One of my all time favorite racer characters has finally signed with a Honda team. After the deal with Ben Bostrom fell through (he races the Renegade CBR next year) the Klaffi Honda team has signed old man Chili:notworthy www.klaffi.at (http://www.klaffi.at) or http://www.superbike-news.co.uk/index1.htm

Yes he's a fav of mine as well. WSBK 05 should be a bit more exciting than 04 with the influx of more brands and competative riders. BD

It would be nice to see WSB become more than a parade of Ducatis with Vermeulen in there as a spoiler. Glad to see Chili join the fray with a Honda. I loved the way he slapped Ducati last year by running the old 998 instead of the 999. Really seemed to tweak their noses.

HAGA-san on an R1 , Yamaha will win the superbike, and Rossi will win moto gp.My predictions for 05.

I say Vermeulen/Corser for SBK and Rossi/Biaggi for MotoGP. Hope Chili does really well too, he is a fan fav all over, not to mention Haga! I went to see the Monza round a few years ago when Haga was riding the Aprilia RSV; we were seated at the end of the straight and a huge crowd of fans was waiting for the Japanese rider to come out of the pits to do his line up lap for race 2. When Nori-san came on the track he lifted the front wheel and waved to the fans with his clutch hand: the crowd went crazy! I'm already planning to go to Monza again for the SBK round... should be interesting this year.

HAGA-san on an R1 , Yamaha will win the superbike, and Rossi will win moto gp.My predictions for 05. Haga will do well but not well enough as Corser and the G1k is a strong package and considered the fav. Rossi.........ahhhh PPPFFFTTT!! BD

Well in WSB I see Toseland and Vermeulen as most likely champions. Troy Corser is very strong and he knows the ride with suzuki ist his last chance to be champ. Preseason testing shows he is quick but racing is always a different story. Haga will be strong and good for some podium finishes but I don't see him become champion. Neither by the way Walker. I hope he does well but I am not sure if he can get back to his old aggresive form he displayed in BSB. MotoGP: Rossi will be champ

you've been hangin out @ BK too much. :badteeth: BD

Rossi is the man...I look to Colin to step up this year and replace Rossi when he does retire to pursue car racing...what else does he have to prove? Biaggi has always struggled at the beginning of the year, but last year he did better....if he can keep his DNFs under 2 he will have a shot.

somebody else needs to win besdes Rossi.........kinda like Schu and F1 BORING!! Sete can beat him and has proven it but not consistantly. Nicky has a better chance than CE to challenge for the title. BD

I think Biaggi will give it his best shot; he finally has the HRC 211V and Erv Kanemoto to sort it out for him (this pair won Biaggi's fourth 250 title aboard a Honda when Aprilia was the bike to be on). A rider has only a number of top level seasons in him, at 34 this is his best and probably his last chance to take the title. Even here in his home country he is known to be a constant complainer and almost everyone supports Rossi, but we tend to forget that this guy is a 4 time world champion, always finishes in the top chanpionship positions each year and won his first ever race in the 500 class (when it was still a 2 stroke affair). I really hope he takes the crown in 2005, I'm getting tired of Rossi and his household fans (even mothers and grannys are watching motogp 'cause of him, not to mention hordes of teenagers who have no clue about riding bikes and continuously refer to Biaggi as an incompetent who should give up riding a bike...:headshake ).

Biaggi is very good and yes it is boring if Rossi wins again. But Biaggi has seem to have retained his '250 style' when he is in 500/MotoGP. But 2005 will be very interesting now he has the factory Honda ride. But if he fails now it is over and out for Biaggi That Rossi atracts people from outside motorracing is however a good thing I think.:thumbsup:

I agree on Biaggi's style, he tends to ride 250 style instead of sliding and using more popular big bike techniques. Keep in mind though that tyre progress has reached higher levels of grip and may now help Max's style; furthermore he will finally be able to build the RCV 211 to his exact needs instead of getting a bike developed by other riders. True again, this really is his final chance... GO MAX!! Regarding the popularity bike racing has obtained thanks to Rossi, yes it is a good thing, but I have the feeling that when he quits so will most of the fans that he has attracted to the sport. I consider it a temporary popularity after which only passionate motorcycle fans will remain loyal to bike racing. Oh well, 'till it lasts...!

Wow lots of Moto GP talk! Me likey!!! I really hope Colin can pull through and get something going, I know he has it, but Rossi is just too much of a natural. Biaggi really has to do some reaching inside to make sure he can get the job done w/o the DNF's. Sete does have a shot also, as does Nicky, but my fav for Moto GP is Colin, just a really nice guy. As far as WSB......I have always like Bontempi from his days on the Kawi. Loved the way he could bring that thing around and just leave a blackie around the corner.

Don't leave Ducati out of the mix. I am not sure that Capirossi or Checa can win the championship, but it looks like Ducati could be a serious contender this year. With no testing help from Checa at Sepang, Capirossi was clearly the fastest rider there, by almost .7 of a second. That is a huge difference by MotoGP standards. If you remember, it was common last year for the first 12 bikes to be within 1 second of the fast qualifying time. Rossi will still be the guy to beat. He is a thinking, analytical rider. Even when his bike is not the best, he will adapt, improvise and overcome the competition. Biaggi is a pure emotional rider. We have all seen him crash out of race by trying to take first on a bike that is only capable of a third place finish. I think Nicky will benefit from Irv Kanemoto being on the team. It may be the missing ingredient in Hayden's success. Should be an interesting season.

Biaggi is a pure emotional rider. We have all seen him crash out of race by trying to take first on a bike that is only capable of a third place finish.This is a nice comment; Biaggi has been criticised a lot last year because with Rossi on the M1, he should have been in front. First off, I don't think the Yam is such a bad bike (well certainly not after the Rossi/Burgess cure!). Second, biaggi was riding a customer RCV211 and it had been developed for a riding style completely alien to him. As simple bike enthusiasts I really don't think we can appreciate what a huge difference small details like these mean at that level; being 0.2 s off race pace means you will finish behind by something like 4-5 s at the end of a race - an enormous amount of time. Biaggi has at times tried too hard, but this only points out that the 34 year old still has it in him, even though I have to admit Rossi's talent is simply incredible (talented enough in fact, to overcome bike problems a lot of the time). MotoGP does not reward being conservative; as Troy Bayliss pointed out, in SBK you might have to outbrake and dive deep into corners while holding your breath only a certain number of times each race. In motoGP it's like that for every corner... Regarding Ducati, if the Bridgestones hold up for an entire race... the others better get to work quickly. Looks like it will be an interesting season!