MotoGP 2012

[merv]

Crasher here's a story for you about KR250's on Soup http://www.superbikeplanet.com/kr250.htm

Interesting Aaron was on the experimental 1992 model and they do say in the 80's belt drive was used but seeing its Yanks talking maybe it was only in USA.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Belt drive was used on the KR250s they ran in the States but I'll bet my left one that Ballington and Mang both used chain drive in their title wins.

Some of these bikes don't look like Eddie's...the last one certainly is though.



"The latter KR250s were known for their novel technical advances: the eighties bike had belt final drive, a single rear shock on one side of the swingarm, some had steel rotary valves, some fiberglass." As per usual practice with works bikes. Fucking hard to know what went down when!

[merv]

Yeah now where did that get us? That's right, how come back then Kawasaki could build race bikes and now they are nowhere? They do build these though http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N700_Series_Shinkansen so you'd think there'd still be some money in the family.

Why is it Honda and Yamaha are the only ones making it at the top level of MotoGP?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Yeah now where did that get us? That's right, how come back then Kawasaki could build race bikes and now they are nowhere?

Why is it Honda and Yamaha are the only ones making it at the top level?

They lost the love for it is my guess. Back in the day...when men were men and they rode two strokes...things were very different.

They all had a go. Dickie Lawton from Lawton And Boyle could go to Daytona with his home ported T500 and smoke the factories. Cagiva could build one. Swiss Auto...etc etc.

Introduce four strokes and electronics and say goodbye.

[merv]

You'd think with the electronics technology going into the other stuff KHI builds that it would still be easy peasy for them and they've fitted all the latest bells and whistles to the ZX10R.

Yeah so must be they lost the love for it - more beauty in a bullet train eh - don't think Honda compete with them there.

[Crasherfromwayback]

.

Yeah so must be they lost the love for it - more beauty in a bullet train eh - don't think Honda compete with them there.

To me the sport is fucked up now. Motorcycles and motorcyclists used to be all about getting stuck in, and doing it yourself. We were different from the av retard that drove a car. We'd fix our fucking bike on the side of the road, we'd at least have a go. We'd race bikes and learn ourselves how to make them go faster...tune them ourselves.

I have no issue with the march of modern technology...I just think it belongs in Superbikes (production based racing) not Grand Prix racing.

With the death of the all mighty two stroke the sport is dying with it.

[merv]

Wasn't it great when things weren't so professional.

I started out in trials and scrambles at Hawkes Bay club - entry on a Sunday was about 20 cents or 50 cents back then. No one worried about flash bikes and flash gear too much. I had lace up boots back then and at a Mini TT out at Cust when I was living in ChCh I broke a lace and simply replaced it with binder twine and kept on going for the day.

All sports are suffering the same thing with money being king now and when the GFC is on there just isn't enough to feed it. Also there are now so many other things to get involved with your time is split a lot more and the youth of today don't eat, sleep and breathe bikes like we did.

Are the youth of today watching MotoGP at all?

Haha we must be getting bored - bring on the next round.

[BMWST?]

To me the sport is fucked up now. Motorcycles and motorcyclists used to be all about getting stuck in, and doing it yourself. We were different from the av retard that drove a car. We'd fix our fucking bike on the side of the road, we'd at least have a go. We'd race bikes and learn ourselves how to make them go faster...tune them ourselves.

I have no issue with the march of modern technology...I just think it belongs in Superbikes (production based racing) not Grand Prix racing.

With the death of the all mighty two stroke the sport is dying with it.

i think the two strokes should have been allowed to stay in,and the four strokes been 750 or 800 cc from the start,with limited electronics...possibly "basic" traction control to try to limit the highsides.

[Crasherfromwayback]

i think the two strokes should have been allowed to stay in,and the four strokes been 750 or 800 cc from the start,with limited electronics...possibly "basic" traction control to try to limit the highsides.

I've seen as many (if not more) nasty highsides in the last couple of years as I did when two strokes were around.

[denill]

the youth of today don't eat, sleep and breathe bikes like we did.

Are the youth of today watching MotoGP at all?

Good points. They don't even buy/ride bikes like they used to either Merv. The place is going to hell in a hand cart.......................

[slowpoke]

I've seen as many (if not more) nasty highsides in the last couple of years as I did when two strokes were around.

I hear where you're coming from mate but I reckon the coverage has a lot to do with it. We see everything these days, different angles, super slo mo, gyro onboards, live, delayed and on the net etc etc. We get fantastic vision of when they do happen, and you get the occassional round like that shit Indy track but I don't think they are quite as frequent as the good ol' days. I picked up a DVD of the 1990 season recently: Rainey, Lawson, Gardner, Sarron, Schwantz and co and this stuff was happening every single race, and the commentators hardly miss a beat it's that normal. There sure are some corkers now though, and I reckon the higher corner speeds result in higher highsides (highersides?). Remember Lorenzo in his first year on the M1? Absolutely vertical, upside down 5 foot off the ground? I don't remember seeing them quite that vicious in earlier years.

[eelracing]

With the death of the all mighty two stroke the sport is dying with it.

i think the two strokes should have been allowed to stay in

I the good ol' days. I picked up a DVD of the 1990 season recently: Rainey, Lawson, Gardner, Sarron, Schwantz and co and this stuff was happening

Haha we must be getting bored - bring on the next round.

Times are tough,you have to take your two stroke kicks where you can get them.....

[manxkiwi]

Some of these bikes don't look like Eddie's...the last one certainly is though.



"The latter KR250s were known for their novel technical advances: the eighties bike had belt final drive, a single rear shock on one side of the swingarm, some had steel rotary valves, some fiberglass." As per usual practice with works bikes. Fucking hard to know what went down when!

They also tried gear driven counter rotating front discs! I saw one in the flesh on display in a shop window (might have been the 350?). Needless to say it didn't get too far. Not sure if they even actually raced it? But they did build it.

As they say, not much new these days.

[Badjelly]

Are the youth of today watching MotoGP at all?

Good points. They don't even buy/ride bikes like they used to either Merv. The place is going to hell in a hand cart.......................

Excuse me. Has this thread been renamed Old Codgers Anonymous while I wasn't looking?

If you hadn't put that smiley in denill, I'd be seriously worried.

[Shorty_925]

With the death of the all mighty two stroke the sport is dying with it.

I'd say that is correct, and its across all codes, road and off road not matter what it is.

The only code I see still going strong with 2-strokes is Trials. Honda(Montesa) run 4-strokes, though every other manufacture is still going strong with the 2 strokes.