<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Arrabbiata1 @ Feb 28 2010, 05:37 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As skeptical as I was about the 200cc advantage afforded to the twins over the fours, it seems that the balance is as good as it has ever been.
I'm starting to believe that WSBK is rev-limited.
I know, it seems impossible, and I have no idea why they wouldn't just come right out with it, but if you crunch the numbers, there is no way these bikes should be relatively equal. The Ducati and the Suzuki should actually have the lowest peak horsepower figures in the field, while the BMW should have about a 30hp advantage over both.
I've never really mentioned it b/c it seemed somewhat unbelievable (even to me), but Noyes revealed something very very interesting in his article about MotoGP. He was making a comparison between the bore measurements of production machines and the 81mm bore-limited 1000cc MotoGP bikes. The comparison was innocuous enough until he pointed out something only an expert would notice. He revealed that WSBK once had a rule that rev-limited bikes with bore/stroke ratios over 1.5, but that it had mysteriously disappeared without any announcements sometime prior to the BMWs homologation. I believe he said the rev limit was 14,000rpm.
That rev-limit is certainly a relic of the 750 era b/c most of the bikes would never achieve those rpm figures even if they were tuned to MotoGP standards. Furthermore, all of the 750s would have been rev-limited to 14,000rpm.
Also, if you look at the dimensions for the 999R engine. It shouldn't have been competitive with any of the 4 cylinder bikes of that era. Also, the 999R had special friction fighting modifications like extra piston rings in order to help twins compete. Those mods were probably granted to Ducati so they could reach the rev limit. The additional 200cc was basically designed to let Ducati have a lower rev limit. The bore barely went up, almost all of the displacement was gained by stroking the 999R.
Again, I have absolutely no idea why they wouldn't be forthright with the information, but the 5.5mm discrepancy between the Suzuki and the BMW makes it almost inconceivable that those two bikes could share the same track without a rev limit. The BMW should have a huge power advantage, yet the BMW finishes in the midpack or the rear.
Based upon the Suzuki's engine dimensions and the 999R's engine dimensions, the rev-limit is probably 12,000 rpm and 1200cc twins are at 10,000rpm.
Let me be clear, I have absolutely no idea how they could possibly be suppressing a rev-limit for the last 7 years, but it is part of the sport's history, and the emergence of the 80mm BMW and Suzuki's continuation of the 74.5mm engine makes it inconceivable that those bikes could share the same track without a rev-limit.
