width.  (Message edited by blake on April 04, 2012) | ||
| 86129squids |
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| 46champ |
I have an opinion of the failures if they are valves. Does anyone know if they have geared the bikes extra tall, tall enough that you will only hit the redline in 6th if you are in the draft. If I remember my history at the big tracks Daytona and Talladega, before the plates got so small it doesn't seem to happen anymore, if you were coming up on a car to draft you could overspeed the engine and drop a valve. Yesterday when they had live timing up you could see the trap speed for every bike for every lap race, practice, qualifying whatever. The 1190's were usually running 193 to 196 or so my feeling that the 205 trap was possibly in the draft. Doesn't that mean with a 5% increase in speed it would come with an approximate 4% increase in engine speed, I figure that because 6th is an overdrive gear. The only time we would see this extra speed would be if they were running someone down in the draft as they were going thru the traps which are on the track at about the pit entrance. This is 4% on top of a red line that is several 100 to more than 1000 RPM's above any redline on the bike you can buy. Several sessions of that and something gives up usually valves. This is why we race to win or find the week spots Thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it.  Let'er rip guy's the wall is strong. | ||
| Elvis |
IF the problems were related to valves, that's very good news. The AMA Superbike rules allow dramatic changes to valves (though I think that's going away in 2013), so any design issues could be very fixable. My take-aways: 1. EBR made a strong statement in the 'battle of the twins' against KTM. 2. Geoff matched his best finish from last year on the single worst track for the EBR (and keep in mind Geoff has never raced the 1190 at Daytona before). If he had simply been able to get 2 more laps out of the bike, he would have logged a very solid debut performance. If Geoff can take a 6th at Daytona, podiums at lower-speed tracks are no longer far-fetched. 3. Danny's lap times were probably the biggest disappointment of the weekend, but we know his talent. I would expect him to out-pace Geoff before the end of the season, and since Geoff's performance opened up the possibility of future podiums, the same also has to be true for Danny. 4. The mechanicals were frustrating, but they illustrate a key point: In the past, with one rider, they couldn't afford to take big chances. Now that they have two riders, they can take the kind of risks they need to learn and advance (neither Danny nor Geoff will be competing for a championship this year, so they can afford to have a few DNF's as they work to break into that top tier). 5. For the last few years, we have had 3 teams that had the riders, resources and experience to be competitive: Yosh, Graves and Jordan. Hero/EBR doesn't yet have the experience of those other teams, but it seems we now have 4 teams that will likely dominate the top 8 spots in races to come. (riders like Pegram, Rapp and Holden will keep things interesting, but keep in mind Daytona favors bikes with big top ends like the BMW and Kawasaki, so expect them to have more difficulty on the smaller tracks). | ||
| Guy_glover |
Can't say which bike but one for sure had the valve head seperate from the stem. The stem ,spring.keepers ETC where all still intact. I was told by a Knowledgable person that when drafting the 1190 was bouncing off the rev limiter for sometimes as long as 35 seconds.Valves and or rods don't like that treatment. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I never did ask what rpm they are running. I doubt it is directly related to rpm in and of itself. But being hard against the chip would do nasty stuff with the wave harmonics in the exhaust tract. I believe the valve seats are silicon or Beryllium bronze to help with closing shock loads. I wonder where they source the valves? Ferrea perhaps? Are the stems necked down? Honda at one point lost engine after engine. It was found that the closing ramp rate was too aggressive, making the valves bounce. | ||
| Ridenusa4l |
if i remember the 1190 has a redline at 12k so we're talkin some SERIOUS RPM's for any 1000+ bike...let alone a twin lol It will be a VERY exciting season to say the least! Also I would like to add how much of a breath of fresh air this board is compared to the (not so bad) quickboard and the dog fight of the 1125 board lol Carry on, Great things! Jake | ||
| Alfau |
EBR NATION (PART 5) "RECKONING DAY" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFazKZFmpzU&feature =youtu.be Something I hadn't noticed before in this episode! How he smokes the tyre while carrying the flag in the 1999 victory lap. | ||
| Blake |
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| Ponti1 |
Thanks for that linked video, Blake! Very exciting stuff...Can't wait for the next race, and the rest of the season! I will love watching the progression. | ||
| Xb9er |
best video yet. Keep up the amazing work guys and gals! |
