Ask not for whom the bell tolls - MIC Superbikes

[Filo]

Well, it is official. The Motorcycle Industry Council has announced a new superbike series. It is my humble opinion that this announcement is nothing but bad for the sport of motorcycle roadracing in the US for the next 5-10 years. Feel free to disagree. You will just be wrong.

Who is up for Moto GP in Barcelona next year????

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Sep/080910ussb.htm

[rforsythe]

Are you really that surprised? "The Motorcycle Industry Council, the national trade association representing top motorcycle manufacturers...." pretty much says it all.

The manufacturers aren't even on speaking terms with DMG anymore so this was more or less inevitable. The Daytona Rules racing is going to level the technological playing field by putting HP and weight limits on bikes, but I still think whoever has the deepest pockets (i.e. Home Depot splattered on the side of their bright orange bike) stands a better chance at the win.

The bike factories want a way to prove who's bike is the best, not who can field the best rider. After all we know Mladin smokes everyone else on the field, but at the end of each race he's up there taunting the technological superiority of his "Suzuki GSX-R 1000", not how much ass he kicked.

I'm excited to see the Daytona Rules racing come about because I think it will make the racing more exciting to watch. That said, I also don't necessarily think it's a bad thing for the factories to have a way to get their agressions out on each other, since it means better bikes for you and I. I just hope the MIC series finds a way to make it more exciting to watch than AMA has been, or nothing's gonna change. I'm also curious to see how a manufacturer-represented organization fares in the areas of fairness and objectivity, since it seems like a conflict of interest to me. The AMA kisses the asses of the manufacturers (or at least did, until DMG took over), but at least wasn't owned and run by them.

[ChrisCBX]

With DMG and MIC Superbikes, we should hopefully, have a very good chance of getting a race date/dates at PPIR.

[longrider]

With DMG and MIC Superbikes, we should hopefully, have a very good chance of getting a race date/dates at PPIR.

Unfortunately when ISC sold the track to the present owners, one of the covenants was that a nationally sanctioned event could only have a ridiculously small number of spectators - something like 1500. Unles you charge $500 for a ticket 1500 spectators will never pay the costs of putting on a national event.

You have to remember that ISC bought the place for one reason and one reason only - to SHUT IT DOWN. Just when they couldn't sell it for land to develop on they backed down a little and allowed a track operator to buy it, just limitng them to club type events

[ChrisCBX]

Unfortunately when ISC sold the track to the present owners, one of the covenants was that a nationally sanctioned event could only have a ridiculously small number of spectators - something like 1500. Unles you charge $500 for a ticket 1500 spectators will never pay the costs of putting on a national event.

You have to remember that ISC bought the place for one reason and one reason only - to SHUT IT DOWN. Just when they couldn't sell it for land to develop on they backed down a little and allowed a track operator to buy it, just limitng them to club type events

Doh!

Guess I'll be doing the road trip to Laguna again next year.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

WooHoo! I know which series I'll be watching. F$ck the DMG and their NASCRAP restrictor-plate racing.

Yamaha has decided to go with the DMG, which is sad because they were the only ones to give Suzuki run for their money, but ok, piss on 'em.

Like Mladin said, it's not up to me to lower my game, it's up to the other guys to raise theirs.

Yeah, I know about the Indy/CART debacle, but I don't like the "dumbing down" of any series, unless it's to take away TC.

I look forward to '09.

[DanFZ1]

I'll be watching the series that actually gets on television and the politics behind it all will only make it better for me. Just one more thing to analyze and bitch about, but thats what makes me happy. Of course, I'll watch any Rube Goldberg inspired machine with two wheels and a motor go out and race any other but that's just me.

(I can see why a development class in racing needs to be in place and I think that DMG screwed the pooch on this one.)

Ultimately, the old AMA should have just added another class or two. After all, if you want to find out who the best rider is, grab a key out of a hat and have a spec. racing class like the TZ350 series that the Brits had going on back in the day. It became popular and mainland Europe followed suit for awhile. A lot of good riders came out of that series and went on to have good racing careers.

And it was close racing.

I also like to watch a good rider just check out because I know they have pretty much got to be on the limit. And the thing is, you can see that even in the BMW Boxers Cup.

But you still need (and I still want) an all out development effort going on over here in the states.

Adding yet another event to the schedule after dropping 250 two-stroke racing from the show just wasn't going to be in the cards I guess.


The formula is simple:

Motorcycle Road Racing + Television = Dave watching televsion.

All in all, This will be good for the sport. There will be more competition and the sport will be more accessible to all.

Of course they could both fail and then we would all be screwed.

[Clarkie]

Yamaha has decided to go with the DMG, which is sad because they were the only ones to give Suzuki run for their money, but ok, piss on 'em.

what year are we talking?

right now Kawi holds all the cards, if they go with the AMA series the factories will be split and the MIC series will suck with just Honda and Suzuki in it, if Kawi goes with the MIC series it will have more credibility and the AMA series will suffer more.

but you have to remember that the Micky Mouse series doesnt have a schedule, contracts with any riders, contracts with any tracks, and TV deal or anything yet...

[rybo]

what year are we talking?

but you have to remember that the Micky Mouse series doesnt have a schedule, contracts with any riders, contracts with any tracks, and TV deal or anything yet...

This is what I've been thinking. If there is one thing DMG KNOWS how to do it is how to promote a series. In my opinion they have taken quite possibly the most boring kind of racing (cars going in circles and very very infrequently turning right) and turned it into a national phenomenon. People are enthralled with it, and it's not half as exciting as motorcycle racing!

While I like the idea of a development series where the manufacturers are competing to build the best machine, to me the most important part is the RACING. Watching one rider run away with it all the time is boring.

Now there is a pretty snazzy development class out there, you might have heard of it. It's called Moto GP.

My .02, but I'm pretty sure I know which series I'll be able to see on TV routinely and I'm pretty sure I know which series is going to offer the most interesting racing.

s

[salsashark]

^ +1