Attention Daytona Motor Corp

The outdoor season is fast approaching. In fact, if you haven't looked at the updated outdoor schedule, you should. It has been updated and changed significantly this year. In light of this fact, here is something pertaining to the outdoor season.

Imagine this: Your in amazing shape, and at the age of 30, you have a program that has evolved over the years to meet your needs as a rider and boost your fitness to an all time high. You may not smash the lap records book, but on lap twelve twenty five minutes into the race, you are just as fast as on lap one.

You have established yourself as a solid top twenty outdoor rider in previous seasons, although you only race one or two nationals a year. Suddenly, a new rule emerges, effectively ending your chances at ever racing a national again.

The rule I speak of is the timed qualifying, and here is my take on it.
I am extremely partial to this post. I know a rider, Matt Karlsen (http://www.karlsenracing.com/profile.html), who always makes it to my local track's Thanksgiving Team USA Championships race. He is in unbelievable shape, is damn fast, and never says die! He is a beast to put it lightly, I would say he makes Andrew Short look weak! In previous years, he had made a few Outdoor nationals, and done well for himself, largely in part due to his fitness. At our race, he always starts mid pack out of 40, looks like he will finish tenth for the first half of the race, and always ends up passing pros left and right in the second half to finish top 5 and sometimes top 3, against very respectable names. All due to fitness.

However, with the new qualifying structure he no longer makes the show, when he used to do so well. Of course, I am partial, but there are problems with this current set up.

My first point: The riders have their best chance at laying down some wood when the track is freshly prepped and practically bump free. This means, that the first couple laps of practice are one huge pissing contest to get the fastest lap time. Or, for my favorite underdog Matt Karlsen, a mad dash to get in the show! If motocross were car racing, I would agree with the rule. You don't want a car on the track that is way off pace! But if this were car racing, you wouldn't want a car in the race you knew couldn't go the distance. That is analogy applies perfectly to the current situation.

Second: If you work your ass off, allowing yourself to be just as fast on the last lap as the first, you should be rewarded for that. Tim Ferry is rewarded by great late charging finishes, heck he even gets faster as the race goes on! His fitness (and talent...) aspect allows him to be a front runner.

Third: Motocross is not just who can go the fastest. It is a huge mix between fitness and speed, and for many, the more fit they are the faster they can go. Why then, is qualifying for a race based on purely the speed element of racing? I personally know a couple intermediate (B) class riders, (and by judging from the Mini Olympics in Vegas, you know/heard of a couple) who could easily qualify for an outdoor national. Hell, Justin Barcia and Dean Wilson set 2 of the top 5 lap times with Barcia setting the fastest all week, as B class riders. That said, I guarantee you they aren't fit enough to crack the top twentieth maybe alone thirtieth place in the first moto, let alone the second moto (well, maybe Barcia and Wilson could, but that's the exception to the rule...both are going top factory pro in a year or so).

Matt Walker said, "It takes a real man to do thirty plus two...ugh twice."

Fourth: The track is getting destroyed by the mad dash in an entirely new manner. No, it doesn't get rougher than usual, dryer than usual etc... now it gets one lined. A one line track is as detrimental to good racing as anything else you can imagine. This is not me complaining from a fan standpoint, I am just restating the riders opinion over the course of the previous year.

Those are the problems, and some of those points, if not all, overlap.



Here is the solution:

All riders must qualify based on the average of their top five or seven (needs research so they don't cruise one, go fast one) fastest laps per each practice session. That doesn't mean the 5 (for arguments sake) best laps between the two sessions, but the fastest 5 in that particular session.

Or, even better, they should qualify like in the good ole' days. That way the importance of starts plays in, as well as fitness. This would allow those who get good starts to use that strength, as well as those who are in shape enough to hold on for the entire qualifier to use that strength.

All that, of course, will be after a non timed practice session is held to allow the track to develop multiple lines before the madness begins.



There were a lot of top twenty riders who didn't qualify to nationals this year... to keep this PG-13, I would be forced to leave the things they have to say about the rule.

To attempt and quote Matt Karlsen on the new rule (a real PG-13 guy),

"It sucks cause it leaves out people who actually train and work hard during the year and off-season and replaces them with slackers who may be able to go fast once, but are people I kill at local races longer than 4 laps. If they end up making the show, they ultimately get dead last lapped 3 times in moto 1 and are too tired to race moto 2. What fan wants to see someone give up while on the track?"

Well put, Matt, well put.

We all have that local favorite who we love to see do well, but I do think that purely basing qualifing on speed is fundamentaly wrong considering the many other aspects in riding.

Thanks for reading, email me if you have any comments or thoughts on the matter at aggiemoto99@yahoo.com

Seattle SX - Supercross Class

HOLY SMOKES!

From merely listening to the webcast from the always awesome Weege and Hollywood Holly, my heart is still pounding! I just listened to the most exciting race in a LONG, LONG time.
With 13 points to overcome, the fan favorite K-dub did exactly what he needed to. He pulled a big fat hole-shot dripping in glistening, delicious, wonderful opportunity to make up points. To add the adjectives, Reed fell down in the first turn! I was so excited at this point, I prematurely...assumed...that he and Reed were going to Vegas toe to toe.

But the night wasn't over! On one of the early laps, Windham got stuck in a tuff block cover! His bike stalled with the unholy "tuff block" cover impeding his desire to win, let alone move, and without some luck on his side, K-dub was very nearly parking his ride for the night. I was shouting curse words at the computer monitor and hitting my head on the ceiling from jumping so high trying to "E" urge K-dub back into action. But he showed some unprecedented intelligence in motocross history, going backward to get the cover out in order to ultimately go forward again! Who would think those from the south could think so well (I live in Texas...it's ok). He resumed his race in fifth place...but a distant one at that.
Reed, however, had worked his way up to a mere three back from K-dub by this time already! Now the dog had a rabbit to chase, as Windham was only a straight away.

The race was now officially on! I was then treated a the best riding clinic ever produced, as Windham had an absolute fire under his @ss with Reed matching him step for step. Windham made something along the lines of 10 seconds up to make up to pass the then leading Andrew Short for the numero uno position. Of course, he this was after making his way like a freight train through Josh Grant, Tim Ferry, and Davi Millsaps. Reed, seeing Windham's success, followed suit. But he quickly found out it wasn't as easy for him! It went so far as he and Andrew Short banging bars with one lap to go so hard that Reed nearly wadded himself into a crumpled tissue, as his hands got knocked off the bars. After the race, there was some "talking", but no knuckle samples were given.

Reed clearly expressed his distaste with the run in.
Shorty, on the other hand, had nothing to say other than racing is racing, get over it.

Shorty (an adopted Texan) is jacked, I don't think Reed wants to go there!

If you have looked to the right column on my blog, I put a think about it list, which contains "Windham mad" in its items. I did this long before Reed hurt himself, because I had thought about it.

Now that he has had his run-ins with Reed, Windham is pissed. He has been extremely serious and almost hyper focused at each round since, but in a very un-Windham like manner, instead of riding tight like he used to when he gets too serious, he has ridden like a man mad at the world. I'm so glad he has finally shown his ability, and I didn't even get to watch it yet!

Reed:
He is so fast coming through traffic, and he is an absolute monster on the bike. He rode so well to come from last to first that I absolutely applaud him in his effort this year. I already ragged on him this year once in the Daytona post, but I think he deserved some of it at the time. Now that Windham is finally responding to the challenge on the track, Reed is back in my good book. Don't forget, he is still recovering from the nastiest crash I never want to see again, which you can view here.

So.
Vegas approaches, and there is a 10 point lead held like super glue holds your fingers together by Chad Reed. After the race tonight, even Kevin almost faltered and said in an interview that the championship is out of reach. But anything can happen, and if Reed had any mechanical problems, has problems with a tuff block, or wrecks, Windham is right in it.

On to more exciting things, the outdoors. I'll detail a post later, but Windham is going to race! Only a few though, and that makes me happy. A few are better than none.


Email me with any thoughts, related or not, at aggiemoto99@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading!

An Arm and Leg

Mark these words.

The cost of racing will drive out the people that make our sport so good.

Just look at nascar. How in the heck would you ever go pro in that? Buy your own car like Ricky's? No. Try dirt track? No. Car racing has almost become reserved for the rich of wallet, not the most talented. Hell, I would LOVE to race cars, or shifter carts, or some sort of 4 wheeled vehicle, but I just plain can't afford to.

Here is the motocross story, before it goes extinct.
First came the four strokes.

• Yeay for more usable power!
• Yeayfor no more fouled plugs!
• Yeay for no more premix!
• Yeay for no more religious top end rebuilds!

But should we say:

• Yeay for 2000 dollar engine rebuilds?
• Yeay for heavier bikes?
• Yeay for 5000 dollar mod bikes?
• Yeay for increased part wear (tires, chains, sprockets)?
• Yeay for more expensive purchase prices?
• Yeay for the "neutral only start" routine?
• Yeay for the death of the used bike market?

With the introduction of the four stroke in to main stream racing, you bought a lot more for each bike.

• Valves (originally titanium)
• Cams
• Cool pistons
• Oil pumps
• Titanium exhausts
• Carburetors with fuel squirter's (accelerator pump).

The four stroke is a technical marvel, but think for a second. Which bike requires more of a tuning knowledge? I feel the two stroke is magnanimously cooler when you look at the actual science behind the tuning.
Four strokes: more air in, higher revs, more power out.

The two stroke is a constant balance between power and ride ability.

Four strokes were great when Yamaha released them. The required almost ZERO maintenance, and were easy to go fast on for everyone. People no longer had to ride on the pipe, and the gap between beginner to novice to intermediate closed substantially.

But then came the problems (although I would like to say leave Yamaha out of it). When bikes blew up, they BLEW UP! (Ready, Inhale!) Now, a new crank was needed when the piston abruptly stopped moving from the valves sticking open because a 5 dollar valve keeper got loose requiring a new cylinder combined with a new head because the valve destroyed it (Phew! exhale!). Oil starvation required new cams and heads, sometimes a piston, and don't count out a crank after you fix the aforementioned problems because the effects of oil starvation weren't present during the rebuild. After a new reciprocating assembly, your transmission goes out, because the root of your oil starvation problems are a 3 dollar crank seal.

Then the used bike dilemma surfaced. With a particular brand of bikes experiencing valve recession, when you bought a bike, it was only a matter of time.
TICK, TOCK,
TICK, TOCK


BOOOM! There goes your brand "new" used bike.

People, realizing the problem, did a couple things. First, many completely serviced their "new" used bike, checking and often replacing every part necessary. Second, others bought new bikes only. Many raced a year, traded in, and raced another year, dumping off their used steed to some poor soul.

Of course, dealers were happy, they were selling an abundance of high mark up parts, and it wasn't their fault the bikes were breaking! They also got more shop business because the public were duped into thinking the four stroke is hard to work on.

Manufacturers were happy, they were selling more new bikes than ever, and they were selling more parts than ever, in part because mags were all raving the how great four strokes were, and in part because the pros were slowly coming round to the four stroke.

The aftermarket was happy. Exhausts now cost upwards of a grand, motor mods over a grand, pistons two hundred, weird trinkets and triple clamps surfaced to make the four stroke handle better like the two stroke. With valve failures, the aftermarket could now offer "upgraded" parts to make the bike last longer.

So yeay. Yeay for a thriving bike economy, yeay for cool technology, and yeay for faster riders.

But not really. With EFI on the horizon, jetting is no longer know how and a 2 dollar jet or a free change of the needle position. Now a computer tuner is needed when you add an aftermarket exhaust or air filter, and even more sad is that the stock jetting can be wrong.
A computer science degree is needed to work the systems. Don't beleive me? Just read about how horrible the Suzuki is stock, and how much worse the problem is with a pipe. The tuners are easily 500 bucks.

And the used bikes are REALLY in trouble. Now you may need a new injector, fuel pump or will think you do when a wire goes astray.

All for what? Did EFI really make the Suzuki better? No, it did horribly in the reviews. Did four strokes make the sport better? No, I see less and less riders every year at my local track, and it used to be packed, every practice. Now the track can barely stay afloat, and race turnouts are barely making three to a class. Are riders truly faster? The clock may say so, but their skill would belay the numbers. Put em' on a two stroke, and weep. It is that sad.


Don't feed into the B.S.
EFI will only cost more in the long run, and it doesn't make more power. Four strokes are killing the sport, and in five years, I will no longer have a local track. Hell, it's for sale as we speak.

My local track is Cycle Ranch, the BEST dirt in Texas, with one of the best layouts for true motocross, PERIOD. Don't beleive me, just ask the Alessi's, Heath Voss, Pastrana, the Hahn family, Sean Hackley, and many, many more. Dirt Rider calls it the hidden treasure in the south.
And yet, the track is going under from lack of turn out.

I'm not blatantly saying buy a two stroke, but think twice before you get that four stroke.