(11-06-2015, 05:08 PM)cookie77 Wrote: It's £21,300 including Vat from padgetts, I'm unsure what that includes, but if it doesn't include top brakes, suspension, ecu's and other performance bits it could easily rise to 30k+, then there's tuning and keeping the thing going to consider as well plus spares.

The KTM moto3 bike is considerably more expensive I think.

(11-06-2015, 05:18 PM)Allyshaper Wrote: I think you can rule that out then. Does anyone make new 125s still? What about those little KTM single things theyre running at BSB.

The RC390, that could certainly be the basis of a cheap-and-cheerful "lightweight" class that's worthy of the name (they are still much heavier than a 125 or moto3 though). A formula of something like 400cc single/300cc twin would allow bikes from quite a few manufacturers.

To be fair you wouldn't need a brand new one, a lot of the current tt bikes are not brand new even the top bikes. It's just at present there are not that many available, maybe in a couple of years it might be possible?

A KTM RC390 sounds good to me,but we are back to the problem of not much variety again. Moto 3 is too expensive.

Excuse my ignorance but isn't Moto 3 foetus racing, it seems to be in BSB.  Not sure the Mountain course is the place for kids of 14/15?

In BSB it's foetus racing (in the main - a few oldies in there), but that's because it's circuit racing, and the younger you start, the better; Moto 3 is a perfect entry class for kids who are still devoloping (mentally, physically, etc).

On the roads I agree it's not a place for youngsters (actually, what is the minimum age limit to ride the Manx/TT ??), but if the bikes were cheap enough to buy/run, and if a lot of road race organisers created a race for them, I think you'd see a fair amount of older riders wanting to race them. They'd be a lot less of a handful than a superbike/superstock bike, and a different skill/challenge to a 600cc; they'd be more akin to the riding style needed for a Supertwin, and that class gets a lot of entries.

If you look at the TT riders it's surprising the number who can ride a big bike well, yet they don't ride the smaller bikes that require corner speed, as well. So it would be a class that you could see a different set of names dominating it. Plus there's the attraction of racing a pure race bike, and all of the art of setting up that takes.

However, until they becomes cheaper to buy, and more importantly cheaper to run, I don't see many people wanting to lobby race organisers to create a class for them.

And please, no more superstock bikes - you can't really tell the difference between the Superbike/Superstock 1000 bikes, and the same would be true of Supersport\Superstock 600's. More variety would be good, and replacing one of the supersport races with the Supertwins, and then making the lightweight class for Moto3/125 would be good. Protects the Supertwin investment that everyone has made, but gives another different class to watch - just like the old days when you had the 125 and 250/400 races.

After the horror of 1989, big proddie bikes were ruled out, but -- it's cool how they evolved so rapidly and found their way back. I very much doubt you'll ever see anything smaller than 600 racing, unless they 'invent' a pukka racer capable of lapping as fast as the slower 600's, that is affordable to all. There just isn't enough time for a field of - maybe 40 smaller bikes that would probably see the slower riders almost getting lapped by the 'handful' of fast guys - in a 4 lapper. That being said -- for safety's sake, I'm all for smaller, more manageable bikes than the 200hp monsters of today.