Wahid Ooi, Author at BikesRepublic.com

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Wahid Ooi

Forks versus Hub Centre Steering (Part 1)

Besides the Bimota H2 Tesi, Kawasaki is now rumoured to be working on their own hub centre steering motorcycle.
What is hub centre steering (HCS)?
To understand HCS, we need to look at what forks go through first.

While we await the new Kawasaki Ninja H2 powered Bimota Tesi H2, Kawasaki themselves are rumored to be working on a hub centre steering (HCS) bike themselves.

It may be of no coincidence that Kawasaki bought out 49% of Bimota’s shares, after all. It now appears that the Japanese manufacturer needed Bimota’s extensive experience in building HCS motorcycles (besides superb frames).

We don’t see this sort of front end on many production bikes, truth be told. Those that did were just more than a handful: Yamaha GTS1000, four models from Vyrus, and of course, the Bimota Tesi 3D. Interestingly, Vyrus was working hand-in-hand with Bimota in developing the Tesi 3D but chose to split away to produce their own HCS bikes.

There were also HCS bikes in the 500cc World GP Championship in the late 80s. Powered first by Honda then ROC, they turned in some encouraging results.

What is actually HCS? How does it work? And why is it considered revolutionary?

But first, we have to understand how the front end of a motorcycle works, starting with the age-old telescopic forks. (The term “telescopic forks” applies to both conventional and upside-down forks.)

What are the functions of the forks?

We’ve described how forks work in a previous article. But let’s describe their functions.

The roles of the forks are to:

Support the weights of the bike and rider through preloading the springs.
Provide compression and rebound damping.
Steer the front wheel, hence the bike.
Hold the front wheel in place thereby “attaching” the front wheel to the bike.
Carry the brake calipers.

That’s a lot, don’t you think?

What happens when the bike is moving?

When a bike is travelling straight up, the wheel is deflected upwards when it contacts a bump. The forks compress, the re-extend after passing the bump. Changing directions is also easy as no other forces are acting on the front end, except for the bump.

The suspension on this dirt bike has fully compressed during landing off a jump. Try to steer the bike when this happens – Credit Dirt Legal

Imagine the rider braking hard for a corner.

The decelerative forces from the brake calipers are pushed into the forks. Weight of the rider and motorcycle is shifted to the front due to inertia and compress the forks.

Now imagine the front tyre contacting a bump at this very moment. Much of the forks’ travel have been taken up due to braking and now more is requested by the bump.

The results are the bike will be difficult to turn as the tyre is hopping over the bump or worse, subsequent bumps. Also, more forces are being directed into the front tyre (as the suspension doesn’t have more travel) causing it to be squished out sideways. Consequently, the increased footprint makes turning the bike much harder.

Apart from that, provided that the front brake doesn’t lock up, all the weight will be shifted to the front and inertia forces the rear end to slide out.

Rear tyre sliding under braking. See how compressed is the front end – Credit Cycle World

In extreme cases of weight transfer will lift the rear end of the bike. As a result, the bike becomes squiggly, unsettled, unstable. This is also when rear brake becomes redundant, hence braking distance is increased. Worse, the rear end’s lifting while the front-end hops over bumps.

It’s spectacular to look at Marc Marquez doing this and still make the corners, but it’s not a great idea on the road! What do most riders do in this situation? Answer: Let off the brake and run straight off the road.

Using a heavier (harder spring) or dialing in more low-speed compression damping helps but neither or both will eliminate the problem completely. Besides, the front end will become less compliant.

Additionally, extreme braking or sharp bumps or a combination of both can force the fork legs to bend backwards slightly, but enough to cause the sliders and legs to touch each other, thereby creating stiction. Stiction is the combination of two words, namely static and friction. It may also be influenced by the word stick. When stiction occurs, a large amount of force is needed to break the friction. The rider would feel as if the front suspension has stuck in its stroke. The solution is to make bigger diameter and stiffer forks but doing so creates their own set of problems. This is why high-end fork sliders are TiN (titanium nitrate) coated.

TiN coated fork slider – Credit reportmotori,it

Additionally, the length of the forks creates a leverage against the headstock (where the triple clamps are mounted to). Again, engineers respond by making larger forks, headstock and frame to compensate.

However, creating stiffer forks and headstock adds weight. But more critically, it will cause loss of feel of the front tyre especially when the bike is leaned over in a corner. In fact, extreme stiffness can induce front wheel chatter. When the rider losses feel or the tyre chatters, he’ll lose confidence, and loss of confidence forces him to slow down.

Check out the size of the headstock and centre spar of this Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R frame. Some riders complain of lack of feel in corners. It’s due to lack to lateral flex

So, it’s a constant battle between fork, headstock and frame stiffness against stiction and leverage.

There are advantages of the forks, of course. However, these were brought on by the familiarity of how they feel and how we compensate. Other plus points are that forks require less complex architecture, are lighter and comparatively cheaper than HCS.

That’s it for now, we’ll look at how HCS functions, besides their pros and cons next time.

What Roles do Satellite Teams Play in MotoGP

Why are there satellite teams in MotoGP?
What are they and what do they do?
Why the disparity in machinery?

We were coming through social media when we came upon an article comparing factory and satellite teams in MotoGP.

We thought we could add more details as we’re currently looking at the 370-page 2020 FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix Regulations. The questions revolved mostly around why satellite team riders are on factory-spec bikes, too.

What’s a “factory team”?

A factory team is a team entered directly by the manufacturer. Consequently, the team has the highest budgets hence the best riders and team members; and first priority to parts and upgrades; and of course, top sponsors.

This why every rider on the grid aims to join a factory team. Factory teams also provide much higher levels of technical, PR, physical and even psychological support. The salary is also much higher. Along with these perks come bikes that can actually perform because which rider doesn’t want to perform well and win?

What’s a “satellite team”?

A satellite team has no bike of their own. As such, they have to rent them from a manufacturer. Yes, rent because MotoGP bikes are (usually) not for sale. What level of machinery or parts depends on how much they could shell out.

A satellite team’s budgets are from sponsors and are more constrained, hence the disparity in terms of support for the riders.

Traditionally, the factory usually provides lesser equipment to the satellite team because they don’t like to be beaten by the “lesser team.” However, we’ve seen manufacturers extending one or two of their latest bikes to satellite teams lately.

Reasons to run satellite teams

1. Data collection

Data here pertains to information which could be used to speed up development for building and setting up a race winning bike. Even the factory team has to justify the astronomical costs for going racing to the management and shareholders.

Data consists of suspension, chassis balance, traction control, engine map settings, etc.; sector times, lap times, corner speeds, top speeds; performance of parts, tyres, the engine; and almost everything else.

The role of data supplier is even more critical in these last 3 years when FIM reduced the number of test sessions to cope with including extra rounds. Gone were the days of unlimited testing, tyres, engines and development throughout the year. Doing so reduces costs to encourage more manufacturers to join the championship and create closer racing.

So, since there are fewer opportunities to test and gather data, having a satellite team in effect doubles data collection.

2. Exposure

Quartararo may be in the PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team, but he’s still on a Yamaha.

Having more than one team running the same brand provides the higher chances of being spotted by spectators at the track and those in front of their TV screens.

3. To bring in new riders

New riders are usually signed to satellite teams before being “promoted” to the factory teams. There is no point in putting someone who may struggle to perform on a full factory machine when there could be other better riders. There are exceptions of course, but this is normally the case.

How does this affect teams?

Suzuki may have run at the front and won a number of races, but they also suffered from inconsistent form in 2018 and 2019. The same goes with Aprilia. These two teams also couldn’t audition new riders in satellite teams.

KTM on the other hand, suffered from not having a MotoGP-winning rider to develop their bikes, as Dani Pedrosa was sidelined from his role throughout the 2019 season.

The Yamaha team definitely benefitted from Fabio Quartararo’s surprising and amazing debut. This was one reason why we saw the resurgence of factory rider Maverick Vinalez at the end of the season.

Honda, well… they’ve got Marc Marquez.

So, why not give everyone equal machines?

The simple answer is: Cost.

Renting a top MotoGP bike is around € 2 million per rider per season these days. No electronic part is less than € 1,000. A carbon fibre part is valued at € 2 per 100 g. A Marchesini magnesium alloy wheel costs € 4,000.

A manufacturer will find it more productive and cost efficient to support the best rider in their stable, hence building a bike which suits his riding style. Marc Marquez is the best example. The other best Honda rider, Cal Crutchlow found himself in mid-pack almost throughout last season as he couldn’t get used to the bike. Even three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo had to call it quits.

A manufacturer with vast resources like Honda couldn’t even build two different bikes for each of their riders. Hold on, what we meant by two different bikes was two variants instead of just two bikes. Each rider may have two bikes per round, but the constructor may well build three or four bikes per rider for the entire season. The number could be higher but the true quantity has never been revealed.

Apart from that are the costs arising from crashes.

Hence, the satellite teams usually made do with the older bikes. Oh, they come without wheels and suspension. Consumables such as tyres are sponsored but the FIM had placed a limit on the number each team could use per season. Anything extra would have to be paid by the team. Could they afford higher prices?

As we mentioned earlier, the top manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha and Ducati are now providing factory-spec bikes to the best riders in their respective satellite teams. This was why we have closer competition these days.

Conclusion

Hope you find the above information useful. You’re always welcome to share your thoughts with us.

Building Motorcycle Model Kits – A Great Hobby for the Bike Nut

Hobby for a biker? How about building motorcycle model kits?
The kits come in pieces which you have to assemble into a complete bike.
The hobby is great for relaxation and self-discipline.

Bikers can have other hobbies, too, other than just riding. One of the best would be building motorcycle model kits.

There’s nothing like the amount of satisfaction and gratification when you assembled something that came in pieces into your favourite bike. You need to have patience, eye for detail, finesse, determination, discipline and concentration to work through all the challenges and frustration to come away with the end result. Good or otherwise, I bet you’d still feel happy when the bike is finally assembled complete with its decals.

Honda RS1000 Suzuka racer – Credit Tamiya.com

Patience is a dying virtue in this current society which is driven by instant gratification. That’s why social media is so addictive to so many ways. But why not use current media such as YouTube to search out tips on assembly techniques? We didn’t have any guide at all except for the assembly instructions when I started this hobby in the mid-80s. We’re so much luckier now.

The way I see it, assembling model kits is a great way of being at peace with yourself. I know for a fact that I’d switch to a zen-like state and shut out the world completely when I work on a model (even on a Lego set). It’s probably the best way to slow your heart rate down after a hectic day at the office or after your family’s gone to sleep. It may also be the very thing to return that great virtue called patience.

No, these kits aren’t necessarily for kids, perception be damned. I remembered that when a girl I who tried to impress complained to her friends that I brought her to the toy section during our date. She friendzoned me. But hey, I got to complete the Tamiya RZ350 kit without having to waste money and time on her any further nyah, nyah. She didn’t know how much work it’s required to bring a legendary bike from hundreds of pieces of non-painted plastic.

If you’ve never seen how a kit looked like before, check out the picture below.

Tamiya Suzuki RG250 Gamma kit – Credit Tamiya.com

My late-Dad presented me with a 1/12^th-scale Suzuki RG250 from Tamiya when I was 14 years old in 1986. I opened the box with glee, thinking that it’s a completely built-up bike. I was greeted by a frame with “exploded” parts in a clear plastic bag, instead. The kit included a manual that presented a brief description on the particular bike.

My Dad sat down and helped me get started. He bought me the paint, paint pens, brushes, clippers, etc., except for the airbrush and compressor as they were too expensive even at the time. I found that the most difficult process was painting and detailing, while assembly was more or less a breeze.

I remembered building up the bike as best as I could with what I had at hand. The end result was far from those built by long-time enthusiasts, but hey, I was super satisfied.

I’ve stuck with the Tamiya brand since then due to the high level of details and well, Tamiya is essentially the only brand that’s left today. Millennials or kids probably associate the brand to the Mini 4WD racers.

Their motorcycle model catalog is filled with some 72 1/12^th-scale and just 12 big-sized 1/6^th-scale kits. These are motorcycles that made impacts in motorcycling. There aren’t more because they weren’t licensed by the respective manufacturers.

Still, the 1/12 kits include legends such as the Kawasaki H2R and H2; Ducati 888, 916, Desmosedici, Panigale; Suzuki Katana 750 (with pop-up headlight), 1000 and 1100; Honda RC30; Yamaha YZR500 GP racer, YZR-M1, YZF-R1M; etc. A number of models have been discontinued including the bevel drive Ducati 900SS, Mike Hailwood Replica and 900 NCR Racer.

Screenshot of Page One of the 1/12 catalog – Credit Tamiya.com

The 1/6 kits are reserved for certain groundbreaking bikes, such as the 1981 Honda CB750, Suzuki GSX-1100S Katana. But there are two engines kits here: One for the 1979 Honda CB750F and another for the Kawasaki Z1300.

Screenshot of the 1/16 catalog – Credit Tamiya.com

I wish BMW Motorrad and Triumph would license their bikes to Tamiya. I’ll be building a BMW R32 or Triumph Rocket 3 or Thruxton TFC with glee!

They are not cheap these days, though. Each 1/12 kit will set you back around RM 300 (curse you, inflation!). However, am of the opinion that the money will be well-spent. Unless someone deposits RM 2.6 billion into my bank account (I know, the joke is stale but hey, is there a better example?), I could never get to own any one of these legends. Even then, bikes like the YZR500 or RG500 aren’t for sale at any price! So, RM 300 for a historic motorcycle isn’t that bad and I don’t have to worry about where to store it. Hey, RM 300 is about the price of a Playstation game, anyway.

Tamiya Yamaha YZR500 – Credit Grand Prix Models on Twitter

Give it a try, you may just fall in love with it.

You can the 1/12-scale catalog here; the 1/16-scale lineup here; and entire Tamiya catalog here. There is an authorized distributor here in Malaysia.

How do Forks Work?

Hydraulic forks have been around since 1935.
The springs provide the preload function.
Damping works by forcing hydraulic fluid through orifices or shims.

The hydraulic fork has been with us since the BMW R12 in 1935. Since then, forks have been revised to no end in the pursuit of excellence, giving rise to electronically controlled suspension.

But how do they really work? What goes on in there?

Basic principles

The most basic principle involves inserting a spring in each fork. For many years, the spring was the only component to play the role of preload (keeping the suspension from bottoming out) and damping (absorbing shocks).

The earliest form of damping came in more… springs. Yup, you’ve got one with larger diameter, surrounding another with a smaller diameter. The former is longer than the latter, so as the fork compresses more due to a larger bump or shock, the shorter, more tightly wound spring comes into play to put up more resistance. This provides a rising rate suspension, in effect.

Hydraulic damper rod

Next to arrive was the hydraulic fork.

When the hydraulic damper appeared, fluid is pushed through orifices on a damper rod to create damping. The rod is inserted into each fork leg, on top of the spring. The damping rate – how the quickly the suspension reacts – depends on the size or sizes of the orifice or orifices.

Cartridge forks

Instead of using damper with orifices, a cartridge consists of different sized shims. Oil is then forced through. A soft shock will bend the weakest shim to allow oil through. Harder shocks will bend more shims to allow the wheel to move up at a faster rate. This means damping is more precise. One of the biggest advantages of the cartridge fork is that you can replace certain shims for different damping characteristics.

Separate function forks

As the name suggests, one fork leg holds the spring or springs, while the other size holds the damper mechanisms. The one with the spring controls preload, while the other checks damping. This way, the forks could be made to cater to their specific purposes. They can also be lighter as the components are not duplicated. Having different functions on each side doesn’t give off different feedback when the bike is turned to either side as the forks are tied to the same triple clamps.

Electronic suspension

These systems can control preload and damping, or separately depending on the bike. Instead of having the rider adjusting the parameters with tools (plus sweat), it’s all done through a button on the handlebar.

However, the principles remain the same. What’s different is that sensors on the fork and swingram provide real-time ride height and damping data to the suspension ECU. The ECU then determines the correct strategy i.e. setting, depending on the selected mode. The ECU then sends signals to servos to alter the parameters.

Fork oil

Damping works by converting kinetic energy (moving fluid) to heat. This is why oil is commonly used as it could absorb the heat plus has low flow resistance. Changing the oil to difference viscosities or amount alters the damping characteristics.

But bear in mind that it must be replaced at every 20,000 km.

40 Years of the BMW GS (Part 2) – The BMW R 100 GS

We continue our 40 Years of the BMW GS series.
The second-generation GS was known as the BMW R 100 GS.
It featured a bigger engine along with the Paralever, among others.

We continue our 40 Years of the BMW GS series with the next generation of the GS called the BMW R 100 GS.

The R 100 GS was a watershed model, picking up from the success of the R 80 G/S, making its debut mid-1987. However, although the R 80 G/S was “discontinued” is evolved into the R 80 GS.

This time the both bikes would mean Gelände/Sport, instead of Gelände/Straße. This designation would be changed again in time to the original. Both models promised higher performance, improved comfort and better brakes.

The engine of the R 100 GS was adopted from the 1986 R 100 RS sport-tourer. If the latter’s name sounds familiar, it’s because it was the first production bike to be fitted with a full fairing. Doing so had given rise to the modern sport-tourer segment.

Going back to the GS, the RS’s brawny character means it produced 60 hp from its 980cc Boxer. The R 80 GS remained with the 798cc engine which produced 50 hp.

The R 100 GS represented another important milestone in the GS evolution, as it was the first BMW production motorcycle to feature the now famous “Paralever” swingarm.

BMW engineers had known about “shaft jacking” from early on. The phenomenon meant that the rear of the bike rises against stiffening suspension under acceleration. The manufacturer’s race engineer Alex von Falkenhausen had actually fitted the factory race bikes with double-joint swingarms since 1955 to counter the effect.

The maker had secured the patent for this kit but was never transferred to their street bikes, until the new bigger engine’s torque produced more pronounced shaft jacking. The extra bar made the swingarm look like a parallelogram, hence the name “Paralever.”

1988 BMW R 80 GS – Credit motorcyclespecifications.com

It worked so well that is was later adopted to the R 80 GS.

BMW didn’t stop there.

To improve handling, travel-dependent damping also made its debut at the front. The forks were made stronger, while the left fork gained a conical bushing.

How it worked was like this: As the fork rises, the cone caused the gap between the spring coil started to grow smaller and smaller. In effect, it was like a rising rate spring. This ensured that the fork could withstand jump landings.

BMW also gave the bike a hollow front axle which avoided the forks from distorting.

Besides the suspension, BMW also looked at the wheels (rims).

The now commonplace cross-spokes made its debut on the R 100 GS. As the spokes are mounted to the outsides of the wheels, the rider could mount tubeless tyres. It also facilitated spoke replacement without the need to remove the wheel or tyre.

These spokes also had flat angles for elasticity that resulted in the ability to absorb impacts and overloading. This design was so successful that it’s continued to this very day.

The cross-spokes also provided more space for the new and larger brake calipers for the bigger brake discs.

The frame remained essentially the same as that of the R 80 G/S but was strengthened. However, a stronger subframe was fitted and upped the bike’s load carrying capacity.

Many customers requested for a more fuel capacity compared to the R 80 G/S’s. BMW answered with a 26-litre fuel tank. It was a good compromise between the standard R 80 G/S’s 19 litres and the Dakar’s 32 litres.

Even the front fender was redesigned with the help of a wind tunnel to reduce instability at highway speeds.

An allow plate was fitted to front of the centre stand to protect the oil sump and exhaust pipe.

The R 100 GS also received a new handlebar-mounted fairing with higher windshield. Apart from that, it also featured an oil cooler and crash bars.

BMW R 100 GS Paris-Dakar

BMW had initially conversation kits for the bike, but decided to produces full Paris-Dakar version in 1989.

The fairing was replaced with a frame-mounted kit which included the instrument cluster, unlike the standard model’s.

A 35-litre tank was fitted, as was a solo seat with luggage rack at the rear.

40 Years of the BMW GS (Part 1) – The R80G/S, A New Era

2020 marks 40 years of the BMW GS.
It began with the R80G/S in 1980.
The bike started the adventure-touring/dual-sport segment.

2020 marks 40 years of the BMW GS, which began with the R80G/S in 1980.

Love it or loathe it, the G/S began a new segment altogether and became not only BMW’s best-selling model, but the most popular worldwide.

Looking back over the 40 years, the GS has been at the forefront of BMW Motorrad’s study in engineering and innovations (apart for the S 1000 RR in 1999 for the superbike category). As such, the GS viewed by other manufacturers as the high watermark to beat.

Since each generation of G/S and later GS featured a huge host of innovations, we decided to split this article into parts. Squeezing all 40 year into one concise article does no justice for the bike’s heritage, besides glossing over too many important details.

Development

The Japanese had pretty much killed the European motorcycle manufacturers by the end of the 70s and capitalizing on the booming motorcycle market. BMW was in danger being viewed as a nostalgia brand (like how Harley-Davidson had become).

But there was no way BMW could let go of the Boxer modular concept. Hence the only way was to convince new buyers that the Boxer could perform despite being available since the R32 in 1923.

The factory’s testing engineer Lazlo Peres had been custom-building 800cc Boxer powered off-road machines for buyers. Being an experienced off-road rider himself, Peres knows that the engine could perform better than other large capacity rivals.

The break in fortune came in in 1978. It was the year when the German motorsport authorities created new class for above-750cc machines.

Thus, Peres got together with another two employees and built an 800cc race bike that weighed on 124 kg. Peres took the bike to second overall in the championship that year, thereby cementing notion that the Boxer can indeed perform.

Lazlo Peres in 1980 – Credit thereandbackagain.co.za

The bike was entered again in the 1979 Six Days Trials in West Germany (Germany was divided into East and West back then, remember?). The competition was regarded as the Olympics of enduro. Fritz Witzel Junior and Rolf Witthoft came away with a bunch of gold medals, when one was an outstanding achievement on its own.

This experience was brought into the development of a new model.

Back then, if you needed to buy an enduro bike to ride off-road. But enduro bikes were more or less motocross bikes with headlights. It meant that they had small fuel loads, were tall and uncomfortable for long-distance trekking.

Conversely, you needed to buy a standard or touring bike and fit it with luggage for long-distance riding. It had fuel and comfort for long distances, but it was heavy and riding off-road was akin to riding a café racer in the jungle.

The new BMW bike was to encompass both these attributes in one motorcycle in what was called the Reisseenduro (touring enduro).

Introducing the R80G/S

The R80G/S was introduced to the world press on 1^st September 1980 in Avignon, France.

The letter “G” in its name stood for Gelände which the dictionary translates to open country, or terrain, thus adopted to mean “off-road.” The letter “S” was the acronym for Straße or Strasse meaning “road.”

Thus, began the adventure-touring segment. To highlight its versatility, the manufacturer used this tagline: “Sports machine, touring machine, enduro… Welcome to a motorcycle concept with more than one string to its bow.” It should be said that the bike spawned a whole new segment of riders along with it. It became the choice for adventure and long-distance touring.

Surely enough, the assembled press wondered how could an 800cc machine weighing some 200 kg could be ridden off-road. Some even had doubts if the machine could sell to save BMW Motorrad. But they came away proclaiming that a new age has dawned. German magazine Motorrad, perhaps including some patriotic vigour, called the R80G/S, “The best road motorcycle BMW has ever built.”

However, the bike wasn’t just about a concept. It showed off some innovations as well besides revisions of the present. For example, weight saving measures made the bike 30 kg lighter than the R80/7.

Innovations included:

Single-sided swingarm incorporating the driveshaft without a parallelogram, called the “Monolever.”
Maintenance-free, contact-free ignition system from Bosch.
Disc brakes – first time on an enduro bike – sourced from the R100/7.
Headlamp with H4 bulb – another first for an enduro.
New road/off-road tyres to withstand 180 km/h.

The world biking community went bananas over the bike. BMW sold 6,631 bikes by the end of 1981, which was more than double that of what the company had planned. One of every five was a G/S.

Sporting success

BMW Motorrad was ratcheting up their involvement in motorsports at the same time, in view of reviving the brand as a performance manufacturer.

Where else do you send an off-road bike to compete back then? The Paris-Dakar Rally, of course!

It’s always been known as the world’s toughest rally. Covering 9,500 km from France to Senegal, only 30% of it was paved roads. The event was highly publicized at the time which attracted the best riders and big manufacturers.

BMW had competed in the rally since 1980 with Jean-Claude Morellet (better known as Fenouil). He finished fifth that year.

The manufacturer ramped up their effort in 1981 and contracted the specialists HPN to create a world-beating bike. Hubert Auriol stomped the competition by winning three hours ahead of the next rider, while Fenouil came home in fourth. A privateer BMW ridden by a French policeman named Bernard Neimer crossed finished in seventh.

Auriol would repeat the feat in 1983.

1984’s victory was perhaps the one of the most romantic and awe-inspiring in the rally’s history. The Belgian rider Gaston Rahier was a diminutive man and one picture showed him climbing onto the bike as if it was a camel. Despite this, he would beat the two-time Dakar winner Auriol.

The one-two finish inspired BMW to issue the special-edition R80G/S-PD, better known as the “Dakar.” A bit more on the Dakar-edition later.

Rahier won again in 1985. It was BMW’s fourth victory in five years.

No less important were Rahier and Eddy Hau’s 1984 and 1985 victories in the 1,200-km Baja Rally in California, USA. The wins demonstrated the bike’s capabilities to the crucial American market.

R80G/S “Paris-Dakar”

This version featured a 32-litre fuel tank (sign of what was to come for the Adventure variant), single seat, luggage rack, crash bars, Michelin off-road tyres. The components were also available as kits or individually.

BMW sold some 3,000 of this version is one of the most sought-after motorcycles today.

End of Production

Production of the R80G/S, the granddaddy of the GS range came to a close in 1987. By July that year, BMW delivered 21,864 bikes which was a seven-fold increase over the figure in 1980.

The model was succeeded by the R 80 GS and R 100 GS.

Bimota Tesi H2 Specs Revealed

The Bimota Tesi H2 was launched when Kawasaki announced buying 51% of Bimota’s shares.
Its engine is based on the supercharged inline-Four in the Ninja H2.
These are the early specs of the bike.

Bimota is one company that’s seen more up and downs than a couple whose married for 30 years. It’s gone under a number of times but were rescued time and again. This time, it’s Kawasaki who handed the Rimini-based manufacturer the life jacket. They announced their buying of 51% of Bimota’s shares and unveiled the Bimota Tesi H2 at the 2019 EICMA show.

Kawasaki engines graced Bimotas before in the KB1, KB2 and finally KB3 until 1984. But this time, it’s the Ninja H2’s maniacal supercharged engine turn.

The H2’s engine platform is utilized in different guises and power outputs, ranging between 198 hp to 306 hp (without factoring in ram air) in the race only Ninja H2R. So, according to Bennets UK, the Tesi H2’s engine will be tuned to 228 hp.

The Ninja H2 is already a hefty sportbike at 238 kg, ready to ride. But the effects of the supercharger makes up for the weight penalty. There’s concern about the Tesi H2’s hub centre steering adding even more weight, but it was revealed that the bike will tip the scales at 214 kg, ready to ride. The 24 kg reduction points to the extensive use of carbon fibre.

That front swingarm may add visual length to the bike, but its overall wheelbase is actually 10 mm shorter than the H2’s.

Bimota began flirting with the centre hub steering in the original Tesi 1D in 1990. Developed by designer Pierluigi Marconi as his engineering thesis (Tesi means thesis in Italian). The setup promised to revolutionise a motorcycle’s front end by removing suspension forces from steering. Forks will dive and take up lots of available stroke due to weight transfer, thereby making it difficult to turn under hard braking. Besides that, the front end’s geometry changes as the wheel moves up and down.

The concept sounds great but it produces unfamiliar feel to the rider. It’s also expensive as it doesn’t find widespread use. Still, you can be sure to get everyone’s attention when you pull up on a bike with swingarms on both ends!

The Bimota Tesi H2 is expected to cost twice more than the Kawasaki Ninja H2.

Saint Demonstrates Super Strong Riding Jeans

Normal jeans aren’t suited for motorcycle riding.
Saint created a material that’s 15 times stronger than steel.
These AA-rated riding jeans are highly resistant to abrasion.

We love jeans. Everyone does. There’s no beating the denim’s flexibility as an apparel for all occasions. They are also stronger and last longer.

But, the regular pair of jeans aren’t meant for riding a motorcycle despite being tougher than a pair of slacks. Jeans are made to made us look good and feel good on a bike, but they are not resistant to abrasion (sliding). Some of us have found out the hard way.

Saint jeans are specialized for motorcycle riders, promising to be strong and protective while being comfortable on and off the bike.

They arranged a demonstration of the strength of their new AA-rated jeans by lifting a two-tonne skip with a single layer of fabric.

Saint uses a material called Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) to achieve that strength. It’s a type of thermoplastic polyethylene named as Dyneema, which has low friction coefficient. That means it doesn’t stick and tear when sliding.

Dyneema is then weaved into the fabric along with aramid. This combination boosts abrasion resistance by 70 percent. Dyneema is so strong that using just half the amount is already twice stronger compared to regular jeans in terms of tensile strength. In fact, the material is 15 times stronger than steel.

A pair of Saint jeans aren’t cheap, but body parts such as the bum and knees have no replacement.

43 Percent Failure Rate for DOT Certified Helmets

To recap, Malaysia doesn’t acknowledge DOT certified helmets.
Part of the reason is due to their self-certification method.
A lab has found a 43 percent failure rate since 2014.

Unless you’ve just returned to Earth after being “taken on a tour” by aliens, you probably already know that the Road Transport Ministry (JPJ) of Malaysia doesn’t acknowledge DOT certified helmets. It’s due to a number of reasons, but more alarmingly, testing has uncovered a 43 percent failure rate.

You see, DOT certification is based on trust placed by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As such, the manufacturers self-test the helmets to the current DOT FMVS 218 standard and apply the label. The DOT doesn’t require the helmets to be tested by an independent lab prior to sale.

ECE, SNELL Foundation, SHARP certified helmets conversely, were sent to labs for testing and certification before hitting the marketplace.

However, the NHTSA contracts the services of Act Labs to purchase batches of DOT-certified helmets from the market and test them.

Please refer to the table below, courtesy and credit to RideApart.com.

The data averaged over 6 years from 2014 to 2019 showed that 43.1 percent had failed in testing, while 62.8 percent failed labeling regulations.

The NHTSA imposes a heavy fine of USD 5,000 per helmet that do not meet the FMVS 218 guidelines. They may also force the manufacturer to recall the helmets but only 12 of the 72 that failed were pulled off the shelves, thus far.

DO NOTE that helmets with both DOT and ECE certifications are fine, as the they were also tested to ECE standards.

The NHTSA publishes the brand, model, test results and investigation status (since 2003) in a compliance database. You can >>> click here <<< for more details.

Hard Knock Lessons (Part 1) – The Chicken Coop

There is always something to learn when riding.
Sometimes these hard knock lessons can be funny.
The important thing is to learn from them.

I’ve had my share of hard knock lessons over the years. Oh yes, the mistakes and subsequent crashes were painful when the blood starts oozing. Looking back, though, they were funny ones when I just learned to ride. But I thankfully walked away from them.

So, here are a number of funny and painful lessons I learned. Hope you can take away from knowledge from these.

The Chicken Coop

I was 11 years-old when my family and I visited my Mum’s ex-classmates in Padang Serai, Kedah. They had a chicken farm where they harvested the eggs.

One of her friends had an old Honda C90.

His 15-year-old son taught me how to ride on the loose pebble path next to the house which wound all the way into the farm. He showed me how to accelerate, shift gears, stop. The tricky thing was, the C90 had three gears arranged like on a big bike. Step the back of the see-saw lever for first gear, step to the front for second and third.

He told me that I may not be able to handle starting off in first, so it’s better to start in second (pressing forward). I rode around a couple of times and they were confident enough to leave me alone to enjoy my new-found toy.

I woke up the next day and looked out the window. The bike was there so I asked for the key and got it without question. And off I went up and down the trail. I didn’t even have breakfast.

There’s just something about the wind in my face and hair and body that I liked. So, like all self-respecting rider, I decided to go faster.

I twisted the throttle all the way, but the bike hesitated to go faster. Remembering the advice to shift gears I slammed my foot into the back part of the lever. I had forgotten the shift pattern, see. Thus, instead of going into third, I had downshifted into first.

As soon as that happened, the engine gave out a huge roar, the rear tyre slid on the pebbles and came around.

Both bike and I slid down the path, heading for a coop. I somehow stood up halfway through the slide, but the bike continued its path and went under the coop into a pile guano. I stumbled like a runner tumbling at the finish line and smacked into the enclosure.

When I opened my eyes, I was kneeling on the ground with my face on the wire mesh of the coop and eye-to-eye with a fat chicken that was flapping its wings like a mad feather duster, screaming its lungs out. I felt something wet and sticky on torso. I thought I was bleeding but it turned out to be fresh eggs smashed onto my chest. (Egg Boy had nothing on me!)

Everyone came out of the house upon hearing the commotion.

My Mum’s friends had a look of fright at first then started laughing. My friend was doubled over with laughter. My Mum, on the other hand, was yelling everything incoherent like aliens have just attacked the world.

Lesson learned that day: Always remember how the bike works. The C90 survived, by the way.

Know your Bike (Part 2) – The Naked

The naked bike is in between two the standard and sportbike.
They are usually more performance oriented than the standards.
The upper echelon consists of supernakeds.

Moving on from the standard bike, we move on to the naked bike, since we both segments consist of motorcycles that don’t have full-coverage bodywork. It’s easy to confuse the two because they look pretty much alike and there are those that are crossovers.

What is it?

First and foremost, a naked bike has no full fairing, hence the term “naked.” The engine and mechanical parts are exposed for all to see. Some of these are also regarded as “hooligan bikes” due to their propensity for all sorts of shenanigans.

Good examples are the (in no particular order) Triumph Street Triple and Speed Triple; Yamaha MT-09 and MT-10; Ducati Monster and Streetfighter V4; Aprilia Tuono V4, BMW S 1000 R; Kawasaki Z900, Z1000, Z H2; KTM 200/250/390/690 Duke, 1290 Super Duke R; Benelli TNT600; MV Agusta Brutale F3; etc.

However, there are crossovers that blur the line between standards and naked bikes such as the Kawasaki Z250, Z650; Modenas Dominar 400 (although Bajaj insists on calling it a sport-tourer), Suzuki SV650A, Aprilia Shiver 900, Honda CB650R and CB1000R, etc.

Styling

Styling usually follows contemporary designs and need to look dynamic. The current design brief calls for bikes with multiple facets, pointy fronts and rear.

Seating position

Seating position is sportier than neutral, yet now as extreme as full-on sportbikes. Naked bikes usually put the rider into a “3/4-crouch” due to the lower handlebar and longer reach. The handlebars are usually one-piece tapered type rather than clip-ons like on café racers and sportbikes.

The rider’s seat is higher than the standard for cornering clearance. The passenger’s seat is usually separate and much higher up, almost like a sportbike’s. Most manufacturers design seats that are wider and longer, besides more comfortable than sportbikes’.

The rider’s footpegs are more rearset and higher up, compared to the standard’s. Such placement is in line with the sportier crouch to put more of the rider’s weight over the tank and front wheel.

Engine size

Engine capacities range from 250cc right up to 1300cc.

There are therefore almost all types of engines in such a wide range including Singles, parallel-Twins, V-Twins, Triples, V-Fours, inline-Fours, plus one supercharged inline-Four.

Performance

As we mentioned before, nakeds are performance bikes, but made a little more practical and comfortable. Virtually all are made to dominate their corresponding capacity segments, hence high torque and horsepower.

The supernakeds, especially, stand out from the crowd. These beasts are about wind-in-the-face, balls-to-the-wall, unadulterated performance. KTM led this category for a long time with the 990 Duke, then the 1290 Super Duke R with over 180 hp. Aprilia joined the club with the Tuono V4 1100 which punches out 175 hp. Then Kawasaki decided that they should have the most power supernaked since they’ve the mental supercharged H2, which gave birth to the 197hp Z H2. Ducati had the same thoughts as Kawasaki due to their Panigale V4. And now the Italians lead the club with the bonkers 208hp Streetfighter V4. But wait! The Streetfighter V4 S produces 216 hp!

Chassis

Suspension on these bikes are of better fare. The truly performance oriented nakeds are suspended by fully-adjustable suspension, including electronic ones. This is where we see brands such as WP, Showa and Öhlins duke it out.

Brakes are also high-end, the favourite being Brembo. Even the middleweight models utilize monobloc calipers.

Frames are another area which they manufacturers pay a lot of attention to. They are much more sophisticated than those on standards and follow the latest developments such as engineered flex.

Electronics

This is one area which we didn’t touch on for the standards. Naked bikes have almost everything going for them like the sportbikes do, even for the lightweights. The KTM 390 Duke was the first lightweight bike to utilize a full TFT screen with Bluetooth connectivity. These features are now found in most models in the middleweight and heavyweight classes.

Sophisticated traction control and expanded ABS functions are also found in the supernakeds, including IMU-based lean angle sensitive traction control, ABS, wheelie control, rear wheel lift mitigation, engine braking control, slide control, etc.

Fuel capacity

Fuel tank sizes typically range from 12 litres and above. Again, like the standard, the overall design of the bike which limits the sizes of the tanks. Does one really care about fuel mileage on naked bikes…?

Customization options

Customization usually revolves around enhancing performance. Apart from that, naked bike riders accessorize their bikes with some race parts such as footpegs, brake and clutch lever protectors, bits of bolts here and there. There are owners who do customize the looks of their bikes and that usually includes performance upgrades.

Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner – For Clear Vision Everytime

We recommend the Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner to keep your visor clear.
Riding with a dirty visor is uncomfortable and dangerous especially at night.
Using the wrong cleaner will usually result in scratches.

Riding with a dirty visor is uncomfortable and can be dangerous at night. But what should we use to clean it? We recommend the Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner and Helmet Cleaner.

We ought to take great care when cleaning the visor. Using alcohol-based solvent will strip the anti-scratch coating, leaving behind blotches. Using handwash solution is good but it doesn’t eat through insect guts, necessitating some aggressive rubbing which will induce scratches.

Do understand that the grime covering the visor and helmet consists of oil and dirt. Using the wrong cleaner will result in streak, stains and scratches.

The safest best, we discovered in our experience, is to use specific products that are formulated for the purpose.

The Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner and Helmet Cleaner comes in a 100ml bottle that’s compact, hence easy to carry anywhere in the bike or riding pouch. The product is safe to use on glass, thus can used to clean eyeglasses, as well. On top of that, the product has some anti-misting property.

Application:

Spray on a fine layer.
Wait for a few seconds.
Wipe off with a clean microfibre cloth or soft tissue paper.

Where to buy:

The Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner (100 ml) is available from our e-commerce online store.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Bikesrepublic

Wahid Ooi

Besides the Bimota H2 Tesi, Kawasaki is now rumoured to be working on their own hub centre steering motorcycle.

What is hub centre steering (HCS)?

To understand HCS, we need to look at what forks go through first.

What are the functions of the forks?

The roles of the forks are to:

What happens when the bike is moving?

Why are there satellite teams in MotoGP?

What are they and what do they do?

Why the disparity in machinery?

What’s a “factory team”?

What’s a “satellite team”?

Reasons to run satellite teams

1. Data collection

2. Exposure

3. To bring in new riders

How does this affect teams?

So, why not give everyone equal machines?

Conclusion

Hobby for a biker? How about building motorcycle model kits?

The kits come in pieces which you have to assemble into a complete bike.

The hobby is great for relaxation and self-discipline.

Hydraulic forks have been around since 1935.

The springs provide the preload function.

Damping works by forcing hydraulic fluid through orifices or shims.

Basic principles

Hydraulic damper rod

Cartridge forks

Separate function forks

Electronic suspension

Fork oil

We continue our 40 Years of the BMW GS series.

The second-generation GS was known as the BMW R 100 GS.

It featured a bigger engine along with the Paralever, among others.

BMW R 100 GS Paris-Dakar

2020 marks 40 years of the BMW GS.

It began with the R80G/S in 1980.

The bike started the adventure-touring/dual-sport segment.

Development

Introducing the R80G/S

Innovations included:

Sporting success

R80G/S “Paris-Dakar”

End of Production

The Bimota Tesi H2 was launched when Kawasaki announced buying 51% of Bimota’s shares.

Its engine is based on the supercharged inline-Four in the Ninja H2.

These are the early specs of the bike.

Normal jeans aren’t suited for motorcycle riding.

Saint created a material that’s 15 times stronger than steel.

These AA-rated riding jeans are highly resistant to abrasion.

To recap, Malaysia doesn’t acknowledge DOT certified helmets.

Part of the reason is due to their self-certification method.

A lab has found a 43 percent failure rate since 2014.

There is always something to learn when riding.

Sometimes these hard knock lessons can be funny.

The important thing is to learn from them.

The Chicken Coop

The naked bike is in between two the standard and sportbike.

They are usually more performance oriented than the standards.

The upper echelon consists of supernakeds.

What is it?

Styling

Seating position

Engine size

Performance

Chassis

Electronics

Fuel capacity

Customization options

We recommend the Liqui Moly Visor Cleaner to keep your visor clear.

Riding with a dirty visor is uncomfortable and dangerous especially at night.

Using the wrong cleaner will usually result in scratches.

Application:

Where to buy:

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