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After Alex Martin DNF because of an engine failure, I personally thought they better change all the Star team engines in between moto's. Did J. Martin's tech ask for a new engine?
Was J. Martin's engine the same from moto one, or a new replacement?
When were the engines that went bad installed and who builds them?
If a map was so lean to cause an engine failure the rider should of been seriously lacking power?
So many questions and no answers.
I would likely guess they are running around 13:1 +/- 0.5 at WOT, the tuner will always start out a map rich then gradually go leaner and advance ignition to make more power. Less fuel, advanced ignition = hotter and more powerful combustion. Plus less fuel used in the race - if 12:1 and 13:1 makes the same power, the race team will go 13:1, for those 1-2 lbs weight savings alone.
These guys rebuild these motors enough they know how lean they can go to last 2 motos. And to make 250 pro motocross power, they are probably REALLY lean and really advanced ignition with really hot cams, and a very specific fuel and ignition map for the fuel they are using. To the point that maybe some crap in the fuel (or even a bad batch of fuel) the Martin's bikes were fed could have caused the issue.
If they park next to each other under the tent, they probably get filled 1/2 of the same 5 gallon tank each.
To me it would seem unwise to make changes without knowing the whole story. Heck, maybe they did know, I have no idea, but in that short of time between motos they may not have figured it out yet.
Pit Row
MotoGP - Yamaha said it was the controlled ECU that caused the motor to blow. Down the straight at the end there is a bump and full revs and throttle the controlled ECU was not fast enough to catch the over rev. So the both Yamaha's went into over rev conditions which never happened when they used there own ECU units.
Could be tuning, could be assembly.
Could be a part they have used for years but the supplier does one little thing different (heat treat or miss a slight machining tolerance) and some motors fail.
The vendor and customer may not even understand what really caused the failure for quite some time.
Why didn't they all fail?
Some riders bang off the rev limiter and some run between peak torque and peak power.
They both put different stresses on the motor so its logical that they may experience different failure scenarios.
What happened between motos?
Lets assume they knew what caused the failure (doubtful) and all the motors need to be swapped.
Why wouldn't they just change all the motors?
Think about the time frame required to swap motors with the new schedule (there are only 40 short minutes to retrieve bike, clean bike, swap a motor and complete normal race service. IMO this is simply ludicrous)
Now imagine you have to do this for a whole team with four bikes!
Star has been at this a long time and have finished hundreds of motos so I wouldn't say this is endemic of the brand.
One thing for sure this sport is a tough on riders as well as mechanics, its not now and never has been a sport for the faint hearted.
Sorry, I couldn't resist guys
Our needs were different, we didn't have a fuel issue, tank was big enough, and we were selling on the maps to chosen customers with engines we knew would take it as we had them built , a top line guy would need a mid season refresh, normal guys would run a season on oil changes and valve checks.
Running the thing on the edge of death to save weight on the fuel is bizarre, although I know people do it.
We learned early on that rider feel and laptime tells you more than a dyno sheet , people who had our maps and went to a dyno , all got told ' I can make more HP than this easy' and all came back with bigger numbers, and a slower bike.
He took the same logic to the SXV road race series, which was supposed to be a spec motor series , and they agreed to allow the maps as long as they were freely available, as the motors lasted better , and were faster.
I know these guys run on the edge , this is why running 250's is a money pit.
you can bet they know why , this 'bad batch of parts ' thing always pisses me off .
But mxking809 this Sports so fickle I'll put on the hat and just say it !!
It was fucking intentional
in order for pulp to maintain its integrity it cannot entertain this as fact
I get that
But ... No ... Those bikes were sabotaged
By who ? Probably Johnny O hahahaha
Star! Unlike the yosh #7 bike ! Where The team Purposely supplies a subpar bike because they are so pissed with all the money they've lost !
Star still wants to win!
Star didn't sabotage there own bikes, even if both guys are leaving the team!
But someone did!
Last year when marv lost the title due to bike failure ! That was bike failure !
Seeing the Martin brothers last weekend ? That was sabotage!
Oh, and if they mechanics "forgot" to change the tune from the last race they should be fired immediately.... Again, I don't think they are that stupid....
all the guys that rode it, nobody had ridden one faster.
I am aware that turbo applications dont apply, but the logic of where you really need to be, as opposed to where t you think you need to be is the same.. nothing ever got faster using less fuel.
Post a reply to: Star Yam 250F what failed?