http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/ne...l/article.html I shall refrain from comment unless Voltaire insults my RV90 - again.
Gawd..... Norton's trophy cabinet was full to overflowing when Yamaha were making tuning forks, Honda was a motor mechanic fixing Zeros and Suzuki were making farming tools.... I saw the rotaries at the Isle of Man once....they were cool.
Would be interesting to see them on the grid. We need more makes in MotoGP - even Nortons.
Well, that'll be the end of that company. You gotta be making a lot of money to make a decent fist of that goonshow.
Serious Question: What is the point of Moto GP?.....in the olden days racing improved the breed...now its just entertainment and product marketing.....just wondering....( I've never actually watched Moto GP ....don't have Sky)
It's playstaion where you can get hurt...or at least your chosen rider can get hurt.
It's playstaion where you can get hurt...or at least your chosen rider can get hurt. For those who can't use the controller...
motogp is for prototype bikes only....there are loads of frame, suspension and engine design improvements which carry on down to production bikes..always have and always will....which is why superbikes are almost as fast these days......but it is still motogp where only prototype engines and frames can be used ......or improving the breed as you say.....so the point of it, if it needs to have one...is to be at the pointy end of motorcycle speed design.....BMW see a point in it.....Aprilia see a point in it.....Triumph are back into serious racing....Honda Yamaha Suzuki have dominated for the last 50 years but who knows whats next....when has it not been entertainment and marketing??...the crowds used to be bigger in the "good old days"....which must mean there is less entertainment and marketing now........i guess like all things you are either into or your not.
Depends on whether it's about the riders or the bikes - the bikes get better and better with techno development year after year,decade after decade...but the rider has had one design for a couple of season more.We need more development in the rider side of things....I reckon we need to develop more curves into our riders.Paris needs an all girl team..
Good answer Cmoore. I did not know they were prototype bikes. I'm just not into watching any sport...apart from Womens Beach Volleyball.... I do like the odd thrash around the Mt Welly track on the FXR 150 on a Saturday.
Good explanation cmoore. Exactly. Right now the latest R1 Yamaha Superbike has the fork clamps from the GP bike, then probably next year the customer R1 will have them. It filters down twice from Moto GP, once to the Superbikes then to the customer. Ducati are the only company since the 1980's to pruduce a factory customer GP bike, but I think it will only be a matter of time before one of the others do it. The electronics are another thing that gets filtered down- not always from the manufacturers, but from Marelli etc. Traction control is one big thing in safety and performance direct from Moto GP as is fuel management leaning off and variable intakes. Apart from the bikes, helmet and clothing manufactures do heaps of their real world testing on these muppets, last year a few were trying out the airbag suit, not good if you wanted to get back on the bike and ride it again though As for the Norton GP effort- the guy running the show right now is a think big type of guy and good luck to him. If you remember GP racing from the late 80's to the late 90's there were only 3 manufacturers in it, then Aprillia cam in for a while and are tipped to return, Ducati came and stayed, BMW is in next year I think and so is Aprillia again. So the more the merrier, Volty is already building his Norty inot a Moto GP replica and why not?
I reckon we need to develop more curves into our riders.Paris needs an all girl team.. Perhaps not in MotoGP but there are a few women around the world racing, there was a German lady racing in 250GP at one time not so long ago Ducati are the only company since the 1980's to pruduce a factory customer GP bike Not quite as Honda built the NSR500V that they sold as well
Oh, I forgot about that Kickie Yes and that bike was as ground breaking a customer bike as the Desmodishy...Whatever happened to oval pistons anyway
Oval pistons are a good example of the maxim: "just because you can doesn't mean that you should . . . . As I recall, the oval piston concept was created by Honda to circumvent the prevailing rules, whereby the maximum number of cylinders & pistons was four. Honda hit on the idea of oval (except that they weren't actually oval at all) by creating a 4-cylinder V8. Each ovalloid cylinder had eight valves (4 inlet, 4 exhaust), one piston, and two conrods to support the piston. The cost of manufacturing the pistons and cylinders was very,very high, while trying to get the rings to seal was an ongoing challenge. It was a clever concept, but probably ahead of its time.
"When I look back at it, I'm not sure if we were experimenting with cutting-edge technologies or obsessed with foolish ideas," recalled Toshimitsu Yoshimura, an engineer involved in the development of the NR500's oval piston engine.
