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Moto GP

Joined
May 28, 2008
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Location
Central Indiana
Had an awesome time at the MotoGP this year. Even with the crowd obviously being impacted by the economy, it was a great time. I really loved swimming around in the sea of the bike culture in Indy for 3 days. It was cool to be amongst so many bikes of the sporty nature (few HDs).

Here are a few observations. Lots of eye candy. The Ducati Hotties lived up to their name. Lots of very cool and friendly bikers. The crowds were great at the track and around town. What a great bunch of people to hang with.

Picked up 6 different kickstand pads, 3 posters, and 3 shamwow like towels from the Ducati Hotties.

Suzuki was absent again this year in the infield. Very disappointing.

The Speed Channel tent was a cool place to hang out. They had a great sound system, couches, large flat screens, beer, and the speed channel hottties.

KTM was doing demo rides. Looked like fun.

Yamaha had lots of cool customs in their tent. An R6 made up like a bobber was my favorite.

BMW brought out the 1kRR which got a lot of attention.

Saw a Busa with a side car and a 4-wheeled Gold Wing. They had an awesome custom HD flat tracker. I'd love to have that bike.

Most of the bikes parked along the back stretch on the track. It was cool being able to make a quick zip on the famed oval - even for just a very short burst. The yellow shirts were pretty cool about it as long as you were being safe and scrubbing off the speed before approaching anyone.

I estimate there were 4000 - 5000 bikes parked on the back stretch (down from a previous estimate I posted of 20k). The bikes were 5 per row, 3 feet spread, and stretched out for about 2500 feet to arrive at the revised number.

We walked many of the bikes. Lots of great ones. A few rat bikes. Lots of Ducatis, and of course heavily dominated by sporties of all types. It was interesting to see how many of the sport bikes had major chicken strips. There was a lot of unused rubber - me thinks we had a few squids in our midst.

The rain on Friday did little to dampen our fun. Saturday and Sunday the weather was great for bikes. The cool, dense air was making good HP. I think it was DeAngelis that cracked 201mph on the front straight during the race.

The GP bikes were amazing. It was my first time watching them run in the dry where they could run WFO. And, man did they. Seeing it on TV, like many things, doesn't do it justice. You have to see and hear them. You can feel the exhaust notes tickling your ear drums. Then, as they roar by, it thunders in your chest. The long black signatures of the rear tires leaving turn 5 (turn 2 during the oval events) by practically all of them was a blast to watch. Many of them were wiggling all over 5. Nicky Hayden was on the edge there in the first half of the race drifting crazily, but seemed to run slightly wider to miss the bumps as the race progressed.

King Kenny Roberts was in town. Ran his old TZ750 flat tracker at the Indy Mile. I didn't make that, but heard he gave it a good spin. KR was, and always will be the man for me. Wish I could have caught up to him somewhere here.

Kevin Schwantz ran around for a couple of laps. Good to see him here. Always like the bravery he showed saddled up. That guy made some pretty crazy moves on the track in his day. He ran it up pretty hard during his demo laps. He wasn't too far off race pace as far as I could tell. Same with Randy Mamola who had the 2 seat GP bike cranking with a few different people riding on the back with him. I was in awe of how fast he jammed around the track with a passenger. He wasn't holding much back.

The race itself quickly became the Lorenzo show after Pedrosa and Rossi hit the tarmac. Too bad. It would have been a great race. After that, it was fun watching Hayden fight so hard to pull out a 3rd. He earned it. Nobody was using as much track or laying down as much rubber as he did. It was also fun watching Pedrosa pick his bike up and go like **** after the pack. It was pretty amazing watching him reel them in and then pass a few to finish 10th. He had everyone covered if he hadn't dropped it.

Turn 2 foiled several riders over the weekend. There is a pavement change that creates a bump. It was unsettling the tires of a few bikes and causing them to slide out. Saw it happen up close 3 times during the qualifications. Ironically, Rossi fell in that same corner, but it wasn't because of that. Looked like he just locked up the front setting up for the corner.

All told, great 3 days. Can't wait until next year. I'm thinking of renting a room downtown along with everyone else just cause it would be a blast.
 
Thanks for the report! Got pics?

I had the chance to get a good ticket package from a friend by simply could not get up there for the race. I would love to do so one of these years.
 
I find it interesting to suggest that someone who doesn't "use all the rubber" on their bike is a squid....

Glad you had a good time, I've always wanted to go. I went to a few SuperBike races back in the day. Good times to be sure.
 
I find it interesting to suggest that someone who doesn't "use all the rubber" on their bike is a squid....

Glad you had a good time, I've always wanted to go. I went to a few SuperBike races back in the day. Good times to be sure.

You're right. My apologies. I guess it was in my head because we were sitting next to one all day.

Working on getting the pics uploaded from photobucket. I'll have them on tonite, if not sooner.
 
I hope you don't think I was offended... I just thought it unusual. Can't wait to see all the bike-pron!
 
I sure wanted to go this year. Maybe next. Glad you had fun.
 
Nice write-up :thumb:

Morgan, I see where hes coming from. If I see a sport bike with 3in chicken strips and nearly to the cords in the middle, I know the guy ain't even remotely leaning it over.

I'm not where near a good rider and my VFR stays at about 1/2in chicken strips on the rear (fronts pushing an inch) all the time.
I guess I can't fathom riding a sport bike and not wanting to lean it over :scratch:
 
I guess I can't fathom riding a sport bike and not wanting to lean it over :scratch:

:tab For some, it is about the thrill of carving corners and feeling like you are flying. For others, it is about the acceleration. For others, it is about the ability to do stunts. For some, it is just about cruising the strip and being seen. For some it is about any combination of the above or all the above.
 
I watched the 250 GP on TV, and that was impressive to say the least. Announcer said they were hitting 170 down the straights. If you watched them closely going into the turns, you could see them downshift 3 or sometimes 4 times just prior to entering the turn.

Wayne
 
Had an awesome time at the MotoGP this year. ....................

King Kenny Roberts was in town. Ran his old TZ750 flat tracker at the Indy Mile. I didn't make that, but heard he gave it a good spin. KR was, and always will be the man for me. Wish I could have caught up to him somewhere here.

................All told, great 3 days. Can't wait until next year. I'm thinking of renting a room downtown along with everyone else just cause it would be a blast.

Kenny rode it like he stole it.....4 laps, going like the dickens, power slides and all. He looked fast enough to qualify for feature. He was mobbed by photographers and given a couple of awards...didn't say a word until Rossi sat on the TZ and said he'd never ride it. Then Kenny said his only words of the night, referring back to Rossi: "He's smarter than he looks." :eek2:
 
I watched the 250 GP on TV, and that was impressive to say the least. Announcer said they were hitting 170 down the straights. If you watched them closely going into the turns, you could see them downshift 3 or sometimes 4 times just prior to entering the turn.

Wayne

Top speed for Moto GP was 200.99 mph
 
I hope you don't think I was offended... I just thought it unusual. Can't wait to see all the bike-pron!

I hoped not, we're good. I just rethought it after your comment. Guess it depends on the definition of a squid. Probably varies a lot from person to person. I thought of a young dude, little experience or skill, so, unable to take advantage of the side rubber. Mostly just riding for show and occasionally puts himself or others at risk due to lack of experience.

Having large chicken strips doesn't necessarily fit into that. I think it's cool that everyone rides regardless.
 
MY EYES!!! :eek2:

IMG_0185.jpg


IMG_0184.jpg
 
I find it interesting to suggest that someone who doesn't "use all the rubber" on their bike is a squid....

Glad you had a good time, I've always wanted to go. I went to a few SuperBike races back in the day. Good times to be sure.

I quit looking at people's chicken strips 'cause I realized they're not an accurate indication of skill (or lack thereof). Unless they're HUGE, of course.

My SV1000S has some chicken strippage on both sides of the rear tire even after a track day and a hill country trip. It seemed no matter how hard I rode I couldn't get that last little bit of chicken strip to go away so I quit worrying about it.

Then I bought a used Aprilia Falco that came complete with chicken strippage. I ride it no different than I rode my SV1K but the chicken strips were completely gone as soon as I got comfortable with the bike.

My guess is some bike wheel/tire combos have varying profiles that make it easier (or more difficult) to get rid of the strips.

My two cents.

Great write up on the event. I'd like to see a MotoGP race live some day.


Heinz
 
I'd say though, wide chicken strips and cords showing would be a pretty likly indicator of a squid. Any experenced rider knows that by the time cords are showing on a sport bike you've gone way past the life of the tire.
 
Top speed for Moto GP was 200.99 mph

Yeah, but a 250 hitting 170 on that straight is absolutely amazing. 201 for a Moto GP bike is actually a little disappointing. The 500 2-strokes of years ago used to top that.
 
Yeah, but a 250 hitting 170 on that straight is absolutely amazing. 201 for a Moto GP bike is actually a little disappointing. The 500 2-strokes of years ago used to top that.

The GP bikes were still pulling at the end of the front straight. If they were coming on to the straight with a higher entry speed, their trap would go up - or if the straight ran into the original turn one instead of the new infield section, they'd be able to stay in it longer.
 
I had a blast. Exhausting running the Taichi vendor garage. But a blast, nonetheless. I didn't get to catch much racing action, but I did get to see some of Sunday morning practice from a VIP pitlane skybox. That was cool. And we did get pretty close to Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Vermuelen, Edwards, and some others in the pits after the racing was done. I wasn't much for bothering them, but the guys I was with posed with them for some pics and autographs. During the big race, we watched most of it on our CCTV in the garage. But we did walk out to the fence just in time to see Rossi's crash from less than 30 yards away.

That was my fourth GP and it's always impressive. There were a bunch of Texans out there that I knew and ran into. If you think it's something for everyone else, you are so wrong. It's a blast and if you call yourself a motorcyclist, not even necessarily a race fan, you owe it to yourself to make plans to attend a GP next year. I know I'm biased, but after attending GPs, I can't understand why it isn't AT LEAST as big a draw as NASCAR. We should be packing 150,000 into that venue. It's by far the most exciting motorsports event that the US gets. GREAT STUFF!
 
Not a very good video, but the audio give you some idea of the ferocity of the TZ750.
 
Yeah, but a 250 hitting 170 on that straight is absolutely amazing. 201 for a Moto GP bike is actually a little disappointing. The 500 2-strokes of years ago used to top that.

no. it's not disappointing.

The bikes are capable of 210-220. Indy front stretch is about half mile long from where the steep turn connects from the road course. 200 is getting it on. Very impressive.

Schwantz road his Lucky Strike machine- and wasn't playing around with it. He mentioned that 500s were super light with an explosive engine. I don't think it's got quite the HP as the Moto GP bikes, lighter & livelier for sure.
 
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