I am currently in the hobby of collecting MotoGP bike replicas. Those are quite expensive, 13.9o lion dollars a piece, compared to 9.90 of ordinary bike replicas. But, the GPs are better assembled and finished, so I say they worth the extra dollars. However, the sole reason for the difference in price I suspect, is that the toy company has to pay the teams and manufacturers for licensing matters. Might be wrong though.
Anyway, I admire those bikes. Design-wise, they are marvellous. Just knowing that they are prototype machines designed to race already makes me wonder, why they make the bikes like that. Like what they look like. How do they come up with a set of complex decisions that determine the bikes? Why some use an inline-four engine while the other use a vee-four? Why some look like a big fish, while the other like a shark?
They are the pinnacle of on-road motorcycles, no doubt. Revving to some n-thousands rpm, making crazy number of horsepower (mostly exceeding 200), carbon fibre chassis and panels, super light weight, thoughtful mass distribution, and many other things. They are, in essence, wild. Well, although some racers said that the GP bikes are easier to control than their 250 counterparts, for an average guy like me, they still seem terrifying. And admirable.
The same admiration could possibly be applied to Formula 1 as well. Faraway, I can't see the difference in one car relative to the other, as their shapes are relatively similar. The differences lay in details, which can be painstaking if explained. Only boffins would like to do that to you.
But, what is the purpose of their existence? I was buggered by that question since a while back. The clearest answer I could say, is that they exist for our amusement. We know the idea of entertainment. And some people are entertained by sports events. In motor sports, the amusing part lays in battles for a position, whether a rider or driver could pass his rival in front, or to defend his position. It is excessively precise, especially in corners. Braking point, line taking, throttle opening, all must be exactly correct. And for some geeks addicted in racing games (like me), they are immensely attractive.
The motored amusement comes at a high price, I have to say. Development costs of such prototypes are gigantic, although I don't know precisely how much. The people involved in GP are definitely over the top. And that is a problem, in my point of view. Their over-the-top-ness.
There is a huge gap in road bikes and these prototype racers, in any respect. Yamaha could say that the cross-plane firing order in their M1 race bike is passed down to the latest R1, but other than that? Chassis electronics? As far as I can work out, there is not much else, unless my stupid observation went wrong. Such reference to GP racing is just for marketing purposes. And the most stupid thing is, they won't make any of these racers into production. Sad really, for these machines are beautiful and magnificent at the same time.
And the 'magnificence' of such machines might be precisely the sole factor that these machines stay in racing. Immense power needs extraordinary grip, which means suspension and tyres work, among other technical things. The shocks must be relatively stiff to accommodate the weight shift caused by massive accel and decel, and the tyres must provide exceptional grip, which means they have to be a slick. Stiff suspension will not tolerate bumps, potholes, and 'polisi tidur', while slick tyres won't work in the rain. So already, these characteristics are not suitable on the road.
But I still dream about having one in my garage. Riding a 2008 San Carlo Honda RC212V (which is the prettiest GP bike for me, topping 2010 Fiat Yamaha M1) in the sea of ordinary production bikes surely is interesting. Exhaust should be original to preserve its loudness. Power is just enough to back up the looks, 180 on-wheel bhp might suffice. Engine is not a problem if watered-down a bit, since too much power will mean problem with need-cash policemen.
Oh how I long for thee....
Tuesday, April 5th 2011.
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