Quote Originally Posted by tempest View Post
i'm not having a shot at you
That didn't even occur to me, mate. It's just interesting banter!

Good questions there too. Agreed about the 'current spec' thing, although what constitutes a change in model is open to differences of opinion! In my view, the complete lack of TC and electrickery makes the 09 RSV4 a totally different model to the current one.... The fact that the motor/frame/suspension etc are only very minorly different (or are identical) makes no nevermind to me!

Too old and you get firmly into PCRA territory, which doesn't interest me. Nor does the strict rules of that category, although to my mind the biggest failing with PCRA is that the age never increases. So bikes that are the best of the time will retain massive value above their nominal value (a green ZX7RRR springs to mind). Same with carbies versus FI - the carb class will not increase in age, ever.

I'm not fussed about the 636 thing, either. I don't think it's particularly advantageous compared to what some people do to their 600 motors (I'm looking at you, Stu and chubb).

Prestons run an 8 year cutoff (I think), which might be better. Currently eligible bikes would have to be grandfathered for a couple of years, of course

And YEAR MODEL, not build date!! I can't say that clearly enough!

But building a fast bike out of an older (slightly) model is fun fun fun! Many of us on here greatly enjoy the engineering challenges, so it's hard to think of anything that could be easily changed without taking away that aspect of the challenge/enjoyment/involvement. In terms of cost, much of it is time and labour, so it doesn't have to be massively expensive (I've never done any engine work at all on any of my bikes, and all the Apes are still running standard headers with just a slipon). A few guys get into the engine stuff a bit, but I don't think anyone is going stupid with it.

Mostly I reckon it's the rider!! I mean, to win last year it wasn't the bike particularly (stock R6 with the usual add-ons - suspension, exhaust, Bazzaz, QS), but rather the amount of track time and practice practice practice I put in. I set a stretch goal and worked really hard to achieve it. For others, it's just having fun at a club racing event, and results aren't so important. In which case, it doesn't really matter how competitive or otherwise their bike is!

Mostly I just want a class where I'm not racing Sean Condon et al....