Engine Smoke at the start of the AMA SS Race

[mdr14]

Yeah, We saw that at the wall at VIR this past weekend...

Trust me alot of 600's went puff at VIR this past weekend

I was told that Kaw is racing on a fresh motor, then using that motor for practice the following round.. I can't remember if it was for qualifying too.

The only failure my team  had was the oil filter blowing the rubber seal at the checkered flag in the supersport race.. ANd no I will not let you know what brand of filter it was.
Both the FX motor I built and the Supersport motor I built for Team Embry did what they were supposed to do... finish the race.

And Andy, I told you to come on down and borrow my 600 for this weekend too... Should have took me up on it.

Are you going to Road Atlanta AMA?

[sryan296]

Matt why don't you let me use the 600

[afeuer]

90% sure i'm going.

[Super Dave]

Even in the late 80's it was common place to have multiple bikes and engines.  When you take apart a chassis and engine so often, eventually, threads come out of everything.  The metals get work hardened.

[JBraun]

okay... i stand corrected...

damn.....

Actually, it sounds like I may be mistaken. I was told that they tear the bikes down every weekend, but I guess that doesn't mean they don't replace the motor before the race.

I think this is what's wrong with SS racing. How is a privateer supposed to compete?

Not to mention that the SS motors are supposed to be relatively stock. A legal motor should last half a season without needing a rebuild. I realize these guys are running 0w oil and really loose clearances at the expense of durability, and that the motors may be within the parameters of the rulebook, but it still sucks for the guy who needs his motor to go a season.

There are a lot of ways AMA could make the SS classes more competitive, but they choose not to. I know guys will find a way to cheat, but at least things would even out a bit. 

[Super Dave]

What would you have the AMA do?

With Ti valves, the thought of endurance for a sprint motor is gone.  Thank the manufacturers for that.

Motors will last, but their power will deteriorate.

The AMA races are part of a big show.  Wanna reduce costs?  Place restrictions on testing.  Again, my example is that Graves was testing their R6 in October of 2005.  When Daytona started, they had done more testing than they were going to do races.  My dealer didn't get my R6 until after Daytona.

[afeuer]

Horse power limits for SS. Top 3 finishers,  plus 3 random finishers (picked out of a hat) go directly to the dyno. That would be a start, but would not fix the fact that top teams get differant tires than a privateer.

[Jeff]

I thought there were HP restrictions in Supersport...  Just looked in the rulebook and didn't see any offhand though. 

[JBraun]

Horse power limits for SS. Top 3 finishers,  plus 3 random finishers (picked out of a hat) go directly to the dyno.

Exactly.
That doesn't sound so hard...

[mdr14]

This was my observation this past weekend about the AMA Supersport class. All of the top privateers were pretty well matched HP wise.. I saw no one with an obvious advantage on the straights. My motors were just as fast or faster than everyone elses...

The factory teams are another matter.. the riders were either able to get several more mile and hour going on to the front or their bikes had 5-7 hp more than the privateers or perhaps a little of both.. granted Pirelli and Dunlop have tires for the top guys we can't get.

Based on what I know I did to my motors and what you can do to them, I did not see any obvious cheating. I would have to say everyone was playing by the book, or close enough that it did not matter.

I will say this... there are some cheat'n mo fo's on the regional level.

[Super Dave]

The manufacturers won't go for a dyno limit.  It keeps them from stacking the deck in their favor.  There's a lot of money coming into those teams.  They don't need to find sponsorships from Hooters, Geico, etc. 

[JBraun]

The manufacturers won't go for a dyno limit. 

That's the problem, it shouldn't be their call.

It's the AMA's job to make the rules, and the factories should have to follow them.

I'm not naive, I realize the factories hold all the cards. But it won't stop me from complaining...

Look at qualifying times from last weekend @ VIR. SS pole was less than a half second off FX. The whole idea with supersport is that the bikes are supposed to be relatively stock, yet they lap on pace with bikes that have trick swingarms, forks, brakes, triples, 16.5 mag wheels, slicks and pissed off motors? I must be missing something.