Suzuki's Recent GP Efforts

[IG.]

I have the same sentiment as Tuf. I remember 2011 because I have the DVD and watched it many times, and the difference is very noticeable compared to today's MotoGP. Riding became more... identical for the lack of a better word. It is sort of an inevitable transformation thanks to all technology and the desire to go faster, and if you try to take a long term look to where it all goes, I'm afraid it's not a pretty place - at least not for MotoGP fans.

Here is my vision of where it all goes... You don't need riders at all. A GPS controlled computer along with loaded track map controls ALL inputs, and along with all sensors happily guides a MotoGP bike of the future along the track. A team of computer geeks monitors all sensors live, and adjusts fine points of their sophisticated programs right on the fly. MotoGP becomes a sophisticated video game where a crash will be real instead of a screen imagery and sound.

The sad part - everything I described above is possible today. What holds it back is not the technology, but our psychological resistance to a paradigm shift. But don't worry - give it some time, and we'll be there.

That is why I truly appreciate raw and unobstructed feel of Gen 1 - engine, throttle, brakes, and handlebars. Nothing more. I think it is the raw experience of being one with the bike, being connected with the bike - attracts us to riding on a deeper level, and all this sophistication and gadgetry while being seemingly useful, slowly chips away the very foundation of why we ride. I think such raw riding experience attracts us to vintage bikes. It is the same raw feeling which makes horseback riding such an amazing experience now - however, a mundane and quite involved act of the past.

For this exact reason, I would anticipate that such raw bike as Gen 1 Hayabusa will stand the test of time and will be appreciated in the future because its refinement was achieved on a very fundamental level, balancing raw and fundamental things to achieve a great balance, which translates into a perfect connection between a bike and a rider, letting both to merge into one.

 

[cheferman65]

motogp.com · #StoppieSan: Pedrosa's spectacular Motegi practice stoppie

 

[fallenarch]

I think you have to realize that motoGP is about developing the best bike, that's why it is a prototype class. WSB and Moto2 are riding 1000cc bikes too, so this is not a class which distinguishes itself by displacement, it does so by technology. One can draw the conclusion that there is one best combination of rider skill,size, and bike technology that can lap a track fastest, so as the bikes develop they are all going to go toward a single "perfect" bike. We see this in the current bikes. All bikes are inline 4's except Ducati. Ducati has always taken the "other" route and have paid the price for trying to move along the alternate path.

So it is conceivable that some time in the future, all 4 manufactures will have "perfect" bikes and then the difference will be the riders again. At that point the question will be can you race on a "perfect" bike? Real racing is about dealing with the unexpected. You get pushed off the perfect line, you have to hit turns in the wrong gear, you get drafted, you have to make up time on certain parts of the track and so on. Basically, a great race bike is a bike that gets you through the unexpected. How perfect will these bikes be when they are thrown into situations the paddock didn't see coming? That gets us to why all this matters: If the race teams are developing bikes that can react to situations on the track rather than just a map that is applied to the bike that is static, then that is really developing something that will make you and I safer.

 

[Tufbusa]

I found a little tidbit in Cycle World that seems to fit into this dialog.



At Cycle World’s annual Indianapolis Industry Panel this past August, four-time 500cc GP title runner-up Randy Mamola described listening to the Repsol Hondas of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa at one of Catalunya’s long 180-degree turns. As soon as one of the machines would reach a steady throttle state, its engine note would switch from the higher pitch of a V-4 to the deeper tone of a triple. When the rider moved the throttle to accelerate, the engine would revert to four cylinders.

This is a fuel-saving scheme. With factory bikes limited to 20 liters of fuel, savings at part throttle can be applied elsewhere to increase acceleration. At small throttle, fuel consumption of spark-ignition engines rises as a result of “pumping loss,” the power required to pull intake vacuum in the cylinders.

Hybrid cars gain mileage by switching to their electric motors at small throttle. Honda achieves a similar result, but switching from four cylinders to three at constant power requires a greater throttle opening, reducing pumping loss. Other savings may be realized because only three piston rings instead of four are sealing pressure.

 

[brpo]

In MotoGP there are only 4 bikes on the track that are going to the podium - maybe a Ducati or a satellite bike finds third. All the top riders/teams (Honda and Yamaha) basically are riding electronic super bikes designed and setup specifically for their style and physical stature. So notwithstanding the small advantages one team bike has over the other, all these riders still need to ride the bikes to there limit in order to win. Valentino has benefited from all the same electronic advances, yet has still not been able to handle Marquez this year or last year - or Jorge the year before that. Valentino is arguably the best rider ever, so it's not right to take anything away from Marc Marquez because he benefits from electronics. He is the best racer on the track and he's proven it by clinching the title last weekend. Racers today are riding the bikes of today right to the limit and sometimes beyond just as the racers of yesterday were racing there technology to it's limit. Racing at it's heart is and has always been about skill (physical and mental) - late braking, tipping in, overtaking, and making it stick.

 

[brpo]

BTW - Can't wait to see Suzuki in MotoGP

 

[IG.]

Since we are talking about MotoGP, I have an unrelated question, but didn't want to have a separate thread for it.

I remember it started a few years ago, and maybe I even read about it and then forgot, but for the life of me I couldn't find an answer on MotoGP site or elsewhere on the net...

Why the heck every bike leaving the pits is going on a roller, and spins rear tire a few times?

 

[cheferman65]

Since we are talking about MotoGP, I have an unrelated question, but didn't want to have a separate thread for it.

I remember it started a few years ago, and maybe I even read about it and then forgot, but for the life of me I couldn't find an answer on MotoGP site or elsewhere on the net...

Why the heck every bike leaving the pits is going on a roller, and spins rear tire a few times?

Jump start my brother, they have no starter as on a street bike, its weight savings.

 

[IG.]

Thank you brother, but I am stumped. You have got to be kidding me! It's just makes no sense. If everyone has a starter, all bikes have the extra weight, and the playing field is leveled. Is the objective to beat the next guy, or to beat a track record? If it's the latter, I understand, but if it's the former, it just makes no sense. Not to mention when a rider tries to restart the bike after a crash - it's jut pathetic. And now I am pretty sure the development of bike starters will be neglected and there will be no advancements in this area. ???

What am I missing?

Switching back to our prior discussion and following the same logic which was used to get rid of starters, I think it's time to get rid of riders and let computers take over. Do you know how much weight could be saved? Every bike's CG would be lowered and every bike's mass would be more centralized as well. Man, that would give every bike a huge advantage!

 

[StrtRac3r]

Would be interesting to see a Coffman starter on one. Not much weight there....