So I have sat around and had some great reading over the past few days about all of this but I have to say something.

First of all, in 2004 I made a protest of a certain "top rider" in the MRA. This rider was going out in Open SS on 16.5s and Slicks. His argument was that he didn't get to practice on Saturday and he was using the race for ROR practice. He had not intention of finishing the race yet he started from the back of grid and diced it up with the leaders for six laps. I protested his a$#. I would have had no problem if he would have taken the grid, let everyone go and not "raced" the actual Open SS racers. On cheating equipment, with no intention of finishing the race he could have effected the outcome. This is very wrong in my book. In the end, after the protest was filed, the board and many other members of the club came to me and asked me to take back my protest. At the end of the day I did because I was tired of the fight. I wish that I would not have but there was a part of me that was here for fun and dealing with that wasn't fun. At the time the rider would have beat on the track no matter what so I kind of left it at that. Also, it seemed like no one on the board really wanted to deal with it (BTW, different board than we have now).

Fast forward to the following year. My Suzuki GSXR 750 made 138 HP. There was a certain Yamaha R6 that was running in Heavyweight SS. This R6 would have no problem rolling past me after the 1/4 mile mark at Pueblo. Was the rider good, yes. Was his bike legal, I don't know because I never protested him. I heard later that that bike had cams, a kit ECU and a different charging system among other things. Was that a performance advantage, for sure. Do I know all of this for sure, nope. Like I said, I never protested this rider because A) I wanted to beat them while they were riding a cheater bike (which I did) B) I wanted that bike torn down to the crank and I didn't think anyone would ever actually allow it to get to that point C) As mentioned in this thread I didn't want someone tearing my bike down and I'll explain why next.

So, here is the real issue with all of this that I have seen. My bikes have been looked at for years. I have often had people think I was cheating (Ben, this is for you 00--00 ) for years, but my bikes always go through with flying colors. BUT, here is the issue. I build my bike in my garage and as I whole, I know very little. Ask anyone who have has ever come to my pits to help me with something. I am not mechanically inclined and for the most part have not idea what I am doing. All of my motors are bone stock and the rest is stuff that I bolt on. I am telling everyone all of this for a reason. The rule book to me is very unclear and I would hate to loose all my points, results and $$$ won because I didn't understand some in the rule book. My friend pointed out something to me after the tear down in Hastings that could have been deemed illegal and I was floored. I was floored because it was so simple and I figured it out on my own so I figured it had to be legal. AND, the way I read the rule book, it was fine. AND, my bike went through the teardown and no one, not Ray, Ben or Glenn said a thing. In truth to this day, I don't know if I was OK or not. It is that issue that scares me about this whole thing and something that I feel needs to be taken into account. Because I am not a pro racer or mechanic, nor would I be able to afford racing if I had to employ one, I am at risk of making a mistake that costs me my season. That does not seem right when the rule book is not clear. Now, if I have cams, crank work and pistons, OK, I know I'm doing something wrong. But to lose your whole season because of a catch can, that does not seem right. I do think there has to be some intent somewhere in the rules because a catch can is different than a stroker motor.

Also, I have crashed and bent a frame, much like many of you have. By the rules, you can not weld that frame nor can you alter that frame at all. That includes getting it straightened after you have crashed your brains out. Do we really want SS riders to have to buy a new frame anytime they break off a rear-set tab or a swingarm spool? That does not seem right to me. The rules committee has told me many times that the point of SS is to be more cost effective. That is the reasoning for not allowing rain tires in SS, because then you increase the cost. What is we had to buy a new frame every time you fall down. And, in truth, if you have an 07 you can only by an 07 frame even though an 06 would work because there is not backdating of parts. This all seems that it is going to start making SS racing very expensive. I can think of something on every SS racers bike that would make it fall into this category.

So, is this cheating and breaking the rules? Is having your rearset welding back on the same as running 16.5s and slicks in SS? Is having aftermaket ram-air tubes the same as having a kit ECU (was not legal at the time), cams, a kit charging system and kit pistons?

Those all do not seem the same to me so maybe we need to better define this before our next race is a protest fest!