Yamaha's 2011 World Superbike livery...

[Warchild]

OOOOOooooooo.... AHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh...... CHUBBY TIME!!!!

Look at all this lovely Carbon Fiber...... :dribble: :dribble: :dribble: :dribble:

CAN'T WAIT!! I think Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty are poised to kick some serious ass in World Superbike this year.... we'll see in about 2 weeks... first race of the year is Feb 27 at Phillip Island!

 

[wfooshee]

first race of the year is Feb 27 at Phillip Island!

Watching the calendar slo - o - o - o - owly tick by . . . . .

 

[scubatech]

Melandri used to be right in the hunt with Rossi and the rest a couple years back. But the last few years he's struggled quite a bit. Maybe this change will help. Gorgeous bike for sure.

 

[Warchild]

Couple more shots of the bike...... damn, check out those sweeeeeet Brembo calipers...

What a massive, ginormous radiator....

 

[Canadian FJR]

Monster R1

Canadian FJR

 

[Randy]

Overlay of the WSBK and AMA R1s. You can toggle back and forth to see the differences.

https://superbikeplanet.com/image/2011/wsc_ama/

 

[MotorToad]

Overlay of the WSBK and AMA R1s. You can toggle back and forth to see the differences.

https://superbikeplanet.com/image/2011/wsc_ama/

There's a lot less R1 left in the WSB version. As much as I hate DMG and their methods, I sympathize with the bike being closer to what I can buy. I don't think my interests are what they had in mind when they did it, though.

 

[Desmo75]

Yamaha does build one sexy superbike...

However, Yamaha's recent success has more to do with the rider (Ben Spies) than the bike IMHO... With the exception of Ben and the year when Haga finished 1 point behind Toseland Yamaha hasn't had a whiff of the WSB crown... I'm concerned that Yamaha's formula is the same as last year's: a rookie from SuperSport (Laverty instead of Crutchlow) and a washed up MotoGP rider (Melandri instead of Toseland). Hopefully they achieve better results.

My money is on Rea, Checa, or even Max again...

 

[Randy]

Yamaha does build one sexy superbike...

However, Yamaha's recent success has more to do with the rider (Ben Spies) than the bike IMHO... With the exception of Ben and the year when Haga finished 1 point behind Toseland Yamaha hasn't had a whiff of the WSB crown... I'm concerned that Yamaha's formula is the same as last year's: a rookie from SuperSport (Laverty instead of Crutchlow) and a washed up MotoGP rider (Melandri instead of Toseland). Hopefully they achieve better results.

My money is on Rea, Checa, or even Max again...

At Phillip Island last weekend, Laverty had a decent run in race 1 and was doing decent before running off the track in race 2. Marco Melandri was decent in race 1 and he and Max had a pretty good dual in race 2.

 

[Desmo75]

Agreed Randy, not a bad showing from the Yamaha team. I thought it was an eye opener to see Biaggi do as well as he did. Taking 2nd place on a track that he doesn't favor on a bike that typically isn't competitive there is impressive... He may very well be the force to contend with in SBK this year.

 

[Stephen]

Biaggi's top speed was way above everybody else. Marco tried....2 or 3 times. Close but no cigar. Good racing, though. At least Kawasaki got some points.

 

[Warchild]

Good racing, though. At least Kawasaki got some points.

The new ZX-10 does indeed seem much improved.... Tom Sykes finished in the top 10 in both races. Wish Chris Vermulen's can get past his injuries... that boy is no slouch when he is healthy.

Pretty jazzed about how WSB is shaping up for 2011. Daughter Lauryn and I will be riding out to Salt Lake City again this year for the 5th Round at Miller Motorsports Park at the end of May... can't wait! :wub:

 

[Desmo75]

The new ZX-10 does indeed seem much improved....

Yeah and it sounds ever so cool when the Euro commentators refer to it as the "Zed-X Ten"

 

[Bugnatr]

Some fun racing to watch but what the hell is with the picture quality? Have not they heard of HD in WSBK land-sheesh :angry2:

Must be the feed as Moto GP is HD great on Speed.

How about Haga, learning the Aprilla or washed up?

 

[dcarver]

I always enjoy looking at CF pieces knowing that my Pops was one of the first to experiment with the possibilities while working at McDonnel-Douglas, err, Douglas aircraft, back in the day.

I need to start following road racing more. The races I've watched have been entertaining - hasn't always been so in the past, and the bikes are like a wet young yet legal something or the other disguised as motobikes...

 

[Stephen]

I just subscribed to the 2011 MotoGP HD video pass!

All I need now is a scratch 'n' sniff that's smells of burning rubber.

 

[MotorToad]

I don't think Melandri is nearly as washed-up as Toseland.

I have been wondering about Yamaha's rider choices, though. I suppose some of it has been underwriting Rossi's checks but...

 

[wfooshee]

Supersport was a real race that weekend, and the big tuning fork came out on top! 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the line were 2nd, 3rd, and 1st coming out of the final turn, and 3rd finished .033 down from 1st!

Seems to be a tire issue at the moment, though. Three bikes out at separate times with deflated rears. Although the third (winner's teammate) actually changed tires and continued, hoping to score a point, but only managed 18th.