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Mladin is Fastest in Testing

7K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  captainwhoopass 
#1 ·
Woopee!

 
#4 ·
Finally Mladin has fair chance against V-Twins

""It's one of those deals where we have enough horsepower, and we're racing on an even keel for once. I mean, racing the 750 against the V-Twins is almost impossible. Finally, they've (AMA) opened the rules up enough to race the 1000 even though they've held them (1000cc Fours) back a little bit. It hasn't made life easy, but it's going to make it more competitive, that's for sure." Mladin said

see the rest of his comments click here
 
#7 ·
Re: Finally Mladin has fair chance against V-Twins

Those comments were from a guy, who very recently, won 3 years in a row on a 750 four. Didn't hear him complaining then. Sounds like if he doesn't have a distinct advantage, he doesn't like it.
 
#8 ·
The news is an extra here, not the main course. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's pretty simple, really. We are looking to upgrade news sources, and that is taking a bit of time. I really get tired of people whining about paying 11 bucks. Damn, the tests are more in-depth and complete than any internet or print rag, the news gets updated 3 or 4 times a day, videos, wallpapers, dyno charts, archives, and all the other stuff available, and all you have to say is the link is bad and that you paid 11 bucks. We also have an arena to give feedback, no matter how stupid, right here. Try that on your free site. Hosting everything available here costs money, and you pay for what you get. If I can direct you to a site to see some news, why is that skin off your ass?
 
#12 ·
RoadracingWorld and AMASuperbikes have great websites (and RRW's print rag is great too). As their titles suggest, their main focus is road racing, but they do have some other content as well.



MO is a much more general interest e-zine. It has a lot more tests and general interest content (RRWs print rag does quite a few sportbike tests, but they usually are not available on-line until about a month after the print issue is released).



Virtually every e-zine out there uses the approach of including links to other sites. As a good example, I cite slate.com -- MSNs magazine. Virtually every article includes links to other sites. This is not much different from your local print newspaper, which picks up stories and analysis from AP, UPI, Reuters, NY Times, Washington Post and many other sources.



If you are a hard core roadracing fan like I am, you probably already regularly check in with sites such as RRW's, AMASuperbike, MotoGP.com etc. For the more casual, fan, it is great to have someone post the more interesting bits here.



I think MO is clearly the best general interest motorcycle site out there. The MotorcycleDaily site usually posts inane speculation as hot news and most of the sites run by the print guys are largely intended to get you to buy the magazine -- that is how they pay their bills.



Personally, I would prefer to pay even more and have MO add to their staff so that they could provide more original content, but I am not sure that the market is there at this time.



Cheers

Bob
 
#13 ·
From a recent (2/5/03) roadracingworld.com posting:



>>Wednesday’s testers rode the entire day on what some believe will be the layout AMA will race on in April with a tighter chicane preceding the decreasing-radius, right-hand turn nine and a more open turn 10/11 chicane at the beginning of the infield straightaway.



"Obviously, they changed it after the fatality last year," said Mladin of the tighter chicane before turn nine. "It seems better, but how can you tell in this wind? It’s alright except for all the cones and stuff. I’ve had about 10 cones (lying) in front of me already."



Since the last AMA team test at California Speedway in early January, the overly tall curbing on rider’s left exiting the turn 10/11 chicane has been ground down, according to Ducati Austin’s Anthony Gobert.



"That’s a lot better. They took that right out; they knocked it down," said Anthony Gobert.



"They swapped chicanes," said Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert. "The one that was fast is slow now, where it was slow, it’s fast now."



"It’s a ****hole!" was Dream Team Ducati Racing’s Larry Pegram’s first impression of the infield road course at California Speedway. "It’s a *****-poor excuse for a racetrack when it’s such a nice facility. They could have such a good track here, but it’s just a straight, then a chicane, then a straight, then another chicane."<<

 
#14 ·
Re: Finally Mladin has fair chance against V-Twins

Not to mention the fact that EBoz on his ancient 750 Kwacker came within a whisker of beating Nicky's RC51.

I think that we are likely to see that each configuration (VTwins, 750 4s and 1000 4s) will shine at certain tracks, and struggle at others. Fontana is generally considered a horsepower track, so it is impressive that the Ducati is as close as it has been.

It will be really interesting to see how the big 4s do with tire life at race distances.

My money says that the championship will come down to EBoz vs BBoz, with GoShow as a possible. I'll have to give Mladin and Yates better odds than I would have previously though.

I am ready for the season to start so we can start commenting on what actually happened rather than speculating (based on the slightest thread of data) on what will happen.

Bob
 
#15 ·
Thanks to LongRide

In case I have forgotten to mention it, I (and I am sure, many other MOtards) really appreciate all the posts you have put up here. The site is much better since you started posting regularly.

Sure, it would be nice if they would put you (or better yet, ME) on the payroll and sent us out to report on the tests and races first hand, and to do a bunch of road tests in Spain, etc, but since that ain't gonna happen, we will settle for getting this news second hand.

Cheers

Bob
 
#16 ·
Re: Thanks to LongRide

I'm still learning and giving my best shot. The MO staff has been really cool, letting me do this. I'm sure they want to ring my neck sometimes, but I am who I am. I figure people will complain no matter what. I will tend to answer them in my most relaxed manner. People don't realize this is an interactive site, not static. The site changes daily, and we can talk about what we read and see, and who cares where it comes from. Free sites and magazines don't offer that. Readers are encouraged to submit articles, questions, or any other stuff they find. those get posted all the time. Thanks for the compliment, but better is on the way.
 
#17 ·
Re: Thanks to LongRide

You are doing great LongRide. There are some great road racing sites, but nowhere else you are allowed to rant and rave, that is priceless! You have probably noticed how I keep telling all of the cheap skates that $0.03 a day is one hell of a bargain to have fun with all of the like minded people who really care about motorcycles and motorcycling. And there are times when we even make a difference, ask Allan Hurt in New Mexico.
 
#18 ·
OK. Big fat Mea Culpa on my part.



I apologize for being a skinflint a-hole. You're right, its a hell of a deal -- archives, news and all...



As a lame shot at a compliment, my frustration is that I want to know what MO has to say about things, not somebody else. Then again, press releases are press releases without much spin to put on them.



Once again, sorry.

 
#19 ·
I understand -- I also wish for more commentary and analysis. In the past, more of the submissions had that kind of substance, but they were relatively few and far between. In response to feedback on this board, they started picking up a lot more posts like this, many submitted by us, or by LongRide (who is one of us, but who was given access to post articles directly) to supplement the more in-depth analysis from John, Sean etc. The substance and analysis tends to come from the commentary and analysis (and sometimes pure drivel) that we all add.



Probably one reason why so many of us tend to pile on when someone criticizes is that we feel it is OUR site, because so much of it is OUR contribution. We tend to take it kinda personally.



Cheers

Bob
 
#22 ·
Princely response!

I second rsheidler and add my petition to staff and the privileged longride to wrap their posts in some informed commentary. They sometimes try to catch up by interspersing nuggets into the threads, where they tend to be consumed by the flames. We could use a bit more focus here.

DeadVFR, I salute you.

Jule
 
#23 ·
Re: Finally Mladin has fair chance against V-Twins

I'm ready too! Unfortunately I'll be at a trade show in Orlando the weekend of the Fontana race. Last year I got to do a couple of laps at the track on my ST4 with hard bags on and all.

It was fun going down the banked, front straight even though our speeds were limited. I still managed to hit about 100 by dropping way back in the pack and then speeding up.

I think Gobert is going to be pretty competitive on the Duc this year.
 
#24 ·
I dunno, but it might not be the slam dunk you expect. I don't know specifically about Mladin, and obviously, I don't know how good you are, but a lot of roadracers DO ride mountainbikes and some are very serious -- I believe that both EBoz and Boz are examples. A lot of the European GP racers list mountainbiking as one of their favorite hobbies.



A lot of others ride road bikes seriously. Troy Bayliss competes seriously in the offseason and has stated that he may race bicycles professionally once he retires from cycles. Colin Edwards sometimes trains with fellow Texan Lance Armstrong.



 
#25 ·
My Role

My role here is still evolving, as is MO content. You are not the only one frustrated at certain aspects of the site. I was one of the biggest critics, and offered my assistance to MO as a way to improve the site. I realized they didn't have the staffing and time to get news articles up here on a timely basis. I put my time where my mouth was, and here I am. I also tend to go off like a firecracker on people, which isn't my most redeeming trait, but I am who I am. I am trying to improve the news area, and I am still defining my role as to what I can and cannot do, as I am not a staff member per se. I appreciate constructive criticism, and detest what I percieve to be whining without cause. I appreciate your replies and encourage you to post on lots of threads. That's what it's all about here.
 
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