All posts tagged Superbike

New 2012 BMW S1000RR Super Sports

By | October 20, 2011 | BMW, Sportbikes, Upcomings, What's New |

It’s barely been two years since BMW released its Superbike and they’re already giving the motorcycle its first technical update. The 2012 BMW S1000RR features chassis, electronic and aesthetic updates aimed to keep it atop the liter-bike class.

New 2012 BMW S1000RR Super Sports

In terms of styling the new S1000RR has a new tail section airbox cover aperture grilles and RR logos. It will also be available in four new colorways including Racing Red.

The 2012 S1000RR features new chassis geometry including reduced triple clamp offset. The swingarm pivot angle and wheelbase has also been modified to increase steering accuracy and chassis feedback at lean. Since it pumps out in excess of 20 more horsepower than other bikes in its class it’s no surprise that the German powersports giant decided to leave its liquid-cooled 999cc Inline-Four unchanged. What has changed is the way you access all of those ponies.

A new throttle design reduces the amount of pull at the twist grip. The four engine power maps (Rain, Sport, Race and Slick) have also changed in an effort to enhance response. We’ve found that throttle response in Race and Slick mode is way too twitchy feeling both on the street and racetrack so it will be interesting to see if BMW was able to remedy this issue.

The electronic relationship between the optional Race ABS and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) has also been updated in an effort to make the systems more harmonious.

The 2012 S1000RR features new chassis geometry including reduced triple clamp offset. The swingarm pivot angle and wheelbase have also been modified to increase steering accuracy and chassis feedback at lean. Both the fork and the shock have some valving and spring strut length updates to complement things. Lastly it will now make use of a 10-way mechanically adjustable steering damper.

In terms of styling the new S1000RR has a new tail section, airbox cover, aperture grilles and “RR” logos. It will also be available in four new colorways including: Racing Red, Alpine White, Bluefire Saphhire Black Metallic and its signature red/white/blue motorsports color.

2012 New Ducati Superbike 1199 To Be Launched

By | August 24, 2011 | Ducati, Sportbikes, Upcomings, What's New |

Ever since we heard about the new 2012 Ducati Superbike, we’ve been marking the days until we could see the v-twin sex machine in the flesh.

2012 New Ducati Superbike 1199 To Be Launched

There’s no denying that the specs being banded about on the new Superquadrata motor are impressive, as the new bike is expected to make up to 20hp more than the current Superbike 1198 (though peak performance numbers only tell one side of the story). Also intriguing is the MotoGP-derived stressed-airbox chassis arrangement, which finally does away with the iconic trellis chassis, though has caused some problems for Valentino Rossi on his move to Ducati Corse.

DUCATI’S 2012 superbike can’t really be described as ‘secret’ any more having already graced the front pages of bike magazines worldwide in various states of camouflage. But it’s still looking like it will be the most interesting new model to be launched later this year and the latest shots reveal a few more details.

Just last month we got our first look at the new Superbike prototype, as Ducati leaked first a Supersport spec version of what many think will be called the Ducati Superbike 1199. An encore to that moment, the street version of the v-twin superbike leaked just days later. While many of us will have to use our imagination on what Ducati’s latest creation will look like, we’re lucky that Luca Bar Design (website here: bar-design.net) can take those thoughts and put them to paper, err…pixels. Rendering the 2012 Ducati Superbike 1199 from what information that is available, this is perhaps one of the best glimpses as to what the Bologna Bullet will look like. Two more renders after the jump.

Reports about the bike’s performance – invariably from slightly biased sources, since only factory-employed riders have actually experienced it so far – claim the 1199 is a massive step forward. And given Ducati’s recent record with the Multistrada and Diavel, it’s hard to discount the idea the firm might have come up with something very special indeed.

The only question mark now seems to hang over the bike’s frame, believed to be an aluminium version of the ‘stressed airbox’ used on the firm’s Desmosedici racer. The Desmo’s carbon fibre version of the design is increasingly coming under scrutiny as the possible culprit for Rossi’s lacklustre performances this year. However, witnesses of the 1199 prototypes’ runs at Mugello suggest it’s not suffering many problems at the moment.

Hyosung GT650r Superbike Replica – ROEHR eSuperSport Electric Motorcycle

By | July 26, 2011 | Electric, Roehr, What's New |

Illinois-based ROEHR Motorcycles has announced a 2011 update to last year’s eSuperSport model. The new entry-level performance superbike’s design is now based on the award-winning Hyosung GT650R, it’s been given a power boost, has a top speed of over 100 mph and its onboard battery is said to be good for 75 miles before needing some charging attention.

Hyosung GT650r Superbike Replica - ROEHR eSuperSport Electric Motorcycle

ROEHR has revealed that its new 2011 eSuperSport has been built around a twin oval tube steel beam frame and its single speed direct drive AC induction motor offers 67hp (50Kw) peak power and 80 pounds per foot (11.06kg/m) torque, with a top speed in excess of 100 mph (160+ kph).

The Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 high discharge cylindrical cell battery solution has a 7.7 Kwh capacity that should be good for 75 miles (120 km) before needing to be topped up using its 1500 watt onboard charger, which offers a recharge time of seven hours. An eROEHR Battery Management system controls the charging functions, low voltage intervention and shunt cell balancing.

The eSuperSport is said to deliver the kind of handling and braking performance demanded by today’s sporting motorcyclists – benefiting from inverted suspension at the front with adjustable rebound and compression dampening and single shock rear suspension with adjustable rising rate linkage.

There’s dual disc brakes at the front with four piston calipers, and the six spoke aluminum wheels front and rear respectively sport 120/60ZR17 and 160/60ZR17 Bridgestone tires.

The 213 kg REOHR eSuperSport is available now for a suggested retail of USRs8,01,067 approx.

source: gizmag

Vyrus plans to run hub-center steered 986 M2 Factory racebike in Moto2

By | April 29, 2011 | What's New |

Boutique Italian motorcycle company Vyrus is hoping to cause a real shake-up in top-level racing by entering its radically unorthodox Vyrus 986 M2 Factory in the heavily standardized Moto2 competition.

VYRUS-986-M2-FACTORY

With the same weight, engine, tires and electronics as its opponents, the Vyrus bike is more or less a controlled experiment in the racetrack effectiveness of hub-center steering. It will be the first time in decades that we’ve seen a machine enter top-level racing without a set of traditional telescopic forks at the front end. If it succeeds, it has a real chance at causing a suspension revolution in the sportsbike world. Oh, and there’s streetbike and kit versions available too. Very exciting news.

Hub-center steering

Hub-center steering has never managed to become popular on motorcycles – presumably due to the added cost and restricted turning circle offered by such systems. Or maybe just because it looks weird, and motorcyclists can be deeply resistant to change despite their “rebellious” image.

But while it may have some practical deficits around town, hub-center steering almost magically cures some of the most serious handling issues inherent in bikes with telescopic forks. There’s no front-end dive under brakes, for example – so the bike’s weight balance remains neutral and the suspension stays in its optimal traction management zone more of the time. You can “stay off the brakes until what seems suicidally late,” as master bike tester Alan Cathcart once put it, and with the mechanical separation of steering from suspension, “there seems no limit on how hard you can push it in corners.”

Cathcart made these comments after riding Vyrus’s last attention-grabbing masterpiece, the 211-horsepower, 1200cc Vyrus 985 C3 4V.

Clearly, to get the best out of this sort of suspension system, you need to be hunting for tenths on a racetrack – but since Yamaha’s GTS1000 of nearly 20 years ago, none of the major factories other than BMW have bothered much with anything but telescopic forks.

So it will be fascinating to see how Vyrus goes when it takes its brand new 600cc 986 M2 Factory racer out and pits it against some of the world’s best racebike chassis designers on Moto2′s world stage.

Going racing

Vyrus has clearly stated its “intent of racing in the Moto2 category” – but the 986 M2 will likely start its racing career in lower-level national and international race series. No announcement has been made yet on when we’ll see the Vyrus in the GP paddock.

Three versions: race, road and kit bike

Three versions of the Vyrus 986 M2 will be produced. There’ll be the Factory – the full-on race version dripping with titanium, carbon fiber, magnesium and all sorts of other unobtanium as well as motoGP-spec brakes and suspension. It is availbel for 54,200 Euros (approx. US$73,560).

For those who wish to enjoy the Vyrus’ exceptional handling on the road, the roadgoing Vyrus 986 SL Replica will be available for a fairly hefty 24,925 euros (that’s approx. US$33,840). That includes super-light “white carbon” fairings, custom forged aluminum wheels, Brembo monobloc brake callipers and a Honda HRC engine computer for maximum performance out of the well-loved CBR600 engine. Expensive, yes, but this bike won’t just grab every eyeball on the block at a rider meetup, it’s also vastly lighter and quicker than anything else in its class on the road – not to mention its insane handling. Those dollars buy both prestige AND performance.

And there’s a third option if you’re handy with a spanner; you can get yourself a crashed CBR600RR between 2007 and 2011, and buy a Vyrus 986 Replica kit.

The kit comes with the frame, wheels, suspension and unpainted bodywork for 16,542 Euros (that’s approx. US$22,450), to which you add the engine, brakes, exhaust system, wiring loom, CPU and dash from your CBR600RR. There’s another kit coming out this September that will let you do the same with a Yamaha R6. The resulting kit bikes won’t be road legal, but they will kick some very serious arse on the racetrack.

These bikes seem a long way out of most bike buyers’ reach – and yet they’re still well in the ballpark of a family car, so you’d have to think there’s a market there. Either way, if there’s a chance they can stick it to the fast guys at the top level of international racing, that’s where their real value lies.

If a hub-center steered motorcycle wins the world championship in Moto2, competing within the same strict engine, electronics and tire restrictions as everyone else … well, the sportsbike world is in for a real shakeup – a proper revolution that will lead to some phenomenally quick-steering, stable and grippy roadbikes. Wish Vyrus luck!

source:gizmag