expanding the appeal
ot a sreetierived <*c8ory
that
started out ils somewfierc
for
Honda
to
win raaes
wi$ its CBR500RR
(a
bike that's
domimted *€ WorH
Supersport se.ies
in tlned form
for the pagt fNe
yeat!,
but
is
too
heavy to be competitiv€
in $e AMI(S box-
stock
600 Supersport S€ries)
h-rt now has an added
dimension
with the arrival
of Buell fiis season. But
it
could
have intemational
repercussbns, too,
It'3
generally recognized that
world
Supenpon
needs
attention: Escalating costs, and
performance,
which are a direct result o, the tuning
freedom €ur-
rently allorved under the
rules, have draSSed the
category {ar a\42y from its oriSinal
box-stock con-
ception, and the racing
has suffered as a resuh.
Two
of the four
Japanese
manulacturers
no
longer race in
a clars o.iginally targeted
as a shop window
for the
most
popular sportbike sector on
the street,
because they're
not
prepared
to build
600cc motor-
cycles capable of
lappint close
to one-liter World
Superbike speedi
on treaded tires.
so it's time that
the FIM
and pronroters FGSpon need to take
a look
ar
brintint the Supersport class back
to basics,
reflecting the battle on tlle sho\
/room floor.
This could mean
following the AMA and
the
Australian Federatiqn,
Motorcycling
Australia in tak-
ing a
red pencil to what teaht can
do in preparing
bikes for
World
Superspoft
racinS. That would mean
no more race camshafts,
comPetition
Seafboxes
or
trick cy'inder-head
work. But at the same time,
th€re are moves
to encourage the
Soverning
Mies
to take a
look at creating a true middleweiSlt
per-
formance
Sup€rsport clasr - by matchinS race.pre-
pared
showroom-spec
600 ,ours, 675 triples
and
750 multivalve twlns, all with water-cooling,
with
l2oocc air-cooled muki\"alve, and
l4(Xkc air-cooled
two-vahae twins. ll necessary
it could be classed out
by difrerential weiSlt
limi6 and homoloSation
nuft-
bers for each type
of bike.
Such a class,
say its
proponents, would effective-
ty rellect
what's happeninS
in th€ rnarketplace,
where cr.Etor€rs
for sponbikes with a certain
level
of
performance have the choiae betlveen a mnge of
bikes from
these widely difrering
