(17-08-2009, 08:42 AM)superted Wrote: The CBs aren't a problem in the Senior, Smokey. They're heavy, ain't that quick (compared to the front runners) and certainly ain't that reliable - although they will certainly improve, particularly if they get 8 valve heads, which we all know is now acceptable if you paint 'em green!

I agree superted but my comments were based on observations of when there were big drops in entries and events that corresponded to that.
The first year the CB were allowed in entries were about normal (I suspect for many it was too late to change minds) the next year there was a noticeable drop in both junior and senior. Personally I think that many decided they didn’t want to race against them because of what they were rather than how competitive they were going to be. Much the same as happened at CRMC before the classes got split. If you weren’t going to ride in the junior why bother with the senior?
Then there was a significant drop after the introduction of the course licence.

As much as I agree with your sentiment about the 8 valve Paton’s (personally I don’t think they should be allowed except for the original and replicas of the 4 valve’s) the numbers were already a lot down on the 120 we used to see before they were first raced in the classic Manx.
Much the same with the junior in my first year I was in the last pair away riding No 84. You don’t get that many in the junior lightweight combined now. Of those that are in the junior half are CB Honda’s