MotoAmerica 2018 - Round 6 That nice track in Utah July 20-22

[Smash Allen]

Originally Posted by stangmx13

someone on social media told me the announcer said "And a crash for #31 Robert Pierce. I have no idea who that is" . I gotta watch to find out.

You made it onto the highlight reel!!

Around 0:15


youtu.be/SlU52GfIeDM

[clutchslip]

Geebuz, Robert, learn to crash so the sponsors' logos are on camera. Totally unprofessional, dude.

[plaid]

only time an announcer said anything about me i was sitting in the middle of the front straight at Charlotte Motor Speedway scrubbing off 100 with my butt (borrowed leathers actually. guy didn't make me buy 'em. no doubt felt sorry for my dumb ass. rode the bike home. them's the days.)

Go 513! A nation without heroes really wishes it had some.

[rob linders]

Robert,

@stangmx13 very impressive videos. Really impressed/surprised you can do that while also racing.

Also have to say I am impressed with your suspension knowledge when answering questions on the WERA forum.

[stangmx13]

thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by rob linders

Robert,

@stangmx13 very impressive videos. Really impressed/surprised you can do that while also racing.

Also have to say I am impressed with your suspension knowledge when answering questions on the WERA forum.

i tend not to stress too much in Utah cuz ive raced there before, i qualify easily (104.3% this year), and my baseline setup works well. so it was easier to find the time for extra stuff.

im an engineer in nearly every aspect of my life and have always been a DIY kinda racer, so i had to learn suspension. and i like learning, so i really really learned it .

for Sunday, i tried 3 turns less preload in WUP. i was having trouble loading the front in the fast corners that dont require braking, so the change made sense. i liked the change as it was just easier to go fast in those turns. however, now the forks were sitting at 0 turns of preload and i dont like that. not enough preload means u might ride in the top-out spring too much, which ruins bump handing when on the throttle. so i went down in springrate. but i didnt want to change my bottom part of the stroke too much, didnt want to ruin the hard braking feeling. so i measured how much travel i was using - 125mm. i did the math and found that the lighter springrate would cause me to use ~5mm more travel at 125mm. so i ran the lighter springrate at 5 turns of preload which is 5mm. at half travel, i was prob near the exact same dynamic ride-height as the stiffer springs at 0 preload. so everything was great. i went a lot faster over race distance in Race 2.

[plaid]

Why did you choose the Yamaha 600?
I was an engineering tech most of my career.

[stangmx13]

the R6 is the fastest bike for a low-budget privateer for sure. suspension, a great flash, and a $2500 motor build and its ready. setup advice is readily available from a number of quality tuners. and it works great with today's Dunlops.

I raced the CBR prior to this and being 10HP down was terrible. the chassis was great but it couldn't make up for that. I was never really tempted to get the GSXR or ZX because fewer people race them. they also aren't full fly-by-wire, which is a nice selling point of the R6.

[cencalballer]

Originally Posted by stangmx13

the R6 is the fastest bike for a low-budget privateer for sure. suspension, a great flash, and a $2500 motor build and its ready. setup advice is readily available from a number of quality tuners. and it works great with today's Dunlops.

I raced the CBR prior to this and being 10HP down was terrible. the chassis was great but it couldn't make up for that. I was never really tempted to get the GSXR or ZX because fewer people race them. they also aren't full fly-by-wire, which is a nice selling point of the R6.

The newest gsxr should be but they only updated it last year iirc? No one runs the kawi and there's a sizable weight penalty too...

[stangmx13]

Originally Posted by cencalballer

The newest gsxr should be but they only updated it last year iirc? No one runs the kawi and there's a sizable weight penalty too...

the GSXR600 hasnt been updated yet IIRC

with all the 600s on the same set of regulations for 2018 (reduced SS), theres no longer a weight penalty for the ZX 636. its 161kg across the board now. the extra motor would probably be nice. but i hear they chatter like hell w/ the stiff Dunlop front tire.

[Map8]

Roger Hayden to retire at the end of the 2018 MotoAmerica season.

from MotoAmerica.com via Suzuki:

Roger Hayden, the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing standout and former AMA Supersport Champion, has announced his intention of retiring from professional racing at the end of this season. Hayden, the youngest of the world-famous Hayden brothers, has been a leading racer for nearly all of his 20 seasons as a professional. Suzuki and Hayden are exploring ways he might stay involved in the sport after this part of his career is completed.

Who gets the Yosh superbike seat? Jake Lewis? Jake Gagne? Hayden Gilliam? Mathew Scholtz?

[thedub]

Scott Redding!

[stangmx13]

ez choice for me. Valentin Debise

[cencalballer]

Originally Posted by stangmx13

ez choice for me. Valentin Debise

Is he not already penciled in for that ride? I presumed he was. Clearly has the speed and skill.

[stangmx13]

I hadn't even heard rumors about Rog retiring, let alone who'd replace him. I think we'll def hear more by Sonoma.

[Map8]

Originally Posted by Map8

Two MotoAmerica Junior Cup racers have arrived in Italy for a week at the VR46 Academy. Riderz Law-sponsored Jackson Blackmon and Corey Ventura of Fremont who races for Melissa Paris' team, are among five riders chosen by Yamaha to attend the VR46 Master Camp (which may or may not be a mazdaclawz) for road racers.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...camp-in-italy/

Follow-up.

Corey Ventura and Jackson Blackmon discuss their time at the VR Academy

Its interesting how much stuff they packed into just five days. Gives some insight into just how far-reaching the VR Academy program is.