[Devilfish]

Guys, my point simply was that with an ex-MotoGP star like McCoy on the 675 there are high hope here for the 675 performance... But he pitted for the race, even though he was well into the top 10 during his few laps... What if he had finished???

The other 675 riders, who are they? McCoy will be the only serious high placing finisher on the 675 this season that you can bet on. Also, the 675 is not a new bike anymore, and with experience already in British Supersport and the Triumph Triple Challenge, is it really too much to expect that it will be able to make 18 laps in a race at this point?

I don't know why McCoy and most of the others pitted (yet) but certainly thought more would finish and especially hoped McCoy would have finished (and stayed somewhere in the top 10). But that didn't happen and so, I as a 675 owner was disappointed in race #1 of the season.

Maybe it's because all my riding buddies ride Ducati, and I have to hear about how great Ducati is all the time, especially right now with Casey Stoner as the World Champ, and the 1098's recent performances, etc. etc. etc.

Anyways, at least now the 675 can be considered the Underdog in World Supersport.

 

[Ricky675racer]

I am not having a go mate but comparing a bike from the Triumph Triple Challenge to a WSS bike is like comparing a Paper plane to the space shuttle. None of the WSS bikes (all makes) are anything like the road going versions.

For a bike with no previous WSS pedigree to even qualify in the top 15 at that level is truly amazing, let alone 3 of them.

The other 675 riders may not be as well known throughout the world as McCoy, but McCoy will not be the only 675 rider near or on the podium during this season.

 

[Old Dave]

Dionisi was a mere 10 meters away from the podium!

 

[Jarno]

Guys, my point simply was that with an ex-MotoGP star like McCoy on the 675 there are high hope here for the 675 performance... But he pitted for the race, even though he was well into the top 10 during his few laps... What if he had finished???

The other 675 riders, who are they? McCoy will be the only serious high placing finisher on the 675 this season that you can bet on. Also, the 675 is not a new bike anymore, and with experience already in British Supersport and the Triumph Triple Challenge, is it really too much to expect that it will be able to make 18 laps in a race at this point?

I don't know why McCoy and most of the others pitted (yet) but certainly thought more would finish and especially hoped McCoy would have finished (and stayed somewhere in the top 10). But that didn't happen and so, I as a 675 owner was disappointed in race #1 of the season.

Devilfish,

1.McCoy WAS a GP racer, but he is now most probably much slower than in his glory days in 500cc or even in WSBK, considering his age. Mark Aitchison will probably soon be faster than Garry, as he is a very impressive young rider.

Clementi is very fast, he was a Superbike Kawasaki Bertocchi rider for years, and last season he did very well aboard the BE1 Triumph in its first European and Italian supersport season. He will remain in history as the one who has scored the 675's first world championship points.

Ilario Dionisi is the one finding it difficult to match the pace of the other Triumph riders, but he was fast in Superstock 1000. Prior to Qatar, he had almost never tested the 675 nor even a Supersport bike, so it is normal that he needs so more time to get into the top-15. I'm confident he will do it.

2. I can't understand how you could be deceived by the Qatari week-end: Aitchison, Clementi and McCoy were immediately fast in qualifying, and McCoy was fighting for 5th when he was forced to pit due to a overheating issue. Aitchison did not start as well as his compatriot but he was already 10th and closing on the riders ahead of him when he crashed.

Both Italians had a steady race, with Clementi finishing 12 and Dionisi among the backmarkers, but still only one of the 4 Daytonas had a technical issue.

If you want to compare with Ducati, then you have to dig in your archive to find out what were the results of the make in the first 15yrs of its history. Ducati was already an immensely experienced make when the WSBK was created 20 yrs ago, as it was already racing L-twins 20 yrs beforehand!

Triumphs of Meriden have been racing for decades, but Triumph of Hinckley have a very small experience of racing.

That's the reason why I am very impressed by the results achieved and even more by the speed showed by both BE1s and SCs Triumphs, and I'm sure McCoy and Aitchison will be even stronger at Phillip Island...

 

[Ross Walter]

great passion being shown by every post GREAT!:cool2:

 

[Old Dave]

Jarno, as far as I remember McCoy it seems to me that he will win whenever its raining. He is absolutely magnificent when its a wet race and because the speed is much lower the 675 engine will hold until the end.

About the 675 overheating problems. I was reading some technical papers and speaking with my mechanic. I understood that the overheating in a engine usually it is not related with non efficient cooling. The problem is to find what makes a racing motorcycle engine to overheat.
Here are some links about desmodromic engines that explain why a desmodromic L twin revs as high or higher than a in line four:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmodromic_valve
http://www.ducati.com/bikes/techcafe...part=technical

A paper about Ducati's engine philosophy and the relation between stroke and displacement:
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/19feb...technical.html

These papers describe why the Ducati engines are so efficient. From what I understood a 1000 cc four cylinder desmodromic engine (Desmosedici) would completely dominate WSB. On the other hand it would probably be extremely expensive. The street model would probably not be affordable.

Maybe the above cited papers (some on-line) explain a little bit of the reason why the 675 overheats?

Yamaha and Suzuki (and I guess that the same may applies to Honda and Kawasaki) try to get a so similar as possible result as the obtained by a desmodromic engine by using titanium valves (much lighter and stronger than steel).
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...72008yamahar6/

The 675 uses steel valves. They are cheap but heavy. A lot of mass to move. I don't know if I am right but I reason that at 16000 rpm every valve in a four cylinder actuates 4000 times per minute. In a 3 cylinder is 5333 times per minute. To manage the high rpm the Japanese and Italian factories use titanium valves. The valves of a 675 at very high rpm get a much tougher beating than the ones from a in-line four at the same rpm. Yet, they are much heavier. Can it induce to valve float?
It seems that the 675 can hold the first laps and than it starts with overheating problems.

As far as I understood from the above technical papers, if very strong valve springs are used, a large amount of power is lost. If softer valve springs are used, the engine will overheat and loose power. And this problem is magnified by the mass related to the weight of the 675 steel valves.
Can it be right?

 

[catweazle]

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