Posts
39
Joined
11/9/2010
Location
ZW
Edited Date/Time
1/21/2012 2:01am
With some amusement I read and heard that Honda replaced the engines after each moto at Freestone. Presumably also the tires and chain, I'll guess also the rear shock and handlebars and levers and cables. I wonder about the frame and swingarm.
Does anyone have the factual rules on what can and cannot be replaced between motos (AMA)? Are there any limits at all?
Is there a tech inspection of the bikes before moto 2?
There is just something nagging on my sense of reasonableness. I'm thinking I must be naive to even entertain the notion that, hey, that Honda is a fast and quick machine, maybe I'll get one. But if it reliably lasts only one moto that'd be a bummer.
Does anyone have the factual rules on what can and cannot be replaced between motos (AMA)? Are there any limits at all?
Is there a tech inspection of the bikes before moto 2?
There is just something nagging on my sense of reasonableness. I'm thinking I must be naive to even entertain the notion that, hey, that Honda is a fast and quick machine, maybe I'll get one. But if it reliably lasts only one moto that'd be a bummer.
Or northeast
The Shop
So the next time I see a 'factory' _XXXXX_ fail at a(n) _YYYYY_ event, I can assume that the best _YYYYY_ engine that _XXXXX_ can put together has not managed to survive 30(ish) minutes use? I'm impressed.
here are your lookup tables
X: Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, TM, Aprillia, Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Nissan,
Y: Nascar, Dirt track, MotoGP, World Superbike, FIM, AMA, Formula1
there are mechanical's in every motorsport dude
Solid logic.
MOTO2 - Sealed engines, one per bike, returned to Honda after every other race meeting. That's aproximately 5 hours.
30 min's ? - outstanding.
If Honda's factory race team wants to change engines between motos and KTM doesn't, does that mean that a production KTM engine is twice as reliable as a Honda?
Engines grenade, sometimes unexpectedly. Something could start coming apart in the 1st moto, undetected, causing a DNF in moto 2. That shit can cost them a championship. Sounds like they're just being very thorough, kudos for them if they are better prepared than the competition.
Ti Axles...lighter "seat" bases & foam, wheels, "springs", Foot-pegs-clevis's and pins (2 pound savings)...fasteneres...Ti and Aluminum...to be truthful...Honda's the one team that can actually make the bike "too light"...and...Honda add's a LOT LESS CRAP!
Engine issues may have something to do with running HUGE compression numbers and making a helluva lot more power than the forgings, castings and internal hardware can take...for long...then there's the Honda-head design...it's VERY light...and a little more fragile than others.
I remember jus' a few years ago...the KTMs were a "1 moto" affair, too.
You can not however change to a spare bike, it has to be rebuilt.
So it really is short-sighted to NOT change everything except the frame between motos, as someone pointed out.
I would, however, suggest to Honda and the other makers that if they are using racing as a marketing tool to advertise and sell their bikes that it would be in their best interest to not let it be widely known that essentially a new bike is raced each moto. That info won't help sell a machine.
And it seems to me that we are in an era that #1 plates can ALMOST be purchased (assuming a top three rider is on board).
Pit Row
leveling the playing field (everyone on a production stock bike) equals the t-ball mentality where everyones a winner, no one loses. It doesn't push technology and we don't get better bikes in the long run brought to us each year.
These are factory bikes, they are built to the hilt for horsepower and light weight. This is an advantage for factory riders and a disadvantage for privateers.
This right here is why the KTM has a disadvantage. Short and Alessi both have blown bikes because they are trying to the the 350 to run with the 450 and are so on the edge, they blow up.
Why does Honda switch engines I am sure it has to do with wringing every last pony out of the engine and unsure if the first engine would make it through the 2nd moto. Drag racing cars replace or rebuild engines after every race. When you are on the edge, things fail.
If I was a mechanic for Barcia I would replace the engine on that bike every moto too with him being on the rev-limiter so much.
But when you are on the edge the downside is the first engine could have survived a second moto and the second one blows up. Or the mechanic swaps endings and forgets to tighten down a foot peg or something else.
"leveling the playing field (everyone on a production stock bike) equals the t-ball mentality where everyones a winner"
Perhaps do this (stock bike rule) in the 250f class so that younger riders ride bikes with less power. Let the 450s experiment with technology to produce the big ponies and allow that tech to filter down to the 250 class on the production bikes.
Replacing CR's engine to be on the safe side was probably the smart thing to do.
How bad would they have felt if CR has the same engine failure that KW had but only in the second moto.
Remember at Hangtown they both had air box issues.
Win on Sunday buy on Monday?
Buy MXA shoot-out winner?
Pick a color?
this is the point that I ask myself, "why am I here...maybe...can't be..."
BMan-
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