All those in favour of standard Superbikes?

[Biggles08]

I just rode at Puke today on my old mans stock gixer thou, i was doing pretty fast times considering the traffic, the bike felt safe as and there was no problem with tyre wear

Bahhhh!!! you were holding me up! hehe

[Robert Taylor]

I just rode at Puke today on my old mans stock gixer thou, i was doing pretty fast times considering the traffic, the bike felt safe as and there was no problem with tyre wear

Try the same at Taupo and Manfield, Pukekohe doesnt challenge the tyres as much

[Robert Taylor]

Personnaly I think there is some middle ground somehwere "in little ole NZ" for machine specification limitations , tyre controls etc. (some of this has already been done since the 2007/8 sereis)
Superbike racing is going to be friggen expensive regardless of the rules(thats motorsport for ya !) -

In my opinion , people that argue that the bikes in stock form cant be raced safely are stretching the truth, - & also they are not doing the sport any favours by making those statements considering the "PC safetycrats will pick up on this stuff & use to push their own barrow". Along with that the governing body must strongly consider safety always of course.

Add to this issue that the industry & also the industries suppliers need to be considered. Maintaining there involvement in the sport is also very important, so its a hard nut to crack without pissing someone off along the way...........

I suppose we need to ask the question "if the rules of specification were changed - would this actually result in more competitors competing at national level" ? (& by that I mean all rounds of nationals)

My suspicion is that it will make little difference - due to the hard reality that racing this class of machine at all national level rounds , requires a skill set & level of commmitment that many club racers have no intention of achieving.

Its a toughy - but certainly worthwhile debating.

GlenW

So you race with top shelf Ohlins kit because?................

But quids up for your last paragraph, that nails it perfectly.

[Robert Taylor]

Bullseye!

If I was Brian Bernard, with a fist full of Yamaha dollars to spend I'd probably be looking overseas for riders too. Looking at the Superbike ranks in NZ, bearing in mind that success is required to ensure I get another fistful next year, the locals who have done well on previous Nationals campaigns are pretty thin on the ground.

People knock him for getting in O/S riders but what alternative does he have? If I was spending 10's of $1000, and risking my livelihood I'd want to see some runs on the board too.

Actually that fistful is rather smaller this season.

[Robert Taylor]

So you race with top shelf Ohlins kit because?................

But quids up for your last paragraph, that nails it perfectly.

Sorry, second to last paragraph

[CHOPPA]

Try the same at Taupo and Manfield, Pukekohe doesnt challenge the tyres as much

Na your right, i will be riding it at taupo this weekend and manfield the week after so it will be a good test.

BTW.... Im not challenging the fact that the suspension in the 10 (ohlins) isnt great and i am def faster with it....

[codgyoleracer]

Sorry, second to last paragraph

After re-reading my post - I quite like the whole thing actually ! :-)

I use the lovley Ohlins gear & Kerry Dukie's excellent service because it allows me go slightly faster & is of course more easily adjusted to variable conditions & tracks. If the rules didnt allow it - I wouldnt use it & personally I wouldnt be to concerned about that.
Nevertheless i race in a formula class - & this is the one class that should most likely allow these types of mod's.
But as this thread is about "production racing" - then there are many other options available.
IMO - they dropped the ball on this one with Pro-Twins, - a great opportunity to create a "stock class".

Glen Williams

[roogazza]

But as this thread is about "production racing" - then there are many other options available.
IMO - they dropped the ball on this one with Pro-Twins, - a great opportunity to create a "stock class".

Glen Williams

So true , I agree there Glen . I was really hopeful Pro twins would be a Prod class. Then we had people who wanted a pipe , then a shock and "I can't ride those cos they're dangerous" Jeeze!
What is it two seasons now and it isn't working yet ? (6 or 7 bikes is all I have seen).
Production got NZ racing booming from the sixties through to when, late eighties ? If you are old enough to remember I bet you consider yourself lucky ? I'm sure it's the answer . Gaz.

[wharfy]

So true , I agree there Glen . I was really hopeful Pro twins would be a Prod class. Then we had people who wanted a pipe , then a shock and "I can't ride those cos they're dangerous" Jeeze!
What is it two sessions now and it isn't working yet ? (6 or 7 bikes is all I have seen).
Production got NZ racing booming from the sixties through to when, late eighties ? If you are old enough to remember I bet you consider yourself lucky ? I'm sure it's the answer . Gaz.

Maybe I should get one of those then, a top 10 finish assured

In all seriousness I was looking at pro-twins (the Hornet won't last forever) .

Does anyone have a theory on why they haven't taken off ?

[jrandom]

Does anyone have a theory on why they haven't taken off ?

(a) Building a winning bike isn't cheap, due to the rules allowing egg spensive kit.

(b) It's hard to be fast on an SV650 when you're a fat bastard.

[wharfy]

Hmmm.. I have just been reading the pro twin rules, you can change quite a bit eh ?

I THINK I can figure out what "undercutting of gears" is, but why would you ? It sounds VERY expensive, the same for "slotting cam wheels"

Is anyone running anything apart from Suzuki SV650's ?

[k14]

Does anyone have a theory on why they haven't taken off ?

Who says the class hasn't taken off? Last round at ruapuna there were 7 or 8 pro twins racing quite happily in F3. There is a similar amount that raced in the vic club series. Yes last nationals the class numbers did get as low as 5 or 6 but that was the first year of competition. Have a look at the numbers again this year, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Edit: I just looked at the results and there were actually 14 starters in pro twins in the first race at ruapuna the other weekend. That is a significant increase from last year when there was maybe 3 or 4 at the club meetings!

[roogazza]

That is good news K14, hope it happens for the North Is.
Yep Wharfy , you could probably pull a fifth at the mo !!!!!!!!! But then, thats a bit like being world famous in Taihape. Gaz.

[wharfy]

That is good news K14, hope it happens for the North Is.
Yep Wharfy , you could probably pull a fifth at the mo !!!!!!!!! But then, thats a bit like being world famous in Taihape. Gaz.

Ahhh... I have some fond memories of Taihape ( well two actually, mostly they are pretty shitty )

[wharfy]

Who says the class hasn't taken off? Last round at ruapuna there were 7 or 8 pro twins racing quite happily in F3. There is a similar amount that raced in the vic club series. Yes last nationals the class numbers did get as low as 5 or 6 but that was the first year of competition. Have a look at the numbers again this year, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Edit: I just looked at the results and there were actually 14 starters in pro twins in the first race at ruapuna the other weekend. That is a significant increase from last year when there was maybe 3 or 4 at the club meetings!

17 pro twins entered the VMCC winter series, but only 7 did more than two meetings and it looks like 5 did all rounds of the last Nationals.