Ant West Blog

Sorry Hoffy, but I was lead to believe the Kawasaki is a Big Bang engine and that recent tests involved a screamer engine.

I could be wrong it has happend before (many times over, just ask my wife)

I have read some posts about Rossi's change to Bridgestone and the changes required in the swing arm length to achieve the correct setting for these tyres. It makes me think that prehaps Kawasaki needs to go back to the drawing board to figure out why they have so much wheel spin. It can't be that the bike has so much more power than other bikes, if this were the case they could use their traction control to reduce the power being applied coming out of corners.

I have read some posts about Rossi's change to Bridgestone and the changes required in the swing arm length to achieve the correct setting for these tyres. It makes me think that prehaps Kawasaki needs to go back to the drawing board to figure out why they have so much wheel spin.

I think you have hit the nail on the head SAPhil when you mentioned the name Rossi. MotoGP is a moving target, just ask Nicky Hayden. To be at the top these days you need a full team all working in harmony and going in the same direction. You need a rider who has both the talent to ride the thing better than anybody else, but also just as important the talent to be able to understand the weak points of the bike and provide the feedback to the team, the behaviour of the bike and what needs to be done to improve it to suit the rider. My opinion is that the latter skills as a development rider are just as important as raw talent to be able to ride the bike. We have seen this with Rossi, how he can leave behind bikes that other people can then ride very very fast as a result. If we knew how to aquire these skills we could all do it.

Sorry Hoffy, but I was lead to believe the Kawasaki is a Big Bang engine and that recent tests involved a screamer engine.

I could be wrong it has happend before (many times over, just ask my wife)

I have read some posts about Rossi's change to Bridgestone and the changes required in the swing arm length to achieve the correct setting for these tyres. It makes me think that prehaps Kawasaki needs to go back to the drawing board to figure out why they have so much wheel spin. It can't be that the bike has so much more power than other bikes, if this were the case they could use their traction control to reduce the power being applied coming out of corners.

Yeah i think that's the case phil, with the screamer engine. Recently it has just been tested by oliver jacques i think it is? and i know for sure it was tested at Sepang earlier in the year and i saw a video with Ant West on it too, but that vid was on youtube, so it may or may not be true. Ducati also tested the screamer engine a while back, without much success, lets hope kawasaki can gain alot more from it then Ducati did.

here here punisher.
without pouring flames on the debate you have clearly underlined the commitment most, if not all top level racers have to endure.

in australia especially the riders get paid peanuts.
they dont even get paid prize-money for Fu(%s sake!!
look at the raging debate over the existing SBK championship??
there is no certainty for next year or the short term future of the sport in our country. yet factroy teams to club level privateers spend time, effort & god knows how much dough on just racing let alone getting your arse up to world championship level like Westy.

australia produces an amazing amount of world champions let alone top racers from a country of about 20 million.
in the world scale of motorcycle business we are tiny, but we keep producing amazingly talented, committed & tough riders.
perhaps its this 'school of hard knocks' envoirenment that keeps producing them?

look at shannon johnson & scotty charlton. both out of racing from injury & no doubt doing it tough wheile not being able to work let alone race & get paid.

i hope he Westy gets on top of things & wish Kawy grabs soem good results to keep them in MotoGP.