Eboz Signs with Yamaha

[*MV* #33]

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/Oct/051031v.htm


Finally, Yamaha is pleased to welcome the charismatic Eric Bostrom, who will round out the Yamaha squad competing in both the Formula Extreme and Superstock classes. "I just saw the new bikes and they are awesome." Said Bostrom. " I feel great and Yamaha has already made me feel so much a part of their family. I just can't wait to start riding,"

[Feathered upstart!]

Sweet

[ebazyl]

Woot! Good pick up for Yami. Too bad about Superbike class though.

[Bugkiller1]

Woot! Good pick up for Yami. Too bad about Superbike class though.

My sentiment exactly...
... it's great that Yamaha has such a strong team this year, but why not flex it in the Superbike class? Hiding EBOZ in Superstock and FX seems like a mistake. Disalvo is gonna whoop up next year on the new R6.

[Wahooman]

That will be sweet! I guess I just don't get why Yami doesn't run the superbike class. I know they are not after that market per say, but still now with Eric on board you would think they would run it. But, what a sweet team....Jason, Eric, Aaron, should be exciting!

[Feathered upstart!]

They are using superstock as a testing ground for superbike. When they feel they are ready as a team they'll be in superbike

[Lurch]

They are using superstock as a testing ground for superbike. When they feel they are ready as a team they'll be in superbike

My guess is they are going to keep "Testing" till Mladin either moves on or retires.

Lurch

[*MV* #33]

My thoughts exactly. Yamaha uses the rulke change excuse for years now. Then the AMA gives them long term gaurantee and the still dont ante up.
Now they are gonna play in formula extreme???? WTF

I like what Mladin said about them

"Sounds like Honda has dropped the minibike class from their factory lineup and will pass that over to Erion. It is great to see that they are more interested in winning the main class rather than beating up on all the privateers in FX. There is no doubt that FX turned out to be exciting at the end; it is just a shame that there were only two players.

The word at the track is that Yamaha will now take over as the sole factory in Formula Extreme. Good job, guys, it's now your turn to win a championship between teammates. I hope they put Superbikes on the track, and give the Yamaha fans something to cheer about. Not race in a class where, when the green flag is waved, everybody goes to get their hot dog and soda. I'm not sure what they meant when they said they won't race Superbike until the AMA has a long-term set of rules in place for the class. The current Superbike rules have been in place for the past three years and will remain for the next three. If the best part of a decade is not long enough for a company to put its plans in place, then I wonder how long it would take. Let's hope we see blue bikes on the Superbike grid at Daytona for the start of next season."


I got this quote from here:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/Sep/050916_m66.htm

They are using superstock as a testing ground for superbike. When they feel they are ready as a team they'll be in superbike

My guess is they are going to keep "Testing" till Mladin either moves on or retires.

Lurch

[Bugkiller1]

But, what a sweet team....Jason, Eric, Aaron, should be exciting!

Aaron who? I think you ment Jamie Hacking... Yates is still with Suzuki... for now.

[ebazyl]

Woot! Good pick up for Yami. Too bad about Superbike class though.

My sentiment exactly...
... it's great that Yamaha has such a strong team this year, but why not flex it in the Superbike class? Hiding EBOZ in Superstock and FX seems like a mistake. Disalvo is gonna whoop up next year on the new R6.

Yeah he will, except he will be the only factory rider. And with Honda not running it next season, it looks like it will be DiSalvo on a Superbike R6 vs the privateers.

[Jenny]

He's gonna be at the IMS in the R2SL booth on that Saturday.

KC, you can get him to sign your Yamaha hat!

[green_zx7r]

But, what a sweet team....Jason, Eric, Aaron, should be exciting!

Aaron who? I think you ment Jamie Hacking... Yates is still with Suzuki... for now.

I think he meant Aaron Gobert, who WAS with Yamaha, but now moved to Erion Honda.

Eric not in Superbikes is gonna be a sad year for me. Though, he may win championships in both FX and Superstock, it's almost degrading for him to do so... It's like Hodgson winning the 2003 WSBK title.

Oh well, it will be great to see him on a 4 cyl again.

[*MV* #33]

But, what a sweet team....Jason, Eric, Aaron, should be exciting!

Aaron who? I think you ment Jamie Hacking... Yates is still with Suzuki... for now.

I think he meant Aaron Gobert, who WAS with Yamaha, but now moved to Erion Honda.

Eric not in Superbikes is gonna be a sad year for me. Though, he may win championships in both FX and Superstock, it's almost degrading for him to do so... It's like Hodgson winning the 2003 WSBK title.

Oh well, it will be great to see him on a 4 cyl again.

Aaron Gobert quit racing now.. Erion Honda picked up Josh Hayes.

Eric wont win a Superstock title or FX.. it will be another year of complaining about how the bike doesnt fit him or how hes getting used to it. blah blah blah.

Personally I cant wait to watch Suzuki dominate Superstock on a non-cheater bike.

MV

[green_zx7r]

I think you mean Alex Gobert. Alex quit. As far as I know Aaron (older brother of Alex) took Alex's spot on Erion Honda.

[*MV* #33]

I think you mean Alex Gobert. Alex quit. As far as I know Aaron (older brother of Alex) took Alex's spot on Erion Honda.

Correct.. I got my Goobers err Goberts mixed up.

MV

[green_zx7r]

Eric wont win a Superstock title or FX.. it will be another year of complaining about how the bike doesnt fit him or how hes getting used to it. blah blah blah.

Personally I cant wait to watch Suzuki dominate Superstock on a non-cheater bike.

MV

No doubt... Still, I love watching him ride. I hope the best for him on the R1/R6. Let's hope getting back on a 4 cyl as well as having his brother here will fuel his motivation.

[green_zx7r]

Another thing with this deal that makes me wonder...

Maybe Yamaha is planning return next year to Superbikes with Eric if he does well in Superstock and FX? Let's hope that's in his contract...

[~Barn~]

The thing is though, is that you can't run teams in every class, and be dominant. I mean... I guess maybe if you're Honda you could try, and I suppose they do; But Yamaha just doesn't have the cash flow to do that.

They pour money into MotoGP, and they run strong in FX and SS, so to pour many more millions into a Superbike program, would be difficult.

Suzuki has SB nailed down, so that's their thing, Kawi has their niche`, etc, etc...

So yeah, I get Yamaha not doing that. What's the point, if you're don't intend to own the class, and intend to throw serious resources at it. (?)

[green_zx7r]

MotoGP and Rossi are probably huge reasons why Yamaha can't pour too much money into SBK. However, from a business perspective, it seems Superstock and FX just don't get the same attention from the fans and television coverage. I would think having bikes in Superbikes/Supersports would expose and sell the R6/R1 better.

Plus, I know it's purely us race fan's (and riders) perspective, but I'd like to see manufacturers compete in the same category rather than disperse themselves in different categories and call themselves champions...


Yusuke

[~Barn~]

Personally, I love the Superstock class. I would much rather watch a SS race with full factory backing from all the big-4, than a Superbike race of the same.

To me, it's just more fun to watch the race take place on machines that share some resemblance to the bike I (and others) ride, rather than the $300,000.00 superbikes.

The pinacle of course is the GP. Like Ewan Mcgregor said in FASTER, it's "the fastest men on the fastest bikes." So therefore, than niche` is filled.

In the meantime though, show me hella fast guys on bikes like mine!

[ebazyl]

But, what a sweet team....Jason, Eric, Aaron, should be exciting!

Aaron who? I think you ment Jamie Hacking... Yates is still with Suzuki... for now.

I think he meant Aaron Gobert, who WAS with Yamaha, but now moved to Erion Honda.

Eric not in Superbikes is gonna be a sad year for me. Though, he may win championships in both FX and Superstock, it's almost degrading for him to do so... It's like Hodgson winning the 2003 WSBK title.

Oh well, it will be great to see him on a 4 cyl again.

Aaron Gobert quit racing now.. Erion Honda picked up Josh Hayes.

Eric wont win a Superstock title or FX.. it will be another year of complaining about how the bike doesnt fit him or how hes getting used to it. blah blah blah.

Personally I cant wait to watch Suzuki dominate Superstock on a non-cheater bike.

MV

Last I checked, Anothony was racing Australian Superbikes ... poorly.

[*MV* #33]

Personally, I love the Superstock class. I would much rather watch a SS race with full factory backing from all the big-4, than a Superbike race of the same.

To me, it's just more fun to watch the race take place on machines that share some resemblance to the bike I (and others) ride, rather than the $300,000.00 superbikes.

The pinacle of course is the GP. Like Ewan Mcgregor said in FASTER, it's "the fastest men on the fastest bikes." So therefore, than niche` is filled.

In the meantime though, show me hella fast guys on bikes like mine!

So if you like watching Superstock because the bikes are similiar. Do you approve of Yamahas attempt to make a superstock cheater?? I love superstock as well but the LE R1 kinda ruins the theme.

[~Barn~]

If the AMA rules have a loophole, then I can only assume it will be addressed. I've never actually read the text of how the class is governed.

Being a racer Mike, you might know better than most.... Does the R1 LE actually fall within the rules of the class? I mean... are slipper clutches allowed, if they come on a production machine. The production Gix 1000 has them, so I guess I have to assume so. I never considered it a cheaterbike.

I guess to answer the question, I approve of anything that is done, within the rules, so long as the rules are written to not give any particular manufacturer, an unfair advantage.

Maybe since Yamaha only made 500 LE's, the AMA should re-write the rules to say that "XYZ manufacturer, must sell atleast no less than 1000 models of the machine they intend to race." Or something to that affect.

Doing that I think would:
A.) Bring more of an attractive product to market, which is good for consumers.
and B.) Allows that the bike still must still meet the minimum sales volume, to compete. Which is good for racing, because machines that are technologically 'outpriced' for the general public, would be a no-go.

[The Black Knight]

I'm going to have to agree. I enjoy watching the Superstock and Supersport classes mainly because those are bikes everyone buys. We get to see how they run and what kind of performance they can produce with minimal modifications on them.

As far as Superbike. I love Superbike. I like seeing the pinnacle of modified bikes(AMA racing). FX is o.k. really doesn't do a whole lot for me. Mainly because no one races in it. I think FX should be left for the privateers and the big 4 should be kept out. One manufacture pulls out and another pulls in. Just to dominate on the privateer guys. Yeah I'd hope a factory backed team wins. If they don't its pretty sad.

I'll have to agree that Yamaha does focus alot on MotoGP and for the right reasons. They have Valentino Rossi. They man is incredible and has brought in alot of money and image for them. Also MotoGP is global. AMA is not.

I think that is why WSBK and MotoGP thrive so well is because they reach a much broader audience. They get to travel to many countries, so therefore you will bring in more money. The US is great but we are one country.

Suzuki has AMA nailed down. Until Mladin steps out I think it will be mostly dominated by Suzuki. Also this is because the other manufactures have been out. I know Kawasaki is starting to come into Superbike. Yamaha is still out of it. Honda don't have anything to offer except bikes that break.

As much as I love and enjoy AMA I think its at the bottom of the totempole in bike racing. AMA is great for young guys to get their starts and for old guys to come and retire and die off. Honestly you don't see Rossi, Melandri, Gibernau, Corser or Haga coming here for the wonderful challenging racing we offer. I know Neil Hodgeson tried to talk his efforts up when he was on Two Wheel Tuesday. You can tell though that he's like " yeah I'm here to race and retire.."

Don't know why I got off on this tangent, but I think it reflects how the Big 4 companies view their racing priorities. You definetely have a much broader and better paying audience around the world....