VOLUME 59 ISSUE 9 MARCH 1, 2022 P105
JD Beach, for example, may be
forced to concentrate on hitting
his marks just to stay in the hunt.
"On the Indian, it's dummy
proof—it's harder to screw up,"
Smith said. "When the bike is right,
you mess up and the error isn't
as big, and you can ride relaxed.
When it's not, you're crossing your
eyes and threading the needle
at 100 mph trying to hit that one
mark. You miss that and you lose
a second. When you're not on that
ragged edge, you can actually
think strategy rather than grasping
at straws just to keep up."
On the other hand, with the
restrictors in place, it's not difficult
to imagine a scenario on a fast,
one-line track where production-
based bikes may be in the posi-
tion to overhaul the Indians on the
straights and then corral them in
the corners, tilting the advantage
in the other direction.
While restrictors are an imper-
fect solution, their implementa-
tion at this point seems neces-
sary, and a huge step in the right
direction for a series in need of
drastic correction.
Arriving upon a perfect balance
straight out the gate may not be a
realistic goal, but providing every-
one with hope and an actual shot
at success certainly is.
So now the question is, will it
work?
Smith said, "I'm pretty confi-
dent about what's been put in
place. They went back and forth
before they nailed it down. The
34mm restrictors is a significant
change and should give the other
guys hope without totally crip-
pling the Indian. It will still keep
the good guys up front, but it'll
level the playing field for sure."
Terry Vance, the Vance &
"I'm pretty confident about what's been put in place. They went back and forth
before they nailed it down. The 34mm restrictors is a significant change and
should give the other guys hope without totally crippling the Indian. It will still
keep the good guys up front, but it'll level the playing field for sure."
-Bryan Smith
Hines co-founder and who
oversaw Harley-Davidson's works
Mission SuperTwins effort said,
"The problem is, you can talk
about it for six months but until
you get to the racetrack you don't
know. All I'm doing is waiting to
see what happens, and then if
the rules are favorable to get
something out there besides an
Indian, then we might have a real
reason to get excited."
