MotoGP 2012

[denill]

Nice pic of Graziano.

Yeah, nice style................

What's he riding?

[gav]

Wonder how Ducati feel about Rossi being seen on YZF's and KXF's??!!

Or more to the point, why would you approve of your star rider dicking about on a MX bike when the guy basically screwed his 2011 season by injuring his shoulder in a MX accident? Is he really that stupid?

And someone posted that Stoner waited until the Honda was sorted before leaving Ducati .... ummm, no, he didnt leave Ducati because the bike was bad. He had made his mind up to leave Ducati after they chased after Lorenzo when Stoner was out of action. It was the money on offer that was wayyyyy more than they were paying Stoner that pissed him off. He had pretty much signed with Honda after the first couple of races of the 2010 season. To his credit he couldve just cruised through the year knowing he was leaving, but he still ended the year showing that the Stoner/Ducati was as fast as anyone else out there. The front end issues with the Ducati were there when Stoner was riding, hence his front end crashes, but when that happened it was considered Stoners' fault for crashing
The main reason Stoner was so fast in 2007 was he finally had a decent front tyre he could use (Bridgestone). When he rode the Honda the previous year he was getting the basic Michelin tyre and wasnt getting the exclusive tyres that the "better" riders got. Again hence his crashing record, but again that was considered a fault with Stoner.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Or more to the point, why would you approve of your star rider dicking about on a MX bike when the guy basically screwed his 2011 season by injuring his shoulder in a MX accident? Is he really that stupid?

And someone posted that Stoner waited until the Honda was sorted before leaving Ducati .... :

Yeah it's a tricky one though mate. Moto-x, trials and flat tracking are the best form of practice/training for being better on road racing bikes. All the best racers doit. Hard to rap them in cotton wool AND expect them to kick arse.

The Stoner haters will always be a hatin mate. The guy would have to win twenty titles in a row to even quieten them down a notch.

[NZsarge]

The Stoner haters will always be a hatin mate. The guy would have to win twenty titles in a row to even quieten them down a notch.

More like 30!

[gav]

Yeah it's a tricky one though mate. Moto-x, trials and flat tracking are the best form of practice/training for being better on road racing bikes. All the best racers doit. Hard to rap them in cotton wool AND expect them to kick arse.

The Stoner haters will always be a hatin mate. The guy would have to win twenty titles in a row to even quieten them down a notch.

I know a lot of the guys do it (MX "training") but why would you risk it if you were Rossi? How does it help? Fitness? Be better off doing gym work particularly for at his age and with his recent injuries. Throttle control? MX? hmmm, trials, yeah without a doubt. But would be better off doing the XR100 stuff ala Kenny Roberts ranch. Read an interview with Graham Noyce a while ago, an ex World 500 MX champion, and he was asked about this, using MX as training for road racing. Basically he thought it was bollocks, the main reason they do it is its fun, and gets them out of the gym.
Wonder if Rossi has TC etc on his MXer ?

[slowpoke]

I know a lot of the guys do it (MX "training") but why would you risk it if you were Rossi? How does it help? Fitness? Be better off doing gym work particularly for at his age and with his recent injuries. Throttle control? MX? hmmm, trials, yeah without a doubt. But would be better off doing the XR100 stuff ala Kenny Roberts ranch. Read an interview with Graham Noyce a while ago, an ex World 500 MX champion, and he was asked about this, using MX as training for road racing. Basically he thought it was bollocks, the main reason they do it is its fun, and gets them out of the gym.
Wonder if Rossi has TC etc on his MXer ?

Hmmmm virtually all the road racing champions adopt MX riding as a good training technique, and you choose to listen to the guy who's not a road racing champion? Should we ask the plumber about the sharemarket?

Words straight out of Alistair Seeley's gob after winning the BSB Supersport title (won Superstock 1000 last year) and scoring a Superbike ride with TAS Suzuki for next year:

"...I'll be doing plenty of motocross and trials riding to hone my throttle control." (more at www.mcnews.com.au)

From an interview with Cal Crutchlow about living on the Isle of Man:

"Yeah, we have a good track over here. We go out everyday in the morning and do cycling or running, and then in the afternoons, it's always Enduro with David Knight or Motorcross or Trials Riding so we have a fantastic time over here, as well as living here. Also there's tax benefits, as well." (from http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/...6crutchlow.htm)


I think you're seriously underestimating the training these guys put in:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2011/Jan/...piescolumn.htm
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Dec/081204a.htm
http://www.cycling.org.au/?ID=39381

[gav]

The point was that the top MX guys, and Graham Noyce was an HRC World MX champion, dont race MX to get fit, they train in the gym, also his point was, what skills is leaping around off jumps on a dirt bike going to help a road racer? As I said most guys do it because its fun and beats going to the gym or hammering out the miles on a push bike, oh the fact they get a free dirt bike probably doesnt help.
I was also questioning why Valentino when hes probably not as skilled as some of the other guys who rode MX as juniors would want to risk further injury to fragile parts of his body ie shoulder, knees etc when he has a big year ahead of him on the Ducati?

[denill]

The Stoner haters will always be a hatin mate. The guy would have to win twenty titles in a row to even quieten them down a notch.

More like - Never.

[gixerracer]

The point was that the top MX guys, and Graham Noyce was an HRC World MX champion, dont race MX to get fit, they train in the gym, also his point was, what skills is leaping around off jumps on a dirt bike going to help a road racer? As I said most guys do it because its fun and beats going to the gym or hammering out the miles on a push bike, oh the fact they get a free dirt bike probably doesnt help.
I was also questioning why Valentino when hes probably not as skilled as some of the other guys who rode MX as juniors would want to risk further injury to fragile parts of his body ie shoulder, knees etc when he has a big year ahead of him on the Ducati?

Have you ever seen footage of rossi on a mx bike he is very very handy indeed.
MX needs a hell of a lot more brut strength than road racing does and thats why the MX lads do more wieghts in the gym.
Road racing is a different type of fitness but you can do all the gym work in the world and if you dont ride a bike for a while as they will not be now because of the testing ban the best way is to ride motocross bikes to keep you muscle memory.
If you think these guys dont go to the gym your kidding yourself they would be there most days of the week.
Why shouldnt they be allowed to ride and enjoy riding a bike in there spare time as im sure the pressure of world championship racing isnt much fun at all (esp on that red thing)

[slowpoke]

And if they're wanting to maintain/practice their throttle/brake/bike control skills I'm sure they'd rather be doing it at 50-80kph on dirt than 150-180kph on tarmac.

[denill]

And if they're wanting to maintain/practice their throttle/brake/bike control skills I'm sure they'd rather be doing it at 50-80kph on dirt than 150-180kph on tarmac.

It is an interesting topic and I'm with the 'Riding improves the rider, no matter what they ride or where they ride' school. Sure 'big air' jumps are not going to do much for a road racer so the choice of extra curricular training is relevant.

After saying that - this writer is convinced that trials riding is a big help to ALL motorcyclist's skills. Not just competitors either.

[Crasherfromwayback]

It is an interesting topic and I'm with the 'Riding improves the rider, no matter what they ride or where they ride' school. Sure 'big air' jumps are not going to do much for a road racer so the choice of extra curricular training is relevant.

After saying that - this writer is convinced that trials riding is a big help to ALL motorcyclist's skills. Not just competitors either.

If you can ride trials well, you can ride anything well.

[eelracing]

The point was that the top MX guys, and Graham Noyce was an HRC World MX champion, dont race MX to get fit, they train in the gym, also his point was, what skills is leaping around off jumps on a dirt bike going to help a road racer?

Noycey is a great one for quotes,he's the equivalent of roadracing's Wayne Gardner in that respect.In fact Graham earlier in the year was quoted saying that SuperCross was a waste of time due to the fact that there was too much air-time and little actual racing..."all you can do in the air is fiddle with your goggles and play with your knob".Cracked me up that did,but he does have a point.
As for MX training being beneficial for roadracing most people tend to forget the enjoyment factor and gixxerracer hits the nail with the below comment.Rossi and Co just love to ride and it's as simple as that at the end of the day and why limit yourself to just one area of motorcycling.

Why shouldnt they be allowed to ride and enjoy riding a bike in there spare time as im sure the pressure of world championship racing isnt much fun at all

Mick Doohan was prob the hardest trainer of all time and not only in the gym.Also being a hard cunt he never could accept defeat even when anyone else would of bailed out long ago.

[Badjelly]

Noycey is a great one for quotes,...

All good points, probably, but I can't read a word of the yellow text against the Light Universe background.

[manxkiwi]

All good points, probably, but I can't read a word of the yellow text against the Light Universe background.

Drag your cursor over the text (left button down). Turns it blue.