MOTOGP » KTM steps it up

I think the Ducati situation is a strange one, I mean they say it would be too expensive for them to have developed their twin with the same capacity as the in-line 4's, which I don't doubt. However I can't help but think that they may "sand bag" a bit so as not to cause they other teams to cry foul whilst at the same time always manage to find that extra bit of speed when they need to. I'll feel bad for Bayliss as I've no doubt he's not gonna get his due if he starts winning too often. With all the manufacturers returning to WSBK the futures looking bright for production based classes.

Just a thought, would it be possible for someone to enter one of those Ducati MotoGp reps?

The Morgue,MV Agusta have been running a Super Bike in a few SB events in Australia, I guess Australia being far away from the Spot Light glare of Europe this is the place to to test it in competion, the factory is sending new parts to test on a regular basis so I would its more testing than racing. At the moment I haven't made my mind up on it's performance,,,,some tracks yes some tracks no, though it does seem to come on strong to-wards the end of some events. Yamaha are also testing it's lastest SB in the same team as previous model, I would say that the later Yammy will be a better package once some more testing is done, tires seems to be the big thing with the lastest Yammy

You're right, maybe MV Agusta too
They all have to make a homologation batch (was it at least 200?) of roadgoing machines though to be able to compete
but it's good to see such an influx of factories. Silly that the rules are tampered with to give Ducati a winner again,
if they hadn't they might actually bring a 4 cyinder to WSBK.

What about if a manufacturer demands more capacity in order to compete like Ducati? Surely thats no good for credibility?

I think Aprilia, KTM and BMW are all going into WSBK in '08-'09 with their new big superbikes, though don't quote me on that.

For me any company that does not race a machine in a capacity that it produces a road bike lacks credibility i.e. BMW and Triumph, so yeah it would be nice to see that KTM V4 back and the others. Same goes for these one make series, where the competion!!!!!

I know Saltbush, I am not anti twostroke,
the could be a tad cleaner but withnew technology that is very well possible. I'm just expressing my thoughts on the Japanese factories pulling out and KTM filling the void. The 250 class has been a difficult one for Japanese manufacturers in the recent years, it has become more and more specialized and they have used the bulk of their resources to cross swords in the 800cc class.
Developing a competitive fourstroke 800 is probably four times more expensive than a twostroke 250...
Why do you think KTM pulled out their 990cc V4 project?

I'd love for KTM to release a 250 2-stroke road bike, surely there is a way of getting them past the emissions laws withot killing power too much?

ring-a-ding-ding

The Morgue, 2 strokes are being phased out in the Western World, but they are and will continue to be big sellers in the Asian market,,,perhaps KTM maybe looking for some type of market there, which is very forward thinking, I believe that Honda has loss it's way big time from the top down, F1 for instant and the Mini MotoGp bike and 250cc and 125cc racing bikes (not MotoGp) for some reason their road cars do not seem to be of the quality they were there could be a BIG shake up in the company shortly they seem to be losing their image, not selling their products here as well as before, their lawn mower maybe the exception

Hi Aegis,

There were rumours of Puig breaking with Pedrosa too, just rumours. Could mean breaking with Honda all the way then.
Personally I think it is nice that KTM steps it up but it;s a bit like the Dakar rallye isn't is, the others pull out, KTM steps in.
When the twostrokes are being phazed out where will that leave them? I was sorry to see them pullout of MotoGP, that V4 fourstroke was a fantastic looking engine, probably too expensive for a small firm?

"b; My Grandson hired a Loncin road bike in Cambodia he told me the motor was strong and the suspension was great, he did say bits fell off it,so he just took wire with him as it would be a guard or a tail light, up till then I had never heard of a Loncin so I did some research and found that Loncin had made 1million and ahalf in 2004 that was all the info I could get,,,when I found that they had entered in the 125cc class it made me very interested, so I for one will be very interested in how it goes in competion, I don't think the Chinese would enter to make fools of themselves knowing how face is very important, you never know Team Roberts could hook up with them in the future????