Interestingly, there's a feeling the intra-Indian battle
could be more heavily impacted by the changes, al-
though speculation differs on how exactly.
There are suggestions that by limiting some setup
options (the bolt-on flywheel rings in particular), the
Indians will run closer together.
Smith, however, thinks the opposite could happen,
instead shifting the balance of power in favor of the old-
school riders. He explained, "Guys like myself or Jared
Mees, who have ridden a lot of stuff and have a lot of
experience, have a better throttle hand than some of
the younger guys--even the champion Briar Bauman.
"It might be tougher for, say Brandon Price, who is
super aggressive and super talented, but after twenty
years of doing this, you learn to develop a good throttle
hand and you've got to be more precise when the mo-
torcycle is harder to ride. And 100%, at half the tracks,
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 28 JULY 13, 2021 P89
the rule changes are going to make the bikes
harder to ride."
COMMITMENT TO BALANCE
The field is so Indian-biased at this point that
gauging the effectiveness of the changes will
be tricky with just the two Estenson Yamahas
and sole Latus Harley-Davidson serving as
basis for comparison. It doesn't help that,
while champions in their own right, the precise
premier-class potential of Beach, Kolby Carlile,
and James Rispoli has yet to be fully proven.
If it were possible to put known quantities
such as Bauman, Mees and Robinson on
each of the bikes at a variety of tracks, it'd be a
lot easier to understand the impact of the rule
changes, but, alas, that simply isn't possible.
The next question is whether these changes
will prove substantial enough to tempt in a larger
collection of production-based bikes in 2022 to
further drive the evaluation moving forward.
But perhaps more important than the
There's a very simple solution to this, and it's also the only
one currently off the table: banning the FTR750 outright.
The new rule change in
AFT doesn't just help
Harley-Davidson, but
other manufactures, as
well, such as Yamaha.
Perhaps more brands will
jump back in, which is
good for the sport, and
even Indian.
specifics of the rule changes is the symbolic
commitment they represent at finding the
proper balance, no matter what it takes.
Smith said, "Just seeing that AFT has
identified the problem and is being proactive
(is important). It's hard for a lot of the younger
guys to afford an Indian no matter how good
it is. So, if there is another alternative that
makes them feel like they're not just showing
up to a gunfight with a knife, at least they can
afford to do it and know their bike is good
enough to give them a chance."
Underlying that commitment, McGrath in-
dicated the series may not be done tweaking
the 2021 ruleset just yet.
"Everything is on the table. Everything is
being evaluated."
CN
