[Redneck]

That is very interesting. A good friend of mine bought a new Aprilia Mille last year and just traded his old Beemer in on a new one. I guess that is what you get to do with no kids.

Have you heard any test results for Duc's MotoGP bike? Who will ride at Mugello?

The showroom will dictate the race track. This could be more true with motorcycles than with auto racing. Unfortunately, in the USA we don't have two-stroke street bikes anymore (unless you smuggle it). That puts a tremendous demand on the 4-strokers. One of the most successful forms of auto racing owes a lot of credit to its connection to the showroom. I know stock cars today have little in common with the production version, but that heritage still plays a strong card for marketing.

Most of the WSB racing takes place in Europe and the connection between fans and the race bikes might be different from the USA. I know Spain is fanatical about the 125cc guys and there will probably never be any 4-strokers there. There were several other manufacturers lined up for WSB. Benelli got out some, but seems to have gone back to the drawing board. Some one mentioned Harley earlier. That would be a long shot. They seem to have lost all interest in roadracing and aren't willing to spend the money to be successful. There market just isn't affected by racing as much and they don't see the feasibility. What a shame.

Come to think of it... has anybody heard anything about 4-strokers in the other classes?