Danger Is My Middle Name

MiniGP Track List

Go to www.minigpx.com to learn more about MiniGP (road racing on small motorcycles). They have a good list of tracks including smaller kart tracks.

Add comment 2008-06-30

Jim Stewart’s Suspension Tuning Tech Topic

Jim Stewart on suspension tuning.

Add comment 2008-06-28

BeaveRun Bump at moto-vation

I really like this story about someone’s trackday experience.

Add comment 2008-06-26

No more Suzuki SV650s or SV1000s? and the new AMA Pro Racing Classes

American Suzuki Vice President Mel Harris mentioned (in the the July 2008 issue of Sport Rider magazine) that the Suzuki SV1000 and Suzuki SV650 will be discontinued in the US next year. The article was about the new AMA Pro Racing classes. Here the quote:

“Suzuki’s SV1000 will be dropped from next year’s product lineup, and ‘there’s a good chance the 650 will be discontinued. We don’t have a motorcycle that fits in. I think two of my counterparts don’t have motorcycles that fit.’”

Wait-a-minute: since when are SVs raced in the AMA? Here is some information about the planned changes for AMA professional road racing.

Roger Edmondson (the President of the Grand American Road Race Series LLC), and Jim France (the Vice Chairman/Executive Vice President of NASCAR) are two of the Daytona Motorsports Group’s (DMG) leaders. The Grand American Road Race Series LLC runs a road racing series called MOTO-ST, which has multiple two-cylinder, long-distance classes that run simultaneously. Suzuki SVs currently compete in MOTO-ST. MOTO-ST classes aren’t AMA classes, but that will change now that DMG went ahead and purchased AMA Pro Racing. This purchase means that the “AMA” in this case is not the American Motorcyclist Association, because the American Motorcyclist Association has sold-off all of AMA Pro Racing, and its branding, with the exception of the classes that are already managed by Live Nation (AMA Supercross and AMA Arenacross) to DMG. There are more details here and here.

Here is a photo of an SV650 racing in MOTO-ST:

Speedwerks.com SV650

Now, it’s no secret that fans were disappointed when the Daytona 200 become an AMA Formula Extreme race. That decision was made, because Superbikes were believed to be too dangerous for Daytona’s banking. Tires heat-up when they flex due to the fact that they are flatter at their contact patch then at other places. Daytona speeds are faster on-the-banking than at other AMA tracks, so more heat is generated by the flexing. Formula Extreme bikes have less horsepower, so they were believed to be safer at Daytona.

Roger Edmondson also said that: “In 2009 Superbikes will again be in the [Daytona] 200” Great! That’s what everyone wants to see! Right? Wrong. The new Daytona Superbike class excludes motorcycles with 1000cc displacement. 4-cylinder superbikes by-definition have 1000cc displacements here, and in every
other country in the world. Saying that “2009 Superbikes will again be in the 200″, and then excluding 1000cc superbikes from the class is disingenuous.

Some believe the class changes were made so that the premier class will be safer at some of the more dangerous tracks in the wet (rain). These tracks were once (and maybe still are) considered dangerous by the AMA safety council (a group of responsible rider/representatives that previously worked with the AMA to help track owners prioritize safety changes), because they have obstacles that are too-close to the outside of some corners. I can assure you that the Daytona Superbikes won’t be safer on these tracks, because these smaller bikes go extremely fast in the corners.

Here is what Roger Edmondson told Roadracing World (in an email) about the AMA safety council:

“It’s irrelevant right this minute, as far as I’m concerned. We have not met anybody, and nobody’s ever presented themselves as being a member of it. And frankly, I haven’t asked about it in this particular case. Because, once again, while you may determine that the track is not something you want to ride, I might determine just the opposite. This is my chance for a big payday. And so I don’t think it’s appropriate in issues of this type where a track is approved for competition period that we get riders telling us whether or not it’s appropriate to ride there in the wet.”

Maybe he truly believes that the tracks will be safer as long as the best riders aren’t on 1000cc motorcycles, or maybe DMG wants the class change just so that they can have the best riders in the Daytona 200 (the tail wags the dog)? Personally, I don’t think that anyone should be maimed, or killed, so that Roger Edmondson can have his ”chance for a big payday”. Why should it take another Dale Earnhardt or Vincent Haskovec tragedy to get these people to focus on safety?

The irony in all this is that while the AMA (of which I am a member) is avoiding the management of pro racing, they aren’t avoiding the hits to their brand image.

You know what? Go name the class “Daytona Formula Extreme” or “Daytona Supersport”, and then go run some sprint races at Indianapolis and Daytona before the NASCAR races (obviously they would need to keep the infields clear, because that’s where the slower motorcycle corners are), and then I will applaud you for focusing on less powerful machines, but don’t call them superbikes.

So now DMG is talking about including 3-4 classes per event. The classes will be: Daytona Superbike (the [cough]premier[cough] class), LiterBike (ironically this is mostly a 1000cc class), MOTO-ST, and possibly the AMA Red Bull Rookies cup, although the agreements do not-yet exist for that one.

Here is what the list of homologated motorcycles for the Daytona Superbike class might look like:
Aprilia Tuono
BMW HP2 Sport
Buell 1125R
Ducati 848
Ducati S4R
Honda CBR600RR
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R
KTM Super Duke
MV Brutale 910S
Suzuki GSX-R750
Suzuki GSX-R600
Triumph Daytona 675
Yamaha YZF-R6

Here is what the list of homologated motorcycles for the the AMA LiterBike class might look like:
Aprilia RSV 4
BMW S1000RR
Buell 1125R
Ducati 1098S
Honda CBR1000RR
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
KTM RC8
MV F4312
Suzuki GSX-R1000
Yamaha YZF-R1

1 comment 2008-06-15

What’s New?

Go here for the Chicago rock band: ”Danger Is My Middle Name”.

Get free business cards from Vista Print!

The Web site’s timestamps reflect when the events occured, and not the time of the actual posting, in most cases, so I will list new articles in the (reverse cronological) order that they are written here, and I will keep this post on-top.

1 comment 2008-05-28

NATO Phonetic Alphabet ( -or- “M” as in “Mary”, “F” as in “Frank”…)

Here is an update (2008-06-20): it turns out that there actually are phonetic alphabets where M=Mary, and F=Frank. These pages include some of the additional phonetic alphabets, as well as the NATO phonetic alphabet: LAPD, ITU, Western Union.

Here is my original text (below):

I recently heard someone doing the “M” as in “Mary”, “F” as in “Frank”, “B” as in “Boy” thing. It amazes me that everywhere I go, M=Mary, F=Frank, and B=Boy. How does that happen? Why is this particular thing a meme? You can probably guess where this is going based on the title above. Here is the actual phonetic alphabet (parental advisory). The real one.

Interestingly the digit ‘9′ is always spelled as ‘9′ or “nine”, but always pronounced (and never spelled) ”niner”. The common explanation for this is that ”neine” is “no” in German. I doubt that this would actually cause confusion though. I mean, it’s not like hearing the word “golf” in the middle of an registration number, or airport designator is going to make English speakers think of golfing, so why make this type of assumption about the word “nine”?

While I am writing about “I don’t buy it” explanations for miss-translations, there is always the B-school poor-marketing story about the name “Chevy Nova”. Every time someone told me what “No Va” meant, I would say, “but isn’t the Spanish word for nova, ‘nova’”? I actually had no idea what the Spanish word for nova was, but its a Latin word for crying out loud. It’s a common cultural touchpoint. The speaker would, in most cases, then repeat the story with more conviction, as if that would make a difference to me. I told Kay what I thought about this, and she sent me the Snopes link (back on 2006-05-16). So while I am off-subject, and rambling, I would like to remind everyone to read Snopes and The Straight Dope often, especially before forwarding an email.

The real alphabet:

Add comment 2008-05-21

Zero Motorcycles: Neal Saiki’s Electric Offroad Motorcycle

Zero Motorcycles is producing the Zero X electric offroad motorcycle. I would really like to see these bikes take-off. I also hope that the prices eventually come down.

Electric vehicles solve motocross’ noise problems. To be sure, the noise issue is more of an “I don’t want you to have any fun” issue. After all, many of the municipalities that outlaw riding-off-road-vehicles-at-home due-to-noise, don’t outlaw lawn mowers, and leaf blowers. That said, the noise-issue/excuse won’t exist if the bikes are silent.

…and then there is performance. I touched on this briefly in my Enertia Electric Motorcycle post. My experience with electric vehicles is limited to Micah Silverman’s Ford/Th!nk City electric car. (Micah’s car was an older model that looked like this.) Anyway, the acceleration of that car was very impressive at lower speeds. Dirt Rider magazines July 2007 article about Zero Motorcycles does a great job describing what this is like. DC motors are simply torque monsters. Unfortunately most people think golf-cart, when they think all-electric, but thankfully the success of the Prius is starting to change that. So, let me be clear about this: electric is not a step-backwards. Not sure that you agree? Then check out these videos about the Zero X: