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Honda got the 4t competitiveness issue in Premier Class Road Racing, 'sorted', through doubling the capacity of the 4Ts, decades later............
Yes, Soichiro and Co, 4ts are just so much better, especially when you can have double, or near double the capacity against those 'orrible', dity 2 strokes.......
For those interested, a recent Classic Racer article on the NR500 project, with commentary by Mick Grant, is a good read. Honda Did get a lot of info from the failed project, that has gone into subsequent 4ts. The same Classic Racer issue has an Alan Cathcart NSR500 V4 (2T) test reprint, and a Freddie Spencer interview on it, and his 85 double class World Championships. Ironically, I think Freddie was the only one of two (the other being a victory in a 200Km Endurance race at Suzuka - no not the 8 hour race) riders to give Honda a victory with the NR500 - was it at Laguna Seca in the then yearly 'demo' race there?.Too long ago for me to recall accurately. Classic Racer is a great magazine, by the way, as are most of the Pommie ones..
Don't think I regard it as something piss poor - it was an amazing effort at the time, and, as the sentence I wrote that I've re-quoted above implies, I don't believe it was a waste of effort.
I've just picked up another mag with a multi paged story on the NR500, that I will archive for many years to come.
Understand this, people, I'm Not anti 4 stroke.
I'm purely anti "handicap rule" classes.
There is absolutely No Need for modern 4ts to have extra capacity over 2ts
. Just look to the Moto 3 rules, that have quite sensible class rules (eg, 13,500 max RPM limit, amoungst many other controls) yet they are getting mid / high 50HP levels now. Hell, even Honda's initial N(ew) R(acer) 250, which was introduced a few years ago, had 47HP at 13,200 RPM.as std. It was intended as an entry level Road Racer - KTM just gazumped Honda by producing a base bike with far higher specs, at over double the price, and with approved "kits" that were double the price. Hey, that's racing, but it pissed Honda off, and caused them to get very serious in their current attempts to beat KTM / KTHusky.
Hell, I hate that 125s were dropped for far more complicated 250F Road Racers, but quite 'guilty' in that, and the dropping of 250 2Ts for a 600cc, single engine manufacturer, are Aprilia with their charging of mind boggling amounts for varioius levels of "kits", through to whole 'lease bikes'. Leaving the 'have nots' having not a hope in hell of being competitive. Full Kit / Lease Aprilia / Garelli 250s, were touching the 1,000, 000 Euro mark - just below the lease costs of a MotoGP Honda. I read that the 125 kits / lease bikes were well over 500,000 Euro to get a hold of.
Far more affordable, would be 125 2Ts, with strict controls / rules, than 250 4ts with controls. And, with modern tech, such as EFI / DFI, I feel 125 2Ts would be far more relevant to the worlds need for simple / clean / fuel efficient / affordable transport.
Actually, I think some. of the rules / controls used in Moto3, would be wise to apply to highest level MX series..
The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition evolving from the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner.[1]
This misfortune began after the Red Sox sold star player Babe Ruth, sometimes called The Bambino, to the New York Yankees in the off-season of 1919–1920.[2] Before that point, the Red Sox had been one of the most successful professional baseball franchises, winning the first World Series and amassing five World Series titles.[3] After the sale they went without a title for decades, even while the Red Sox won five American League championships from 1946 to 1986, as the previously lackluster Yankees became one of the most successful franchises in North American professional sports.[4] The curse became a focal point of the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry over the years.
Pit Row
MOTOCROSS BIKE CURRENTLY OWNED:
2009 - Honda 32.4%, Yam 26.5%, KTM 10.9%
2010 - Honda 30.5%, Yam 26.0%, KTM 12.1%
2011 - Honda 29.4%, Yam 25.0%, KTM 14.0%
2012 - Honda 29.2%, Yam 23.1%, KTM 15.1%
2013 - Honda 26.5%, Yam 23.0%, KTM 16.8%
2014 - Honda 25.9%, Yam 22.8%, KTM 18.3%
Source: VitalMX Member Survey
Has this fact affected their status as top dog in the off-highway vehicle market? Nope. Why spend millions to lure Roczen away from RCH?
http://world.honda.com/SuperCub/MobileSafari/2G/
Honda probably don't care how many bicycle's KTM makes either, since we are factoring that in :-)
If Honda did not met its sales targets for its off-road then they would probably stop producing them, but I would say that's unlikely to ever happen given they still sell a truckload.
That is why I posted on the origin of the "Curse of the Bambino" as many who are not in the US and baseball fans may not get the reference. Read it again and you will see what I'm talking about.
Honda has had many a rider and bikes more than capable of winning but since RC4 was dismissed SOMETHING always happens. Tomac this year, is a great example.
And for the record I rode Honda's for 12 straight years and have never owned a KTM.
THEY SAID IT: HRC HONDA TEAM MANAGER DAN BENTLEY
“I’m really bummed [about the fact that all of the HRC Honda riders were injured and missed Washougal]. In all my years with Honda, I can’t remember one time where we didn’t have any riders at all racing at an event. It’s been a tough season for us. Trey and Justin are both out with concussions, and Cole is still recovering from surgery on his hand. Hopefully this doesn’t happen again and we can have the Oklahoma boys back for Unadilla. In the meantime, we appreciate our loyal fans’ continued support and well wishes.”
Just imagine how many crf50's are sold in the world,for $70 over cost, they'd still prolly shit all over KTM sales...
It wouldn't surprise me if Honda sold more TRX420TM's than all of KTM's inventory. It's no contest on what they sell.
How they invest their money is completely different, KTM is brilliant, they know their industry, and their limit. Same as if Michelin made a factory effort into the industry. Why would they spend millions if they already shit all over dunlop and bridgestone and pirelli. Another analogy, FLY RACING... My favorite brand in the world, the only thing I wear. Does it benefit them to give RD1 $1.2 million a year vs canard 800k? No. Fly kicks ass b/c they spend money advertising, and training their employees, to spend time with their local community, sponsor local racing events, offer contingency programs, and distribute their money elsewhere. None of it is wrong, its just different tactics. Honda, will always win, look at how Rossi got fucked last year, if y'all could only hear the stories about how a 2nd rider on factory Yamaha got fucked over so many times...vs Honda can give equal equipment to both riders. Money, distribution, profit...3 things that weren't considered before the OP typed up this bullshit.
sorry for the rant, but cmon, yall cant think its some stupid fucking curse...Hell, our President is proof that you can in fact go Black and go back....
The more I learn about Honda the more I want nothing to do with them.
Them failing seems just. Bummer for the riders though.
Post a reply to: Is Factory Team Honda suffering from the Curse of the GOAT....Curse of the Bambino.