GXSR1000 Getting ASS kicked by Ducati 996

NearDeath

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In case you all don't know, Tuesday nights are bike night on the speed channel... (lots of good stuff)

I was watching the track wins/places on the speed channel and I couldn't help but notice that Ducati 996 had the majority of the top ten finishers in the races... There was ONLY 1 GXSR1000 listed in the top ten and it placed 5th !!! Don't get me wrong, realize a lot has to do with the driver, but Ducati seemed to have taken most of the races that they reviewed that evening. What gives? Maybe the GXSR may have it HP, but that seemed to be about it in these races... :)

They had a couple of Busas on that night as well :)

Cloud
 
The GSXR1000's are restricted in WSB Currently, but not sure about next year if you were watching 998's and 999's whoop Suzuki it was prolly a WSB event...Read This...

AMA is looking like they are going to be screwing some things up as well... Read This If you scroll down the page a bit you will see an article about WSB and their restrictor plate rules as well...

I am skeered that were are going to be looking at more BS racing regs coming up...All in the interest of more exciting racing....Yup just like Freakin NASCAR....Just plain pointless...
 
I thought Honda was ruling MotoGP?:super: That Champion Valentino might think so anyway... :D

You mean WSB Bro?
 
He has to be talking about WSB, the 998F02 and 999F03 have been ruling that class for years. The Gixxers are restricted and if I remember right they are not allowed to change the gearing at all. Where the Twins can change just about everything.

MotoGP is ruled mostly by Honda but Ducati has won a race this year with Loris Capirossi. It is really surprising how competitive the Ducati's have been in their first year of MotoGP, where Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki have had more experience and can't seem to get it done. Next year depends on if Rossi will stay with Honda or jump teams. There are some rumors of him going to Yamaha but I don't know if he would want to ride a bike that is still way behind compared to the Honda. But it would be interesting to see if he could win on a Yamaha. There are also rumors of him riding for Ducati next year, which I think all Italians are praying for. But Sete Giberneau won a couple of races this year and has a few other podium finishes, so if he stays with Honda and Rossi jumps ship it could be real interesting. Nicky Hayden has looked real good the last three races with 2 5th place finishes and 3rd place last weekend.

Ahh but I am rambling, WSB has been ruled by Ducatis forever and until they unrestrict the gixxers a little to make it more competitive. But then again the best riders are all on Ducatis, or is the Ducati the reason they are the best riders?
 
I don't know what I am talking about when it comes to track racing and I will admit it.

I saw "races" on the speed channel and I couldn't tell you what circuit they were in to be honest. But I will definetly take your guys' word for it.

That sucks that they would implment restrictions like that... The biggest and baddest should win in my opinion :)

Cloud
 
you guys are right, its WSB, not moto GP, brain fart...
even restricted in wsb, I saw malladin win the super pole at laguna seca last year as I am sure many of you did, and if it werent for the crashes in front of matt, he wouldnt of had to lift and give up the lead....or the officials F'n up and giving team mate yates the pole! he would have won that race!
 
How a company's race team performs has a direct impact on its sales. Take Ducati as an example. Their sales have vastly increased over the last few years. Those bikes are expensive. They don't have great numbers (like HP or torque) on paper. But they have been winning a lot of races in the past 5 years or so.

There are plenty of other factors that impact sales. I'm not suggesting racing results are all that matter. May not even be the most important. But the influence is definitely there. And a company's survival can be linked to racing success.

They try to set up the racing rules in order to level the playing field for twins, triples, and fours. You can argue that the rules, as they stand, unfairly help twin cylinder bikes. A lot of people are making that arguement. So it seems likely that the rules will be tweaked to take some of the advantage of twins away.

Personally I have no problem with that. But I'd hate to see the rules changed so much that twins are no longer competitve. That could signal the end of sporting twins for the consumer market and perhaps some maufacturers. I like the variety of bikes out there now. I like the variety of engine configurations. And I'd hate to see all sport bikes end up being essentially the same, with only minor differences from one brand to another.
 
Win on Sunday Sell on Monday holds especially true for the Sportbike world. Ducati is a prime example as is the GSXR750. The 750 has been at or near the top since as long as I can remember....
 
The different configurations definitely add to the racing environment. It is interesting to see how the twins were whooping up on everyone in WSB and AMA until they allowed the 1000cc fours. It was not a huge change in WSB but you do see some gixxers in the mix now at least. But in AMA I think Yates and Mladin accounted for 12 of 16 wins with Duhamel and Eric Bostrom getting some here and there. So it was a complete flop of domination from the previous years when the RC51 was the bike to have, now its a gixxer. There may only be a couple twins in AMA next year since Honda is most likely going to run the CBR1000RR instead of the RC51.
 
FLCN72, that may be all good and true, but favoring one manufacturer over another is NOT good for racing, and its clearly done in WSB, maybe they should have V-twin and inline classes? maybe suzuki would do something about that thing they call a TLR? its not just the suzukis that are restricted its all inlines. I think the europeans have a stronghold on WSB. maybe the japs should start thier own world tour?
 
The rules should be fair. I agree. No manufacturer should be able to dominate because all the others face restictions.

But inline fours do make more peak horsepower than twins of the same displacement. If all restrictions on inline fours were removed, that would be the end of twins in racing. I'd like to see the rules allow for a fair race, but to do so the twins need a little boost. Less than they get now in WSB, I'll agree.

This is a weird concept, but why not create classes based on some kind of relationship between peak HP and torque? Instead of displacement and funky regulations on throttle bodies. There might be more different types and brands of bikes out there in the racing circuit that way. Skilled manufacturing, bike set-up, and design will still matter, as will rider skill. And there might be less chance of any one manufacturer dominating a racing series.
 
They don't so much restrict certain manufacturers as they do the type of machine.  When Aprillia and Honda were in WSB with their twins they were subject to the same rules as the Ducati, I believe they had a weight penalty of 15 pounds over four cylinders.  Of course it has been shown that a 1000cc twin makes as much or more horsepower as a 750cc four.  But lately the twins are putting up more power than the 750's could muster, and the twin won't spin the rear tire as much which makes it easier to get on the throttle easier.  This is because with a twin the first cylinder fires and then 90 degrees later the second cylinder fires, then you get 270 degrees of rotation before the first cylinder fires again.  This allows the tire to regain traction.  Where as a four has a cylinder firing every 90 degrees.  So there are distinct differences.  With a 1000cc four you still have some of the same traction problems making it a little more difficult to ride, but you get a lot more horsepower and you have a wider powerband than with a 750.  Now all machines have the same minimum weight but they have some restrictions on the four's to make it interesting.  I imagine they will be a little more lenient on the fours next year in WSB as they homologate the rules with the AMA as well.  The reason they need to add restrictions are that the bikes are production based.  They have to keep many of the stock parts, this is to keep costs down, so the teams aren't allowed to use special valve heads or recast engine blocks to flow better.  

Also a twin turns easier I think because of the engine layout and moments of inertia that I remember being explained somewhere but I don't remember the details.  So you get a twin that may handle better and a four that has more horsepower.  

This isn't like Nascar where they give Ford or Dodge a break to make them competitive.  Which I feel is retarded.  But they all have the same layout, front engined V-8s.  

You can't split the classes out into fours and twins, you would have an all Ducati series(since Aprillia doesn't race the Mille anymore, and Honda didn't field an RC51 WSB team this year and is dropping the RC51 in AMA for the new CBR).  Then you would have a class of all four cylinder machines which isn't as interesting as watching a twin battle a four.  Then you have to think of viewership, if Ducatis aren't your thing then you will watch the Japanese bikes race and vice versa.  By combining the classes you get a larger market for one series.  

It looks like Ducati is going to pour some money into the AMA next year since it is rumored that Ruben Xaus(currently on the Ducati WSB main team) will be switching to the AMA.  Which should be good for AMA racing, the more factory teams the better.  

Now in MotoGP I believe the bikes are wide open(which they should be since they are not based on production machines and homologation like in Superbike racing).  But they do have weight limitations depending on the number of cylinders.  A twin has the lightest weight limit, followed by triples and so on.  Which is great since you see all sorts of configurations.  You get an inline 3 from Aprillia, an inline 4 from Kawasaki, a V-4 from Ducati, a V-5 from Honda(and a rumored V-6 possibly next year) which makes it very interesting.  Since it is wide open the companies can make changes to their machines to make them competitive.

Sorry for the long post, I don't get to talk racing with anyone I know since I am the only into it.



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Yeah, in AMA the twins pretty much dominated until this last season when they let the 1000cc inline 4s in. Very good info there Thunderpants. I hope that CBR slaughters the GSXR-1000 next year, just tired of all the hype about that bike. Ya know, kinda like the Yankees now, they just win, win, win. Or the Cowboys/Braves in the 90's. What is the website for WSB? I havent watched it for a while. Its been the Ducati circuit for years....
 
yea that honda should be right up there with the gixxer next year, beins how it has an electronically controlled steering dampner and all, should take care of all the 954s shortcommings. gixxers dont rule because they have superior technology, honda sucks because they have inferior technology, kawi teamed with suzuki cuz they couldnt afford to keep up on R&D, and yamaha, well apparently they are strictly into "POSER" bikes these days, c'mon, an undertail exhaust with a double sided swingarm? is there a performance benifit there somewhere?
 
Hopefully some of that technology all the mags rave about from the RC211V & 600RR will give it the edge.

My prediction:
It will be fat, lower on power, but handle & corner better. <-- Honda's MO
:laugh:
 
yup, yamaha claims thier 03 R-1 had superior handeling over the gixxer, what happened in AMA? and honda claims the same for 04, I predict suzuki will dominate over the next ten years in the liter class as they did the last 12 in 750...
 
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