Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)

But that's not the standard by which we should judge Spies. The question is whether he's a Stoner/Lorenzo/Rossi/Lawson/Rainey-caliber talent or 'merely' one along the lines of a Dani Pedrosa (who could win the title if the stars aligned) or a Alex Crivillé or Nicky Hayden (who did)

Spies' history is quite remarkable. In just four season of AMA Superbike and one in World Superbike, he's firmly in the conversation for 'greatest of all time' in both series. His only real drawback is that he lacked longevity, and that was simply due to the fact that he proved to be too good, too quickly for either championship.

But his ultimately legacy will be written in MotoGP.

The pieces are in place. By this point Spies knows the tracks as well as he ever will. And all indications are that Yamaha has produced a quality bike in '12, even if it's still not quite up to the standards of the Honda. The move to 1000cc should better suit the Texan's riding style and helps to 'reset' the championship in a sense, robbing Stoner and Lorenzo of some minor areas of advantage in technique and experience while throwing a big one Spies' way as tire wear promises to be more of a deciding factor going forward.

And even if he didn't particularly like or suit the 800s, Spies was probably a little stronger than it appeared last season, as he had a serious run of back luck, both with equipment and health.

The Ben Spies we'll see in 2012 is likely as fast and complete a MotoGP title contender as will ever exist. Exactly what is he made of? We should find out soon enough.

SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.