Hyabusa Anyone?

[Islander]

Here is "King Kenny" in his last Daytona 200 in 1983 (which he ran thru the pack to win) on the notoriously tire-shredding OW69. When you have a 680cc machine capable of 190+mph sprints in 1983, but track tire technology really ISN'T to that point, yet...there are tire issues to address.

Thanks for that picture. Those were the days, when the 2-strokes ruled. You did notice Eddie Lawson behind him, of course. He went on to become World Champion four times. It really made my day to meet Eddie and shake his hand at a bike show in Toronto around 1998 or so. Eddie called the 4-stroke racebikes "Diesels", when Yamaha asked him to ride at Daytona in 1986. He did ride, and won the race on his FZ750. I was lucky enough to be there that year, and really enjoyed seeing his victory from trackside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lawson

As for MotoGP at present, even Valentino Rossi, the 9-time World Champion, thinks it's boring. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103650

The big 4-strokes cost about $1 million each, which meant the fields had only 17-18 bikes, rather than the usual 30, until CRT (Claiming Rule Team) bikes were introduced a couple of years ago. The CRT bikes are production-based, not factory prototypes, and have little chance of winning, but they help to fill up the starting grid.

The idea of racebikes being similar to road bikes makes sense for World Superbike, like the way NASCAR racecars are loosely based on road cars, but Formula 1 cars are like nothing on the road, yet millions follow F1 racing.

Accordingly, I believe MotoGP should return to presenting the fastest factory prototypes. 750cc 2-strokes would cost much less than the current 1000cc 4-strokes, allowing more teams to compete on an equal footing, and the bikes would actually be faster.

Anyway, I don't make the rules. The 2013 bikes will be 1000cc 4-strokes. I hope Rossi's return to Yamaha, as the teammate of Jorge Lorenzo, the new World Champion, will liven things up. We'll find out next spring.

Here's a brief clip of Rossi and Lorenzo fighting for the lead during the last two laps at the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 2009. I hope we see Rossi return to winning form next year, so we can see more riding like this:

Rossi vs. Lorenzo at GP of Catalunya 2009 [HD]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LweyWs26Ots

[HDBRbuilder]

Unfortunately, the days of riders like King Kenny are long gone now. Almost every GP style rider out there is a specialist at primarily only that. Kenny was a specialist in all of it, flat track, motocross, and roadracing...and ruled the roost for a number of years.

Many writersof the day back then almost started calling the Daytona 200 the Yamaha 200!

The first Daytona Superbike race had all the big fours in it, but it was a 900cc twin that won it...and the biggest surprise was that the twin was a BMW R90S, tweaked as much as allowable in the handling department, with a lightened flywheel to get them revs up quicker, and fed by a pair of Dell'Orto sliders! Some sad Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha fans' faces were there that day!

I get asked all the time by younger riders why I ride my old Beemer instead of getting something newer and faster....I just smile and say..."How much over 124 mph do I need to go on public roads hour after hour, day after day, anyway? After all, the speed limit is just over half that on most of the best riding roads, isn't it?" []

[Islander]

Way back in the Sixties and Seventies, the bikes were slower and less demanding to ride. A racer could ride a 250, a 350, and a 500 in the same Grand Prix event. By the early Eighties, the bikes were much faster and took much more effort to ride, mental as much as physical. Freddie Spencer was the last rider I can recall who was able to compete in two classes at the top level.

In the Sixties, the top bikes were the 500cc GP bikes, 3- or 4-cylinder 4-strokes, with about 80-90 hp and top speeds around 150-160 mph. A few years later, the 500cc and 750cc 2-strokes had 100 hp or more, and speeds approaching 190 mph. By the late Eighties, the 2-stroke 500s had over 200 hp and top speeds over 200 mph.

The current 1000cc 4-stroke MotoGP bikes have over 250 hp and top out at around 220 mph on a long track. Obviously, they're far more demanding to ride than the older bikes. Giacomo Agostini was able to win 13 World Championships because he rode 250s, 350s, and 500s, all in the same season, year after year. Valentino Rossi rides only one class a year, and has been able to achieve 9 World Championships. If he had not spend 2011 and 2012 on uncompetitive Ducati bikes, he could have won another World Championship or two. We'll see what happens when he returns to Yamaha for 2013 and 2014.

Freddie Spencer won the 250cc and the 500cc World Championships in 1985 and said he was totally drained at the end of the season. After that, most riders concentrated on a single class for best results, usually moving up in displacement as their skill and experience grew. Valentino Rossi originated the "learn one, win one" way. He finished 9th overall in his first year on 125s, then won the World Championship the next year (1997). He moved up to 250s and finished the year in 2nd place. The next year he was 250 World Champion (1999).

The next year, Rossi moved up to the 500s and ended the year in 2nd place. The next year, he was 500cc World Champion (2001). When the 500 class became MotoGP, with 800cc or 990-1000cc bikes, he kept on winning, until he now has nine World Championships. That's why many call him the greatest of all time.

Ferrari wanted Rossi for their Formula 1 team two years ago: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/apr/20/valentino-rossi-ferrari-f1

He drove one of their endurance cars at Monza this year:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/839/12787/Motorcycle-Article/Valentino-Rossi-Races-Ferrari-at-Monza.aspx

I guess they liked his driving, because they gave him a car:
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/rossi-gets-a-458-italia-from-ferrari-44293.html

[2point1]

IOMTT video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph0SjLC_lqk&sns=em

HDBRbuilder there is a test of the ow69 by John Ulrich in

the july 84 issue of cycle world. Wild bike!

[shake777]

Hi All, Now that I know how to spell Hayabusa, I'm going to make mine go pretty fast. I'm going to do heads, bigger pistons and all the associated things to put about 235hp into her and of course better brakes. I'm going to sell my Palladium P-37s and use a 5.2 system for the time being. Maybe later I'll find a nice set of gently used P-39s. That's the latest installment of my adventure.

[Audio Android]

[:|]..........Do you race this bike or are you doing these mods just for kicks and giggles........[sn]

[Rich_Guy]

Smart Hyabusa Anyone?

[shake777]

Did 300 miles today to get my Busa suspension tuned by Washington Cycles who really know how to do it right. Like a new bike especially after motor tune. Wednesday will be dyno tune and ecu flash and I'm hoping for at least ten horses between the two. Maybe more maybe not. Too bad a couple of the kids with us banged into each other. Totaled two bikes and one in the hospital but ok. Too bad.

[Audio Android]

The weather got a little warmer this past weekend. Most bikes I've seen on the road since last summer around here. I live next to a great road. I know it's getting warmer when I hear the sweet howl of motorcycles in the morning throttling up the hill near to my house. Sounds like your getting your bike all dialed in and buttoned up tight.....Nice!!...Sorry to hear about your riding buddies who collided....Good luck with your tune on Wednesday......Can we hope for a dyno movie!!!.....or a few pics of the W.Cycles garage and handy work.

[Islander]

Some clips of extreme leaning in the modern era. The new elbow-dragger, Marc Marquez, is impressing everyone, and has sliders on the elbows of his suit, but Casey Stoner was in a league of his own for style.

Casey Stoner "elbow-sliding" Super Slow Motion:

This is a slide show of some extreme lean angles, on the track and some by extreme posers on the street:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EfqG6YOM1g

Slow-mo Moto-GP at Austin in 2013 (Marquez is #93): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fM3kBPZzjk

MotoGP best overtakes (you can really see they're riding at the edge, and sometimes just stuffing the bike into any gap available):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cePQ1J598Rg

[shake777]

Hi All,

My Palladium based HT really comes in handy this time of year. Even though my Hayabusa has been replaced by a new BMW S1000RR which sits in my garage and thats all weather permits, I have an alternative. I'm really thankful that I can watch The Doctor, The Texas Tornado, and The Kentucky Kid on a nearly 6' X 11' projected image. I've seen the film many times but I never get tired of it because it has just the right balance of racing drama and documentary information. Additionally, since the S1k has done pretty well as a CRT competitor it will make me feel closer to the action. I know for sure that its a hellish proposition to hang on to the thing with the throttle pinned. She's an amazingly powerful girl who I've only begun to become acquainted with after three thousand miles. I'd happily give a full review but I think I'll wait and see what kind of interest surfaces in the raising of this old thread. I was amazed by the interest in things motorcycle in the forum when I first posted. It took on a life of its own and brought about discussions way over my head and knowledge. It was a real pleasure to witness the joy that it created. I had lost some of my fervor for HT and focused on motorcycles for over a year now but thank God I have my theater to fall back on now that the weather has gotten cold. Last year I was so taken with my Hayabusa that I rode right through the coldest part of the winter. I don't see that happening this time around for more than one reason. Most importantly I logged in over 24,000 mile in one short year. I had planned on going the turbo route which is popular on the Busa but I was worried I was going to put over ten thousand dollars into a bike with so many miles on it. So that's the main point...I don't want to run up a bunch of miles on my new bike and have to buy another one next year. I didn't plan on having two expensive hobbies...that's just the way it happened. Fortunately the theater has more of a finite end of expenses. I've hardly had to put a dime into my theater this past year. It still needs finishing but I can live with that for the time being. Thanks for reading, enjoy all those new presents, and I would love to hear about your "motorcycle theaters".

[Shakeydeal]

I am a bike guy too, but this is my ride of choice.

[shake777]

Hey Shakey,

Its obvious a lot of time and effort and money went into your ride. She's a looker! Nic

[Edgar]

I did the hyperbike thing for over twenty years. Now I'm looking for something that is actually fun to ride at sane speeds. This looks like it would satisfy that need, but unfortunately it's not available in the USA. Perhaps someday I'll convert the enduro version.

[Shakeydeal]

Thanks, it's truly a money pit.

Shakey

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I did the hyperbike thing for over twenty years. Now I'm looking for something that is actually fun to ride at sane speeds. This looks like it would satisfy that need, but unfortunately it's not available in the USA. Perhaps someday I'll convert the enduro version.

Super Motard. Nice. I seem to remember KTM making a version in the USA (unless they stopped making them here).

[Edgar]

I seem to remember KTM making a version in the USA (unless they stopped making them here).

They stopped importing them to the US after the 2012 model year, I think.

[hugeroost]

ok ole Roost has one for you speedfreaks.....back in the spring of 2004 my friend who owns the Kawasaki shop told me they were discontinuing the mighty KX500, five honey to the well informed, it was the last of the monster 2-strokes, everyone else had stopped years earlier. So I tell my buddy go ahead and order me a pair, I`d be good then for the rest of my time, sorry, I had a new crf450 and didn't like it that much. I keep one in the garage listening to my system out there, its the one I ride, the other has never even had gas in it and its a conversation piece sitting on a stand in the billiard room. I`m the only cat in America, maybe the world, who has a brand new KX500, if any board members have ever ridden one I would like to hear your comments, their insane fast, a normal person CANT ride one. I have never sold any of my old bikes and still have the following, all insane lol..... RM500, IT490, RM465... give me a two-stroke all day any day...Roost

[Islander]

If you like your KX500s, you might love a Maico 700 Cross:

http://www.thebikergene.com/dirtbikes/maico-releases-a-685cc-80hp-101kg-2-stroke-for-2009-i-just-want-my-mummy/

Video:

ATK makes (or did make) a US-built 700 single dirt bike:

http://www.atkusa.com/atk/(S(0y2airqoofvrq4334u1t4t45))/documents/2009ATK700620cc.pdf

[hugeroost]

Islander, I had almost forgotten about those, I read some stuff on them awhile back, for some reason I'm thinking the knock on em was they would not rev like a normal 2-stroke but I could be wrong. I know my KX"s have so much power its hard to handle, almost uncontrollable at times, and not a good choice on todays mx tracks, just to much power, it needs room and lots of it, it will stand straight up at 70mph with a good bite. I had a friend awhile back that had a Honda cr480 with that left handed kick start, it was a bear to start, then on the cr500"s they moved it to the right side, much better. I would love to run that 700 through the gears though, that fix cannot be gotten anywhere else, street bikes are just different than being on dirt, 0 to 100 in about a football field.......Roost