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khp

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Everything posted by khp

  1. Kevin, I was actually shouting and cheering for Marquez to get the win in Mugello - what he did in that last lap to pass Lorenzo was nothing short of amazing. He really deserved to win, but the Honda's lack of 'hook up' just killed him. If the HRC engineers are still in denial about it, all they have to show them that video of the last two corners and the drag to the finish line. Assen will be my 2nd MotoGP - the first one was in Sepang 2013. Hopefully we'll get a bit closer to the paddock in Assen.
  2. Kevin, I am indeed watching the Moto3/2/GP races, but the lack of discussion (beyond the two of us) discouraged me from posting more. Mugello was indeed very entertaining, in all three classes. Less than 0.1 sec between the two first over the line in all three races. Just a shame about the two Engines blowing up on Sunday. At least they have now concluded what the cause was (over-revving when going full-throttle in 6th gear over the "jump" along the main straight, due to the ECU not being quick enough to cut the ignition). The rider hit by it in the race was rather dejected about it. The race in Catalunya was almost as close, until 2 laps from the end. Iannone is surely not making friends in the paddock this year. He was coming from behind, so the fault was on him, although Pol did confirm that Iannone braked at his usual marker. This year is different from last year, but it's no way less exciting. It's a good year to watch MotoGP in. I have my tickets for the TT Assen in 2 weeks from now. On race day, I'll sit in the Winterdijk Tribune, close to the final chicane Moto2 seems to be panning out to be the 2-3 way contest that everyone was expected from the beginning of the season, although I'm a bit concerned for Lowes, since he has not been able to be competitive at the sharp end for the last two races. In Moto3, Brad Binder seems to be running away with everything at the moment. He was, though, very lucky to escape being torpedoed on the final lap, staying upright and not loosing out more time than he did. Oh, and the handshake in parc fermé was great to see. Hopefully the open hostilities are buried now.
  3. Sorry, I made a think-o when I wrote 2013-2014. I meant the '15-16 model. Maybe I just want to go back two years in time
  4. Which year model are you looking for - the 2013-2014? I'm tall enough to make any bike look small (6'6"), but I'm doing quite fine on my 2003 model R1. I haven't tried sitting/riding the 2013/2014 model.
  5. Here's very nice interview with Luca Cadalora, who is working as a coach for Valentino this year: http://www.cycleworld.com/valentino-rossi-new-coach-luca-cadalora-yamaha-motogp-team-interview/ Just proving that he's an Old Dog That Can Learn New Tricks. /Kai
  6. I didn't follow MotoGP that closely back in the time, so I don't know. I'm sure your Google-fu is quite as good as mine (that's where I got the info for #5 from).
  7. Kevin, Excellent question. I don't remember that, and given that Bridgestone were involved as supplier to part of the MotoGP field before becoming the single support, I would doubt it. Maybe Bridgestone had teething problems the first years when they joined MotoGP in 2002. Looking at Wikipedia's entry on tires in GP racing it seems like that the teams were already moving away from Michelins, because they were unhappy with them at the time.
  8. In theory, next year should be super-interesting with MM, VR and JL on different motorcycles. That is, if MM doesn't decide to jump ship from the ailing Honda (I doubt that). The Ducati/JL combination could either be a match made in heaven or in hell: the "Bologna Bullet" having loads of power, but JL more relying on that silky-smooth riding style and high corner speeds. If Ducati can make the bike work better for cornering, this is bound to be a success formula. If they can't, JL may well quickly rue the change - just like VR did. I'm cheering on Suzuki to further improve their bikes, so they can start competing for podiums and (later) wins. Ducati seemed to suffer particularly much here in Jerez with their front runner (Iannone) 26sec back on the winner. Aprilia seems to be a couple of years behind Suzuki in development. KTM hasn't done any official tests, so it's anyone's guess where they are. What I see as the "Elephant on the racetrack" is the quality and tire-to-tire consistency of Michelin tires: Baz suffered a puncture in the Sepang test, causing the rear to split down the middle. A horrifying 290kph crash ensued. Redding had the entire top layer delaminate during FP4 in Argentina. Michelin has said it was due to "a combination of an unusual high track temp, severity of the track layout, and Redding's weight" (link). During qualifying, Lorenzo's 2nd rear was a dud (heavy chattering), so he pitted immediately to get it replaced. All the riders complained about spinning the rear on the straights - something I've never heard complaints about with the Bridgestone tires. Redding had another rear starting to delaminate on him during the race, so he backed down to 1m44s laps to ride the bike home (crash.net). Michelin claimed that Scott's rear was "OK". But something was definitely odd about the Jerez surface yesterday. The Moto2 guys were throwing their front ends all over the place - 12 crashes, and all due to loosing the front tire, if I'm not mistaken.
  9. Even if you're a big fan of Valentino Rossi, you'd be hard pressed not to say that the race was kinda boring: Pole, fastest lap, win and led every single lap in the race. A Lorenzo-eque dominant win. Lorenzo blamed rear wheelspin down the straights for not being able to take the victory. It turns out that Rossi and Marquez also had problems with the rears spinning from mid-race. Sam Lowes took an almost equally dominant win: Pole, led from lap 2 to the end to win by ~2.5sec over Folger. Niether Folger nor Alex Rins (2nd and 3rd) had any answer to #SidewaysSam's pace and spectacular style. Zarco had an uncharacteristically bad weekend, but benefited from falling riders (and passing Tom Luthi) to salvage a 5th position at the end. In Moto3 Brad Binder did the seemingly impossible: after being demoted from 2nd on the grid to the rear for using an un-sanctioned ECU map, he still came through to win the race. Teenager Nicolo Bulega (SKY Team VR46) took pole and 2nd place by an audacious but cleanly executed pass of Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Navaro in the final corner. Surely two riders we are going to see more of in the future. Edit: Oh, and Cal Crutchlow actually finished a race, for the first time year. Even picked up championship points too!
  10. Jorge Lorenzo announced this week that he's joining Team Red from next year. When asked about his expectations of the bike at the Jerez pre-race press conference, he deadpanned "I expect to be very fast in a straight line". http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/jorge-lorenzo-teams-up-with-ducati/198702 http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/lorenzo-set-to-take-on-new-challenge-with-ducati/198703 Maverick Viñales is tipped as the top candidate to replace Lorenzo as Rossi's teammate in the Yamaha Factory team. Lin Jarvis said at the press conference that they expected to take a decision before the Barcelona GP (June 5th). Ducati have said that they had informed the two Andrea's, but not made any decision on whom they would pick.
  11. Sorry that I managed to drag you into this Custom fit thing ducatmh That suit is looking sweet! /Kai
  12. Yesterday I spent a good couple of hours to change the tires manually (I don't have access to a hydraulic machine). As usual, the Dunlops are pretty stiff in the carcass, so it takes me quite some cussing to get the old ones off and the new ones on. Got out riding about a hundred km, scrubbing in the tires and starting to get my feeling back. Like the SportSmart, the SportSmart2 profile feels very neutral. I may be imagining this, but I think I can feel the slightly taller 190/55 profile over the 190/50 of the old SportSmarts: slightly quicker to turn in, but still very stable both riding straight and when turned in.
  13. Either that or you're just feeling the crowning of the road.
  14. First off, I don't drag my knees on public roads. When I was younger, I tried to do that (a few of my friends would do it), but I found that there were just too many unknowns on the road for riding that fast. I do, however, drag my knees on a consistent basis when riding on track - to the point of the first corner on the outlap. I've found that the lean angle depends on several things, including the bike and the riding position. As for the bike, well, there's not much you can do there. Try dragging you knee on a softchopper. Ain't gonna happen. Riding position: originally in 1998, I was told to rotate around the tank when moving to the inside of the turn (no, this wasn't CSS). This made it hard for the knee to touch down, as the knee would be 'close' to the front wheel. Keeping the pelvis perpendicular to the bike (even when hanging off) makes your knee touch down more 'mid-bike', which appears to be easier. Don't ask me why, though I can't give you an exact lean angle for when I start dragging my knee, but I'd guess at around 45 degrees. I have very long legs, and this may work for me or against me. I generally put the ball of the foot on the inside peg. I move the left foot back and forth for changing gears. The right foot stays 'up' (I very rarely use the rear brake). My weight is generally on the seat, not on the footpegs. I've grown old and comfy, so I've changed to only weight the pegs / lift my butt out of the seat if I *really* have to. Saves me from so much leg pain
  15. Barber sure looks interesting. I've heard/seen great things about the Sonoma/Sears Point/Infineon Raceway as well.
  16. rchase, did you post a link to the wrong video? All I saw was a 9 second clip and where you don't see him move his body over one side to the other. What was it I was supposed to notice?
  17. I think the reason is much more that Held sees itself as a "Biker Fashion" brand, rather than a racing brand. There's probably more money in that segment too ;-)
  18. "Putting up a long arm here" Yeah, plenty of experience. My old Dainese was ~ 2inches too short in the arms a couple of inches too wide, and 4" too short in the legs. I ended up having a suit custom fitted for me. Fits like the proverbial glove Dainese used to do this, but it would take months to get it delivered. Not sure about Alpinestars. In the US, Z Custom Leathers might still be around.
  19. They look fine to me. I ride with bigger scuffs than this.
  20. Crash.net talking to Bradley Smith about his KTM contract: http://www.crash.net/motogp/feature/228667/1/bradley-smith-talks-ktm-motogp-move.html
  21. Absolutely, Cobie. Adding to that is that Bradley Smith has today announced that he'll be joining KTM as Factory Rider for 2017-2018: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/03/20/ktm-signs-bradley-smith-as-motogp-factory-rider/196087
  22. It's unlikely that you need to change the handlebar weights as the weights are there to dampen vibrations. Consider that the handlebars are not symmetrically weighted from the begining (e.g. no throttle on the left side), and would assume that it's only the rotation around the steering stem that matters.
  23. Update: a set of 120/70-ZR17 and 190/55-ZR17 are on their way to me. I'll keep you guys posted on my experience. Went riding today for the first time this season - a chilly 8-10degrees (46-50F) with the sun gone again.
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