998R/999R COMPARISON?

[DAVE HARRIS]

Just read mcn, frankies comments are great ' I brought a 998r in my local dealer fitted some corsa parts and raced it, we spent money we didnt have but at least we spent it on the right thing'. Ducatis less than generous comment 'Frankie is 40 years old, he doesnt care about Ducatis marketing strategy HES ONLY INTERESTED IN HAVING FUN AND WINNING RACES'. I thought that was the whole point of racing, to win??
Having aranged to pick up my new 999 next week I am now wondering if I should cancel the order and buy another secondhand 998r, but perhaps its the old adage its the rider not the bike

dave

Annette and I overheard a certain Italian rider in the pits at Valencia, the comments about the front end of the 999 were quite outspoken comparing the handling to human waste:lol:

[antonye]

So the BBC2 comments of "999 engine in a 998 frame" were a load of bull then?

[yellowisfriedegg]

The 998R and 999R that you and I can buy have the same engine :yawn:

[antonye]

Originally posted by yellowisfriedegg
The 998R and 999R that you and I can buy have the same engine :yawn:

Yes, I know, which is what I was thinking about the quote made by the BBC2 commentators during sunday's race...

[ziggi]

That's right and Hayden also said that it had 17BHP more than the 998 engine.

So has it really got the 999RS whatever engine in or not. And also, I was wondering if Frankie could actually do this as it wasn't a homologated model? Although the individual parts were - so maybe you could create a bike from all the homologated parts???

[Henners]

... Frankie you're my hero :roll::sing:

[antonye]

Originally posted by ziggi
And also, I was wondering if Frankie could actually do this as it wasn't a homologated model? Although the individual parts were - so maybe you could create a bike from all the homologated parts???

Yep, wondered this as well!

I knew there was a reason for watching Eurosport instead :D

[ziggi]

I've just noticed a similar thread in the race section - which still doesn't throw much light on the situation.

OK, if homologation regs are slack - ish - but there's got to be some sort of rule book somewhere. I'm guessing that PSG Corsa would have a copy.

Maybe you could build a bike out of all the manufacturers homologated bike parts and take the best part from each manufacturer - bit like the Mr Potato Head game !! :D

[skidlids]

Good idea, and we all end up with the same bike as Frankie

Factories go racing to sell bikes by employing riders who go racing to win, get the right combination of the two and both are happy. Frankie goes racing to win and enjoy doing it, partly paid for by sponsors who hope to get good TV/Press coverage, obviously they're both happy at the moment

[pedro]

998 for my money, went to jhp other day,got yacking to sales man,i let him harp on how good the 999 was then hit him with the sucker punch- "nah,not for me mate,frankies still doing the bizz on the 998"- then it all went quiet!:sing:. the 998 is a icon,i told the lad its not for sale(my 998),if i sold it then got a 749-999,i would never be able to replace it. "yeh,i see your point he said,we carnt get the 998 for love or money":lol:

[Ray]

The 998r and the 999r road bikes have the same engine, the 998r is actually 999cc (If you want to add to the confusion the 996r was 998cc!!)

Racebike wise they are pretty much the same comparing the last of the line 998F02? with the 999F04 engine wise, a bit of engine development but the basic engine is the same.

Homologation rules for superbikes are pretty free in some areas and a certain amount of mix and match is OK.

All that Chili and his have done I believe is built up as good a 998 as they can, using the best/latest engine they can.

It never looks good when a factory team gets beats by somone using an older bike, marketing hate it.

It does appear that riders are struggling to get to grips with the 999 to get the vital feel they require for their confidence critical to racing. Most have to stcik with it for various reason. PSG have been able to take drastic action and not use the bike.
Hodgson/Xaus muttered about the 999 last year and michelin helped out and or they coped with the problem.

It all adds to the unpredictability of WSB this year,

Chili is the underdog hero in WSB and long may it continue.

Ray.

[Rattler]

......."buy the fantastic 999R - its got the same engine as the WSB Championship leading bike" :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Tim:frog:;)

[Edited on 22-4-2004 by Rattler]

[antonye]

If the tyre rules hadn't been brought into effect, I'm sure that Laconi wouldn't be having grip problems like he appeared to be suffering in the race.

He should easily have beaten Chili, as he had such a big lead, but it looks like Chili's experience with his home track taught him that a cut-slick was probably a better option as the track would dry. I don't know for sure, just guessing.

At least it makes for much more entertainment watching it than the usual Ducati procession!

[yellowisfriedegg]

Tyre choice and the weather made much more difference on Sunday than what engine Frankie may or may not have had in his bike :sing:

Laconi's fastest lap in race 1 was a 1:38 , Frankies fastest lap in race 2 was a 1:42

Last year , Xuas 's fastest lap was a 1:35 , the year before Bayliss's fastest lap was a 1:34 :roll:

[andyb]

It only won cos its yellow...:devil: