600Gp in, 250Gp out...

[veeten]

FIM has started the ball rolling, and manufacturers have until the end of the month to put forth their feelings on the matter.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68698

Wonder how this will play out between MotoGP and SBK for the 600 class. And just whom will decide to make examples of a bike for the new formulation.

[The Phantom]

It has the potential to change the face of sporting roadbikes - imagine if 600s supplanted 1000cc+ as the premier sportsbike class?

[NinjaMaster]

It has the potential to change the face of sporting roadbikes - imagine if 600s supplanted 1000cc+ as the premier sportsbike class?
Maybe the new AMA series is onto something then? Nah. :D

It's a huge decision to be made for the feeder category. They have to find a way to bring in bikes that are high performance but cost effective without encroaching on the 600 Supersports turf. I think there will be pros and cons whichever way they go.

[maxu05]

I can't understand why they didn't go for a 400cc class. There would be no clash with the WSS class that way. If they run the bikes so close to stock standard, there will be problems legally IMO, and if they let the manufacturers use trick parts to appease WSS, then the bikes will be not much off the pace of the 800cc bikes. They should have gone for 400cc 4 stroke to replace the 250cc 2 strokes, and 250cc 4 stroke to replace the 125cc 2 stroke. This way, the 800 cc bikes would always be the cats pyjama's as far as Gp's go.

[NinjaMaster]

I can't understand why they didn't go for a 400cc class. There would be no clash with the WSS class that way. If they run the bikes so close to stock standard, there will be problems legally IMO, and if they let the manufacturers use trick parts to appease WSS, then the bikes will be not much off the pace of the 800cc bikes. They should have gone for 400cc 4 stroke to replace the 250cc 2 strokes, and 250cc 4 stroke to replace the 125cc 2 stroke. This way, the 800 cc bikes would always be the cats pyjama's as far as Gp's go.
The problem though is cost containment. Completely re-designing and building new bikes from the ground up would be very expensive as opposed to being able to draw on existing designs and modifying them. As well as the 2-strokes being phased out for environmental reasons, to be at the pointy end is getting very expensive as outlined by Julian Ryder:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Jun/080624b.htm

[neninja]

This could get messy legally

The Flamini's have already suggested legal action if a 600 class was the option especially if it has a production based motor

[ChrisS]

It has the potential to change the face of sporting roadbikes - imagine if 600s supplanted 1000cc+ as the premier sportsbike class?

I don't see that happening. road sportsbikes are more about horsepower and straight line speed as the average rider doesn't really need great lean angles or high turn speeds.

The MotoGP field looked pathetic this weekend with just 16 bikes starting and what I fear is the new series will end up like this with just a few factory bikes and with all the small teams gone.

Can Suzuki and Kawasaki afford to develop new 600cc GP bikes when their MotoGP projects are such a mess? I dont think Ducati will be interested, Aprilia said they wont take part, I cant remember what KTM said.

So this leaves Honda and Yamaha, they better be ready to field a lot of bikes.