Whoever said you have to keep the stock brakes? Don't we have a story on this very site of a guy running a disc-brake 490? Doesn't that story also mention that he thought the old bike handled better than a new one? I'm not going to try and argue that an old Maico is better across the board, but I think it's altogether too easy to think that bikes intrinsically get better as the years go by.
As for air-cooling, yes I'll admit it flat-out doesn't work as well. The last air-cooled KX125, which had practically no cooling fins at all to speak of (because half an ounce of weight was just that important, apparently), lost 20% of its power throughout the day, compared to a 9% reduction by water-pumping competitors. I don't have any data on how well a bike with sane air-cooling kept its power. Who knows.
I do think that if we ever get around to creating our own series to contest the AMA monopoly, we should get rid of the age restriction. I mean, the only reason that could possibly be in there is to keep some unbelievable pro from coming in with some "old turd" and laying the hammer down on the showroom material. If an old bike won't be competitive, let the riders try and learn the hard way. If by some chance it IS competitive, let the manufacturers sweat it out in the engineering software. A little innovation would be good for 'em.
Yay, my Monday rant is complete!
