Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted July 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2015 Has the thought crossed your minds that he isn't in SBK because nobody wants him? He was a world champion 9 years ago, and hasn't seen any routine success since then. Nicky thinks he should be on a factory bike, but nobody else in the paddock thinks that. Guintolli was SBK champ last year, and he can't manage to get that old CBR into the top 5, you think Nicky would? Nobody is going to pick up a mid-pack MotoGP rider at the tail-end of his career, IMO. They can get some up-and-comer from BSB or MotoAmerica (Hayes or Baubier) way cheaper than they would ever get Hayden. No that thought has not crossed my mind just as it has not crossed my mind that the world is flat. Ducati tried to push Nick to the WSBK team a couple of years ago but Nicky signed with Aprilia and GiGi...not knowing that GiGi was heading to Ducati and wanted Nicky there. I doubt anyone (not MM or Vale) could make the current CBR1000 a championship contender in WSBK and that is because Honda have their collective heads up their asses with the street bike that is based on. Clearly the Kawi is the bike to have the past 2-3 years in WSBK. I would place a gentlemens wager with anyone on this site that IF Nick goes to WSBK on any of the top three bikes within the next 3 years that he will become the first ever MotoGP/WSBK World Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Has the thought crossed your minds that he isn't in SBK because nobody wants him? He was a world champion 9 years ago, and hasn't seen any routine success since then. Nicky thinks he should be on a factory bike, but nobody else in the paddock thinks that. Guintolli was SBK champ last year, and he can't manage to get that old CBR into the top 5, you think Nicky would? Nobody is going to pick up a mid-pack MotoGP rider at the tail-end of his career, IMO. They can get some up-and-comer from BSB or MotoAmerica (Hayes or Baubier) way cheaper than they would ever get Hayden. No that thought has not crossed my mind just as it has not crossed my mind that the world is flat. Ducati tried to push Nick to the WSBK team a couple of years ago but Nicky signed with Aprilia and GiGi...not knowing that GiGi was heading to Ducati and wanted Nicky there. I doubt anyone (not MM or Vale) could make the current CBR1000 a championship contender in WSBK and that is because Honda have their collective heads up their asses with the street bike that is based on. Clearly the Kawi is the bike to have the past 2-3 years in WSBK. I would place a gentlemens wager with anyone on this site that IF Nick goes to WSBK on any of the top three bikes within the next 3 years that he will become the first ever MotoGP/WSBK World Champion. Very cool CC and i agree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Based on what? He is not number 46, he has lost a step with age. Half the moto 2 grid would post better times on an equal bike. You cant make it so just because you want it so. There, now dont punch me Keith, i bruise like a peach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted July 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2015 Timmy you are a peach. I am basing this on a couple of things that we have all witnessed. First is the fact that when on similar machinery Nicky posted similar lap times to Dovi and Vale. Everyone pronounced Vale old news and done and when he came back to Yamaha there was rumors that if he could just eek out one more podium that he would retire without disgrace. Secondly, the WSBK bikes don't need a cadre of NASA engineers to program the bike for every function from the initial warm up right down to the pit lane speed to be governed at the end of the race. (Before you guys fire up your phasers I know that WSBK bikes have pit lane speed controls also but the level of electronics is much reduced from MotoGP). There is nothing to base his current performance on because his current ride is a pig. I am sure his style does not fit hand in glove with the overly-electronic-bikes of this generation of GP but when you look at Nicky he hasn't lost the fire to campaign a competitive bike and he is not out of shape. He will turn 34 later this month so I don't think his eyesight is failing just yet. On equal bikes I do not see how one can objectively place him above Rossi, MM or Jorge but I also don't see how he could be placed below Cal, Dovi or the Espargaro twins. He is still one of the best 10-12 riders on the planet, arguably top 3-6 if the bikes were ridden without electronic nannies. It is easy to say that a 24 year old hungry for a contract will dare, on similar equipment, to post a more competitive time than a more seasoned rider on the way down in his career but put that seasoned rider on competitive equipment you will usually see them push for the result. I am not a fan of Nick's just because he is American and there have been many American riders who I was not a fan of (just as there have been and are many riders from other countries that I do admire). I am a fan of Nicky's because of what he and his family did to get him to this stage. He comes from a very down to earth lower middle class family and they are all genuinely nice people. Part of my desire to see him with competitive equipment once again is because of the way Honda shafted him in 2006 and afterwards. The Championship he won in 2006 may not have been one for the ages if you are looking for rider dominance (I mean he only beat arguably the greatest racer of all time - definitely the greatest of this generation) but the fact he did it in a year that Honda had written off as a development year for their star of the future and as Honda used Nicky and his bike to develop the upcoming 800cc components make it all the more remarkable. Nicky was running a too small clutch in his 990cc bike (that lead to many issues in launching the bike properly and some in qualifying as well) and many other development parts. Honda may have been the least impressed manufacturer of a title winning GP rider in history because they had a problem with how to get rid of newly minted World Champion who wasn't in their future plans. Honda knew they could use Hayden and his uncanny ability to consistently turn many more laps in testing than almost any other riders to develop the 3/4 scale bike that Pedrosa would be given the following year and they did this while Pedrosa campaigned the already developed 990 bike. No need to revisit or second guess anything that happened between Dani and Nicky that year as Pendrosa was being lead about by Puig and most other riders his age (when told that you are the future and you don't give an inch to him until you are mathematically eliminated etc...) would have struggled to do anything differently from Dani. I really would like to see a genuine good guy who has gone out of his way to be a positive influence on fans and the sport that he loves (a sport that compensated him fairly and beyond his dreams) get some good karma back and a chance at a top 10 bike again but really do hope that he makes a move to WSBK on a competitive bike before 2018. Ive never understood the need to focus on an american rider. Dont get me wrong, i am a flag waving 'merican, but Hayden represents himself, not the USA. I have national pride in the US women beating the huns in the world cip footie, not a millionaire on a bike. I see your point here but feel that DORNA have gone out of their way to screw over riders with US passports in the past decade. The Ben Spies rule is just one example of this (in both it's inception - to keep Ben off of a factory bike and it's termination to allow MM on a factory bike) that should be obvious to even the most casual observer. That being said the AMA selling off a member owned organization to the NASCAR thugs has done more to kill future US rider growth than anything Carmelo could dream up. Hopefully Wayne Rainey and MotoAmerica can get it back on track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted July 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2015 My vote is for Nicky in WSBK!! A much more cheerful person than this miserable sod.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 My vote is for Nicky in WSBK!! A much more cheerful person than this miserable sod.... But Max is so much more entertaining! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateRiderBen Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 What I don't understand in GP is why even have non-factory bikes running? They aren't competitive and never will be. Is it just to fill out the field? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 FIM requires a minimum number of bikes to run a race. A few years ago when Kawasaki quit GP, there were not enough bikes to put on a full grid, so the races could not run as per FIM rules. SO, Dorna funded the Hayate racing team for 2009, which used the previous season's Kawasaki ZX-RR, in plain black livery, basically as a placeholder of sorts, to fill the grid. Marco Melandri had a one-year deal to ride the Hayate, which was by this time, a year old, and it was understood that the bike would have no engineering nor development work throughout the season. Repair and ride only. He rode it hard, got one podium, and finished 10th for the season. Not bad, considering. The team morphed into Forward Racing the following year. Thus were born the "open" bikes, due to the GP rule changes, which are allowed to use production bike parts, whereas previously, those were outlawed. You are partly right, that this was done to fill the grids. It's an expensive game, and few can afford to play at the top level needed to finish top-10. So if you reduced it to only factory bikes, the grid would be extremely thin indeed, if one were to somehow do away with the FIM minimum bike count. If you look back at the two-stroke 500GP era, there were "customer" bikes back then like the Harris/Yamaha, and the Honda NSR500V twin cylinder. Probably others I'm missing out on too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer luvtoleanit Posted July 2, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2015 What I don't understand in GP is why even have non-factory bikes running? They aren't competitive and never will be. Is it just to fill out the field? More or less, YES. Just grid filler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted July 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 6, 2015 I have national pride in the US women beating the huns in the world cip footie, not a millionaire on a bike. And now they are World Champions!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 6, 2015 5-2 U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted July 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 6, 2015 I say, good for him! Probably one of the lower paid guys in the GP paddock at that rate though. I'd do it for 200K plus expenses :) Even for just one season. Problem with MotoGP is paying big money when there's little in the pot. The likes of Valantino & Lorenzo were a spectacle but now, it's mostly round & round in circles, with all the electronics it's getting like F1 = Boring If it weren't for Marquez falling off the last few races it would have been truly crap. How can Nicky make a go on a customer bike, when Cal Crutchlow (a pretty fast rider) struggles with the satellite bike ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosarge22 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Nicky got very lucky in 06 and Val got a shit storm of bad luck. But he did win it. He is a very good tester and developer and an all around likable guy. I really think he missed the window to go back to WSBK a few years ago. He may not be the fast up front competitor now but hey, riding a GP bike for a living and making a mere million a year is not to shabby. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer luvtoleanit Posted August 26, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 26, 2015 He's interviewing prospective rides in WSBK right now. Has an offer to ride the RSV4. I hope he goes. Would be the first guy to win GP/WSBK titles. He does have some time left to try to pull it off. If Honda was smart they'd actually release a new 1000cc CBR, and campaign it in WSBK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f3racer Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Bring nicky home to motoamerica on a honda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted August 26, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted August 26, 2015 Beholding the 2006 World MotoGp Champion Nicky Haden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted August 26, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted August 26, 2015 ^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Would be the first guy to win GP/WSBK titles. "Could" But by no means a foregone conclusion. THe older they get, the faster they were. Looks at Marcos Ambrose - won the Australian V8 Supercar championship two times running, went to the US and raced Trucks then NASCAR with a few decent results. Came back to V8 Supercar this year and could not even get close to the front-runners. The game has moved on. That said, I'd enjoy seeing him in WSB, and I'd be willing him on to the podium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duccmann Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Now thats hard core Larry.(right) if I remember correctly. Glad I was there to see him win the championship at Laguna. Great meeting and hangin at the corkscrew with ya also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted September 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 1, 2015 Biaggi managed to to quite well in WSB after a long career in MotoGP (but never quite winning the premier class championship), so there is precedent for Hayden to win in WSB. Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Guess he's going to Duc in WSB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CornerCarver Posted September 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 1, 2015 He finished as top Open Class again this weekend (second time this year) and having the 10th fastest lap after being 42KPH down on the fastest bikes in trap speed at the end of the straight in Indy GP is no doubt proof that the rain makes a great equalizer of HP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Always a New World in the Wet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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