faffi

And for comparison, how it used to be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01ipEiEgmQ

CoG will also change; raised by hoisting the rear, lowered by dropping the front. Depending on where the CoG is stock, either one can make the bike slightly easier or heavier to steer.

800+ hp (as in well more than Formula 1 cars)

My brother prefer bikes that require a LOT of muscle to turn, I prefer bikes that are utterly nimble and neutral, bikes that doesn't require more than one steering input.

That all makes sense!

That sounds insane. Not saying it's false, just absolutely weird. If it altered ride height and/or spring/damping curve, I could understand it. But I cannot see how it's possible to flip the damper characteristics other than making it more or less progressive. Could be I have stuff to learn.

From the Valencia test:

Also interested to know about the changes.

Read an article from a journalist who had done 3 laps each on 6 different race versions of the 2013 S1000RR. Common for them all was, according to him, that they made the stock S1000RR feel like a tank that refused to change direction.

I am poorly coordinated. This is easily felt every time I change gears, be it on my bike or in my car, in that I simply cannot make an identical move every time. Perhaps 70% of the time, but not every time. Lately, I have also experimented in the gym, where we have David machines with separately moving handles for each hand. And again, despite my best effort, I only manage to move them in perfect harmony about 70% of the time. Anybody else suffer from this?

I suck at this, because the moment things gets busy, I only observe what I look directly at. Luckily, my sons are much better - I believe it is from them having played video games since they were really young.

I remember the first time I hit 125 mph and thought it was crazy fast. The third time it felt pretty lame, and I never took that bike on the road without seeing 125 at least once - even within the city limits. After 2000 miles I sold it before somebody got seriously hurt. That was back in 1990. I cannot imagine riding a modern 200hp bike on public roads, but I know I would quickly ride like a stupid moron with a huge grin on my face. Until it ended with a BANG, which likely wouldn't take long. So I'll continue to putter around on me ancient 650 that rarely see the north of 70 mph because things happen rather boringly after that.

Bringing an old thread back to life

http://www.motorradonline.de/motorraeder/motorrad-neuheiten-2015-erlkoenige-studien-modellpflege/583232#1-583240 No lack of ugly bikes. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Few bikes I would want to own, regardless of how well they work, simply because they're an eyesore.

Intense Moto3 race and all to play for in Valencia. Sulking little brother Marquez dropped several steps on my admiration stair. Moto2 wasn't very exciting, but a well deserved title to Tito. Would be nice with a non-Spanish champion, though. MotoGP looked like it would be a battle to the end for the podium places, even with Pedders out of the running, but in the end there was a bit too much water between the boats to keep the tension all the way in. Lorenzo complained about not being fit enough, but he may have had an unusual bike issue. According to Ryder, Jorge's problem was losing the stomp grip on one side of the fuel tank, making it very hard to brace himself against the massive braking forces. Not helped by the crazy temps and humidity, either.

Interesting comment about over- vs understeer - I would imagine it to be reversed, that the front would push downhill, causing understeer.

Hotfoot, even I could easily tell when the Bridgestone BT001 was cold, and on a cold day it was very slippery. But, probably poorly worded, what I wondered if you think a tyre could cool down enough to be easily felt by you after slowing down your pace from a 92 second to a 93 second lap mid-race? Because that's what the racers claimed, that slowing a second per lap made the tyre cool enough to be next to impossible to read. To me, that indicates that either the tyres are sh!te or the riders are pushing so far beyond what we can comprehend it ain't even funny.

As a layman without any knowledge worth mentioning about this tyre theme, I do wonder if a "normal" rider would notice such a drop in tyre grip? Would, for instance, a CSS instructor find the grip drop below that of his or her usual tyre just because the temps dropped 10C and the pace dropped a second per lap, making him or her crash unexpectedly as well? Or are these riders pushing the outer limits constantly to a level that even a minute change in grip will be considered "massive"? Inquiring mind wants to know

If you look at the crashes, they were more what you expect to see in the wet, the front going without warning and impossible to save even for the best riders in the world.

When informed that Bridgestone maintains the position that tyre behaviour is determined by each individual bike's set-up, Lorenzo simply smiled and responded: “As always…” http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/209964/1/frustrated-lorenzo-rallies-against-disaster-tyres.html

Cook Neilson did a 1:34 on a stock CBX back in 1978, but that was around Willow Springs Raceway.

Revisiting more champs http://auto.indavideo.hu/video/The_Unrideables http://vimeo.com/105779434

Some say Polen was the best. Ever. http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2013/Apr/130417polen2.htm

Interesting and good choice, YD

Let's say you were to participate at a race around Laguna Seca over 8 hours in a 2-rider team, what kind of bike do you think would be the most fun? Current, semi-modern, old, ancient or relic? Large or small? Two-stroke or four? Modified street or pure race?