It's time to suck it up and buy our own transponders in 2012

[Burt Munro]

You can find the price breakdown here
http://www.westhold.com/docs/docstemp.html
http://www.westhold.com/docs/PriceList.pdf

Quantity Price
1-9 $80.00
10-49 $75.00
50-99 $65.00
100+ $60.00
Activator** $350.00

If anyone wants to get a group buy going I'm in.

Just so nobody is confused on this....  that $350 activator is not something that each racer will need to by.  That's something that CCS will set up at each track to "turn on" your transponder before you go on the track.  It will probably be set up near Pit Out as your bike needs to pass within 5ft of it for the activation signal to be received. Note too the standardized mounting location on the right fork leg.  That'll be a plus for guys who have battled with finding a good spot to mount the old units.

For sprint racing it will turn on your transponder for 1 hr.  If you're doing a team challenge you will need to by (or rent) a special version that stays turned on for 2.5 hrs. 

The design on this is to conserve the life of the battery so that it will last the entire race season without needing to be recharged.

From everything I've found this sounds like a great solution for everyone!

[truckstop]

Ok, so it's the blue one?
It doesn't go into a little pouch or bracket? It straps directly onto the bike?

Does it belong to the bike or the rider?

I'm asking because X and I will be bringing three bikes and sharing one next year, and the old style was easy to swap (transponder went with rider). If the transponder goes with the bike, can we use one transponder for both of us? If someone brings two (or more) bikes, do you buy a transponder for each bike, or do you buy one, and have to move it from bike to bike?

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Note too the standardized mounting location on the right fork leg.  That'll be a plus for guys who have battled with finding a good spot to mount the old units.

What if you race a Yamaha GTS? It doesnt have a right fork leg.

[Burt Munro]

Then you'll have to put it on the left fork leg and race backwards.  Which, come to think of it, should be pretty natural for you! 

[twilkinson3]

Truckstop poses good questions, I'm bringing 2 bikes this coming season...so do I need 1 or 2 transponders....aka how hard are they to move bike to bike

Oh and in on the group buy idea

[roadracer162]

One transponder unless you want two.

[vnvbandit]

OK then, I want one! Where is the pre-order form?

[Burt Munro]

Ok, so it's the blue one?
It doesn't go into a little pouch or bracket? It straps directly onto the bike?

Does it belong to the bike or the rider?

I'm asking because X and I will be bringing three bikes and sharing one next year, and the old style was easy to swap (transponder went with rider). If the transponder goes with the bike, can we use one transponder for both of us? If someone brings two (or more) bikes, do you buy a transponder for each bike, or do you buy one, and have to move it from bike to bike?

I'm no expert on this ....  just figuring it out based on what I've read and what I know from dealing with the timing system and equipment.  Here's what I can throw out there with reasonable certainty:

1. Yes, it's the blue one.

2. If 1 rider has 2 bikes it's your choice - buy(or rent) 1 transponder or 2. If you buy 2 then you don't have to worry about switching it from bike to bike like you did in the past

3. The transponder is registered to the rider - not the bike.  If 2 people are sharing 1 bike for different events, i.e. Rider X in Ex Ultralight Superbike and Rider J in 125 GP it would be the same as past years - you swap the transponder out depending on who's riding the bike.

4. Attaching the transponder should be as easy as zip-tying it to the fork leg.  I'm sure someone will come up with a more advanced way of attaching and be able to fund their entire season of racing by selling their invention.

5. If you plan on racing Team Challenge it will require a different transponder than the one you use for Sprint and GT races.  The Team Challenge version will stay activated for 2 1/2 hrs after you go past Pit Out.  The Sprint/GT version will only stay activated for 1 hour.  This is done to prolong the life of the battery for the entire season - you'll only run 1 Team Challenge per race weekend whereas you'll run a number of Sprint/GT races each weekend.  If you're only going to run 1 Team Challenge for the year it may make more sense to just rent the Transponder rather than buy one for 1 event.

Hope that helps.

[Fast Eddy]

So, whaddya guys think?

Well, you kinda got your wish.

Are you gunna race next year Jordanthesandbagger?

[nafterclifen]

All Westhold transponders (yellow, blue and orange) will work, correct?

[Burt Munro]

All Westhold transponders (yellow, blue and orange) will work, correct?

I checked with Westhold......  The yellow rechargeable and orange hardwire transponders are still usable.  All our transponders down to our R/C car ones are completely compatible and can be read by the same decoder.

[gixxer188]

So why doesn't CCS just sell the old yellow ones to us that want them for less than the cost of a new blue one and rid themselves of their inventory?