MotoGP 2014

[J.A.W.]

Even in road riding, for lightweight machines - such as the mentioned RZ Yamaha (~145kg) no rear brake is required,
& 'stoppies' are too easy.. ( & that RZ rear brake is literally 1/2 of the front set-up & too powerful anyhow,
- the same brake being shared by much weightier production Yamaha 1 litre+ 4Ts).

They do have uses, like not running backwards on hills, but are def' overkill otherwise..

It would be an interesting physics exercise to determine the optimum/ultimate configuration for the
quickest lapping G.P. bike power-to-weight-wise, but - "for sure" - it would not be a porky bloody 4T lump..

[bdr529]

More stories about your racing adventures please

like the time I crashed 4 corners into my first practice session of the weekend

To note my brother 7 yrs older also raced, he's the one that got me into bikes, and at times we would share bikes
for the weekend so this one weekend I'm going to race the FZR400 in the 400cc and under class and he would ride it in the 600cc and under class. so he goes out first for his practice and after finishing he decides he doesn't like the length of my foot pegs and cuts them half off and doesn't say anything to me, then I go out for practice, I don't notice till i get to turn 4 the first left were I could lean the bike over and touch the ball on the bottom of the foot peg on the pavement or so I thought,
I laid the bike on its side and slide straight off the track and into the only puddle of water in sight, leathers were soaked water in my helmet and boots I looked like I just got out of a pool.
What an idiot
but hey in the end the bike was good I was fine. went on that day to finished the race mid field, soggy leathers and all

[Andres125sx]

I´ve just realiced braking wise more weight has a negative effect I didn´t consider before, CoG. Heavier rider means CoG of combined bike/rider is higher, and that will obviously be harmful. Lower CoG means you can brake harder because it will be more difficult for the rear tire to lift

[turbof1]

i'm locking the thread as some particular people felt they needed to brawl it out, again. Once I got the time to deal with the situation I'll reopen it.

EDIT: reopened.

[mikeerfol]

I´ve just realiced braking wise more weight has a negative effect I didn´t consider before, CoG. Heavier rider means CoG of combined bike/rider is higher, and that will obviously be harmful. Lower CoG means you can brake harder because it will be more difficult for the rear tire to lift

[J.A.W.]

Anyone who rides a bike hard & fast knows that psychological confidence is a much bigger factor than
when driving a car..

Take hard braking for example.. ..get on your bike & do some practice stops..

Try getting the front tyre close to lock up point at ~100km/h ( & don't touch the rear brake).
As you get the tyre howling, feel the handlebars start to wiggle & writhe, but as long as you are
in a straight line & upright on a consistent surface - you'll be ok.. ..& a bit of chirp/hop is still ok..
As you shift your body mass forward you can feel the balance pivot shift too, & the rear lift..

Stunt riders do this down to walking pace, but I prefer the inertia of speed - in case you need it..
If you get too badly out of shape, or do lock the wheel, let go of the brake, just momentarily..
& it ought to straighten up, & you can reapply the brake.

If you develop the confidence to brake to the limits of your machine, it could save your life..

[J.A.W.]

In this link, Casey Stoner emphasises the importance of 'mental' & 'confidence' factors in Moto G.P...

http://www.motomatters.com/interview/20 ... a_mot.html

[Andres125sx]

I´ve just realiced braking wise more weight has a negative effect I didn´t consider before, CoG. Heavier rider means CoG of combined bike/rider is higher, and that will obviously be harmful. Lower CoG means you can brake harder because it will be more difficult for the rear tire to lift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZTS7foJQf8

More dificult, not imposible

Lower CoG, more difficult to lift the rear wheel, exactly the same as a mazda mx-5 is more dificult to rollover than a Ford Focus, and this is more difficult to rollover than a Suzuky Jimmy

But that does not mean it´s impossible obviously, just that he has to brake harder, wich actually was the point I was talking about, lower weight also has a positive impact on CoG as it is lower

[J.A.W.]

& comparatively heavy/bulky 4-strokes - with a significant mass of mechanical valve gear/FI systems..
..above the piston.. ..are carrying a fair bit of added 'top hamper' too..

Indeed the mandated minimum weight for the premier G.P. bikes has risen by an amount..
..about equal to Dani's body weight..

Which then requires more substantial (& heavier) chassis/suspension & braking componentry..

[J.A.W.]

Hapless Dani crashed out on the 2nd lap of the Sepang G.P. in Malaysia..
& to his credit, remarkably - he remounted, but dropped it again.. ..no chance of a 2nd in Champ' now..

Marky had a poor start from pole ( 6th), but lapping faster than everyone else - got up to 3rd..
..& steadily worked his way up to & past both Yamaha factory riders..

Rossi, in 2nd - attempted to stay with M.M., but the young fella appeared to be hot-dogging it some,
..as if letting the ol' man know he wasn't gonna get a consecutive pair of victories for the 1st time in years..

.. & bustin' his ass.. ..as the 'mericans say..

So result: M.M. 1st & a record equalling ( with Mick Doohan) 12th season win - from V.R. & a conservatively riding J.L...

[Shrieker]

How many races in a row has Lorenzo chosen the wrong tire now ?

[Juzh]

A lot.

Anyway, yamaha and certainly rossi looked much stronger here compared to honda & marq. The way rossi way able to accelerate out of high speed turns was quite spectacular and only marq's impossibly late braking kept him in front for so long until rossi's tires were bust.
Honda/marq have got the edge in quali, but come race day yamaha is right there with them, if not not in front. Interesting how honda has dropped the pace in the last 4-5 races.

[JimClarkFan]

Is he choosing the wrong tyre, or is he being forced to choose that because he wears the front a lot?

He had the same tyre as Rossi in Philip Island last week, and in Motegi.

He clearly chose the wrong tyre in Misano, which was seemed like a last minute decision before the grid - at least it did at the time.

In Philip island he wore the tyre down a lot more than Rossi, his riding style is shredding the front and I think that it is precisely because of that reason that he has been making 'odd' tyre choices. I think he choose the hard this race because the front fell away from him last weekend.

He has had this problem all year. The selection of tyre is due to riding style I think, Lorenzo's riding style has not changed and he leans of that front alot and he is trying to find a tyre strategy to suit. Rossi's has revamped the way he rides the bike, and seems to be much easier on the front.

[JimClarkFan]

More stories about your racing adventures please

like the time I crashed 4 corners into my first practice session of the weekend

To note my brother 7 yrs older also raced, he's the one that got me into bikes, and at times we would share bikes
for the weekend so this one weekend I'm going to race the FZR400 in the 400cc and under class and he would ride it in the 600cc and under class. so he goes out first for his practice and after finishing he decides he doesn't like the length of my foot pegs and cuts them half off and doesn't say anything to me, then I go out for practice, I don't notice till i get to turn 4 the first left were I could lean the bike over and touch the ball on the bottom of the foot peg on the pavement or so I thought,
I laid the bike on its side and slide straight off the track and into the only puddle of water in sight, leathers were soaked water in my helmet and boots I looked like I just got out of a pool.
What an idiot
but hey in the end the bike was good I was fine. went on that day to finished the race mid field, soggy leathers and all

Nice of him to tell you lol

[NathanOlder]

More importantly for the title, Jack was sticking it to Marquez real good. Shame he didnt fall like what happened to Jack in Aragon!