thank god, all we need is another freaking cruiser review. much less that bloody monstrosity.
Honda of U.S. not racing Laguna WSB
Honda seems to be boycotting MO. Otherwise, why wasn't MO invited to ride the Rune like Dirck Edge? Check out the Rune review @ motorcycledaily.com.
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Why wouldn't Honda want to invite that guy? He's never had a bad thing to say about ANY bike in probably 33 years. They are all wonderful, beautiful, reliable, and no flaws that he can see. He knows all this after basically riding around the block. MO doesn't pull many punches, so they really aren't wanted, when they might actually dare to criticize a Honda.
Honda can claim what they want...
They've had enough trouble dealing with the GSXR 1K, and even EBoz on the 800 cc Kawasaki...
Honda's riders, on their best days, are about the same pace as maybe a Regis Laconi or James Toseland... They *might* compete with the non-factory Ducatis...
But they're going to get smoked by Hodgson on the 999...
If none of your top 3 factory riders will likely finish in the top 5, what does that say about the machine they're riding?
I understand why Honda doesn't want to enter the ring, because they can't hang with the new hardware this year...
They've had enough trouble dealing with the GSXR 1K, and even EBoz on the 800 cc Kawasaki...
Honda's riders, on their best days, are about the same pace as maybe a Regis Laconi or James Toseland... They *might* compete with the non-factory Ducatis...
But they're going to get smoked by Hodgson on the 999...
If none of your top 3 factory riders will likely finish in the top 5, what does that say about the machine they're riding?
I understand why Honda doesn't want to enter the ring, because they can't hang with the new hardware this year...
Whatever..
Sour Grapes -- You can badmouth Mr. Edge and his review -- But whether you like it or not, the Rune has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year. All the major print rags have been doing teasers on it. I think it was the cover of Cycle World last month. I'm sure it will make more covers next month. It is an interesting bike.
Do you really think Honda was afraid to let MO ride it because they would slam it? Get real.
Sour Grapes -- You can badmouth Mr. Edge and his review -- But whether you like it or not, the Rune has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year. All the major print rags have been doing teasers on it. I think it was the cover of Cycle World last month. I'm sure it will make more covers next month. It is an interesting bike.
Do you really think Honda was afraid to let MO ride it because they would slam it? Get real.
Re: Whatever..
"Do you really think Honda was afraid to let MO ride it because they would slam it? Get real."
Yes, I do, and I would do the exact same thing in their shoes. The Rune is simply an image bike for Honda, a lot like the NR750 (it even has the same basic model prefix). To the guy that actually buys one, it probably doesn't matter as much how well it actually performs- he'll want to buy it anyway. However, to the average joe who reads the magazine article on it, it does matter. He may not buy one, but the image of this bike can influence his decision on other bikes. If this bike has a bad image, it will reflect more negatively on Honda and the rest of their product line than if they got a bad review on a Shadow 750 or something like that, since the Rune is their big, image leading bike for the cruiser class. Look at how much Honda tarted up the fact that this is a "new" way of doing business, that they can build custom bikes, blah blah blah? They wouldn't waste this kind of effort for a bike they won't sell that many of. It's meant to have a greater impact on the people that don't buy this bike than the ones that do.
Besides, why else would you not let the press ride your bike? Aside from them slamming it, what other negative effect could possibly come out of that situation?
"Do you really think Honda was afraid to let MO ride it because they would slam it? Get real."
Yes, I do, and I would do the exact same thing in their shoes. The Rune is simply an image bike for Honda, a lot like the NR750 (it even has the same basic model prefix). To the guy that actually buys one, it probably doesn't matter as much how well it actually performs- he'll want to buy it anyway. However, to the average joe who reads the magazine article on it, it does matter. He may not buy one, but the image of this bike can influence his decision on other bikes. If this bike has a bad image, it will reflect more negatively on Honda and the rest of their product line than if they got a bad review on a Shadow 750 or something like that, since the Rune is their big, image leading bike for the cruiser class. Look at how much Honda tarted up the fact that this is a "new" way of doing business, that they can build custom bikes, blah blah blah? They wouldn't waste this kind of effort for a bike they won't sell that many of. It's meant to have a greater impact on the people that don't buy this bike than the ones that do.
Besides, why else would you not let the press ride your bike? Aside from them slamming it, what other negative effect could possibly come out of that situation?
Re: Whatever..
Honda rewards good boys and punishes bad ones. You figure it out.
Honda rewards good boys and punishes bad ones. You figure it out.
What statement are they trying to make here anyway? The biggest most $$$$$ motorcycle company in the world and not racing?!??! Weird but at least we should be able to see Kurtis race in AMA? Right but who cares!!!!
Re: Whatever..
mo keeps it real...thats why i think they would kill the bike. cause its ugly. pontiac aztek ugly. it looks like something Shaq would ride. Edge doesnt kill the bike but doesnt exactly praises it...he did go out of his way to state they have received good feedback about the bikes looks...its like saying " the bike looks good, really ..." not exactly an endorsement
mo keeps it real...thats why i think they would kill the bike. cause its ugly. pontiac aztek ugly. it looks like something Shaq would ride. Edge doesnt kill the bike but doesnt exactly praises it...he did go out of his way to state they have received good feedback about the bikes looks...its like saying " the bike looks good, really ..." not exactly an endorsement
I think Honda doesn't want MO to review it because WE might slam it. Why risk any bad press from a bunch of MO readers. Honda can control the Rune image much better from the print media who fall all over themselves praising the Jap bikes.
The Rune's a waste - where's that concept bike shown at Laguna Seca a couple years ago? That's what they should bring out!
The Rune's a waste - where's that concept bike shown at Laguna Seca a couple years ago? That's what they should bring out!
Honda is chicken shyt for not playing
Longride is starting get me over my love affair with Honda I think. I can't believe Honda wouldn't take the opportunity to compete head to head with the best of Ducati. If they lose they can say well it wasn't our best technology or riders. If they win they can't make a whole bunch of red rider commercials. I don't understand them. Eric Boz and his 750 Kawasaki is going to be there. Mladin and Yates with restrictor plates. If hey one has a beef not to play its Kawasaki and Suzuki.
Longride is starting get me over my love affair with Honda I think. I can't believe Honda wouldn't take the opportunity to compete head to head with the best of Ducati. If they lose they can say well it wasn't our best technology or riders. If they win they can't make a whole bunch of red rider commercials. I don't understand them. Eric Boz and his 750 Kawasaki is going to be there. Mladin and Yates with restrictor plates. If hey one has a beef not to play its Kawasaki and Suzuki.
Correction
. If they lose Honda can say well it wasn't our best technology or riders. If they win they can make a whole bunch of red rider commercials
. If they lose Honda can say well it wasn't our best technology or riders. If they win they can make a whole bunch of red rider commercials
Honda is just showing itself for what it is, A shadow(tm) of the company Soichiro Honda started, they didn't shy away from compettion back then. Now if they can't win they take their ball and go home. Ducati has been handing them their butts in WSB for years no matter how much money they throw at the RC51, Now they have the GSXR1000 to contend with as well. The RC211V is a winner in MotoGP, But thats because Rossi rides one. Put him on a Ducati and see who's on top then.
Edge is the Larry King of bike reviewers vs Bill O'Rielly (Burns)
I agree with longride. Every review he has nothing bad to say about the bikes. He through softballs at the bike maker reps. Where Burns is the The Rune is a looker but I am not sure I would like to ride for any thing but parade duty. I am sure if Burns reviewed it he would be going on and on about the excess of the thing (Rune)
I agree with longride. Every review he has nothing bad to say about the bikes. He through softballs at the bike maker reps. Where Burns is the The Rune is a looker but I am not sure I would like to ride for any thing but parade duty. I am sure if Burns reviewed it he would be going on and on about the excess of the thing (Rune)
Re: Short memory
Yes, Honda is doing quite poorly in racing, especially MotoGP. Didn't they win WSB in 2000 and last year win both the AMA and WSB Championships?
Weren't the rules changed this year for both series?
Honda will come out with a new bike that takes advantage of the new rules and suddenly the HRC riders will become faster.
Yes, Honda is doing quite poorly in racing, especially MotoGP. Didn't they win WSB in 2000 and last year win both the AMA and WSB Championships?
Weren't the rules changed this year for both series?
Honda will come out with a new bike that takes advantage of the new rules and suddenly the HRC riders will become faster.
Re: Wha?
Honda isn't competing in the WSB race in Laguna because they pretty much withdrew from WSB as a whole. What advertising cache is it for them to say they won one race in a series in which they do not compete?
If B.Bostrom wins a Laguna for the AMA series, that means something for the points championship. If one of the riders gets injured during the WSB race, then it'd be hard for Honda to win the AMA Superbike Championship for which they are still competitive.
Honda isn't competing in the WSB race in Laguna because they pretty much withdrew from WSB as a whole. What advertising cache is it for them to say they won one race in a series in which they do not compete?
If B.Bostrom wins a Laguna for the AMA series, that means something for the points championship. If one of the riders gets injured during the WSB race, then it'd be hard for Honda to win the AMA Superbike Championship for which they are still competitive.
Re: Wha?
They let Nicky ride in last year's race and he was riding for the AMA championship. Now they are worried about someone getting hurt? They didn't worry last year. The only thing hurtin' would be their feelings after they got smoked by every manufacturer competing. I don't think they would finish in the top ten with the bikes they are running. Easier to quit than be embarrassed.
They let Nicky ride in last year's race and he was riding for the AMA championship. Now they are worried about someone getting hurt? They didn't worry last year. The only thing hurtin' would be their feelings after they got smoked by every manufacturer competing. I don't think they would finish in the top ten with the bikes they are running. Easier to quit than be embarrassed.
Re: Honda is chicken shyt for not playing
I am neither defending or attacking Honda on this -- I am disapointed not to see BBoz have a chance to once again show the international guys around Laguna Seca, and I am sure that Ben is really disapointed.
Still, you have to keep in mind that Honda are not running the RC51 (VTR-SP2) in WSB at all this year, and have only a half-hearted effort with this bike in BSB with Colin's old bike. They probably do not even have a WSB-spec bike available, so would have to build one for this one race -- US spec bikes are different (for one thing, the WCB bikes have to run on 92 octane gas, so they would have to drop the compression on the AMA bikes.
Since Honda have done no development on the VTR SP2 since the Suzuka 8hour last summer, even if they could produce a WSB-spec bike for Laguna, it likely would be soundly outclassed by Suzuki and Ducati. From Honda's viewpoint, they probably figure that they have more to lose than they possibly could gain.
The other factor is that BBoz, who is the rider most likely to want to do Laguna, has been very underwhelming on the Honda -- really has not been able to get comfortable on it. To see him beaten by a non-factory R1 would be pretty embarrasing (which could have been a possibility, except that the top Yamaha rider just got hired to replace Gobert at Ducati Austin for the next two races).
I understand that Mladin and Yates will have access to all the tuning and setup information from the Factory WSB team, and I believe that EBoz's team might get some data from the WSB Kawasaki team (although as poorly as they have done this year, that info might not be worth much).
I'm thinking that this might be one of the best chances that Suzuki have to beat Ducati this year -- either Lavilla or Mladin.
Cheers
Bob
I am neither defending or attacking Honda on this -- I am disapointed not to see BBoz have a chance to once again show the international guys around Laguna Seca, and I am sure that Ben is really disapointed.
Still, you have to keep in mind that Honda are not running the RC51 (VTR-SP2) in WSB at all this year, and have only a half-hearted effort with this bike in BSB with Colin's old bike. They probably do not even have a WSB-spec bike available, so would have to build one for this one race -- US spec bikes are different (for one thing, the WCB bikes have to run on 92 octane gas, so they would have to drop the compression on the AMA bikes.
Since Honda have done no development on the VTR SP2 since the Suzuka 8hour last summer, even if they could produce a WSB-spec bike for Laguna, it likely would be soundly outclassed by Suzuki and Ducati. From Honda's viewpoint, they probably figure that they have more to lose than they possibly could gain.
The other factor is that BBoz, who is the rider most likely to want to do Laguna, has been very underwhelming on the Honda -- really has not been able to get comfortable on it. To see him beaten by a non-factory R1 would be pretty embarrasing (which could have been a possibility, except that the top Yamaha rider just got hired to replace Gobert at Ducati Austin for the next two races).
I understand that Mladin and Yates will have access to all the tuning and setup information from the Factory WSB team, and I believe that EBoz's team might get some data from the WSB Kawasaki team (although as poorly as they have done this year, that info might not be worth much).
I'm thinking that this might be one of the best chances that Suzuki have to beat Ducati this year -- either Lavilla or Mladin.
Cheers
Bob
I agree - the NAS or something like that? Man, that sure was pretty!
Re: Honda is chicken shyt for not playing
Thanks As always you put things in the propere perspective. If they don't have a bike that could work then I totally agree with their response. I didn't realize that for V-Twins there was much difference between WSB and AMA superbike.
Thanks As always you put things in the propere perspective. If they don't have a bike that could work then I totally agree with their response. I didn't realize that for V-Twins there was much difference between WSB and AMA superbike.
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