The announcement that they will be participating in World Superbike is nearly as exciting to me as the bike itself, and I was hoping we can get some conversation/speculation going during the looooong wait until they'll actually be competing.

We know Geoff May will be riding, will there be another rider? If so, who? I certainly hope they will have a second rider.

Cory West and Aaron Yates should be available if the team feels they're the right fit. Personally I'd rather see Cory than Aaron if those are the two choices. Cory has shown moments of brilliance and he's still relatively young. Aaron is older and wiser and could probably be more competitive in 2014 than Cory, but I'm interested in the long-term. They will likely be struggling to even break the top 10 next year, but a young rider can learn and grow and be more competitive in years to come.

A rider with real Superbike experience would be great. Are there any talented riders who aren't committed for next year yet? I'd be interested in names that might not be known yet. There must be talented young riders in the WSBK support classes who have some experience on the tracks and would be ready to move up to Superbike.

It seems that EBR has been tight-lipped and said very little other than: "We'll be racing World Superbike in 2014". Has anyone heard even any vague rumors or speculation about their plans?

Will BEIN Sports channel still televise WSBK in 2014? Comcast seems to have a shaky relationship with BEIN. They carried the channel this year but not in HD. Recently when I've tried to access the channel it doesn't seem available anymore. I believe the WSBK races were available live on the internet and presumably still will be, but I'm hping to get real big-screen HD broadcasts. Anybody know anything about the current and future coverage?

And what rounds will be in the US next year? I might make a road-trip to see that. One interesting thing about EBR's participation is they will probably not only bring many US fans to the sport, but Hero's involvement should bring some Indian interest. That could be as good for WSBK as it is for EBR and Hero.