This past weekend the FIM announced some rule changes for the MotoGP class which will take affect for the 2007 season. While none of the changes were shocking one of them does have me a bit puzzled. Specifically, they have announced that the engine displacement limitation for the MotoGP class will be changed from 990cc to 800cc.

This isn’t really something new though it does have a different face now than it originally wore. Back in the 1970s the FIM actually had a separate world championship race series from the then 500cc two-stroke GP class which ran 750cc machines. Not exactly 800cc but pretty damn close. The class was known as the Formula 750 World Championship and it ran for six years from 1973 to 1979. It was dominated by the Yamaha TZ750, though Suzuki and Kawasaki also raced in the series.

What does a 750cc two-stroke class have in common with the newly proposed 800cc four-stroke class you might ask? Good question and an excellent segue… The comparison isn’t so much between the two classes as it is an example of why the FIM may not be achieving what they think they are achieving. Specifically, they are hoping that reducing the engine displacement of the MotoGP bikes will reduce their speed (at Mugello this past weekend they were topping out around 220 mph on the straight) and thus increase safety. This is not unlike the AMA continually trying to change their premier class to be a 600cc Superbike series (Formula Xtreme) rather than the current 1000cc Superbike class. What I think that the old Formula 750 series indicates is that engine displacement alone doesn’t dictate horsepower.

At the same time that the big TZ750s were tearing up European tracks with their 130hp, the premier GP series was the 500 GP. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki were all going head-to-head in that Grand Prix series which ran simultaneously with the F750 series and involved many of the same riders. What is surprising is that the high-tech 500cc Grand Prix bikes like Yamaha’s TZ500s were making…around 120hp. It was in fact a limitation of the tires, frames and tracks of the time that limited the power, not the engine displacement.

I believe that the FIM is overlooking this simple fact…In two years, if not already, Honda and Yamaha will have 800cc engines that produce the same power as the current MotoGP bikes. In fact, the power increases over the past two years have been attributed to three things: 1) the continual one-ups-manship between Honda, Yamaha and Ducati steadily driving each other to unleash more and more power 2) enhanced electronics that help the riders get that power to the ground and finally, 3) Michelin, Bridgestone and Dunlop’s ability to make tires that can handle that power. Those same issues will be what determines the power of the MotoGP bikes in 2007, not some seemingly arbitrary decrease in engine displacement. What’s more, I think continually changing the rules is going to hurt the smaller manufacturers like KTM/Proton and WCM/Blata. They can’t change their engineering plans that quickly and each re-design costs them dearly in capital expenditure and time. It may also prevent new competitors like BMW or FPR from joining the fray if they think they will have to continually redesign their motor. The FIM can’t afford to make rules that continue to decrease the number of competitors in the MotoGP series.

Besides, I believe that the best approach to limiting power is already in place. Rules which restrict engines to normal aspiration, minimum weight rules and a limit on how much fuel a bike can carry during the race. Not only does the 21 liter fuel limitation impose a limit on horsepower it still leaves plenty of room for innovation among the manufacturers on how to achieve the necessary fuel economy. Honda and Yamaha have slowed their horsepower increases while Ducati has instead opted to build new electronics that try to conserve fuel at key moments like when braking or downshifting while continuing to increase peak power. Both approaches get to the same destination but get there two different ways. That is the very core of a prototype race series’ philosophy.

Then again, this rule could suddenly bring Suzuki from floundering to flourishing. They are the only manufacturer making a 750cc sport bike now, so they can just quit producing it, g ive it a cylinder bore and declare it a prototype race bike. If its as good as the GSXR1000, it may be a better starting point for a GP bike than the current GSV-R… Watching a Superbike spec GSXR750 race again really would be going back to the future!

[image from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum web site.]

Its been awhile since I did a Box of Shame posting so I decided to delve into the pile ‘o parts for something else with an interesting story…

When I purchased my GSXR 1100 in ‘90, I assumed it would be my sport bike for riding around north Georgia. However, in the tradition of the saying “Give a kid a hammer and everything becomes a nail”, I starting using the bike for commuting, cruising around town and even touring. Over the years, I rode the Geezer on multi-week trips up the Blue Ridge Parkway and halfway across the country to Colorado. I also did trips to most of the states in the southeast. By the time I moved to Colorado in ‘95, I’d put nearly 40,000 miles on the bike with only one major problem (a spectacular rear suspension failure…but that is another story).

In 1996, my riding buddy Ed Guzman suggested a road trip to the Pacific Northwest to attend the annual gathering of the subscribers to the Wetleather mailing list that was being held in Republic, WA that year. I decided to join Ed for the trip to Republic but then extend the trip to ride down the west coast to California before returning to Colorado. Ed then coerced Jim Franklin to join us, giving Gooz a riding partner for the return trip after the Gather. Since the GSXR was the only (running) bike I had at the time, it was once again drafted into touring duty. I threw on my well-used Chase Harper soft luggage, loaded up my camping year, threw in a bunch of tools, did a quick tune-up and headed out for a two week, 11,000 mile trip.

As it turns out, my quick tune-up was probably too quick and resulted in a stripped value cover bolt. In my defense, the GSXR head is soft aluminum and after three years of professional racing and then 40,000 street miles, the threads were pretty tired after all those value adjustments. Whatever the cause, the stripped threads allowed oil to steadily seep out and by the time we entered Utah was visibly dripping off the motor. The next two days of riding included a regular cleaning of the engine at each gas stop (along with a very slow, very smokey stop-n-go idle through a traffic clogged Salt Lake City) until I could get it temporarily repaired in Coure D’Alene Idaho with some JB Weld thread repair. We continued the ride to Republic for The Gather, with the problem apparently fixed (though the bike did pick up the nickname “Suzuki Valdez”).

However, this blog entry isn’t about a stripped bolt hole. One side effect of the oil leak was that the wiring harness which runs behind the back of the motor had been coated with oil. When I lived in downtown Atlanta, I’d added a bike alarm to the GSXR to help discourage bike thieves. Since I was working in downtown Denver after I moved to Colorado I left the alarm installed to keep the bike safe when left all day in dark parking decks. The Ungo bike alarm is very simple, just a mercury switch and a few wires to connect to the battery, a loud alarm speaker and some wires going into the wiring harness to cut the ignition and sound the alarm when the bike is lifted off the side stand. The splice into the ignition wiring was done “right” but after six years of riding engine heat had done a job on the shrink wrap protecting the splice.

Unknown to me, the oil that had misted behind the engine while burning across Utah and Idaho eventually managed to get into the splice. At first, the bike was just tricky to start, which made me think it was just a dirty start button. However, as the weekend in Republic went on, the starting problem became more and more pronounced. The morning that Gooz and I decided to ride up into Canada, the bike refused to start all together. Ed was nice enough to give me a push start and we were off for a day ride into Oh Canada! By the time we were back at the US border, complete with draconian border guard, even a push start was taking more effort than I (and particularly Ed) was comfortable with. I was having horrible thoughts of trying to push start a fully loaded touring GSXR on some deserted coastal road in Oregon so clearly I had to figure this one out that night.

Once back at the campground, I started going through the bike’s electronics with a multi-meter and quickly traced the issue to the alarm’s ignition splice. Rather than re-wiring the splice, I borrowed a butane soldering iron from long distance rider Jeff Earls and removed the ignition splice all together. Quick fix and the bike ran perfectly for the rest of the trip. Sadly, Ed and Jim went straight back to Colorado and missed out on the trouble free riding I got to enjoy for a week on my return loop…a welcome relief after the four frustrating days that started the trip.

I am going to re-install the alarm with a new Ungo wiring harness now that I have the GSXR running again, but that simple problem could easily have ruined that two week trip. I keep the original oil covered ignition splice wire in my Box of Shame to remind me of that simple truth.

[image from my photo collection.]

It was a great weekend to be Italian. I suspect plenty of pasta and vino were consumed and the parties in the boot shaped country were kicking well into the night on Sunday.

MotoGP action was all about Italy, with the racing taking place at the famous Mugello circuit and the race itself was all about Italians since for the second time in the three years the story of the Tuscan track’s weekend in the GP sun was an all Italian victory circle. The race was spectacular, as is to be expected at Mugello with its long straight and fast corners. (In fact, with the World Superbike races at Imola historically being great, its easy to believe that all races in Italy are just intrinsically fantastic!) From the very beginning, it seemed that Rossi was again going to put on a command performance for his home audience as he launched the Yamaha into second and then quickly dispatched with leader Capirossi on the second lap to lead the race. From there, it was pure excitement. In fact, I wonder if Rossi is now so confident of his abilities that he was able to script a race that would drive the Italian fans into a mad frenzy. Over the first third of the race it appeared that Rossi would run away but then slowly Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri reeled him in and suddenly there was an all-Italian scrap for the lead. As the race neared two thirds distance Loris Capirossi on the bright red Ducati joined the fray which just pushed the Italian crowd’s insanity dial to 11. If Rossi did create the script for this dramatic race it was a performance worthy of a Tony award as he again cranked up the speed and with two laps to go rocketed away to victory leaving his three countrymen to fight for the remaining two podium spots. Just as he has done so many times over the past two years Rossi has given his competitors a sniff of glory and then crushed them with unbelievable efficiency. Just as in 2003, the podium was all Italian with Rossi, Biaggi and Capirossi but this time Biaggi finished second with Capirossi having just beaten Melandri for the third place finish. As if having four Italians lead the race wasn’t enough, Ducati managed its first rostrum appearance of the year “at home” and Carlos Checa brought the second Ducati over the line in fifth. I can only imagine how wild the village of Mugello was on Sunday night, not to mention the city of Bolgona!

Speaking of which, in the AMA the boys from Bologna have also been experiencing a welcome resurgence of late. Eric Bostrom’s win at Pikes Peak was the first for Ducati in a year and was desperately needed to buoy the sagging hope of the Ducatisti. Thanks to a Wisconsin deluge on Saturday the Ducati Austin snagged its second win in as many races. It would be easy to assume that that large number of crashers (Yates, Duhamel, Bostrom, Zemke, Spies) helped Hodgson win his first AMA Superbike race but watching the Brit power his bike around the soggy Road America track proved it was actually pure riding talent. Both Mladin and Spies, running with Hodgson at the front, had to pit for fresh rear tires because the first laps where run on a damp track with allowed the tires to overheat and shred before the downpour soaked the track and brought the tires back to their normal operating temperature. After the race, Hodgson admitted that his rear tire was also shot and he wouldn’t have finished the race had it not been red flagged at the beginning of lap nine. But despite all the confusion and chaos caused by the rain it was still an exciting win for Hodgson and for Ducati. Likewise, it was another stunning case of damage control for Yoshimura’s star rider as Mladin earned second when scoring revered back to lap eight…before he pitted for the new rear tire. Even on his bad days he is incredible. The final news worthy of some bubbly was Josh Hayes who earned a fabulous third place for the underdog Attack Kawasaki team. What a terrific turnaround after their miserable results early in the season and a new personal high water mark for Hayes as this is his best Superbike finish to date.

Sunday dawned overcast but unlike Saturday the Superbike race was run in dry conditions. As if to prove that two Ducati wins a row hadn’t really changed the status quo in AMA Superbike, Mat Mladin turned in another of his dominate performances. Leading from start to finish, Mat was never challenged for the win. The surprise was that a Honda (anyone remember them?) ran 90% of the race in second place. In this particular case, it was Jake Zemke who did his best to put pressure on the Suzuki rider early in the race. Sadly, the honor of earning a second place finish for Honda wasn’t to be, as Suzuki mounted Ben Spies snatched that position late in the race but Zemke does get the pleasure of getting Big Red’s first Superbike podium finish in 2005 as he held onto third. EBoz, rebounding from his DNF on Saturday after being taken out by a crashing Duhamel, came home in forth on Sunday. Ducati’s fortunes weren’t completely restored, though, as Hodgson was out with his second mechanical failure of the year.

With this weekend’s success of the Italian riders in general and the Ducatis in particular this weekend was all about Italy. All it all, it was “bella!”.

[image from the Motoring South Africa web site.]

This weekend brings racing to two tracks which may well be the heart and soul of their respective series: MotoGP comes to Mugello in Italy and the AMA Superbike series travels to Rd. America in Wisconsin.

The headliner has to be the MotoGP race. Mugello is perhaps the heart of MotoGP. The organizing body (the FIM) is based in Italy, the top rider is Italian, the largest fan base is arguably in Italy and the Italian track has provided some of the most exciting races of the series going back to the glorious days of Doohan domination. The Mugello race was the best race of the 2004 MotoGP season and may have been the best race of 2003 as well. In addition to incredible racing, Mugello keeps things interesting by having the second longest straight of the entire series (second to the new Shanghai track in China). This long straight puts stresses on tires and engines that mean the teams have to be on their A game. Last year Bridgestone found the limits of their new MotoGP tire thanks to a horrific tire failure which slammed Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano to the tarmac at 190 mph+. That long straight also means that everyone better bring horsepower and plenty of it. Honda seemed to have Yamaha covered in that respect last year but this fact just allowed Rossi’s amazing skill as a rider to shine through. The RC211V’s of Tamada, Biaggi and Gibernau could pull four or five bike lengths on the M1 of Rossi down the straight but impossibly late braking and crazy corner speed allowed Rossi to pass them back in turns one or two. It was extraordinary riding and that accomplishment was made that much better when rain late in the race meant the event was finished as a six lap wet sprint race. Rossi showed he was a master of the wet as well as the dry by slicing through the pack for the ultimate win. If this year’s race at Mugello is only half as exciting it will still be the best race of the season. Another aspect of the Tuscan track and its fanatical crowd of spectators is that it always seems to make the Italian racers ride just a little bit harder. As a result, the red-blooded natives seem to switch into “win it or bin it” mode. This reached its peak in 2003 when Rossi, Capirossi and Biaggi all fought from start to finish in a ferocious battle to win in front of their countrymen. All came close to crashing and in the end it was an all Italian podium, including an Italian Ducati, so the crowd really got its money’s worth. If Melandri, Biaggi or Capirossi are going to challenge Rossi this season, this race may be their best shot. Expect all of them to ride with 100% of their heart.

The AMA trip to Road America brings them to the heartland of America and one of the best tracks in the country. The four mile long circuit includes a very, very fast straight away and some 14 turns meaning it is a challenging place to race. In the past, the Wisconsin track has been dominated by Ducati and Honda. The two brands have won 18 of the 30 races at the track and it is no coincidence that both brands have been known for making race bikes with lots of power. Last year the event was dominated by one man: Miguel Duhamel. In fact, the Canadian has won both legs of double-headers there twice, also winning in 2002. The Honda doesn’t appear to be the bike it was in 2004 but the track is the closest thing to a home race for Duhamel and he always seems to set it up there. Naturally, another favorite has to be Mat Mladin. The Suzukis have plenty of horsepower this year and Mladin is riding his best ever. Finally, the Ducati of Neil Hodgson should do well. Road America is similar to the traditional European race tracks on which the Brit has raced for the past three or four years and its high speed corners should play to his strengths. The track always makes for exciting racing and this year should be no different.

Sunday will bring five hours of road racing on SpeedTV including both legs of the AMA Superbike races and the AMA Supersport race from Road America as well as the MotoGP and 250GP races from Mugello. Should be a great weekend of racing!

[image from the waepoint web site.]

The second company to get a thumbs up from me is motorcycle luggage maker Chase Harper.

I’ve been a satisfied customer of Chase Harper for a long, long time. I bought my first soft luggage from them back in ‘91: a set of Aero Pac saddlebags, an Aero Pac tail trunk and an 1150 tank bag. I was immediately happy with them and couldn’t wait to try them out with a bike camping trip. Unfortunately, that also meant that I had an immediate need to test their warranty. You see, Chase Harper makes a great product and in addition to a top notch build quality and excellent features they also include an amazing unconditional lifetime warranty.

Their saddlebags include a little plastic shield, which should protect them from your common idiotic mistakes. Well, as I’ve proven from my Box of Shame postings, at times I can be a particularly uncommon idiot and this was one of those cases. I pre-packed the saddle bags the night before leaving for a bike trip to Road Atlanta to enjoy the ‘91 WERA GNF races. When packing, I was careful to put the camp stove fuel in the saddle bag that would be on the opposite side of the bike from the exhaust pipe. Well, Saturday morning I went to put the bags on the bike and realized they fit better swapped around the other way. What I didn’t realize was that this change moved the fuel directly above the exhaust. During the ride, the hot Yoshimura pipe heated the fuel bottle to the point that it pressurized and misted Coleman fuel inside the saddle bag. That then started smoldering resulting in my GSXR trailing a cloud of smoke like a wounded WWII fighter plane. My riding buddy Troy waved me over and we managed to frantically remove the bag and extinguish the charred clothes inside but not before a four inch hole was melted through the back of the right hand saddle bag.

So that story clearly shows that I made an incredibly stupid mistake and roasted my new saddle bag. Nonetheless, when I called Chase Harper to get a new saddle bag they reiterated that their warranty is an unconditional guarantee and that includes user error. A few days later I received a box in the mail the contained a brand new right side saddle bag. Wow, how do you argue with a company that offers that kind of service?

That story alone would make me a lifetime devotee of the company. But I had another chance to experience the benefits of their warranty and this time it wasn’t because I was brain dead… In 2003, I finally got my old GSXR running again after a mini-restoration and went through all my storage boxes and dug out my old Chase Harper gear. The saddle bags and tail trunk looked great but the 1150 tank bag showed every bit of the 70,000 miles it had endured over 12 years. All the velcro was worn out, one of the strap rivets had come apart, the map case was sun faded till it was opaque and the front compartment’s zipper was broken. I sent the tank bag back to Chase Harper to get a repair estimate for the various bits and pieces. A few days later, like deja vu, a box arrived with a band new 1150 tank bag. No questions asked, no money owed, just a new tank bag to replace the one that I’d flogged like a rented mule for over a decade.

As I said in my first Product and Company Review blog entry I think that a company’s service is even more important than their product. In this regard, Chase Harper is probably the best manufacturer in the entire motorcycle industry. I’ve bought Chase Harper luggage as gifts for two other people based strictly on my knowledge that Chase Harper stands behind their product like no one else. If you’re looking for soft luggage for your bike (or storage bags for hiking, bicycling or winter sports) check them out.

[image from the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse web site.]

This past weekend’s “European” round of the World Superbike races at the reconfigured Silverstone circuit was actually quite interesting. The “International” layout included some chicanes which slowed down the race pace but also removed most of the passing zones. The difficulty passing meant the race was more processional than action packed. While the racing wasn’t particularly exciting the results do lend some hope for those of us who don’t want the 2005 World Superbike season to be a complete romp. Despite this being called the European round, its really the first of two visits by the WSBK series to the UK. I’ve recently been reading some Winston Churchill writings, so I’m going to tie the two things together by giving one quote from the old curmudgeon and then use that to describe the performance of one of the riders.

“Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” – James Toseland - Toseland was definitely the star of the weekend. After sucking earlier in the season, the reigning champ started to regain his winning form at Monza and then went on to do a private three day test with Ducati at Mugello. The result was serious flexing of muscles at Silverstone where Toseland netted a third in the race and a win in race two. In both races Toseland was in contention for the victory and took control of race two for a convincing first place. Perhaps Toseland, and Ducati, may yet emerge as a rival to Troy Corser. What is certainly true is that he hasn’t given up.

“Today we may say aloud before an awe-struck world: We are still masters of our fate. We are still captain of our souls.” – Troy Corser - Despite going winless for the weekend Corser was really once again the ultimate winner. His twin second place finishes continued to grow his points lead over second place Kagayama to the tune of a total 78 points. This means that Corser could take off the next weekend and still have a one race win lead in the championship. I hesitate to say that Corser could have won either race but he was definitely running with the leaders in both legs and didn’t *have* to beat either one based on the two Ducati riders since they were forth and sixth in the championship race coming into the weekend. He finished exactly where he needed to…

“Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.” - Regis Laconi - Toseland’s French teammate started the weekend in great form, also continuing where he left of at Monza. Laconi looked unstoppable during the first race as he pushed his way through to the front. Corser kept him honest but no one else really seemed to have the pace that these two pulled out. Fame is a fickle mistress, though, and Regis went from hero to zero in race two with an early crash. While Laconi isn’t completely out of the title hunt, he is only hanging on by the faintest of mathematical hope at this point.

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” – Noriyuki Haga - Despite being let down by both bike problems and tires, Nitro Nori still gave his English fans something to cheer about by running in the top three during both races. A fuel pump problem ended his podium appearance n race one but he hung in during race two despite tire degradation that had him a second off the winning pace during the last few laps. Haga, through sheer force of will, kept his popularity (if not his title hopes) alive.

“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” – Yukio Kagayama - An odd off weekend for the Japanese ace stunted his championship run against teammate Corser. Kagayama’s 11th and 7th place finishes could be the beginning of the end of his dream of being the 2005 World Superbike Champion. Suzuki, however, are probably more interested him maintaining his second place so that they have a chance of a one-two sweep if Corser brings home the crown this season.

“It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.” – Chris Vermeulen - Vermeulen brought his Honda home in forth place in both races showing he is still talented beyond his years. Chris showed he had the pace of the front runners in race two but a poor start meant he couldn’t fight for the win. What he did gain was enough championship points to bring him within three of second place Kagayama.

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” – Frankie Chili - Chili has continued to heal from his broken collarbone and brought home two fifth place finishes to show for it. He continues to show that he is one of the most talented men to over throw a leg over a Superbike and to show that Ducati were foolish for ever removing him from their factory team.

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.” – Ben Bostrom - Unfortunately, Bennie took another back slide after showing a glimmer of hope at Monza. He pulled out of the first race with bike problems and then struggled to a 14th place finish in race two. Saying the team needed track time to improve the bike was a valid excuse for the first few races of the season but that is rapidly failing an explanation for their lack of results. Bostrom really has to start moving forward for the American to get some respect.

“We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!” – Chris Walker - Walker also followed up his excellent Monza results with a strong showing at Silverstone. Despite having a bike that appears to be a handful, the Stalker still pushed he bike through to dual sixth place finishes. For years fans have felt Walker shouldn’t have gone straight from the UK Superbike series to WSBK on a Kawasaki in 2001. His results seem to lend credence to that theory. Its good to have Walker back on the green machines.

“We have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat, and France has suffered even more than we have.” – Foggy Petronas riders Steve Martin and Gary McCoy - In race one, both Petronas riders DNF’ed giving them an embarrassing start to their home races. They fared slightly better in the second race with 13th (McCoy) and 20th (Martin) finishes. At least their results improved between race one and two, unlike Laconi who started on the podium and finished in the gravel.

“For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.” Yamaha France riders Norick Abe and Gimbert - The Yamaha France team had a tough weekend. Sebastien Gimbert crashed in race one breaking his ankle and missing the second race. Norick Abe had a clutch problem in the first event, giving Yamaha France two DNFs to start the weekend. Abe rebounded with an eighth in the final race. Good for the team but still far short of what was expected of the ex-GP start.

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Fonsi Nieto - Nieto, another ex-GP star, was originally thought to be another ride who would challenge for the championship but has failed to live up to that expectation. This was particularly true at Silverstone where Nieto ended up retiring in both races. The SC Caracchi team has surely suffered after their glory days with Bostrom and Chili as their riders.

“It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.” – Giovani Bussei - Fan favorite and winner of the 2004 sportsmanship award is steadily improving as he comes to term with his Kawasaki. He had an eighth in race one and a sixteenth in race two. He needs to continue to get championship points this season to show everyone that he deserves to be in the series not just because he is a nice guy but because he is a talented rider.

“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” - me - When all else fails, use other people’s words so you look smart. Hopefully this contrast of historical quotes and rider reviews has made some small progress in that regard.

[image from the Silverstone Circuit web site.]

The only road racing this coming weekend will be the World Superbike series event at the old airfield track of Silverstone in England. This very fast circuit, also used for Formula One racing, has been on the calendar since 2002 but was reconfigured this year to remove it’s fastest straight. As a result, the only rider that has seen his configuration before will be Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama since he raced the British Superbike series for the past two seasons and this layout was apparently in use for their races. Unfortunately for everyone else, it means that Suzuki again holds the upper hand coming into this race weekend.

So its the same question this week as every other week for the past couple of months…can anyone stop the Suzuki steamroller? More specifically, can anyone stop the Troy Corser steamroller? Last year three riders dominated Silverstone: Haga had a great race weekend last year with two podium finishes so this could be a good time for him to get things right again. Sadly, he has suffered from setup and tire problems all season so it will be a big leap for the Yamaha rider to make.

Another fan favorite in the UK, Frankie Chili showed great form at Silverstone last year but a qualifying snafu mean he had to charge through the pack in both races. He made it onto the podium with a third in the first race but then had a massive highside in the second race. He has had top ten finishes at the last two races, despite having a broken collarbone, so hopefully he will be healthy enough to fight for the lead in this race.

The person that really dominated at Silverstone last year was Chris Vermeulen. In fact, it was his performances as the UK track that propelled him into championship contention. He rode great in the second race at Monza and his win there makes him the most likely candidate to challenge Troy Corser. Unlike both Chili and Haga who have had machine and/or health problems, Vermeulen has been steadily improving this season. It seems like the Winston Ten Kate Honda is gaining speed with each round and the young Australian is again proving to be a rider capable of winning races (and championships).

Another rider on my watch list for this weekend is Ducati’s Regis Laconi. Like Chili, he had a mixed result at Silverstone last year despite some great rides. He crashed out of race one while running at the front and then came back with a third in race two. But what shows that Laconi’s strength is on the rise was his performances last weekend at Monza. A forth in race one, after battling with the lead group for the whole race, followed by a second in race two. It appears that the Ducati does well at a fast, flowing circuit like Monza (just hope it doesn’t only like fast, flowing *Italian* circuits) and it also appears that the Bologna based team have found a setup that works for the bikes since Toseland was up front at Monza as well.

The British riders always seem to step up a bit when they are back in the motherland so I think both Toseland and Walker will ride well. Toseland showed an awakening at Monza and if he can continue with that improvement should run with the leaders. Walker had a great race two at Monza but I think it will be a stretch for him to do that again at Silverstone. I expect him to be near the front but not dicing with the leaders.

Finally, the wildcard British Superbike riders usually make an impact but the Pirelli spec tire rule means that the front runners in BSB can’t race the WSBK round. There are only two BSB riders entered as wildcards and neither are likely to make an impact in the top 15.

If anyone is going to stop Suzuki, its probably going to be Honda and Ducati. If anyone is going to stop Troy Corser, it is probably Yukio Kagayama, Chris Vermeulen and Regis Laconi. The rest of the race should be a big battle between the gaggle of Yamahas (Haga, Pitt, Abe, Gimbert, Nieto, Cardoso), the herd of Hondas (Chili, Neukirchner, Muggeridge, Bostrom), the smattering of Kawasakis (Walker, Bussei) and the pair of FPR bikes (McCoy and Martin). Should be an exciting couple of races this weekend…

[image from the Silverstone Circuit web site.]

In a past life I must have kicked puppies and stolen from children. Or kicked children and stolen from puppies. Clearly something bad is in my past.

Now I don’t normally believe in reincarnation but an experience today has caused me to question that stand on the concept of karma. You see, the local motorcycle shop where I have my BMW serviced is Foothills BMW. They are a good shop and, among other nice services, they offer loaner bikes so you can ride even while your bike is otherwise laid up. In my case, I brought my GS in for its 36,000 mile service today and got one of their loaner bikes to get me to/from work. Normally, their service pool is made up of F650GS and CS bikes but it appears they have recently added new bike…I was expecting a F650 but what I got was a R1200C Montauk. Oh the horror!

Anyone that has ready my blog for awhile will know that there is only one bike I have ever publicly criticized on the blog. It was a posting I did back in December of last year where I explain how glad I was that BMW was finally stopping production of the R1200C.

I said then that the R1200C is “the high water mark in BMW’s pool of aesthetic embarrassments”. I can safely say that my opinion of the bike now that I have viewed it from the seat hasn’t changed at all. Mechanically, there isn’t much to complain about with the Montauk. The engine is better than I expected, still gutless at the lowest end of the tach but having surprisingly good acceleration in the mid-range. Comfort wise, the thick handlebars just suck (why mimic one of the worst parts of Harley Davidson bikes when you build a cruiser?) and the bend on the bars was odd enough to hurt my wrists. As with all cruisers, the foot pegs are too far forward for my preference meaning I kept slamming my feet down into the pavement when I went to put my feet on the pegs only to find they weren’t where I expected them.

Ultimately, my complaint with the bike is still its looks. Too many things going in too many different directions all covered with too much chrome. It looks more like a mutant Hot Wheels toy than a real motorcycle. I’ll just have to hope no one recognizes me on the 15 mile ride back to the shop. In the meantime, I’m gonna be real nice to puppies and small children so this won’t happen to me again in my next lifetime.

[image from my photo collection.]

Back in January when I did my AMA rider review I made a big deal about how riders like Ben Spies, Roger Lee Hayden and (reluctantly) Jason Disalvo are the future of the sport. Riders like Duhamel, Mladin, Bostrom and Yates, no matter how great, aren’t going to rule the sport forever. In fact, I think the Hayden brothers, Spies and Disalvo will have taken over the championship battles in the next two or three years. So when Ben and Roger Lee are no longer the newcomers, where will the next crop of star riders come from? Well, the answer is already in front of us…

As with many of the other rookies in the sport, the next generation of motorcycles racers are already honing their craft. In fact, they are often on the track at the same time as the current big name riders. The Hayden brothers didn’t just appear on factory bikes, they worked their way through a farm system of privateer and then factory supported teams. Just a decade ago, teams with names like EBSCO, Zero Gravity, Suzuki Sport, Hypercycle and Kinkos were running riders with names like Jamie Hacking, Nicky Hayden and Jake Zemke.

Some other teams, like Erion Honda, Emgo Suzuki (the ex-Team Valvoline/Team Hammer), Hooters Suzuki and Corona Suzuki are still out there today and are still feeding talented riders into the AMA series. I think the teams to watch this year to spot new talent are the Grant Matsushima run MPTRacing team, the Hotbodies team, the Millenium KWS team, the Corona team and Topline Racing. All of these teams are busy scouting new talent that will race for cheap in an effort to get noticed by a factory team next year. Many of the teams have a tire sponsor, usually Pirelli or Bridgestones rather than the front running Dunlops, but their sponsorship list is dominated by small non-motorcycle related businesses like construction companies or printing companies. (Obviously, the Corona Suzuki team is the major exception to this with their big name beer sponsor and massive paddock presence).

Where do these riders come from? Well, it seems there are a few standard places that the small teams are looking to find up-and-coming riders.

First, the most fertile ground for the past thirty years have been on the dirt tracks of America. Racing on short tracks and 1/2 miles teaches kids throttle control and gets them used to the rigors of racing. Since flat track racing doesn’t pay as well as road racing and there is a lot of overlap with the skillset it is usually easy to convinced talented young riders to give road racing a try. Of the current riders MPT Racing’s Danny Eslick is the best example of one who came out of the dirt track world. He’s very fast and very comfortable sliding the bike around. His finishes thus far this season in Formula Xtreme include three top five finishes.

Second, check the local CCS and WERA races to see who is shining there. Riders like Aaron Yates, Scott Russell and Mike Smith all strutted their stuff in WERA and CCS before being picked up by AMA teams. If a rider is fast enough to win in the CCS Race of Champions or the WERA Grand Nationals there is a very good chance they’ll soon be riding in one of the AMA classes. The current racer from this background is Millenium KWS’s Blake Young. This young (pardon the pun) rider made an impression with his rides in CCS and is already backing that up with competitive riders in AMA Supersport (three top 15s) and Superstock (two top 15s). He’s teamed with veteran Lee Acree, so expect to see Young continuing to improve as he learns from his experienced teammate.

Third, casting an eye down under seems to be a popular place to look for riding talent. Over the past decade the AMA series has been dominated by Aussie riders like Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Mat Mladin, Anthony Gobert, Aaron Gobert and Damon Buckmaster. There are a few talented Australian riders chasing Yank dollars in the field this year but I think the best example is Corona Suzuki’s Brent George. This kid showed up at last years Suzuki Cup races at Atlanta and impressed many with a podium finish against circuit experts Mike Smith and Geoff May. Thus far this season George has finished in the top 15 at every Superstock race and in the top 15 twice in Superbike. Don’t be surprised to find him as the new Wonder from Down Under in a few years.

Finally, those scouting for international talent sometimes look north of the border and poach riders from the Canadian Superbike series. Duhamel, Picotte, Crevier and Szoke were all Canuck racers before being tempted by warmer weather and US paychecks. While this plan hasn’t paid the consistent rewards of importing Aussies this year brings back a talented young rider named Chris Peris riding for Topline Racing. He has certainly earned great results including four top-10 finishes in the ultra competitive Supersport class and four top-5 finishes in Formula Xtreme.

If you’re really curious about the future stars of the sport, check out Roadracing World and Motorcycle Technology magazine’s annual “Young Guns” feature. It lists riders between the ages of 13 and 19 who have finished in the top three in an expert level road race. Past “Young Guns” include all three Hayden brothers, John Hopkins, Ben Spies, Jason Disalvo, Tony Miering, Nicky Wimbauer and many others. Its another great feature offered to the motorcycle racing community by the often controversial John Ulrich.

In the meantime, watch as these talented riders improve this year and next.

[image from the MPT Racing web site.]

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

Well, okay, not so long ago and not really so far away. In fact, just this past weekend in Colorado Springs. I won’t bore you by making this a Star Wars parody, it just seemed like too easy of a pun to make given my southern accent, the new movie opening recently and the marketing assault that rivals anything in the war on terror…

At Daytona this year, plenty of paddock pundits were pontificating about Pirelli. Specifically, that despite Michelin losing their only factory team connection, there appeared to be a tire war brewing in AMA Superbike. With all the factory teams running Dunlops it was assumed this season would be a cakewalk for the UK based company but then Pirelli shod Vincent Haskovec rode his Emgo M4 sponsored Suzuki to a surprise win in the Superstock race. Had all the nay-sayers been wrong? Had Pirelli buying their way into the World Superbike series actually netted them a competitive race tire? Had Pirelli succeeded where Michelin had failed? Well, the subsequent races have shown that optimism for the Italian tire manufacturer was probably a bit premature. The best litmus test for this may well have been this past weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

PPIR is hard on tires. In fact the general opinion is that PPIR is harder on tires than any of the other tracks currently on the AMA calendar. Daytona, long known to eat rear tires for breakfast, still doesn’t put the constant strain on the left hand side of the tire that PPIR does with over 1/2 the lap being one long bumpy left hand turn. This was vividly illustrated this year when three different factory and factory supported riders were forced to pit for a new rear tire during the Superbike race: Mat Mladin, Jake Zemke and Kurtis Roberts. During the race, both Ben Spies and Aaron Yates were noticeably spinning up the rear tire exiting tight left hand turns. It was one of these spins that cost Aaron Yates the race win.

No matter how bad things were for Dunlop, things appeared even more grim among their competitors. When walking around the pits one thing that was immediately obvious was how busy the Dunlop guys were. Their canopy had three stations with hydraulic mounting machines and three tables set up for balancing tires. At any given time there would be 8 or 10 crew members frantically running around handling tire duties for all the racers running their tires. Also interesting was that Dunlop brought three different compounds of tires to PPIR for their riders including two different multi-compound tires. These slicks have two or three different types of rubber all molded together into a single tire. The left hand side of the tire would be a harder compound that can stand up to the high temperatures generated in the long left turns and the rest of the tire would be a softer compound that could be effectively used in the right hand turns since that side of the tire runs cooler. It is even possible that additional “stripes” of rubber could be used in the tire so that a particular area of the tire could be made more resilent to overheating. Fascinating stuff and proof that Dunlop has really done their homework on PPIR over the years.

In contrast, the Michelin area was positively lazy. Three or four guys wearing Michelin shirts would generally be sitting around chatting or aimlessly balancing a tire. Plainly they are the least involved of the tire manufacturers and the lack of activity around their semi was clear evidence of that. Michelin should have the leg up on everyone else in terms of motorcycle tire development since they virtually own MotoGP racing. However, every track is unique and Michelin needs at least a couple of top level AMA Superbike riders running their tires if they hope to develop competitive tires for the US tracks. It isn’t happening given their current level of involvement.

Splitting the difference between these two, the Pirelli tire guys were moderately busy. Their biggest partner in AMA Superbike is the Emgo M4 team and you could regularly see crew members from the team at the Pirelli truck and vice-versa. Clearly they are working together closely. Unfortunately, at PPIR the Pirelli tires weren’t working all that great with the track. Michael Barnes was standing in for the injured Vincent Haskovec and actually carded decent finishes for the weekend…a fine forth in Superstock and a sixth Formula Xtreme. Not bad considering it was his first ride on the bikes. However, those results are even better considering how badly his Pirelli tires were sliding around after the halfway point in each race. In the early stages of the Formula Xtreme race Barnes was fighting with Ben Attard and Chris Peris for third place. Then his rear tire started sliding and he steadily dropped back to his eventual sixth place result. What was particularly noticable was that his tires were sliding exiting the sweeping right hand turn five. This would indicate that even the cooler right hand side of the tire wasn’t performing as well as the Dunlop tires run by the other racers. Probably the very situation that one of those multi-compound Dunlop tires is meant to address since the Pirellis probably run a hard single compound tire so the right hand side never comes up to operating temperature. The same thing could be seen in the Superstock race though Barney seemed to ride around the problem better on the GSXR1000 than he did on the Superbike-spec 600. Perhaps the heavier bike generated the extra heat to make the right side of the tire work better while overheating the left side even more. Great rides from Barnes but it does open the question of how competitive would he have been on Dunlops?

Finally, Bridgestone had a semi at PPIR but it was practically just there as a rolling billboard. I didn’t see any riders going to/from the Bridgestone area. Like Corona, they could have simply hired models to walk around in their gear and not really changed their impact on the weekend. Like Michelin, Bridgestone theoretically could be a huge force in Superbike racing since they are the biggest tire manufacturer in Formula One car racing and have recently taken a huge bite out of Michelin’s market in MotoGP racing. Its a matter of them deciding to put resources in the US national series and then getting some riders on their tires so they can start collecting crucial data from our tracks.

Either way, PPIR did highlight that the tire wars aren’t as hot as they first appeared at Daytona. Before anyone will really challenge Dunlop for supremacy in the AMA Superbike wars Pirelli will need to create a better tire and both Michelin and Bridgestone need to get some top riders on their tires. In the meantime, we can always hope that Barnes will get a chance to come over to the dark side and compete head-to-head with the factory boys.

Use the force, Michael…

[image from the Superbike Planet web site.]