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JPT
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JPT
Edited Date/Time 1/13/2012 1:06am
Zemke's running a Kate Honda at Monza this week-end. Be good to get an American out there again.
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BMSOB
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BMSOB 5/7/2008 2:42pm
5/7/2008 2:42pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:53pm
He's going to get a real lesson. The WSB guys don't fool around. Ask Max Biaggi. I love Monza. There's 10 guys who could win it on any given day. Good for Jake. Maybe he'll make something of it. The American superbike series sux. How come Ducati, Honda & Yamaha can be competitive in WSB & only Suzuki can win in the US? Lame. I'm so sick of a Yoshimura Suzuki sweep every race & if Miladin had any balls he would have gone to WSB years ago for some competition.
JPT
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JPT 5/7/2008 2:54pm
5/7/2008 2:54pm
Exactly. At the last WSB race there were four brands running in the front pack and Kawi was right behind. The last AMA race it's an all Suzuki podium with Jordan's bike running close before Yates crashed. The Mattt/Ben finish was fun but other than that it gets pretty old. If they don't spice it up we won't be getting the TV coverage anymore. Only 12 guys finished at the last AMA race. That's just sad.
WhKnuckle
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WhKnuckle 5/7/2008 2:54pm
5/7/2008 2:54pm
Maybe Mladin saw where Reed said, "Naw, I make enough without racing outdoors." And Mladin said, "Naw, I make enough racing right here where I can win easier."
yzthumpa
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yzthumpa 5/7/2008 3:11pm
5/7/2008 3:11pm Edited Date/Time 5/7/2008 3:12pm
Just curious if everyone is following DMG's plans to completely revamp the AMA roadracing scene....I'm a new roadracing fan so I don't know the history of things like I do in SX, but I stumbled across the developments and have been following it a bit. A couple of the OEM's are really freaking out over it, but their main goal is to tighten up the racing action. Superbike is pretty much gone next year, and the Liter-bike class will be a lot closer to the current Superstock (Michael Jordan's comments in a past interview - and those who echoed similar sentiments - may have influenced things a bit). I really like some of the ideas they are pushing (except for the endurance racing). I'd like to see the same thing happen in Supercross. Just doesn't make sense to me to have the fastest guys on far superior bikes - I'd much rather see a more level playing field.

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WhKnuckle
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WhKnuckle 5/7/2008 3:17pm
5/7/2008 3:17pm
I'm a little less stoked about all the "level playing field" deal. Everyone has the same rules, then let them innovate. Nascar has levelled the playing field to the point where it's nearly a crapshoot as to who wins. You don't WANT to win TOO much, Nascar will come along and tell you to raise your spoiler another inch.
JPT
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JPT 5/7/2008 3:24pm
5/7/2008 3:24pm
yzthumpa wrote:
Just curious if everyone is following DMG's plans to completely revamp the AMA roadracing scene....I'm a new roadracing fan so I don't know the history of...
Just curious if everyone is following DMG's plans to completely revamp the AMA roadracing scene....I'm a new roadracing fan so I don't know the history of things like I do in SX, but I stumbled across the developments and have been following it a bit. A couple of the OEM's are really freaking out over it, but their main goal is to tighten up the racing action. Superbike is pretty much gone next year, and the Liter-bike class will be a lot closer to the current Superstock (Michael Jordan's comments in a past interview - and those who echoed similar sentiments - may have influenced things a bit). I really like some of the ideas they are pushing (except for the endurance racing). I'd like to see the same thing happen in Supercross. Just doesn't make sense to me to have the fastest guys on far superior bikes - I'd much rather see a more level playing field.
TZ750's almost killed AMA RR back in the day. Superbike's brought it back, but now Suzuki seems on the verge of doing it again. Something's got to change but I hate the idea that we won't have a premere class that lines up with anything going on at a world level. How will an American rider get a shot if he's been riding what amounts to a Superstock or Formula Extreme bike?
BMSOB
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BMSOB 5/7/2008 3:33pm
5/7/2008 3:33pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:53pm
I personally dislike the de emphasis of the 1000cc class. It's the top class & hence the popularity of WSB. Moto GP changed from 500cc 2 strokes to 990cc 4 strokes partly because of the success of WSB & declining interest in a series dominated by a few good riders & 2 manufacturers. But here in the US where road racing is a second class event, (thanks AMA), the majority of bikes sold are 600cc machines. With the France family now in charge we will see the homogenization of the series into cookie cutter formulas just like NASCAR & their Grand Am series sports car races. Making the Daytona 200 a 600cc race completely ruined the race & destroyed the history & heritage of a balls out big bore class. I know the reason they supposedly changed it is because of the safety issues related to 200 mph speeds & tire wear on the big oval but rather than let the tire manufacturers & race teams work it out they pussified it. I don't want to see modified 600's with midgets for riders screaming around in formation. I want to see big bikes & riders with big balls struggling to control them & smoking the tires. Part of the problem here in the US is the lack of decent tracks. If you like infield road courses with safety cones all over them & short lap times stick around. Kinda like the difference between SX & outdoor MX.
JPT
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JPT 5/7/2008 3:48pm
5/7/2008 3:48pm
Having the 200 go to 600's broke my heart. What was once one of the most important RR events in the world is now a support race. I was there in '73 when they introduced the TZ's althought that first year they were 700's. Riders were there from all over the world. Seeing Ago screaming around the track was amazing.
WhKnuckle
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WhKnuckle 5/7/2008 5:17pm
5/7/2008 5:17pm
JPT wrote:
Having the 200 go to 600's broke my heart. What was once one of the most important RR events in the world is now a support...
Having the 200 go to 600's broke my heart. What was once one of the most important RR events in the world is now a support race. I was there in '73 when they introduced the TZ's althought that first year they were 700's. Riders were there from all over the world. Seeing Ago screaming around the track was amazing.
Man, that's a blast from the past. Didn't that first TZ700 actually have two crankshafts that were mated in the middle (basically, they were two TZ350 engines side by side)?
JPT
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JPT 5/7/2008 6:20pm
5/7/2008 6:20pm
JPT wrote:
Having the 200 go to 600's broke my heart. What was once one of the most important RR events in the world is now a support...
Having the 200 go to 600's broke my heart. What was once one of the most important RR events in the world is now a support race. I was there in '73 when they introduced the TZ's althought that first year they were 700's. Riders were there from all over the world. Seeing Ago screaming around the track was amazing.
WhKnuckle wrote:
Man, that's a blast from the past. Didn't that first TZ700 actually have two crankshafts that were mated in the middle (basically, they were two TZ350...
Man, that's a blast from the past. Didn't that first TZ700 actually have two crankshafts that were mated in the middle (basically, they were two TZ350 engines side by side)?
Yeah, the top ends were two 350's like you said. Jarno had won on a TZ350 the year before and I think they were a stop gap because Suzuki and Kawasaki had 750 2 strokes up.. In '74 they uncrated the OW which was the first true TZ750 and Roberts commented, "this thing's gonna piss a lot of people off". It was about 2/3 the size of the previous year's bike.

I saw a Roberts practice TZ at cycle swap meet one time. It was really small.
WhKnuckle
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WhKnuckle 5/7/2008 6:27pm
5/7/2008 6:27pm
I remember a guy - I can't recall who - that test rode a TZ350 and it was so peaky that he said that there were parts of the track that should have been wide open and hauling ass, but he "desperately downshifted in a vain search for a gear that the engine would find acceptable" - or words to that effect. I thought that was funny as heck.

If I remember right, those 350s didn't even have reed valves, but I may be wrong.
JPT
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JPT 5/7/2008 6:54pm
5/7/2008 6:54pm
I just looked at my first post and realized I was off a year. It was '74 I was there. Brain fart.

Remember when Emde won on the air-cooler 350? The bike actually siezed early in the race and he was coasting around and decided to try and restart and it did. Ended up winning the race. Those little twins were screamers, beating the 750s. Funny how things have turned around, four strokes coming back to be dominant again.
dougie
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dougie 5/7/2008 8:56pm
5/7/2008 8:56pm
yzthumpa wrote:
Just curious if everyone is following DMG's plans to completely revamp the AMA roadracing scene....I'm a new roadracing fan so I don't know the history of...
Just curious if everyone is following DMG's plans to completely revamp the AMA roadracing scene....I'm a new roadracing fan so I don't know the history of things like I do in SX, but I stumbled across the developments and have been following it a bit. A couple of the OEM's are really freaking out over it, but their main goal is to tighten up the racing action. Superbike is pretty much gone next year, and the Liter-bike class will be a lot closer to the current Superstock (Michael Jordan's comments in a past interview - and those who echoed similar sentiments - may have influenced things a bit). I really like some of the ideas they are pushing (except for the endurance racing). I'd like to see the same thing happen in Supercross. Just doesn't make sense to me to have the fastest guys on far superior bikes - I'd much rather see a more level playing field.
JPT wrote:
TZ750's almost killed AMA RR back in the day. Superbike's brought it back, but now Suzuki seems on the verge of doing it again. Something's got...
TZ750's almost killed AMA RR back in the day. Superbike's brought it back, but now Suzuki seems on the verge of doing it again. Something's got to change but I hate the idea that we won't have a premere class that lines up with anything going on at a world level. How will an American rider get a shot if he's been riding what amounts to a Superstock or Formula Extreme bike?
Refresh my memory. How did the TZs almost kill AMA RR?

I do remember hearing how hard it was to find parts in the 80s. I think the cranks went for about 200 hrs and were toast and I think I heard that the cases didnt last long and they quit manufacturing them so somebody started casting some up.

dougie
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dougie 5/7/2008 9:00pm
5/7/2008 9:00pm
Mod Killer
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Mod Killer 5/7/2008 9:12pm
5/7/2008 9:12pm
any time the OEM's are involved, the only level playing field is F1,/MotoGP/Prototype type rules.

when its just privateers, then production rules can be enforced.

lets face it, the AMA has never been one to stand up to the OEM's. if the OEM's pay the bills, they want their guys on the podium for the TV time. they can ensure this by running illegal equipment.

theres a reason the AMA doesnt want to run the same track as WSB in utah this year.

anytime you have production rules and OEM's, it becomes a case of who can cheat the best, not who's the most innovative. a la NASCRAP.
JPT
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JPT 5/8/2008 5:24am
5/8/2008 5:24am
dougie wrote:
Refresh my memory. How did the TZs almost kill AMA RR? I do remember hearing how hard it was to find parts in the 80s. I...
Refresh my memory. How did the TZs almost kill AMA RR?

I do remember hearing how hard it was to find parts in the 80s. I think the cranks went for about 200 hrs and were toast and I think I heard that the cases didnt last long and they quit manufacturing them so somebody started casting some up.

By being the only game in town for too long. Fan's like variety. All the other manufactors pretty much gave up after awhile. Same thing the XR-750 did to flat-tracking.
JPT
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JPT 5/8/2008 5:42am
5/8/2008 5:42am
Aw poop. From CN this morning.


Unfortunately, rain in Utah today ended up thwarting Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke’s plans to travel tonight to Italy where he was slated to take over for the injured Robby Rolfo on the Team Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR in the Monza round of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.

With bad weather in the Salt Lake City area this morning keeping the Miller Motorsports Park track wet until this afternoon, Zemke simply ran out of time and making a 6 p.m. flight to Italy was no longer feasable. Zemke’s priorities are to try and win the Formula Xtreme and Supersport titles for team owner Kevin Erion, and with the AMA scheduled to run on Miller’s long track for the first time next month, the test took on new importance.

dougie
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dougie 5/8/2008 6:11am
5/8/2008 6:11am
It was 1981 and Id taken Keith Codes Superbike school (back when he used the black twin shock 1980 KZ550's, just before the GPZ) then I went out and bought a 400 Honda Hawk twin. My first trip to a track was to Riverside where Id taken his school. He would allow me on the track between class sessions and charged me like $50 or something and Id rent a pair of leathers from him. My very first day on the track it was me on my 400, Mark Homchick on a TZ750 and John Ulrich and Bruce? Hammer on some 1000 cc Endurance bike (the first of a long line of Team Hammer bikes) Talk about getting your side covers sucked off!!! Id do that same routine a couple more times and then I went to Bates in Long Beach and bought my first set of leathers and joined the AFM an ARRA and had a 9 year run with them and WERA. Id end up going thru 5 bikes and a couple sets of leathers. before Id discover bikes with knobby tires Smile ............................fast foward a few years...Im out in Lucerne valley at a Duel Euro Scramble Its mid July and its like 115 degrees. Ive done my race and Im standing on this rock watching another race and talking with a couple other riders. Im telling them of how we handled the heat in an Endurance RR Id once done. About that time I get a tap on the shoulder and I turn to find its one of the guys who was on that same RR team, he too had found the knobby tire crowd...small world. sorry for the rambling but I was having a flasbak, thought Id share.
JPT
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JPT 5/8/2008 2:19pm
5/8/2008 2:19pm
Very cool Dougie, thanks.

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