450 Super Singles

[Termi-nal]

Can we start a new class please?

Moto 450 Super Single racers - why they are so great - motorcycle promotional video - YouTube

[Shady7/8]

There's a complete kit you can buy for the Supermono class

450GP.comonly €4450

Much want though....

[robwas]

These can be raced in the current F2 class.
Bill (Lekcom) raced one in the 09/10 season

[Termi-nal]

How competitive was it?

[DTee]

I like the idea behind these (an intermediate class underneath 600 supersport). Would probably be cheaper to build a SV650 as an F2 bike though.

I have heard of a 450 single that beats SV650's in F2 but that is a RS125 GP chassis with a CRF450 transplant. Cedric Smith was the guy's name - he has a couple of Youtubes.

If the class was to become popular you'd probably need a sponser to get a bunch of bikes on the track and provide spares and advice, exactly the way Fastline did with the 125GP class locally.

[pottz]

yeah I like the idea and I can see them being fun to ride but itd be very uneconomical.
Yould first have to buy a 450 offroad bike, spend $6900au for the kit (that probably comes with cheap forks, pads rotors etc), fit it, upgrade thinks like brakes, suspention etc. I dont see it getting on the track for less than around 15-20k

um... why not just buy an alreday prepped 600 and go faster?

[XXX3]

yeah I like the idea and I can see them being fun to ride but itd be very uneconomical.
Yould first have to buy a 450 offroad bike, spend $6900au for the kit (that probably comes with cheap forks, pads rotors etc), fit it, upgrade thinks like brakes, suspention etc. I dont see it getting on the track for less than around 15-20k

um... why not just buy an alreday prepped 600 and go faster?

Agree with a large part of that, but I think one of the big reasons they are pushing 450 singles is for up and coming youngsters to have something to bridge the gap between 125GP and 600s. Bill's bike was very expensive to build, partly cause of what you mentioned but also because everything is fairly unique and low-demand (e.g. fairings). It's expensive now, but if the class becomes popular then the price of conversion kits will go down. They're also much friendlier on tyres than 600s.

As for competitiveness, one of the ASBK riders got it in the 65's (very easily) for a few casual laps at a trackday. On track watching Bill, the 125s appeared to have a slight top speed advantage and under brakes, but the 450 ate them out of corners.

Hard to make comparisons against the other F2 bikes, it was a very small field last year. Seeing as it was basically on par with 125GP bikes, any comparisons could be made from that. Unfortunately this is why the bike is no longer raced, the owner doesn't see the point taking the financial risk of racing it in a class of 2 or 3 bikes - as stated before, a lot of parts are one-off or very rare, so expensive if crashed. It's not gathering dust though, still gets track day use.

[pottz]

but if its slower than the 125's how will it bridge the gap between them and the 600's?

however I do get what your saying that it would be good to have a smaller step up in power and speed for the up and coming guys in WA than 125 to 600 and yeah the 450's would be a blast to ride.

Maby one day they could be an option to replace the 125's as they become obsolite and hard to get (gasp! but I think it will happen)

[Kowalski]

The Irish Road Racing governing body cleared Moto 450's for racing in the 125GP class last year. Ryan Farqhaur turned up on KX450 and won the first race, beating William Dunlop who was on a full monty A-kitted Honda RS125. There was a big stink after that and now the 450's have to start with a time penalty and aren't eligable for the 125 (lightweight) championship as was planned.

To put it in context, William is the two-stoke specialist in Ireland and has completed in Grand Prix. In my opnion there is no better rider on lightweight bikes. Ryan on the other hand has major support from Kawasaki so I would expect it was a fairly trick bike. Of course he's no slouch on the roads either!

It seems to me the 450's can be more than competitive against the 125's. Then there is the Minitwin & Supertwin classes, which is another debate.

[Termi-nal]

Being that it would run in the F2 class, one could possibly use an Aprilia RXV 550 then

[DTee]

If you wanted to build bike to dominate F2, I've always thought a Ducati 749R with a short stroke crank to bring it down under the 700cc limit would be a nice start. Otherwise, build an Aprilia RSX550 like Jeff Ware did to win the BEARS F3 class (RS250 chassis, RXV550 engine).

However, a big dollar F2 bike is kind of missing the point of F2 being a beginner class. Can you still race F2 as an A or B grader?

[glennh]

anyone truly serious about progressing with their road racing ( a young fella anyway ) will pick themselves up a 6 or 7 grand 125gp bike and hook into f2 , racecraft skills will flourish . if you can get within 2 or 3 seconds a lap of an a grader on one of these bikes your doing ok

[glennh]

not suggesting that "old blokes'' cant ride them either

[Doug68]

I love the idea.

WA has had silly rules for 'odd' classes for a long time look at GP250 if you want some discouragement, so do it for the fun it as I sure these'll be great bikes to ride and hopefully enough'll get done to form a proper class, there's no shortage of MX450's to base them on is there?

[Uni]

Would be interesting to see a big bore Ktm/Husaberg 550 or 650 set up in the same manner. It'll still make F2..