Buell 1125R & Other Massive Twins Legal In Daytona Sport Bike & Supersport
WSBK Planet

The DMG/AMA released the latest version of their rules package for American Superbike, Daytona Sport Bike and Supersport last Thursday night, in turn confirming that the make up for the Daytona Sport Bike and Supersport classes may be the oddest looking \"middleweight\" grid in history. 1100cc liquid-cooled, four-valve V-Twins will legally race against the top 600s in both the Daytona Sport Bike and Supersport classes.

The newly released rules list as homologated machinery for both classes: Aprilia RSV, BMW HP2 Sport, Buell 1125R, Ducati 848, Honda CBR600RR, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, KTM Super Duke, Suzuki GSX-R600, Triumph Daytona 675, Yamaha YZF-R6.

Interestingly, Ducati is limited to 848cc while Buell and other twins are 1100cc or better.

It\'s been rumored for months that both former XBRR rider Jeremy McWilliams and Australian Garry McCoy will race Buells in \'09 DMG/AMA action.

Dyno numbers are apples and oranges in the best of circumstances. That said, the following numbers come from PR sources and an independent dyno facility:

\'08 Buell 1125R: 146 horsepower, 82 foot pounds of torque

\'08 Honda CBR600RR: 105 horsepower, 46 foot pounds of torque

Even if the dyno numbers for the Buell were taken at the crankshaft and the Honda\'s from the rear wheel, there would still seem to be a rather wide difference between the two in terms of power.

The BMW HP2 Sport (1170cc) is rated at 130 horsepower, 85 foot pounds of torque.

DMG will be striving to make the Sport Bike and Supersport grids as equitable as possible. How this parity is accomplished with 130-140 horsepower motorcycles racing against 600s making dramatically less power may be interesting, to say the least, to watch.