2009 ktm 1190 rc8 r

[johan]

It looks like the F117 stealth bomber. Maybe it's invisible to police radar!?

[discotex]

Looking forward to another "Gone and done it" thread coming to a KB near you.

[EJK]

Looking forward to another "Gone and done it" thread coming to a KB near you.

Phew... when he got the Duc' I was worried that he was out of future options...

[Mikkel]

Wasn't Britten's V1000 170 Hp?

And here we are a few years later making 165 from more ccs with obviously a little more development money spent.........

Let me guess, Britten's 170 hps would be from a race engine...

Just like the WSB bikes are putting out a "bit" more than what the equivalent road-going superbikes does. Needless to say that the extra power comes at a price - more expensive parts and more rigorous maitenance schedule.

E.g. the road version of the zx7r put out about 105 hps at the wheel, while the "same" bike put out upwards of 170 hps at the wheel. Slight difference - but I'm sure that the example is transferrable to other brands and models.

And none of this is to take anything away from what John Britten did, because it was truly magnificient. But you gotta compare apples with apples...

[sAsLEX]

Needless to say that the extra power comes at a price - more expensive parts and more rigorous maitenance schedule.

He built the engine in his garage cant of been too high tech

[Unit:Me]

Wow, now thats very very tempting

[Mikkel]

He built the engine in his garage cant of been too high tech

It's not just about high-tech, it's also about tolerances and how hard you push your equipment. E.g. there's a reason why high-spec moto-cross engines have a piston life of ~20 hours.

Also, Britten was a mechanical engineer and it's not exactly like the rest of the bike was low-tech for the time:

-Carbon fiber body work including rims and front suspension fork
-Hand cast, 4 valves per head alloy engine
-Frame-less chassis with engine acting as a stressed member
-Radiator located under the riders seat
-Carbon fiber fasteners (joining body work together)
-Rear suspension shock located in front of engine
-Engine data logging

Some of it is thinking outside the box and some of it was high-tech at the time.

Or I could put it another way - if it was a low-tech, low-stress engine it wouldn't have put out 165 hps from a 1000 ccm V-twin.

[Unit:Me]

Also, Britten was a mechanical engineer and it's not exactly like the rest of the bike was low-tech for the time:
Some of it is thinking outside the box and some of it was high-tech at the time.

Or I could put it another way - if it was a low-tech, low-stress engine it wouldn't have put out 165 hps from a 1000 ccm V-twin.

I had the very great privildge of visiting the Britten workshop on a few occasions in 1987/88, and one of his machincs worked on my Norton Commando's tuning.
John was a genius, and a hell of a nice guy. The Britten was a piece of art, that went stupidly fast for its time. Some of the equipment was certainly crude, but you just couldnt match the talent and passion that existed in his workshop.

[noobi]

arnt curves meant to be sexy?
so how does this pull it off ??
it looks so awesome