Indian Flattracker

XTINCT

XTINCT

Joined
Jan 10, 2012
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I watched the opening round TT of the American Flattrack series at Daytona.
After the main, during the interview with Jared Mees, they show a clip taken from the rear, of him going over the jump. If you watch closely, you can see his rear wheel wiggling from side to side. Whats up with that?
 
Flat Track bikes are very light and have a lot of flex in the chassis compared to a roadbike which acts as suspension to keep the tires in contact with the dirt when flopped over and sideways.

Before they used shortened MX bikes (Singles class),some of the little 250cc 2-stroke framers were so light they couldn't be dropped without bending the frame.
 
And if you watched the race, you saw the swingarm of Stevie Bonsey's twin break off on the jump and the back wheel passed the skidding bike. Since the twins have returned to TT racing, the jumps have been doubled or made flatter. Lots of riders lost chains last year landing the jump at Peoria. Henry Wiles, the King of Peoria, got a bit too much air on the jump while leading the Buffalo Chip TT last year and pancaked the bike, breaking the oil pan and ending his evening.
 
What are you doing with jumps on a flat track ? I always thought that flat track was almost speedway. One thing that I never get involved in is motocross or anything which resembles it. In Australia we have Supermotard which is run partly on bitumen and partly on dirt. The problem is that the tyres on the bikes are always a compromise. What suits an MX bike under ideal conditions is different from what suits speedway and radically different from what suits road racing. I think a lot of things are done to keep speeds down, however speed is only relative. If you are all going at the same speed with no brakes, any collision between bikes happens at relatively low speed. The problem comes when there are posts around the outside of the circuit. In Australia you couldn't run a race meeting on such a circuit because you would never get the track licence necessary for insurance purposes.
 
I failed to mention that I was watching this on Fans Choice TV.
These guys have free live streaming of selected events and then keep the files available. Check it out.
AFT has 4 different events. Short Track, TT, 1/2 Mile, and Mile.
The three are ovals.
A TT has to have right and left hand turns and one jump.
 
acotrel said:
What are you doing with jumps on a flat track ? I always thought that flat track was almost speedway. One thing that I never get involved in is motocross or anything which resembles it. In Australia we have Supermotard which is run partly on bitumen and partly on dirt. The problem is that the tyres on the bikes are always a compromise. What suits an MX bike under ideal conditions is different from what suits speedway and radically different from what suits road racing. I think a lot of things are done to keep speeds down, however speed is only relative. If you are all going at the same speed with no brakes, any collision between bikes happens at relatively low speed. The problem comes when there are posts around the outside of the circuit. In Australia you couldn't run a race meeting on such a circuit because you would never get the track licence necessary for insurance purposes.
Click to expand...
Supermotard was invented by the American Broadcasting Company for a tv show "The Superbikers" where moto racers from different disciplines competed on a combination street/dirt course.
 
XTINCT said:
I failed to mention that I was watching this on Fans Choice TV.
These guys have free live streaming of selected events and then keep the files available. Check it out.
AFT has 4 different events. Short Track, TT, 1/2 Mile, and Mile.
The three are ovals.
A TT has to have right and left hand turns and one jump.
Click to expand...
I watch every race I don't attend. Daytona, Springfield, Peoria, checked out the OKC Mile last year. Hit few Pro-Am Regional events, too.
 
My homeboy Jeffrey Carver (#23 Indian) chased #1 Jared Mees (factory Indian) across the finish line at the Calistoga Half-Mile. Indians took the first 5 places. The next few races are Miles and although the winner is not set in stone, the brand of bike is getting close to being.
There were 3 factory FTR750s on the track last year and this year there's a horde of privateer Indians out there. Punched-out Kawasaki 650s and Yamaha FZ07s along with the FTRs are all running circles around the 3-man Harley factory team. There are also KTMs, Ducatis and Triumphs running.
 
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