I’m totally with you. Moto GP is supposed to be the pinnacle of two-wheeled motor sports racing.

The only thing IMO that should separate classes are displacement and rider experience. I think there should be a 250cc 4-Stroke class (since 2 strokes are outlawed now), then 500cc then 1000cc.

Then the pilots should have to gain maturity. Say a 250 rider does 4 years then 500cc 2 years before any of them can be drafted to the next class. And starting age should be 16 years old.

The bikes should be pure prototype all the way down to the smallest nut and bold. Nothing should be out sourced to other companies with the exception of tires. And those should remain open to ANY manufacturer.

That would be liberating for them and fans

If I were roadracing dictator for a day, I’d ban all streetbike racing and race with pure roadracing machinery, both production and prototype. I find the whole notion of “Superbike” racing to be a giant lie when a “properly built” superbike “needs” virtually every component replaced by “race” parts, available only to favored teams, of course. I would think that the return of the production roadracer would be a good thing.

Can anyone imagine how bad motocross in all its various forms would be if the racebikes had to be based on street legal bikes? Now that I think about it, before my time, they were.

I’ve often wondered what sort machinery would work best in a class with only 2 rules: All air must enter the engine through an orifice of (x) area and leave through an oriface of (y) area – displacement,cylinder count, etc… is open.

The above sounds like a 1200cc twin & a 675 triple would be excluded from production-based racing. The added displacement advantage debate is no doubt complex, but a variety of cylinders is a very fascinating part of motorcycle racing and development/production.

I like Mr. Czysz’ 250cc cylinder model due to its economical scaling capability for OEMs involved in mass production, however, Erik also has good points. Prototype racing should also welcome anything outside of that model that can qualify. And, quoting Erik: “Limit or mandate weight, fuel consumption, type of fuel, and maybe emissions”.

Norton should have been allowed to try to qualify their rotary. Likewise, electric bikes or anyone doing more than 4 cylinders (e.g. Drysdale’s V8) should be welcomed to qualify.

Prototype racing should lead to other developments, not just further developing the 30 yr old status quo. For example, if different induction was allowed to enter into prototype racing, would a turbo 500cc twin platform eventually end up in a production bike? A 500cc turbo twin could have liter-bike performance* due to the light weight and smaller size.

*note: not equivalent power, but overall performance.