Moto-Brian

There lies the issue - if you cannot understand suspension, you need to get a basic understanding and establish a feel. Your magic wheels are going to be useless if you don't. Buying a set of wheels like you describe is WAY more than a $500 set. That $1000 difference or so can get you established with a REALLY decent set of fork internals. You won't need to go the 25mm way, but doing a set of them is going to be better use of money. There are PLENTY of suspension "gurus" out there. I thought you knew Matt well? If so, hang out with him. Follow him around. Hell, pay him a labor charge to help set your stuff up. Otherwise, there are plenty of guys you can talk to and get info from. Understanding suspension is only the beginning. Not very many racers understand it in a manner that makes them experts. Few do, but most ride and if they have an issue, they ask a guy like Mike at Thermosman, etc. You need to be able to understand, however, what the bike is doing. In doing that, you'll be able to understand that if the bike is chewing up a rear, it can be "this" or if the front chatters, it can be "that"... Point is that 10 track days w/o a good person helping you with suspension is a waste, as well. However, if you get a guy who knows what they are doing or can understand what you are having issues with, they can help a lot more than buying another aftermarket bit that you THINK will make you faster. Plus, 10 track days is only a shade more than buying those wheels and the rotors for them... Also consider this - suspension is only the start. You need to work on riding ability, getting a decent set of tires, getting the best map for the fuel and motor you have, getting the chassis dialed in correctly to suit YOU, getting pure and simple seat time to establish a sense of fluidness between you and your bike. It never ends... My suggestion is this - if you think you have the suspension sorted to the point you feel it is best for you, move to tires. Chris, those BStones are shit. They're a good tire for sure, but if you want to get faster, you want to beat the other guys, you need good tires. BStones ain't it. I'll be frank - you want to get faster? Pirelli, Michelin, or DLops are the choice. Pirelli is probably best at a club level due to the fact that more guys run them and you can obtain answers should issues arise. The way it stands now, you are being held back a bit and there's an easy way to fix it. I think the wheels you want aren't going to help any. You'll feel a difference, but if your tires are shit and fall off early and cause grief, all you have is fancy looking wheels when you come back to the pits. They'll look pretty, but tires are going to dictate whether or not you succeed... My $.02...

The rotational mass will make a difference, for sure. Noticable even. However, unless you need an extra edge because everyone else is doing similar things, there's no need. Know how many guys run Superbike with Superstock bikes? PLENTY... Wheels are a waste of money.

Oh, I meant for anyone else... I was excluding you...

Why waste that money on something that won't get you better results? Why not go and switch to Pirelli or another tire, test and find a set-up? The money those rims will cost (even at a deal) can buy a nice number of sets of tires... Not busting balls, but it is the ol' deal where guys dump a shit pile of money in their motors and exhausts only to forget about suspension and proper set-up. Same bike with two different riders - One with well set-up suspension and the other with 20 more HP than stock. Suspension wins. Buy stuff that makes sense and that will benefit you as a racer. If you are serious about racing, get better as a rider and put money where it makes sense.

Who really gives a shit? I mean, the media is such a pile of shit anymore. They search and search for stuff to report on. Tom Cruise can believe in whatever religion he wants. Why is that a bad thing that he believes in whatever he believes in so strongly? I've never seen him try and pursuade a bunch of people that they are going to hell if they don't believe in Jesus Christ. How we forget what the age of "Christianity" brought the world.... Leave him be. He's weird and even a little cooky at times, but who isn't in Hollywood??

We might go, but not sure. I got tickets and if we don't go, I can give them to someone who needs them. For sure for the Atlanta show as it is tied in with the SX event down there... Work is tough at times for me...

Actually, the motor is a Rotax similar to that of the Aprillia Mille motor. A little more refined, actually. Outside that, it is belt drive, but again, it isn't a true track day of sorts. More like an aggressive demo day and we police the groups. I like twins and am always willing to try new bikes. I've been harsh on the Buell (Ask Monte) and I think this is an opportunity where I can get my foot in the door with an OEM for future progression whether with HD or another OEM... I will honestly keep an open mind and my reporting of how the bike is won't be biased just because I am sorta working with the company. It's an STT deal anyways and we go through Monte on this. I'm excited. I'd love them to be ZX10s or ZX6s, but hey... Maybe that comes along at a later date?

If you drive like you ride, you'd have been so far behind me that you would have had to paint an image of my car in your side mirrors to feel like you were faster. That little box can embarrass a lot of "tougher" vehicles out there...

Again, only registered NON top ten in points or factory riders allowed. That means any Supersport, Superstock or even Superbike racers. Privateers is the target, but you get a few satelite team riders out there - ala Jake Holden...

Nope. Registered racers for the AMA weekend only. Low :30s is fine in the STT group. We were doing :33s -:35s the day prior... If we could have been in the race class and it meant something, faster would have been had... Well, Drew at least.

We'll see how it goes. I will have 7 different venues to ride the bike. I'm interested in how the motor will do. I'm completely NOT sold on the style of the bike, but if it can handle well enough, I'll be impressed and happy. If it doesn't, it's going to be a long year with it...

Come on guys... That's an unfair picture representing Flounder. That guy pictured is too tall and has way too much hair.

So, how does one get a job doing press release coverage for these websites and such? I am very interested not only to ride whatever motorcycle I can (I'll be traveling with the Buell guys throughout the US this year), but I'd like to start writing editorials on such things...

It's all what you can adapt to... as far as tires and pads go. I think Drew and I were using used take off sets and trying to get as many days as we could as to not have to buy new sets. I could wear new Michelins down through (yes, through) the wear marks on teh sidewalls and still run decent times. It's a track day venue - no need to worry about new tires and how fast they are in terms of lap times. IF you can pull a decent lap time, somewhere along the lines, traffic will spoil it so, work on corners, work on braking, and above all, focus on set-up. Brake pads and such are simple. Buy a new set of both if you can. At the beginner stage, use what you got currently. Times in Novice group usually don't dip much below 2 minutes. Street rubber is fine. OEM pads are fine. The faster you go, the better the stuff you should want. Typical of a race weekend, I'd burn up 2 sets of tires a weekend through practice and races (2 sprints) and wear pads 2-3 weekends on teh Vesrah SRJLs... For track days, I can make the same set of tires go 4 weekends and pads 1/2 the season... You just ride around the spinning and adjust to the lack of bite the pads have... I have never seen anyone get booted with 75% wear on their tires. We suggest tires if they are bad, but at the end of the day, we allow self evaluation in terms of ability so, we allow self evaluation of tires. If they are bald or something and it is going to be wet, we might pull you, but overall, 75% or more is safe...

As far as looks, race trim is looking pretty damn good. The sketch they have would have looked BADASS had they gone that route... Otherwise, it is definately unique...

For me, Honda has always been "middle of the road" in terms of performance and even a bit in the looks department. They do everything "ok", but nothing exceptional. It has been their design premise for YEARS. Now, it looks like they are trying to get back into it more. However, what makes me laugh is that when the CBR600RR came in 07 and was "completely revolutionary", all Honda did was essentially copy what was already out there. R6 and ZX6s were the top 600s and they essentially took elements of each and used them and then announced it was revolutionary. How? It had so many elements of each bike that it essentially FINALLY just now caught up. With the new R6, ZX6, and 08 GSXR600, it gets left in the middle again at best... The 1000 is a design that incorporates some weird design elements and I must say that even though it is as ugly in person as it is in pictures, at least Honda is going down a road more on their own than ever before. Sure, the exhaust might as well be a carbon copy of the R6 just bigger, but overall, we cannot say Honda is "middle of the road" in terms of design this time. Kudos to them. As far as performance, they still have a tough battle. The Kaw and GSXR will be top dogs again or a threat. Honda may have something in store, but again, it is just that they are NOW catching up. It's a shame, really as they have never been a solid contender for top Liter bike status in years since the awesome and raw CBR900RR (1993-1995 were the best 900 years)... Everything as far as comments to which is better looking, which is uglier is simply what each person's tastes are. Nothing more. Personally, I never look at these bikes as street bikes. I see race plastic and everything stripped off. They look beautiful and purposeful in race trim to me. Everyone bitches about ugly exhausts, mirrors, mud flaps, etc. All that shit can EASILY be torn off and something new put in place that will look so much better. So, take the BS cosmetic shit out and look at performance, look at technology (Don't get swept in with things like electronic steering dampers, etc), design, purposefulness of that design, etc...

Here's a 750... http://www.ohio-riders.net/showthread.php?t=7775 As far as how well it is set-up, it is as clean and ready as any bike like it. Dependable Superstock build and is about 140 HP to the ground on pump gas... Enough spares to equate out to about $2k in goodies...

Suit has been SOLD!!! Lock her down!!!

Dude, the exhausts you are listing are total shit. No power gains (minimal) and nothing but loud as hell. The Yosh isn't bad, but it isn't made through the Yosh race team division. You need to buy the high end Ti stuff to get it made by them. Otherwise, it is farmed out like everyone else's low end systems. Here's some suggestions: No particular order: 1) Akro. 2) Arrow - used and developed by World Superbike and Supersport on factory supported Honda teams. 3) Leo - great quality 4) Jardine. They have a twin cannister set-up for the Triumph 675 and it looks beautiful. Full carbon, etc. Outside that, you are buying exhausts from the low end of teh spectrum. If it is looks you are after, buy two Arrow cans off Ebay, cut them to the length you want and get a good welding guy to set it up to slip on to the stock system. Don't waste your money on the shit systems. Please...

:beathorse:Wow... almost 3 months later...

Yup, but if that's what he wants, Pony is the best place for a deal... My personal opinion is that you can take the cannister, cut it shorter and repack and it would be better. However, that's a bit of work and time consuming... You could also buy a better cannister and use it with the set-up you buy, or whatnot...

Not sure where you can find a dual system (Or why you'd want to...) but, Iron Pony has a D&D clearance special going on. For the savings they have on these FULL systems, you could buy what you needed and fabricate what you desire... D&D cannisters are total shit, though...

By end of the year.

The bikes are going to be factory supplied. Think the team Melandri rode for - step down Honda... They won't get the cool newest parts right away, but it isn't going to be a bastard team, either. With signing Toseland and Edwards, they have something they are offering to make these guys come aboard. This isn't what Guintolli rode last year...

That thing ain't got shit on this beauty... I go look at it next week!!! (seriously) http://dayton.craigslist.org/bar/539499971.html