no real suprise here, the ama has done all it can to give harley an extra edge against “those foreign bastards” for quite a while now. (along with the ahrma- amhra amhanana.. whatever that drag racing organization is that limits the sportbikes displacement, ability to run proper fuel, and requires all multi’s to be based on production engines from the stone ages. at the same time pushrod twins are 2500cc prototypes that resemble a harley less than a honda cub resembles the rc211v)

the vr1000 was a joke. what else can you call it when a company that made more off beer and toilet paper and oil sales than ducati’s total revenues loses to the italian team. kinda like if honda’s motogp bike got smoked by the proton kr, morwaki, or blata teams. to make matters worse, the ducati was running a street based 851cc bike against a 1000cc prototype. (today we call 1000cc prototypes “motogp”) harley also had (if my ama history is correct) every top rider from the period on that bike at one time or another. and any claims that the vr1000 was homolagated as a street bike was crap. only sold in a country with emission laws that would allow a race bike on the streets? none of these bikes actually staying in this country? the country where this american dream took place? poland. give me a break. a guy from new zealand could have built a better bike in his shed. (wait – a guy from new zealand DID build a better bike in his shed!)

I find it most interesting that this happens to be the class the ama recently nominated to run the daytona 200, america’s most important race (cause dang it, thems motogp bikes are foreign and stuff. laguna seca is for hippies, jeb.) this race also takes place in the middle of the biggest harley love-in there is…

next thing we know, harley will have hired duhamel or biaggi or haga or a motogp regular to ride the bike. don’t the rules say a bike sold for street use? and isn’t your typical homologation run 200 bikes? the buell had 50 made and a disclaimer in the manual stated that “The Buell XBRR motorcycle does not meet NHTSA or EPA regulations for on road use. This motorcycle may only be used on closed courses”

SO WHY AM I SO BITTER? because the triumph 675 is inelegible. and because if the buell is sucessful, there’s several better aircooled twins on the market. because formula xtreme could become a class of limited production specials that do not resemble what manufacturers sell, a class of $50K bikes based on the engine least suited to track use in the production.
and last of all, because when a 999R with a big bore 1000ds engine (and non production bodywork) starts dominating, with yamaha and honda aircooled twins filling out the top three, the ama will change the rules again to suit the home team.