British MOTOGP

[Fatfatboy]

Looks like Yamaha’s been getting it figured out. They had three in the top 10 in PR. It’s good to see them stepping up.
Ogura had a fast get off that took him out of the rest of the race.
Morbideli got hit with a 3 place penalty for taking a slow ride, again. He really needs to stop listening to Foghat during practice.
FP2 gets a red flag when Alex M. tries for a launch to the moon.

[Fatfatboy]

Great battle for 4th in the Sprint.

[Fatfatboy]

What a crazy race.
Cold tires and ride height devices taking dreams away.
A Aprilia, Honda and Ducati finish. Now that is good racing.
If not for the ride height device failure there might not have been a Duc on the steps for the first time in a long time, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.

[Fatfatboy]

Kinda says it all

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

Kinda says it all

Great pic -  what a crazy meeting and welcome change.

Check out Moto2.
Monday will let me get into Moto3.

[Fatfatboy]

Caught Motor2 this morning.
Great race without all the drama.

Baltus worked hard to keep it up after Gonzalez tagged him then the sliding bike tagged him pretty good and he still stayed up. If it wasn’t for the wall he would’ve made it.

The battle for third between 28, 80 & 81 was a good’n. It turned into a great battle for first between 44, 80, 10 & 81 with an intense last four corners.

Our boy Joe had another behind mid pack start at 14th, went to 19th, got up to 10th but finished in 16th.
I’m not sure what’s up with him but I sure would like to see him qualify a lot better.

[Fatfatboy]

I noticed that there is a lot of Moto2 riders that have to “ cheek” their bikes to get a leg down.
Something that would’ve helped the events of MOTOGP.

[oldironnow]

My suspicion is that the seat heights have gotten high and forward to facilitate the extreme hanging-off style of elbow and shoulder down to the track… and for why? Maybe to load that front tire in the corner.

In my olden days, hanging off was simply about keeping the machine more upright, on the meat of the tires and with the metal bits not dragging.

I do not like being perched up high on the motorcycle, Sam I Am.
I like being down innit, near the CG.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

Caught Motor2 this morning.
….

Our boy Joe had another behind mid pack start at 14th, went to 19th, got up to 10th but finished in 16th.
I’m not sure what’s up with him but I sure would like to see him qualify a lot better.

I, too, wonder what’s up.

Maybe he doesn’t have the frame that’s winning this season.
Although Ramirez is usually 10 spots ahead of Joe.

[oldironnow]

Moto3 - standard torrid barn burner.

[Fatfatboy]

ooeeww, that don't look good. I've not caught 3 yet. Hoping to this week.

I saw an quote from Aleix Asparagus on the ride height devices, He basically said that he was glad that they will not be allowed for 2027. He never thought that they should of been on the bikes to begin with because they would never be on a production bike.

Could you imagine an 18 year old kid trying to engage and disengage that thing while doing 127 mph. In the words of Ronnie Van Zant "Oak tree your in my way".

[oldironnow]

But something similar in function is now working on the ADV bikes.

I could see limiting them to the start.

Asparagus 😂

[Fatfatboy]

I didn't know they were putting it on the ADV bikes. Is it used instead of a milk crate for on and off are actually used during cornering and such?

[Fatfatboy]

Zarco’s front tire at the end on the British GP. Shredded.

[oldironnow]

It’s been for milk-crating.
I believe the PanAm had it first when HD rolled out the initial model.
Adaptive Ride Height.
It was an add-on ($) feature. Something like a three-inch range in height that would cycle when coming to a stop and when taking off.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

Zarco’s front tire at the end on the British GP. Shredded.

I noticed that during the race.
It gave me The Fear.
Pre-race, some commentator (or maybe a Michelin guy) said a Soft front had yet to finish (or win?) a race this season.

[Fatfatboy]

I remember hearing that about the softie. It took a cold track and a determined Frenchman to prove it could be done.
I believe I’ll be watching that race again.  

[Fatfatboy]

oldironnow wrote

It’s been for milk-crating.

I wish HD would spread that out to the touring bikes.
I miss my Road Glide.
I rode with a short guy through Arkansas that had an air system that dropped when he hit the button. While on The Pig Trail we pulled off on a lookout that had a left side slope. He either forgot to push the button or didn’t get to quick enough. He put his left foot down to nothing but air. The bike with him and his wife went down and the fairing of his Road Glide rubbed the 3’ tall rock wall put there to keep folks from falling off the cliff.
It put about a 3” cherry mark on the fairing. Fortunately at a tourist stop I found the perfect size decal for The Pig Trail  that covered it perfectly to hide the damage.
He said he was going to keep it that way instead of painting it.

An automatic drop would have kept that from happening.