LRRS bans "rocket fuel" - let's do it in the AFM!!!

[afmotorsports]

RRW: LRRS bans "rocket fuel"

I would LOVE to ban ALL race fuels in the AFM, except we would still have to allow C12 for high compression motors that would otherwise detonate. There is no sensible reason for riders to use even U4 in club racing, but if ONE guy starts using it then lots of other people use it just to "keep up". There are quite a few racers in our club that budget a couple of hundred bucks per weekend for race fuel - even three cans of U4 will run $195, but you can easily double that with MR9. That's pretty crazy!

Oxygenated fuels are very toxic - I'm sure we all know at least one person that's gotten sick from the fumes (around the shop we actually refer to it as "birth defect in a can"). The only concern I have is how we could enforce such a rule. Does anyone know where we could send fuel to be tested? Maybe we can call Kevin Crowther from the AMA and find out how they do it.

I think this is a really great idea and it would save our racers a lot of money as long as we are able to enforce the rule and put everybody on a level playing field.

[kevin 714]

I probably wont race this year, but still think its an awesome rule....dont know how youd enfoce it though...

by the way if anyone has a cheap race bike for sale ,let me know ;-)

[Ducky_Fresh]

That is going to be a nightmare to control and enforce.

[afmotorsports]

Originally posted by Ducky_Fresh
That is going to be a nightmare to control and enforce.

Using that logic, so are the new Production rules that limit internal modifications to AMA Supersport rules... At the end of the day, if our riders aren't building "superbike" motors for Production and are required to use pump gas, the membership as a whole saves money and that makes racing more affordable for all of us.

For now it's just an idea and I'm looking for feedback from all of you.

[afmotorsports]

WERA forum reaction to fuel announcement

[joe]

isn't there a push to do the same at WSMC? I thought I heard soemthing out of Jack Pfeifer about that.

Hey, anything to make racing a little cheaper. But, why not make it illegal in production classes and maybe superbike classes? Leave it optional in the formula and "special" classes like FP (F1 at WSMC)?

[Holeshot]

To enforce it is quite easy: only allow fuel bought from prefered vendors at the track. Allow protests based on fuel AND do random sampling. You know U4 is easy to smell and know...

Allow the race fuels for manufacturer contingency classes. All other go to Hign comp fuel.

[afm199]

I think it is a great idea. And all classes or none. As race fuel is not subject to much testing, nobody really knows just how toxic and damaging the fumes are. I don't like smelling the stuff or breathing it. And it is impossible to test without a lab. However a protest will pay lab fees.

[HRCrider]

Will you guys get real? and quit ruining racing. What lets ban it all, no pipes, slicks, shocks, 10,000.00 forks!!!!!!!! it is racing if your going to whine about a 1500.00 fuel budget for the whole year you are simply in the wrong sport, and you need to go lawn mower racing. Hell they probably allow the U4 in those. So you might as well stay home and sew dresses

[omegajeff]

Originally posted by HRCrider
Will you guys get real? and quit ruining racing. What lets ban it all, no pipes, slicks, shocks, 10,000.00 forks!!!!!!!! it is racing if your going to whine about a 1500.00 fuel budget for the whole year you are simply in the wrong sport, and you need to go lawn mower racing. Hell they probably allow the U4 in those. So you might as well stay home and sew dresses

+1.

I haven't read the other forum's feedback about this, but my question would be ".....why?" Don't tell me "It makes the racing cheaper!" Look at it from a percentage. I spend 15 to 20 grand to buy/build a bike, 15 grand on a fully equiped toy box, thousands on entry fees, tires, spare parts, t-shirts from the benevolant booth, etc, etc, etc. I haven't done the math yet, but I believe buying race fuel would be 1 to 2% to maybe 10% of the overall cost of racing (depending on how much you spent on ALL your gear and how much race fuel you use on the weekend).

Also, why would you want to ban the fuel, and take money away from the VP's and Sunoco's of the world, thereby robbing the fuel vendors of money/profit, ultimately robbing the sport as a whole?

bottom line - if i can afford it, let me use it!

[afmotorsports]

We won't get everybody to agree on this topic, so I welcome everyone's feedback.

It seems that over the past few years more and more riders started buying U4 ($13/gal), then a bunch more "stepped up" to MR1/MR9 ($23+/gal), so if the RRW article now states that the "really trick stuff" is $500/gal, is that the next step for clubracing?? Of course racing is not cheap, but the fuel costs are getting a little out of control and pump gas is a reasonable alternative (except for macho-racer Timmer )

And let's not discount the fact that these fuels are getting to be very, very toxic and there are potential health-related issues. Think about it: many of us walk out of places with smokers so we don't inhale 2nd hand smoke, so do I really want to inhale the fumes from some of those fuels?? And how volatile are some of those fuels becoming? Are you going to chase Zoran out of your pits because you're afraid his cigarette will blow up your bike??

It's not just about the $$$...

[afm199]

How about "it's toxic shit that gives people cancer" and if you get a faceful in a crash you probably would suffer some eye damage. " Or, the corner workers risk their lives to help us out, why not make one thing less hazardous for them?

Stuff gets banned all the time in all sports. That's not an argument. If everyone is playing on the same field, why do you need race gas? Or are you so slow you need it keep up? You want to race with the real racers go to the AMA and quit screwing around with club racing.

[Holeshot]

It's all toxic enough...one thing being marginally MORE toxic won't affect our health in the long term as just the simple exposure to ALL the fuel. And let's be honest here: the most toxic part of our sport is death from crashing...not race fuel. I'd discount that argument.

On cost, we all know low HP guys have beaten those with tons of HP all season long. Race fuel's not going to affect that in the least.

[omegajeff]

Originally posted by Holeshot
It's all toxic enough...one thing being marginally MORE toxic won't affect our health in the long term as just the simple exposure to ALL the fuel.

exactly. so, pump gas causes cancer, but race fuel REALLY gives you cancer. BAN IT!

oh, and they say that some guys in the pits got ill from the fuel. do they give specifics on how they got ill? have you ever seen how some of the teams pour the fuel in the gas tank? i saw Team Honda pouring the fuel into a large, open-mouthed "graduated cylinder" of sorts, then pouring it into the gas tank. obviously they were measuring the fuel so they has the least amount of fuel in the bike as possible, keeping the total weight of the bike to a minimum. this "graduated cylinder" was more like a pitcher used for Kool-Aid. I could imaging the fumes emitting from that thing. Everybody standing around the pits was smelling the stuff!

basically, you need to look at the facts before banning fuel because it's highly likely that the circumstances are being misinterpretted.

[HRCrider]