Lightweight Class Racing in the Mid-West

[goldwing70]

Rich,  I'm running LW the whole season.  Applied for expert.

[Rich]

Rich,  I'm running LW the whole season.  Applied for expert.

One down, nine to go!

[Ducati23]

Rich - you know we're only one shop. So far the experts are  me 1, Shun 2, Dan Jasa 3, Anthony Dean 4, Becca 5, Chase 6, and Ben when he shows up, Jon from Colorado at some races - usually Hastings and Topeka, any of the MW guys who could now show up since the races should be scheduled apart from each other. At Hallett we'll have south region riders, at Gateway MW riders, at RA and Topeka there should be plenty of riders there as well.  It looks like what we need is you and a couple of CafeRacer guys to join in the fun to make sure we always have 10 experts in LW class. It's time for you guys to do your part. We are doing ours.  Clayton 
 

 

[Jack_Brock]

Cafe Racer is already well represented for next year in LW Expert:
Me, Rebecca, Anthony and maybe Rich(that a big maybe)

Omaha Ducati is doing there part is well:
Clayton, Shun, and probably Dan

& Tulsa Cycle Supply has Chris Chase

I'd love to have Ben come out and play, and I'm sure he would too, but I'm not counting on it as it would mean owning and maintaining a second bike for him.

Jon had his Kawi for sale and it was priced right so I'm guessing it sold.  It was still eligible for contigency, so I would think that means he isn't running LW.

Anyway, the way I count it we probably have 7 that are pretty solid.  Wu would make 8 GP riders.  There may be some others I'm not aware.  Regardless, 8 is a pretty could contigent when you take into account MW riders at MAM and Heartland, CCS South Riders at Hallett, and maybe MRA guys at MPH.  I would think we will hit Richs magical number of 10 at every event, and maybe more at some venues.

[Ducati23]

I hope you're right Jack. Who was the kid on an SV from Lithium who moved up to EX mid year? Will he be in LW next season? Anyone Rob?

We want to see big LW class participation in 2008 in both AM & EX. I know TA would enjoy seeJarel, Jay H, Dan B, Bruce M, David T, and Kevin K out there in LW classes. We can't very well grow the LW EX class size without building up and supporting the LW AM as well. 

So at this point we are still encouraging many of our customers to get involved and to that end we have more used LW legal Ducati's and a couple SV's available to help them do this without breaking the bank. Any others interested in racing LW in 2008 please fee free to call us at Ducati Omaha (402) 408-4400. We'll help you get moving in the right direction. We would of course like to see as many Ducati's out there as is possible, but we'll help anyone who wants to play on a SV or Ninja 650. We have considerable experience with both types. 

   

[funsizeracing]

It's sounding like the SV's are going to be the underdog this year. 

[Burt Munro]

[Ducati23]

It's sounding like the SV's are going to be the underdog this year.

Becka with you on an SV that shouldn't matter much. Now if I was still riding SV's that be an issue...
We're going to have a blast!

[funsizeracing]

It's sounding like the SV's are going to be the underdog this year.

Becka with you on an SV that shouldn't matter much. Now if I was still riding SV's that be an issue...
We're going to have a blast!

True.

I know Jack and I dyno'd our SS SV's at Topeka last year and they were both around 66hp.  I've been told that the ASRA dyno is 15% low so 75-76 hp.  What is it the ducs have stock?  90hp?  I don't think even a 105lb rider can make that much difference.   
Either way, I'd ride with the MW's if it means more than 5 people to a grid.  Glad to see bigger grids in such a fun class.

[George_Linhart]

Becka,

We seem to have gone through this before.  From what I have seen, in reality on pump gas a SS legal Ducati 1000SS will be around 85 bhp at the rear wheel.  On the ASRA dyno where your SV pulled 66 bhp my Ducati was not too far off at 72 bhp.   Once I cleaned up the fuel map and sorted some other issues out I got 89 bhp  (dynojet scale) out of a very mild superbike build (so call it 76 bhp on the ASRA dyno).  Now, my bike also weighed in right at 390 lbs carrying about 1 gallon of gas - quite a bit more than the SVs.  On a combined power to weight ratio (using the ASRA numbers) that put me somewhere between 8.3 lbs and 7.9 lbs per bhp.  Assuming your bike is 365 lbs wet and allowing for 20 lbs of gear you were at 7.3 lbs per bhp...

Lots of us have heard about big numbers from the Ducati 1000SS.  Outside of highly modified bikes with substantial headwork that are running race fuel and very high compression I have yet to see credible evidence of what is being claimed.  Ultimately the race will be won by the rider who can carry more corner speed and get on the gas earlier.

I am hoping to make it out to Topeka again in 2008.  Perhaps you and I can have a drag race down the front straight for bragging rights!

George

[tstruyk]

LW is still a possibility for me.  But it all depends on how the income is looking for the budget.  I have to unload some debt (which should be handled just before the season) and then I would need to unload my R6 (just need to get the motor rebuilt and back in it)

No way I could commit to a full season until I see how the market is going to be... but yeah.  LW is still a blip on my radar... If I am going to race a full season next year it would have to be on a LW bike for cost reasons.

[123user]

Its not impossible to get pretty good numbers out of a SS-spec ducati 1000, but it is extremely time consuming.  Attention to detail is ultra-important.  Mine made 78 hp on Greg Williams' dyno (FactoryPro), but only after trying multiple custom exhausts, and about 5 hrs on dyno time.  Most people cannot afford to have any motor built with the attention to detail mine received by doing it myself.

This fall I had an opportunity to run around daytona with a couple of "mostly stock" 1000ds bikes...  they're owners were lying!  Granted I'm pretty heavy,  but some of those "stock" ducatis really flew.  My bike was SS legal last year and was within the rules, but certainly not stock.  My opinion is that many Ducati owners are embellishing the performance of "stock" motors to reduce the suspicions of other riders.