Why AMA road racing will never be big time...

[EX#996]

I remember someone beating Key at Blackhawk. #158 I think, flat black sv with red trim.  Well, it was raining, but he was proud of the accomplishment nonetheless. As would anyone.

Paul has finished in front of Ed, twice (mechanicals don't count in my book).  Both times were in the rain.  Ed was so cool and even signed Paul's first place trophy "I want a rematch, this time in the dry."   ;D

That's the next goal, to beat the little guys on a bright sunny day.  Either that, or I'm going to need to brush up on my rain dancing skills.

 ;D

[stumpy]

I can give rain dance lessons, I'm already in dance  training for AMA Road America ;D Should be nice and rainy on April Road America....Oh the fun



Stumpy

[motobenco]

That's fine, bring on the rain.  

[Super_KC124]

Ed Key on his LW Superbike or Ed Key on his LW Superbike with 100 pounds added to it.

Which one would he be fastest on?

Dave?

K3?

Dawn?

 ;)

[Protein Filled]

I remember someone beating Key at Blackhawk. #158 I think, flat black sv with red trim.  Well, it was raining, but he was proud of the accomplishment nonetheless. As would anyone.

That was Matt Malterer.
Ed hates the rain. Heck, I beat Ed in the rain last year!

Steve Atlas beat Ed Key in the dry as a novice at Gateway. Brian Lacy beats him at Gingerman. Jesse beat him at Blackhawk. Ed is very fast and knows his setup, but he is not invincible you know!

[spyderchick]

The cool thing about Ed: When you battle with him and beat him, He'll be the first to congratulate you!   :D

[the_weggie_man]

OK people, break it up, move along, there's nothing to see here............

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Power to weight ratio is a real factor.

     My brother races his car at the local 1/4 mile dragstrip and has one of the fastest truely street driven cars in the area (9.0 second 1/4). We have a software program that calculates Horsepower and Torque that different engine configurations will produce and it's extremely accurate. Another capability of this software is to calculate 1/4 mile times based on the combination of Hp, tire diameter, & weight of the vehicle, the accuracy of this program is amazing as well! It comes down to the simple fact that if you do nothing more than change the weight of the vehicle it will change the 1/4 mile time at a predictable rate (whether adding or subtracting weight). As long as you are able to apply the power to the ground you will see faster 1/4 mile times by adding Hp as well, slower times will be the result of Hp removal.

     I recently saw a news program on SPEED that dealt with this very subject and how real of an issue it is. They said that numerous racing bodies are considering/implementing/or have implemented handicapping rules concerning weight. The idea was that most forms of racing impose some type of weight restrictions, usually being a mimimum standard, and that costs have skyrocketted as a result due to the use on many unobtanium parts trying to achieve the absolute lowest weight allowable. Another very important factor was that many very talented racers who are larger framed are not even considered in many cases due to their personal weight, this is a major factor in why so many factory racers are smaller individuals (power to weight ratio). Motorcycle GP racing and F1 were 2 of the racing bodies considering the change which would impose a standard racer weight that each vehicle would have to meet thru either the operators personal weight or ballast on the machine somewhere. I believe that GP was considering 170 lbs. as a rider minimum weight being carried on the bike (example= 130 lb rider + 40 lbs of ballast weight on the bike - no matter what the weight of the bike alone is).

     As far as why 600's beat 1000's on some tracks, yes it's the rider. I think it's a pretty generally accepted fact that the lower the Hp of a bike the easier it is to turn due to not having so much power to be able to break the rear tire lose with. There is definately a point where you pass that point of easily controllable power to having to be careful with the right wrist, the more that comes into play the less people you will see able to apply that power to the ground controllably. Setting the track record on a 1000 at BFR is a sight to behold and gains much respect from myself. There are a number of people that ride close to that time on a 600 which is impressive, but ultimately with less risk than was required on the 1000 which has power radiating off of it. I'm certainly not trying to take anything away from those riders on the 600's, but until they can do the same feat on a 1000 I have to say that when your talking about lap records the 1000 rider was truely talented in being able to keep that thing on the track.

     So does power and weight really make a difference? yes. But even more so is the ability of the rider to be able to apply what they have to the track. I personally am quite heavy and saw an instantaneous reduction in lap times in the 1st 5 laps I rode on my 750 after riding my 600 for a few years. My 750 has about 30 more Hp than my old 600 and I was instantly 4 seconds a lap faster once I got on a bike with more Hp. At Daytona I was in the Unlimited GP race and had the experience of being next to Jamie Hacking coming out of the infield. We were next to each other as we both accelerated out onto the back straight and he walked away from me like my bike had a spark plug wire off. This was a great example of power to weight ratio, not only is he much lighter than myself but his bike has more Hp than mine. Add 80 pounds to his bike, lower the Hp to the same as mine, and I bet he wouldn't be turning the same times that he does now. :)

[Scotty Ryan]

Thought it might be interesting to pull this back up. I'm sure there are a few people on the board now that wern't aroung when this post was started.....

Let the good times begin :)

[Super Dave]

LOL!  I was wondering who would start such a thread.   

[Gino230]

Well, at least with the recent Suzuki crankshaftgate controversy, we know that DMG will enforce the rules with a little more moxie.

[GIGOLO]

A.M.A.=...ALWAYS MASTICATE ALMONDS