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The death of roadracing on US TV


motociclista

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I 100% agree that the modding it takes to make the R1 competitive is extreme, however the rule book does allow it. The rule book is vague, however any other team (including RD) can modify a frame in the same fashion and be within the rules. We've been very forthcoming with what we did, and if anyone thought it was questionable I am sure that AMA would have given us a call.

It is a superbike class so I personally I don't mind the mods and actually wish you could do more. All that said I believe that if you put Josh on the KTM, EBR, Suzuki, or Honda he would win superbike races. The guy is a stud and Yamaha are extremely smart for keeping him on the bike.

I'll be at Indy this weekend as well. If you want to meet up and look over Josh's bike, let's do so. I can walk you though what we did to ours, and maybe you can point out what you think is questionable on your end.

That would be cool! Like I said, I don't care what they do. But, if you can explain a few things, that would be cool. Like I said, I will be there and try and grab a few measurements. And who knows? It may not be the same one he races, but it sure as hell looks to be.

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It relates more. The cars tug at heart strings. Again, you guys are all missing one key ingredient - motorcyclists are a minority vs. car owners. You were 16 and look around the group of 16 year old kids and count the number of motorcycles. Kids want cars, they grow up with cars, they see cars, they get it in the system at an early age.

I'm a car guy, passionate for the car racing and have a love for them. The sounds of a V8 as a kid at the track was all I needed and I was already wanting to race cars at an EARLY age. race cars and toys, etc.

Yes, my kids are around bikes and want to race bikes and love them. Toys, clothing, what we do on weekends, they ride, etc. But, my son is a minority in that regard at school...

It's a show and NASCAR does a great job. It has a LOOOOONG history and again, was handed from generation to generation. My grandfather use to run moonshine, my dad street raced and drag raced, friends of our family were road race car guys. It was all about cars for me growing up. I didn't get into bikes until I was 18...

Cars are part of our growing up and life here in the US. Big V8 powered American Muscle. NASCAR plays on that and they do a damn good job.

...

I must have been weird growing up. I raced R/C cars with a passion and primarily raced on road and dirt courses, and rarely ovals. When they switched road days from Friday to Sunday morning, and Fridays became oval days, I was pretty bored and stopped.

I also grew up hunting for NASCAR on tv when it was still rare, but I was blown away when I saw my first GTP race, and nearly abandoned NASCAR for quite a while until I figured out GTP on TV was even more rare than NASCAR back in the mid 80's. (we never had cable growing up).

I see what you say about kids not being into bikes though. I grew up seeing them on tv once in a while and it was a novelty at best. I had parents who always badmouthed every rider on the road as putting himself in immediate danger, and that kept me away for a loooong time. I never got much into following MC racing until I was in college and had cable, even then it was spotty since there was so much else going on.

But about the AMA, I remember even 10 years ago hearing ads on the radio for the Mid Ohio race and thinking it sounded pretty cool, but never went. Now that I go, there's no advertisement, and the only people there are the ones already in the know. Most of my (riding) friends don't even know Mid Ohio exists.

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This is seriously annoying - really.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=50889

I pay extra now just for Speed and to add BeIN, it will be another $12/month. Somehow the whole appeal of this is leaving me. Might dump it all and just save the money for other motorcycle related activities instead of sitting on my butt watching it.

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without totally derailing the thread, does anyone know if there have been any major rule changes in WSBK this year to keep them considerably slower than the CRT MotoGP bikes?

With Dorna calling the shots in both series, I can only assume that they'll push MotoGP as the premier class, and WSBK as somewhat different (meaning more stock, and a lot slower).

The problem already arising is that the MotoGP class has gotten so expensive, that it's dying a slow painful death, and the whole CRT principle is using production-based engines, like WSBK... I understand that the chassis used for CRT bikes are custom, like the MOTO GP bikes, but I don't believe the CRT machines are really that much quicker than the WSKB riders. At least they weren't last season. I suppose that could change...

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My thought is that you can't have a WSBK machine pulling a faster trap speed than the CRT bikes on the front straight.

Frankly, the WSBK machines shouldn't be within 3 seconds a lap of the CRT bikes. I always suspected that both championships did their best to ensure that they never used the same configuration of the same track explicitly to avoid direct comparisons.

the tires are a significant difference as well, but I wish they'd do away with spec tires in MotoGP too. Let competition dictate.

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without totally derailing the thread, does anyone know if there have been any major rule changes in WSBK this year to keep them considerably slower than the CRT MotoGP bikes?

With Dorna calling the shots in both series, I can only assume that they'll push MotoGP as the premier class, and WSBK as somewhat different (meaning more stock, and a lot slower).

The problem already arising is that the MotoGP class has gotten so expensive, that it's dying a slow painful death, and the whole CRT principle is using production-based engines, like WSBK... I understand that the chassis used for CRT bikes are custom, like the MOTO GP bikes, but I don't believe the CRT machines are really that much quicker than the WSKB riders. At least they weren't last season. I suppose that could change...

Using the last test as an example and understanding the surface has changed and variables will exist, Checa's time would have had him 6th on the grid of the MotoGP time sheet... CRTs are needing to be killed off...

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My thought is that you can't have a WSBK machine pulling a faster trap speed than the CRT bikes on the front straight.

Frankly, the WSBK machines shouldn't be within 3 seconds a lap of the CRT bikes. I always suspected that both championships did their best to ensure that they never used the same configuration of the same track explicitly to avoid direct comparisons.

the tires are a significant difference as well, but I wish they'd do away with spec tires in MotoGP too. Let competition dictate.

If that's the target lap time difference, WSBK should be ditched because the WSSK machines are only 2 seconds a lap slower than WSBK machines...

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OK. DirecTV users. You can add a sports pack for $12.99. I called DirecTV and explained that I could switch to DISH for less money all around if they didn't work with me on adding BEIN. They initially offered a $10 credit but then gave me a $15 credit for 12 months since I also do AutoPay. Just passing it on in case you are interested.

This is the comparable package on Dish.

DISH Packages | America's Top 250

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