one downside to pedrosa's lilliputian size...

....is reduced mass to counteract wheelies during acceleration. he's
what, like 40lbs lighter than the typical motogp pilot?

if the rider is 40lbs heavier, surely they must have some advantage in
being able to apply more power during acceleration. as they've got
40lbs more mass on the lever to counteract wheelies. less wheelie
tendency means they can get harder on the throttle, perhaps earlier
too.

and i bet that advantage offsets (and perhaps may actually outweigh)
the downside of the overall rider+bike package being 40lbs heavier.

just a random thought. not sure if this has come up before.

w

 

I can believe that, but the amount of difference is the key.

I'd take that bet in a heartbeat. If it did, they would add the 40lbs -
no rule against that.

no, other variations, wind resistance etc.

Bruce

 

good point. the engineers (generally) arent dummies!

if/when they do go to minimum weight for the bike/rider as in lower
classes, it'll be interesting to see what they do w/ pedrosa's extra
mass.

might they go like F1 w/ a big, moveable hunk (or several smaller
hunks) of metal they can move and place wherever they'd like in the
frame to adjust for balance/handling/etc? prolly.

and what about fitting some sort of now-controversialin-F1 mass-damper?
i could see a MD being quite helpful on a bike...for bumpier courses,
and perhaps helping w/ chatter problems that have plagued many teams.