[nick_hk]

Since when has the track been considered a "road"? 'Road racing' refers to events that are held (and this is the really surprising bit) on a ROAD. The best example of such is the Isle of Mann TT, where Joey Dunlop ruled supreme. There are many road events staged in Ireland during the year, and several in mainland Britain. These events are all held on roads, with very little safety features, hence the morbid fascination with such events. Every year, riders die during these events.



Track racing is different. Nowadays WSBK and Moto GP events are held on purpose built tracks, full of safety features. You hardly ever see a rider dying on the track.



As I recall, V-twins NEVER had much luck in real road racing. Only Joey Dunlop succesfully raced a Honda SP-1 in the Isle of Mann TT. These events are now ruled by the Suzuki GSX-R family and Yamaha R 1s ....



REAL riding is on the ROAD.

 

[Heffy]

Error of it's ways? I guess you just started keeping up with racing, uh, the last couple of months. You might not sound so ignorant if you done a little research. Ask your sister, she probably knows more about superbike racing than you. World GP is slightly different than World Superbike but I guess not enough for you to notice. The only reason Ducati would need to change the firing order from a twin pulse would be to keep from lighting the rear tire up at 190 mph. It doesn't look like abandonment at the dealers, or in superbike or in the Garage at my house. And I guess death to the V-Twin means Honda will do away with theirs next year also.... Know anything about personal watercraft?

J Mckinney

 

[Buzglyd]

Just when we thought you got it.....

After making numerous enemies and being the target of massive flames you finally realized the error of your whole price/performance mantra you have to go and do this.

I'll never understand your mentality. Your incredible immaturity is evident in your post. Have you ever even been to a motorcycle race?

Moto GP and Superbike are two completely different animals. Honda is campaigning the RC51 next year in Superbike not the CBR954. I'm not going to bother to explain anything else to you.

Since you love reading magazines, perhaps you should read some Kevin Cameron articles in Cycle World.

Let the flames begin!

 

[8345]

I'm sure that you have a specific type of spectacles to see 'the death of the V-Twin' in that article. I can't see it. For Moto GP, it was a two stroke war, having nothing to do with the Ducati V-twin, or the RC51 for that matter. Now, if you were referring to WSB then I'd have to agree that the V-Twin is probably not going to be top dog much longer, barring any unforseen rule changes to slow down the 1000cc 4's.

Once they start producing the road versions of the GP bikes by Aprilia, Honda, Yamaha and Ducati we'll all have a lot more fun on the street and a heck of a lot more competitive manufacturers in WSB...saying it again.. barring any rule changes.

 

[john]

Well if you read the Article with input from Mr. Forni, the guy who designed the thing, he said the twin pulse would not deliver enough power to compete with other 4 strokes.......not that it wouldnt get enough traction.....

 

[130]

How did this news "article" by KPaulCook get any status under "Latest News"? He's either fishing with major flame bait or is a dithering uninformed moron. Hard to tell which but the fact you guys gave it any status or credence is frightening & does not bode well for your continuing credibility or my continued $ support.

 

[8914]

Dang Kpaul,



I hope you're wearing some nomex underwear on this one. I think you should take note of the fact that whether there is a level playing field is still debatable because MotoGP rules have differing minimum weights for twins, triples, fours and fives, and six or more cylinders. The question that is not answered here is: What configuration is best if there are no rules other than max displacement? Still I applaud the inflammatory tone of your post.



Dennis

 

[4940]

Dear What? Perhaps you had better rethink your reasoning behind Ducati's change in firing order. The plain fact is that many GP bikes changed to what was known as big bang timing where all of the power strokes occured close together to GAIN traction. The theory is that although this timing order reduced horse power it allowed time for the tire to "settle in" thereby saving the rear tire, making the bike easier to ride, and lowering lap times. VWW

 

[KPaulCook]

Why WSB doesn't matter any more

Unless the other Japanese makers come to play (Kawasaki has already said no, Yamaha too) does it matter if Ducati dominates a field full of Ducatis, a lone RC51 and a lone Aprilia? No one wants to play in a field where the rules aren't fair ....they have taken their toys to MotoGP.

 

[KPaulCook]

Be a sport and play along. Seriously give us your opinion (no not wether I am an idiot or not my wife can answer that). What do think? Are V-Twins going to die like other dead engine confiugurations? I say yes. What say you?

 

[KPaulCook]

I think everyone knows Road Racing means track racing in this context, go look at the AMA site for reference.

 

[11158]

Now MO is posting flame bait by Kpaul with a link to a MotorcycleDaily article--This is news? Why don't you throw some of our subscription money to Dirck Edge and just post his stuff directly? He seems able to come up with daily bike news that is NOT garbage.

 

[badsac]

Damn. Do a bit more research.



As has always been the case, they are developing engines with both firing orders. They are a long way off deciding which one will be campaigned this year. At the Valencia round displaying the bikes they had Bayliss on the doubled up firing bike and Guareschi (sp) on the conventional one.

 

[Grover]

I thought it said something about reliability issues, not power.

 

[fizzchem]

Re: Quote from a linked article

It is the regulations that define the ideal solutions for each category: they do not define what the overall best engine is, but the best engine in view of the limitations imposed.

When Formula 1 regulations changed to allow turbos, normally-aspirated engines disappeared. This does not mean that the best engine around was a turbo, simply that it was for those particular regulations.

R.I.F.

 

[longride]

Re: Why WSB doesn't matter any more

I guess your Japanese superiority theory went down the tubes. As far as I can tell the rules are the same for every mfg. that races in WSB. Does Ducati have special rules just for them? If they do, name it. Name one rule that has "Ducati" in it for any special favors. If they don't have a special mfg. rule, then the Japanese should easily bring a superior product to any racing application, since you say they are always superior in every way. Since they can't spend 10 million to 1 million to achieve this, they quit like little babies. Ducati, a nickel and dime company, has handed them their collective azzes for many years running, and since experience and dedication to design are the prime factors for winning, and throwing money at the bikes doesn't guarantee a victory, it's no wonder they quit. Honda did the same in flattrack racing when they couldn't spend a boatload to assure victory, and the others don't want to play there. Honda couldn't make a superior motocross bike, so they bought Ricky Carmichael. And so it goes. See, the ones that hate a level playing field are the Japanese. Honda wants a spend fest for every racing catagory. They have the most money by far and are willing to spend it. Outspend the competition tenfold and buy all the best riders, then they can achieve another great Honda victory. Look at the joke MotoGP is. Honda cleaned up, and will continue to clean up, as they have for many years there. Logic dictates that without restraints, if I spend more, I win more. All racing has rules. The rules are more than fair. It's the fairness of those rules that irks your superior Japanese makers.

 

[michaeldoohan]

The firing order will remain the same, Ducati will most likely still try to fire two cylinders at once..... pay attention to what Honda did with the RCV, it is a v5 but the firing order is the same as a 2 cylinder....

 

[1747]

I take a day off and this is what happens... my apologies, MO.

 

[Random]

How can you say Death to V-Twins when the bike wasn't even a twin to start with? It was a 4 cylinder bike and is still a 4 cylinder bike

 

[seruzawa]

Racing has always contained an element of stacking rules to favor one particular manufacturer or engine configuration to the detriment of others. One of the earliest examples of this was many moons ago when the gasoline engine racers got the racing authorities to ban the Stanley Steamers because of a couple of spectacular boiler explosions.... never mind the many more instances of gasoline engined race cars burning their drivers to death. The point was that the Steamers where kicking the gas car's collective butt.



If you'd been around racing any length of time you'd have learned that manufacturers pressure the racing authorities frequently to get rules changed... and then drop out completely and go home with their toys when they don't get their way.



Why aren't you complaining about the fact that some MX races now allow 250cc 4-Strokes to race with 125cc two strokes? There's an example of cooking rules to favor an inferior powerplant. There may be other reasons to do such a thing, but it is still a rule change to give an advantage to a particular group over another.



Often these rule changes are made to simply allow more people to compete on somewhat equal terms. This is a laudable goal. But it is still an arbitrary set of rules.



Wait until you have maybe two whole years riding experience until you pretend to have an opinion on anything motorcycle. You've already proven your inability to come up with a coherent one.