Brno race - POTENTIAL SPOILERS

Some data from USA today:

http://usatoday.printthis.clickabil...05-01-19-motorcycle-usat_x.htm&partnerID=1661

Of particular interest:
" Classically styled so-called cruiser bikes account for about one of every
three motorcycles sold, making them the biggest segment. But there's
"continual growth in all categories," says Tom Orbe of Kawasaki Motors USA."

Combine that with

" .. Top brands in 2003, the latest available market-share data, according
to the MIC: Honda, with 27.4% of sales; Harley-Davidson, 23.7%; Yamaha,
17.4%; Suzuki, 10.8%; and Kawasaki, 8.7%. .."

And it seems to indicate that if cruisers represent the largest single
market category, it may not be by much. It also seems to indicate that
roughly only 1 out of 6 crusiers is a non-Harley, roughly, one wonders why
the other vendors bother... either that, or it'd be interesting to see where
they drive the line between cruiser and tourer and sportsbike, say, within
HD itself.

".. The average age of motorcyclists rose to 41 in 2003, the latest
available data, from 32 in 1990. .."

This may be the clearest indication of cruiser dominance...

....pablo

 

Yeah on the road.
I'd almost bet those are stats from the DMV.
ORV's are not mentioned at all in that article.

--
Andrew
00 Daytona
00 Speed Triple
71 Kawi H1
05 Toddler

 

Oh, it's just very coincidental data. I hang out with a very ecletic crowd,
and given my job know many people and motorcycles are a freuwnt topic of
conversation when people see the helmet. Still, very few people talk about
their dirtbikes. I also think it's because the Bay Area is dirtbike
unfriendly given all the environmental rules around here, I just know of 2
or 3 places one could go to in a large area. I have no doubt they are very,
very popular elsewhere. I know I'd keep at least one for sure if I had
somewhere to ride it more frequently.

What is indeed interesting is that the majority of motorcycle owners I meet
professionally own cruisers. But in the company parking lot cruisers are the
minority, indicating they're weekend rides and seldom used for commuting.

And the most interesting people I meet own restored classics.

Been looking, no luck. I checked Business Week, hardly any mc data.

....pablo

 

It was scheduled on a specialized cable channel because they paid for the US
rights to broadcast the entire series. I doubt that Dorna cares whether they
show the races live or with a same day delay. The only reason would be to
increase revenue on the shitty MGP website when they show the races there,
but I doubt Dorna gets much more than $10K gross annually from people
watching the races that way.

The live broadcast was partially because it would be the race with the
highest interest in the series for Americans, and also because it fit into a
normal MGP broadcast time slot for them. To show the race on a same day
delay just for the sake of having a delay is silly. MGP is shown live
(because it makes sense when it's a local time) and free in Europe because
it's worth a lot more to advertisers to do that. In the US, the only
specific advertisers for MGP are likely companies within the sport. All the
other advertisers are shown because they bought a cheap package deal. As
much as you dislike Formula 1, they are in a similar boat, even though they
are more popular on a worldwide basis than MGP. To illustrate the point even
further, since I live in the Bible Belt, the two F1 races shown on CBS this
year had the first 15 or so laps pre empted by the local TV station so they
could broadcast the late Sunday morning Baptist church service live...and
for whatever reason, CBS did not broadcast the US GP. I think it was Monaco
and the German GP.

 

You mean like the Red Bull US Grand Prix at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway?
I see nothing motorcycle specific in the title of most events.
The A-Style (doggy style) Dutch TT from Assen? etc.

In the AMA we get the more motocentric advertising.
The Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals.
The Pro Honda Nationals, etc.

Don't forget the Canadian GP from Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal.
--
Andrew
00 Daytona
00 Speed Triple
71 Kawi H1
05 Toddler

 

Red Bull is a regular motorcycle racing sponsor. It's just not their only
market. Plus, I wonder how much of the sponsorship $$ was coughed up by the
US distributor and how much by RB worldwide? Even so, it's not so different
than the Gauloises Czech GP, the betandwin.com Spanish GP, Polini GP of
China, Alice GP of France, etc. What the heck is A-style anyway? A quick
search found a clothing company offering an A-Style 'Livestrong' type
bracelet for $32. Yikes!

That's probably right. I don't remember exactly which ones.

 

Mark N sticks in a wheel:

First:

So which is it? Turn off his brain or just the other guy refusing to
yield?

You need to find a life. Pedrosa was riding hard as a guy named
Rossi. That's what gets him to the front, not his weight.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

When Pedrosa was behind Rossi he seemed to be able to match Rossi's
pace. He waited for a bit, then made an easy pass. Rossi fights hard
for a while, then is suddenly faster than Pedrosa and makes a break for
it. How does Rossi do this? I don't believe that the Yamaha was faster
than the Honda, so where does the speed from. Is Rossi able to fight
without taking as much out of his tyres as his opponent? It would
explain how he keeps winning these last few lap battles, often with a
slower bike than his competitor.

 

I think much overlooked in the Rossi-Pedrosa duel was the fact that Pedrosa
never seemed to look like being able to stay in front of Rossi for long.
That may simply be because it is easier to follow than to lead, we know it
from track days, and it holds true at this level as well.

On top of it, Rossi remains the only guy in the grid that enjoys a
measurable natural ability advantage over the other riders. Give him a
decent bike and he'll always be among the fastest, whereas the others seem
to lack this adaptability and versatility across all circuits, venues and
circumstances...

....pablo

 

Rossi also has known tendency to, once he has established how fast he
can go, to cruise a bit knowing that he can pull the pin with three
laps left. I was impressed with the boldness of Pedrosa's moves, and
mildly surprised that he didn't crash and take Rossi out with him.

It could have been a much worse weekend for Hayden had Capirossi not
won. He can't afford to have another weekend like that, but on the
other hand, I said that after Donington, and he came back a week later
with a crushing win.

I still hope Sete retires and Hayden goes to Ducati.

-jake

 

Pedrosa actually is known for being about as hot-headed on track as he is
exciting out of it. He is very calculating and risk averse. I just recall
him having one bad crash, in PI, when he broke both ankles a few years back.
I don't think he'll ever evolve into a liability in MotoGP.

....pablo

 

You're one pathetic sick ****.

 

I engage in a policy of strictly ignoring some noise as much as I can, I
think that is quite evident at this point in time. The difference between
him and me is that at this point in time I'd have no issue telling him face
to face what I think about him, whereas his nagging behind the scenes
attitude shows the type of cowardly bitch he is. Enough about that. I shal
go back to ignoring him.

Give the nature of our sport, I find it sick, disgusting, and a testament to
the type of person MN ultimately has shown himself to be, repeatedly. He is
one unsavory, socially disturbed pathetic... oh, I am repeating myself.

I don't even wish my worst enemies, jokingly or not, to make acquaintance
with the cruel gods of the tarmac that whimsically control our sport. I've
lost 2 dear friends to them, and if there's one thing I regularly hate about
the sport it is the toll it sometime stakes on great people... It upsets me
when someone is disrespectful to the memory of so many motorcyclists and
simply entertains a troglodyte panem and circenses attitude. Death as the
ultimate entertainment. Wish bodily harm upon people you don't even know
merely because they don't wave the right flag over the podium... MN's
"humor" on the matter knows one bound, curiously: nationality. His repeated
attempts at irony and humor on the matter have focused on the Euromed riders
he reserves his vitriolic PMS-induced tirades for.

....pablo

 

Mark N finally turns on my swearing mode:

You are a really fucked up person.

I use the word person loosely.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Oh, that wasn't a slam against Pedrosa, just surprise at his ability to
keep it on two wheels riding the way he was. After seeing the few
significant moments he had in the opening laps, and also the times he's
crashed out of races this year, I was just impressed at from how far
back he was willing to make pass attempts. I sort of got the feeling
that Rossi was as well, since after their little battle he went from
about .25 seconds ahead to maybe .75 seconds ahead.

A good race no matter how you look at it, and even not as bad for
Nicky's championship hopes as it could have been. If it was going to
be Capirossi, Rossi, and Pedrosa on the podium, that was definitely the
order he wanted them in.

-jake

 

What would have happened if it was Rossi versus Stoner at the end?

I'd like to point out that I think Stoner is very talented, but up
until recently he's being trying too hard to stay at the front.

 

It's not what's up with Nusbaum, it's what's up with the dumbfucks who
constantly reply to him. He's lorded over this sad little cyber-ghetto
for so many years that it seems some of you don't know any better than
to feed this ludicrous troll.

Get out from under the dark rock of usenet, already, you goddam
enablers, and try finding a moto web forum, where there's plenty trolls
too, but also a little more sunlight.

Here's a year's worth of Nusbaum: JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS,
JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS,
JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS,
JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS, JIS.

Now move on with your lives, allfuckingready.

 

Stop picking on Mark!!!

He is an honest contributing member of the group. Just ask him.

Carl
Charter member of the M. Nusbaum Fan Club

 

OK, but motorcycle grand prix racing evolved from Europe, so it stands that
it's largest TV audience base is there. 8 of the 17 races are in locations
based on CET and and three out of the other four that have been run so far
this year with but an hour's difference to CET have had their start time
normalized to the usual 14:00 CET start time. So basically 11* out of the 17
races all start at the same time of day, clearly for the benefit of a common
television broadcast time. Four of the other five races would be broadcast
live on early Sunday morning hours (China and Malaysia at 9:00, Japan at
7:00, and Australia at 6:00) which is unlikely to be pushing another
valuable sporting event off the programme schedule, so showing it then isn't
hurting advertising revenues that would otherwise be earned. Same for the
USGP which would be shown live at 23:00 CET. Undoubtly the races are
repeated at the normal 14:00 time as well.

* I have no idea why the German GP started at 12:30. Do you? The 2004 German
GP started at 14:00.

That I can't explain. Are Eurosport advertisers of a different sort during
football games?

 

No one has disputed that. Even though the USA has a venerable motorcycle
world championship tradition, I remember guys like Hennen and Baker and then
Roberts when I was a kid. It's sad that success and the legends that
followed didn't suffice to capture the US public's imagination. Clearly
someone wasn't doing their job there. But looking at the AMA's record in
advancing motorcycling in the USA, it's no wonder.

Clealry to naturally cater to the fanbase and sponsors that bankroll the
show. And considering that, their bankrolling 6 events in remote parts of
the world seems quite generous and an evangelic effort to instill 2-wheel
worship in heathen underdeveloped countries.

And sometimes they race on Saturdays and not Sundays, and sometimes early
and sometimes late. Depends on the country's culture a lot - you got to
avoid racing smack in the middle of national lunchtime, or on a day when you
know people traditionally want to hang out at home and don't head out much.


Just for clarity: no one claims US TV networks are discriminatory etc etc -
the only thing it shows is the lack of a support base for motorcycle racing
in the USA, and that has a domino effect through the sponsor landscape etc
etc. Ergo, to claim the Europeans discriminate -as is the mantra in this
newsgroup- is pathetically ass-backwards. The problem is the USA doesn't
give a damn. Not a lot Europe can do about that, other than bringing the
show to the USA once a year and see if eventually things take off. No thanks
to US sponsors or the AMA, really.

....pablo