[Dukerdr]

..in Woodstock GA, north of Atlanta. Hope they don't get rained out!


Ducati joins Stevie Bonsey and Lloyd Brothers Racing in the American Flat Track Grand National Series 2018

Ducati & Lloyd Brothers tap former GP racer Stevie Bonsey - Bonsey will be riding a Ducati powered Monster 821

Team, Rider and Motorcycle will debut April 7 in Woodstock, GA, at Dixie Raceway.

Ducati North America partners with The Dillard Family Racing / Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team to back former Grand Prix motorcycle racer Stevie Bonsey for ten rounds of the American Flat Track (AFT) championship. First race of their season will start with the Atlanta Short Track on Saturday, April 7 in Woodstock, GA at the Dixie Raceway.

The bike is built around Ducati’s twin-cylinder four-valve liquid-cooled Testastretta 11° Monster 821 engine specifically set up for American Flat Track racing by the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team and the support from Ducati and sponsorship from long-standing Ducati collector Jim Dillard.

https://www.showclix.com/event/atlanta-short-track

https://www.dixiespeedway.com/

 

[SO FUN]

..in Woodstock GA, north of Atlanta. Hope they don't get rained out!





Ducati joins Stevie Bonsey and Lloyd Brothers Racing in the American Flat Track Grand National Series 2018



Ducati & Lloyd Brothers tap former GP racer Stevie Bonsey - Bonsey will be riding a Ducati powered Monster 821



Team, Rider and Motorcycle will debut April 7 in Woodstock, GA, at Dixie Raceway.



Ducati North America partners with The Dillard Family Racing / Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team to back former Grand Prix motorcycle racer Stevie Bonsey for ten rounds of the American Flat Track (AFT) championship. First race of their season will start with the Atlanta Short Track on Saturday, April 7 in Woodstock, GA at the Dixie Raceway.



The bike is built around Ducati’s twin-cylinder four-valve liquid-cooled Testastretta 11° Monster 821 engine specifically set up for American Flat Track racing by the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team and the support from Ducati and sponsorship from long-standing Ducati collector Jim Dillard.

https://www.showclix.com/event/atlanta-short-track



https://www.dixiespeedway.com/

What’s the carbon fiber and aluminum box on the right side of the engine?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dukerdr]

*Radiator*


added:

This is the plenum for the Lloyd Ducati being 3D printed out of carbon fiber. Unreal...

 

[Monster4Lee]

Cool. It's good to see another brand out there.
Is there somewhere to watch the races on line?
It would be good to actually see the racing again.

 

[Dukerdr]

I'll be watching live Saturday night on https://www.fanschoice.tv/watch-live/american-flat-track

I believe the heats start at 7pm, EST.

Assuming it doesn't get rained out, which looks quite possible at this point.
.

 

[Monster4Lee]

I'll be watching live Saturday night on https://www.fanschoice.tv/watch-live/american-flat-track

I believe the heats start at 7pm, EST.

Assuming it doesn't get rained out, which looks quite possible at this point.
.

Fans choice TV again. Many Garcias! :yeah:

 

[JACKIE TREEHORN]

1st manufacturer to pull their head out of their ass and start making some flat track replicas is gonna sell a metric ton of motorcycles. Went to my first races last year in a long time, amazes me it isn't more popular than it is, as it's really exciting, and the short heats gives everybody plenty of time to face chat on their phones between races.:|

 

[nzdave]

https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/ftr1200/

 

[DaveK]

https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/ftr1200/

love the sound of that Indian...

 

[Dukerdr]

So, if anyone wants to go watch a race live, here's the schedule:

American Flat Track Schedule - 2018 Season

Be aware that the Ducati won't be contesting the TT events, something about it hurting the equipment. That's why it wasn't at Daytona already.


This is the TV broadcast schedule on NBCSports channel. Also rebroadcast times if you don't have a DVR:

American Flat Track Schedule - Season

.

 

[Monster4Lee]

I'll be watching live Saturday night on https://www.fanschoice.tv/watch-live/american-flat-track

I believe the heats start at 7pm, EST.

Assuming it doesn't get rained out, which looks quite possible at this point.
.

It says new start time 2:30. EST I guess, so shortly!

 

[JACKIE TREEHORN]

https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/ftr1200/

IMO, this is the typical misstep manufacturers make. They have this awesome concept, then they change it. It doesn't need to be a 1200, and it it shouldn't be >375#. Yamaha DT-07 is the perfect example of what should roll out on the sales floors, a 300# +/-, 700cc bike with some nice suspension bits.
https://www.cycleworld.com/yamaha-fz-07-based-flat-track-concept-dt-07-street-tracker-custom#page-6

If they make something like the yammie, that bridges the gap between supermoto and scrambler, I'd lose sleep at night thinking of trading my beloved hyper. I'm guessing I must not represent what the greater portion of the market wants.

 

[nzdave]

IMO, this is the typical misstep manufacturers make. They have this awesome concept, then they change it. It doesn't need to be a 1200, and it it shouldn't be >375#. Yamaha DT-07 is the perfect example of what should roll out on the sales floors, a 300# +/-, 700cc bike with some nice suspension bits.
https://www.cycleworld.com/yamaha-fz-07-based-flat-track-concept-dt-07-street-tracker-custom#page-6

If they make something like the yammie, that bridges the gap between supermoto and scrambler, I'd lose sleep at night thinking of trading my beloved hyper. I'm guessing I must not represent what the greater portion of the market wants.

It is this size etc. because it is based off the Scout 1200, so much easier/cheaper for them to produce.

 

[Nikon800]

We at Colvin Motors build custom Ducati Flattrackers. 6 times consecutive VDTRA Champions .
colvinmotors.com

Cheers
Derek

 

[Chuckracer]

Weedsport, NY July 7...I am there!

 

[Full_Spectrum]

IMO, this is the typical misstep manufacturers make. They have this awesome concept, then they change it. It doesn't need to be a 1200, and it it shouldn't be >375#. Yamaha DT-07 is the perfect example of what should roll out on the sales floors, a 300# +/-, 700cc bike with some nice suspension bits.
https://www.cycleworld.com/yamaha-fz-07-based-flat-track-concept-dt-07-street-tracker-custom#page-6

If they make something like the yammie, that bridges the gap between supermoto and scrambler, I'd lose sleep at night thinking of trading my beloved hyper. I'm guessing I must not represent what the greater portion of the market wants.

It wouldnt be possible for Indian to just roll out a street version of their AFT Twins FTR750 for a few reasons. The same thing applies to any of the other manufacturers.

If anything, this is a result of the AFT rules. The rules allow a lot of freedom for chassis mods- so everyone builds a custom chassis. So on and so forth.

The FTR750 being raced in AFT is a thoroughbred race bike. Nothing on it is derived from a streetbike. The engine was designed for AFT racing (by Swissauto). It has no provision for a starter. As in, you would never be able to start your bike without the remote starter plugged into the end of the crank.
The frame, swingarm, and most of the other chassis parts are produced by S&S Cycle. There are no concessions for street gear.
This is basically a GP bike for the dirt- without the fancy electronics.

In fact, all of the AFT Twins bikes (aside from the FTR750) are completely custom chassis, with a production (mostly) engine.

Now, you could make the case that the rules should force the manufacturers to race bikes that are closer to what can be purchased for the road, but that is another issue.

 

[Languidium]

totally dig it.

 

[JACKIE TREEHORN]

It wouldnt be possible for Indian to just roll out a street version of their AFT Twins FTR750 for a few reasons. The same thing applies to any of the other manufacturers.

If anything, this is a result of the AFT rules. The rules allow a lot of freedom for chassis mods- so everyone builds a custom chassis. So on and so forth.

The FTR750 being raced in AFT is a thoroughbred race bike. Nothing on it is derived from a streetbike. The engine was designed for AFT racing (by Swissauto). It has no provision for a starter. As in, you would never be able to start your bike without the remote starter plugged into the end of the crank.
The frame, swingarm, and most of the other chassis parts are produced by S&S Cycle. There are no concessions for street gear.
This is basically a GP bike for the dirt- without the fancy electronics.

In fact, all of the AFT Twins bikes (aside from the FTR750) are completely custom chassis, with a production (mostly) engine.

Now, you could make the case that the rules should force the manufacturers to race bikes that are closer to what can be purchased for the road, but that is another issue.

Look at the article I posted. Yamaha did it. I can be done, and I think it would sell. It doesnt have to be an exact spec replica, but rather keeping in the spirit of what it's replicating (simple, light, grunty). IMO, shoving large displacement, heavy motors, heavy chassis is following the Harley style over substance motto. I think there's a market for it, as I have noticed of late, the majority of youngsters I meet on the road are on FZ07's or supermoto'd dirt scoots. But hey, I put all my money into the flobee being a big hit, now I just shave my head because I can't afford a haircut.

 

[Full_Spectrum]

Look at the article I posted. Yamaha did it. I can be done, and I think it would sell. It doesnt have to be an exact spec replica, but rather keeping in the spirit of what it's replicating (simple, light, grunty). IMO, shoving large displacement, heavy motors, heavy chassis is following the Harley style over substance motto. I think there's a market for it, as I have noticed of late, the majority of youngsters I meet on the road are on FZ07's or supermoto'd dirt scoots. But hey, I put all my money into the flobee being a big hit, now I just shave my head because I can't afford a haircut.

I did look at the article you posted, and Yamaha *did not* do it. That conversion was done by a builder, who then went to Yamaha US for help with getting it running. The builder was asked about his opinion of how or if Yamaha would build something like that stock, and the TL;DR answer is *no*, it isnt going to happen.
Also note that the big twin/HD market is far and away the largest segment of motorcycle sales in North America. Nothing else comes close. In fact, every other type of bike combined doesnt come close to the market share of big twins.

While I happen to think these bikes are really cool, the good folks at nearly every major manufacturer seem to disagree with you and I- and since they have marketing and research teams who would actually *like* to sell more bikes- I have assumed that their research tells them that they would lose money on such a model. Remember that these are mostly global platforms, so while they differ slightly for an EU version, etc, they usually adhere to global trends.

Really- my opinion is that the number of people who like these things *might* be large- but the number of people who would actually *purchase* such a bike is quite small. (And Yamaha knows that)
It is also my opinion that what makes these kind of bikes special is that they *are not* production bikes, but modified by their owners.

Where this started was asking why Indian didnt just basically stick a headlight on an FTR750 and sell em, and I was just pointing out that it wouldnt be that simple *technically*.

 

[JACKIE TREEHORN]

I did look at the article you posted, and Yamaha *did not* do it. That conversion was done by a builder, who then went to Yamaha US for help with getting it running. The builder was asked about his opinion of how or if Yamaha would build something like that stock, and the TL;DR answer is *no*, it isnt going to happen.
Also note that the big twin/HD market is far and away the largest segment of motorcycle sales in North America. Nothing else comes close. In fact, every other type of bike combined doesnt come close to the market share of big twins.

While I happen to think these bikes are really cool, the good folks at nearly every major manufacturer seem to disagree with you and I- and since they have marketing and research teams who would actually *like* to sell more bikes- I have assumed that their research tells them that they would lose money on such a model. Remember that these are mostly global platforms, so while they differ slightly for an EU version, etc, they usually adhere to global trends.

Really- my opinion is that the number of people who like these things *might* be large- but the number of people who would actually *purchase* such a bike is quite small. (And Yamaha knows that)
It is also my opinion that what makes these kind of bikes special is that they *are not* production bikes, but modified by their owners.

Where this started was asking why Indian didnt just basically stick a headlight on an FTR750 and sell em, and I was just pointing out that it wouldnt be that simple *technically*.

You make it sound as though these guys are going to to back to the drawing board, and break out the English wheels and aitpr hammers to figure this out. They all have the tech to do this, a few manufacturers already have the platform to base it on. And as I said earlier, what I see in the real world where I ride in CA, in probably the most represented motorcycle market in the US, is the younger kids that are riding motorcycles could give a shIt less aboot these big iron cruisers. This would lead me to believe that this style bike could do numbers. Just look at what Ducati has done with the scrambler, that should be proof enough. And as far as marketing departments being some type of oracle, take a look at HD's recent stock trend/ plant closures, Polaris industries shit canning Victory, and remember the Ducati Indiana? Um, yeah.

Putting decals on a scout 1200 isn't going to get younger asses on seats. A bike like the fz07 in a dirt tracker theme would. No, it's not as simple as a headlight, but it ain't rocket surgery either. The company that figures this out will be the one that moves into the next generation of buyers.