A stupid question?

[tufty]

I just finished reading Sport Rider's Kent Kunitsu's (sp) article about DMG taking over AMA races. He implies that the factories are not too happy about the change yet (it's early days yet), but while I was reading it my stupid question popped into my head, here it is.

Why is the AMA Superbike series not running stock bikes with very minor mods e.g. race tires, bodywork? It seems to me that if they where the series would be much more competitive and would attract many more viewers, no one can honestly say that they've enjoyed watching Factory Suzuki dominate for all these years (GSXR owners aside).

So why is it? I really don't know so don't flame me ok.

[derby]

dorna isn't taking over the AMA races, DMG (daytona motorsports group) is.

dorna does, however, run the british superbike championship.

[derby]

also, to answer your question, that's what the supersport/superstock classes are for.

(600) supersport still remains a very competitive class with close racing. 750ss was pushed aside in favor of 1000ss/superstock which is being removed from the schedule because the bikes are nearly as fast as proper superbikes.

superbikes are supposed to be the production equivalent of gp racing. they're not supposed to be "stock".

[tufty]

Originally Posted by derby

dorna isn't taking over the AMA races, DMG (daytona motorsports group) is.

dorna does, however, run the british superbike championship.

Thanks, I knew that... really. I was typing faster than my brain.

[gm2]

also:

Originally Posted by tufty

Why is the AMA Superbike series not running stock bikes with very minor mods e.g. race tires, bodywork? It seems to me that if they where the series would be much more competitive and would attract many more viewers, no one can honestly say that they've enjoyed watching Factory Suzuki dominate for all these years (GSXR owners aside).

it's not as if yosh has some special exemption or allowance that allows them to build bikes that work they way they do. all the other OEMs are welcome/able to spend the time and money developing their bikes, and getting the riders to ride them, that yosh has. they just.. haven't.

i sorta understand why ppl complain about the class. sorta. i personally love watching ben and mat go at it and accept that in every ama sbk race there are actually 2 races going on. that part is unfortuante and i wish it were different but i think it's absurd to penalize yosh for doing a good job.

[tufty]

Well, motorcycling already has a GP class.

If as it was stated a stock superbike can lap within a couple of seconds of the highly modded superbikes that are currently racing I don't see the reason for not going back to them, at the very least it is a great showcase for the manufacturers and riders (tough on the parts guys I know).

Don't get me wrong, I think Mat and Ben are incredibly talented and I enjoy watching thier weekly tussles, I just wish that when Neil or someone breaks away from the pack with some inspired riding that he wasn't 15 or 20 seconds back.

Honestly I know many riders who are just flat bored with AMA Superbike because there is no real competition. I believe that bike racing is suffering from a lack of sponsors, and the only way to attract them is to make the sport more mainstream (more viewers), and frankly, folks just don't want to watch racing where the first two spots on the podium are already decided... except addicts like us

Supersport and Extreme are way more entertaining.

[gm2]

Looks like DMG pretty much agrees with you. 2009 will see no more supersport (or superstock, as was already the plan), an FX-like 600cc "daytona superbike" class, and a "literbike" class that will mostly follow the already agreed upon sbk changes for '09... making the 1000cc class theoretically more competitive. i don't think some add'l weight and different pistons (or whatever it was) are going to make mat any slower, but we'll see.

[tufty]

Originally Posted by gm2

Looks like DMG pretty much agrees with you. 2009 will see no more supersport (or superstock, as was already the plan), an FX-like 600cc "daytona superbike" class, and a "literbike" class that will mostly follow the already agreed upon sbk changes for '09... making the 1000cc class theoretically more competitive. i don't think some add'l weight and different pistons (or whatever it was) are going to make mat any slower, but we'll see.

Thanks for being patient with my stupidity [cheeky], I learned something today.

[gm2]

Originally Posted by tufty

Thanks for being patient with my stupidity [cheeky], I learned something today.

hahah, no problem.

in general i think the changes are probably going to be a good thing. altho personally i don't agree with getting rid of supersport.

[derby]

here is the thing about "suzuki dominance":

guess who committed themselves to the class 100% for the last decade+ while the other manufacturers left to go pout in their own sandbox? yup, suzuki.

yamaha and kawasaki left to show their displeasure over the 1000cc rules 5-6 years ago. not to mention the fact that kawasaki was racing a damn near 10 year old homologation special and yamaha completely failed with their homologation special r7.

honda (r&d america) didn't like the way their collaboration was going with hrc (japan) and decided to take their superbike development in house. they've since damn near fallen off the face of the earth in ama superbike relevance.

ducati left, too.

in addition to all that, if you look at the suzuki designs in the 1000cc era, they've been evolution designs. they're refining their product instead of starting from scratch (like honda).

so (yosh) suzuki reap the rewards of being smart and dedicated. yeah, it can be a boring show, but they've earned what they take from the other teams.