An interesting Poll. What do you think?

[ktd]

About the Buell this weekend.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/getVote.jsp?pn=buell0321

I guess if it's a HP limited class it is sort of ok.  Problem is torque matters too.

[Super Dave]

Weight matters too. 

Honda and Suzuki didn't want the HP/weight limits.  So, they are the ones to talk to. 

They would have been limited to 120HP with 360 pound bikes.  Probably would have left their top flight teams very close to going over the HP limit and even blowing over that limit.  What's the problem?

[ktd]

I guess the point is if  you beat a 600 with an 1125 it kinda takes away from some of your glory.  Considering how many people voted that way it seems pretty clear how it looks to people.  Most people understand that a twin doesn't match a I4 CC per CC but giving it almost double the displacment is going to look funny even if you have matched power and all of that. 
All 3 of my bikes are Twins BTW  I am not a twin basher.  Even once had a Buell.

[Super Dave]

Ducati built their empire upon having a displacement advantage.

AMA wanted Suzuki to homologate the GSXR750.  The Japanese manufactures got what they wanted. 

If it is actually a huge on track advantage, one should expect that a lot of private teams will immediately get rid of their Japanese or Euro bikes to have the bike that some are calling an advantage.  Or wouldn't one expect that these teams would have started with the Buell in the beginning as they recognized that there was an actual on track advantage?

Or does Eslick just ride the shit out of the thing?

[JBraun]

Eslick rides the shit out of it, no doubt about that. It's just too bad that AMA/DMG screwed up the classification of that bike so bad that he'll never get the credit he deserves.
The thing is 1125cc! it's racing against 600s, there is no argument that it's properly classified. If it said Ducati on it it would be in american superbike.
I know it's much slower than a 1098, but if you got a 1098 down to the HP limit, it still wouldn't be legal.
They've been bending the rules forever to try to get a buell to be competitive, and they finally went far enough that it is.

[Super Dave]

1098R's are in American Superbike.  I know of no one that has a standard 1098 in American Superbike.

Did Ducati attempt to put the 1098 in Daytona Sportbike?  Aprilia is in there, but no one is complaining even though it is certainly 400cc's larger than common 600's in the class.  Does 125cc's make all the difference?  If so, then should Barney be finishing further back?

[Ducati23]

Ducati wouldn't race the 1098 in this series because it isn't a current model. Only current models are homolgated. 1098R (1198cc) and 1198/1198S in American Superbike and the 848 in Daytona Sportbike. Since the 1198 and 848 are current models that is what Ducati did. It doesn't make sense to the sales and marketing folks to race a model that is no longer sold unless there is a very good reason to do it. 

If Hackings factory 600 can't stay with the 1125R down the straights then the 1125R must have a power and/or torque advantage. I have only raced twins since 1999. I raced both twins and fours from 1996 and only fours before that time - when did we start David 1986?  I believe twins need some help to compete with fours. 200~250cc seems like enough to even things up with the rest of the rules basically the same. The twins shouldn't be allowed to be any bigger than 850cc or if they are then the fours should be allowed to 750 or 800cc. 

The Daytona Sportbike class seems out of wack to me. Aprilia gets a 1000? Buell gets a 1125? Not air cooled push rod stuff, liquid cooled dual overhead cam twins. Don't get me wrong I like to see twins race and beat the fours. This just doesn't seem balanced at all.  In American Superbike Pegram's 1198cc twin seems to be matched pretty well with the 1000 fours.  I bet if he had one of his last seasons 848's in Daytona Sportbike he'd be right there with the 600's like he was last season. As Ben Bostrom said on TV last night, people want to see a race between brands not someone all alone. Passing, dicing, mixing it up, that is what he wants too!  DMG didn't get this one right, class adjustments probably should be made.       

[Super Dave]

David,  Ducati wouldn't race the 1098 in this series because it isn't a current model. Only current models are homolgated. 1098R (1198cc) in American Superbike and the 848 in

Only models the manufacture homologates are homologated.  Did they homologate the 1198R, a current model?

Either way, it was the illustration of a point.

[xb9racer]

If Buell has such a large advantage, they should have finished single file. One after the other. But they didn't. I'm sure adjustments will be made to "even" things out. Didn't Hacking run the fastest lap times in race #2? How is that possible if the Buell has such a huge advantage?

[xb9racer]

BTW, I think the poll is as intelligent as the website that started it. IMHO, plain ass stupid.

[ktd]

You might not like the website but lots do and Soup has been around and is well respected.  What really matters is perception and as you can see in the poll most people think it's pretty sad. Perception matters much more than any reality in this world. Either way Buell is going to loose.  If they win, people are going to see an 1125 CC machine beating a 600 cc machine and that looks sad.  If they loose they will see a 600cc Machine beating an 1125 and that looks sad too.  Only the Buell riders will justify it and think it's ok.  As for why they did not line up 1125's.  Well some riders could not turn those lap times on any bike so that point is mute in my opinion.  What is really at stake here is they want to try to get the Harley riders interested in racing to get that money.  I just doubt that will ever happen.  You do meet the Harley rider here and there that is into racing but most really just do not care.  It is like the time I parked my Duc among a group of them and they started talking to me about my Japanese bike.

[Super Dave]

Soup is respected by some for it's pictures, but there's so much grandstanding inside of it that makes it only an Enquirer gig to many insiders. 

If you have a secret that you want to let out, that's where you go, even if it isn't true.  That's why Honda made so much use of them, in addition to Cycle News, last year.  They tried to spin out of so many facts.  Honda wanted 600 Superbikes in the 90's, and they even tried early again this decade.  Ask Kevin Elliott and Kenny Abbott how that went and if they got paid like they were promised.