Jonathan:
it doesn't sound like we are talking about the same thing.
What I (and I think Jim, too) are mainly bitching about is that some
stock/OEM sportbike bodywork is in violation of the PS rules, as they stand
now. And this appears to be a NEW problem, and pretty "artificial". Jon
Wennerberg's case is a particularly good point: we got it down under 36
inches so that he could pass inspection and make official runs, but I'll bet
that what we did to get it past the rules didn't make it any SAFER!
And as for enclosing the rear wheel-- I assume you were talking about Jim's
number plates. Look at the pic of Jim's bike-- the number plates are pretty
small. I suspect that Joe's bike has as much sidewind resistance in back as
Jim's does-- and I haven't heard Joe complain about sidewind problems. My
own number plates are bigger than Jim's, and I didn't have any sidewind
problems.
Furthermore, Jim hasn't enclosed a bigger percentage of the wheel than is
allowed by the rules-- he just has sheetstock (numberplates-- which the
inspectors decided to view as "streamlining") behind the vertical line
through the rear axle.
I don't believe the crosswind/"safety" excuse is valid, at all. If it is,
they should ban all 2-wheel streamliners; there's no way those things can be
more stable in a crosswind than a stock GSX-R1000-- even one with
numberplates. That argument is bullmerde (pardon my half-French).
Although what you were saying about front-wheel streamlining is quite
interesting, neither Jim nor I brought-up any issue at all about front wheel
streamlining, and none of the three bikes we were talking about had anything
but OEM parts up-front. And the inspectors weren't complaining about
anything but the BACK ends of Jim's and Jon's bikes. So it's hard for me to
relate what you are saying about front wheel streamlining with what we have
been talking about.
Are you smoking the same stuff as Jack C.??? Send me some, so we can get on
the same wavelength!
Russ, #1226B
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