Valdosta updates ?

[richard gadson]

I agree 100% Jason. To acused ppl of cheating and having all this non sense going on when Ama/dragbike knew there was a problem since last year with weighted forks you think they've would have been a little more clear with the rules.

here we go again, i knew it was coming... so now it's AMA's fault??

i dont think ronnie was intentionally trying to cheat at all. but it surely isnt ama's fault. a lot of rules can be interpreted in different ways by people, but what u cant lose sight of the "intent" of the rule. like glenn said, everybody should just put M109 forks on their busas

[sportbikeryder]

Does the M109 use "Industry Standard Sportbike Forks"? If it does, then everyone SHOULD be using them since that would be within the rules. I really doubt it does though.

[richard gadson]

If they were in fact zx9 forks that had nothing more than normal mods done to them, I applaud you Ronnie for building an excellent bike. There is absolutely no way that the bike should have been disqualified.

There is no unsportsmanlike intent to doing research and finding alternatives to make a bike perform better within the rules.

Quite frankly, if tech is going to disallow grey area interpretation then they need to have a pre-qualifing tech session prior to the event start and start sealing parts similar to what is done in alot or harley racing. I am not saying it should be done this way, but tech and the rule book writers need to step it up.

The tech inspector obviously knew what the max weight of the forks should be prior to weighing the forks or they woudl not have known they were illegal. Since AMA dragbike had knowledge as to what the maximum weight of the parts was, all of the criterion for which a bike can be disqualified should be disclosed in the rulebook, plain and simple. If anything, AMA dragbike and the tech officials are working in the grey area by NOT disclosing the information to which they obviously know about the bikes.

Lets assume Suzuki does what was done by US auto manufacturers in the 60's and 70's and releases a handful of "special" hayabusa's throughout the world. Lets also say these bikes had 54 lb forks on them, altered rake, altered swingarm pivots, etc. Can everyone make their bike's forks weigh 54 lbs, so long as it is a hayabusa? Seems it should be legal...

Anyone checking bike frme numberrs to be sure the headlight and bodywork is representitive of the proper year bike?

What if someone built a zx-10....could they use 1989 zx-10 forks? After all, they came from a zx-10....

amazing....... it says in the rulebook that legality of forks will be determined on a case by cases basis (not exact words). it may be hard to initially write the rulebook because they do not know what people are going to try to pull off. but WE help write the rulebook. situations like this and the headlight deal in pst help AMA write the rules a little more clear. im sure they will re-word it soon

[Twistedspeed]

here we go again, i knew it was coming... so now it's AMA's fault??

Who wrote the rule book?? I'm sorry but if AMA/Dragbike can't write a rule book ppl can read the rules are blk n white then yes Ama is to blame for the grey area..

[richard gadson]

"HEADLIGHTS: Factory headlight systems matching the bike model must be used. All of the original factory glass or plastic lenses must be used, may not be painted or wrapped, and must be mounted in the original location in the front fairing (or headlight bucket on non-faired bikes).


I do believe gen 2 hayabusa's have a different model designation than gen 1 busas...I sure hope no one is using gen 2 bodywork on a gen 1 because that woudl be a grey area....

i believe u are misunderstanding that as well. they are trying to eliminate people that are running hayabusas from trying to put one of those little circle headlights that people used to run on these bikes. to clarify, catalyst sells a busa nose with no headlight cut out in it... pst racers used to buy that nose and cut a little hole in it and place a little light there and call it a head light. this would allow them more room up front.

but the gen1 and gen2 busas are the same bike model. the brand is suzuki, the model is hayabusa, the years are the only difference. and the rule does not say "same year", it says "same model".

so those running 08 bodywork on a gen1 busa are 100% legal according to the headlight rule as long as the headlight is there

[richard gadson]

and FYI in 2003 when we ran the blackbird you were allowed to have nitrous on the bikes, it wasnt until later did they make that rule. so do your research before you come out and accuse people of things

u are 100% right. nitrous was allowed on a turbo in 2003

[Rampage09]

If a rule has a grey area and a builder wants to explore that grey area that's why they make a phone for . All you gotta do is make a phone a call. There is no way you can write rules to cover every little thing that can comes up. Yes it is the intent of a rule you have to go by.

I think RMR didn't break a rule or cheat. Just from now on it needs to be addressed and either allow it or have RMR change the forks.

Look how long nascar has been going through this year after year. Now it's up to AMA tech to make a stand and everybody to live up to it.

[richard gadson]

or you could take that stupid a$$ rule out, set a minimum/maximum weight for the bike and let the builders use what they want to use..where they want to use it

problem solved.

problem NOT solved. there is a minimum weight in pst right now. but u are forgetting one point.... keeping a level playing field! if they followed your advice, the lighter riders will be able to add more weight than the heavier riders, and they can put it where they can use it to their advantage. big money teams will be making one off heavy parts again and so on and so forth. then people will be complaining again about small riders and big money teams. rules are made to keep the playing field even. without them, watch what happens! without rules, there is no way taylor wood and walter sprout could race in the same class

[richard gadson]

Does the M109 use "Industry Standard Sportbike Forks"? If it does, then everyone SHOULD be using them since that would be within the rules. I really doubt it does though.

i have no idea bro. i didnt mean it literally, i was just using it as an example and to help glen prove his point!

[blackhawk01]

If a rule has a grey area and a builder wants to explore that grey area that's why they make a phone for . All you gotta do is make a phone a call. There is no way you can write rules to cover every little thing that can comes up. Yes it is the intent of a rule you have to go by.

I think RMR didn't break a rule or cheat. Just from now on it needs to be addressed and either allow it or have RMR change the forks.

Look how long nascar has been going through this year after year. Now it's up to AMA tech to make a stand and everybody to live up to it.

Holy Crap! We have WINNER!!!

[richard gadson]

Who wrote the rule book?? I'm sorry but if AMA/Dragbike can't write a rule book ppl can read the rules are blk n white then yes Ama is to blame for the grey area..

how realistic is the thought that a rulebook can be written with ABSOLUTELY NO AREAS THAT PEOPLE MAY TWIST AROUND FOR INTERPRETATION?? seriously, how realistic is that thought?? in a perfect world, yes you are right. but in our world, rule revisions constantly have to be made after situations like this. but when it was all going down, it is solely AMA tech that determines whether questionable parts are legal. it is determined on a case by case basis. in this case, they decided that ronnie's forks were illegal. i dont blame ronnie. i can see where he was just trying to go faster. i dont think he was trying to cheat. but he took a gamble and AMA didn't agree that its a grey area. point taken

[blackhawk01]

i have no idea bro. i didnt mean it literally, i was just using it as an example and to help glen prove his point!

Thanks Richard. I was simply re-itterating the "rule" the way it was written. YES, M109 forks for OEM equip, do they weigh more than bua forks? YES. Therefore would be illegal...

Same thing could be said for 1000, 750, and 600 forks. Are they OEM? YES. Are they heavier than Busa forks? NO. Therefore, they are legal...

[richard gadson]

If a rule has a grey area and a builder wants to explore that grey area that's why they make a phone for . All you gotta do is make a phone a call. There is no way you can write rules to cover every little thing that can comes up. Yes it is the intent of a rule you have to go by.

I think RMR didn't break a rule or cheat. Just from now on it needs to be addressed and either allow it or have RMR change the forks.

Look how long nascar has been going through this year after year. Now it's up to AMA tech to make a stand and everybody to live up to it.

great post!

[richard gadson]

Thanks Richard. I was simply re-itterating the "rule" the way it was written. YES, M109 forks for OEM equip, do they weigh more than bua forks? YES. Therefore would be illegal...

Same thing could be said for 1000, 750, and 600 forks. Are they OEM? YES. Are they heavier than Busa forks? NO. Therefore, they are legal...

i got ya! i hope this all gets resolved and i hope RMR still come to the races. but judging by bhow strict tech was in valdosta, thyis will be a long and interesting year!! LOL

[Twistedspeed]

Richard
I'm not trying to sling mud at Ama/Dragbike but they were aware this has been a problem in the past and I feel they could've spent the winter clearing the rules up a lil bit. Ppl travel a far distance just to get to a race to be DQ over something that could've been avioded.