motoroids2 aug 2009

8/14/2019 Motoroids2 Aug 2009

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August 2009While daddy Would pursue his motorsport dreams


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motorsports ull time.Nikunj hopes that his long cherished dream o

sharing podium place with his dad at the Monsoonscooter rally comes true one day. Te 20 year old ismodest enough to acknowledge that his rally dreams arebeing realized thanks to a supporting and encouraging

ather. He proudly recalls the moments when his scootergot stuck on a slush lled stage and dad who had startedthe rally behind him, came along and guided him out.Gala junior believes in riding skill ully than outrightaggressive riding. Te chances o having a all and pickingup injuries will be less and he will be able to ride and takepart in rallies or a longer duration.

At 47 years o age the rallying bug in Gala senioris still alive and kicking . With no proper bike rallies orraces taking place in Mumbai, his rallying is currently limited only to the monsoon scooter rally which is heldannually in Navi Mumbai. Gala senior clearly statesthat that i hill climb races and circuit events return toMumbai, he will be back to being a regular participant!His passion or rallying is clearly evident when he vowsthat he will be a participant as long as the scooter rally is held around Mumbai. It is no longer possible or himto take part in out-station rallies as with a amily to takecare o nancially.

Tis ather-son duo belongs to the down-to-earthrally/racers club. For Gala senior, his rally motive hasalways been to register a nish and enjoy the eventirrespective o a win or loss. As a ather he always advises

junior to concentrate on nishing the rally and not getdistracted in the event o any oulplay. Gala senior hasadvised Nikunj to stick to rallying scooters or the timebeing and improve his rallying skills be ore graduating tobike rallying. For Junior, the motive has evolved to notonly enjoying participating in a rally event but also nishon podium.

In todays day and age every biking a cionado dreamso attaining motorsport glory. Hats o to Shailesh Gala,

or religiously treading on the motorsport way whileensuring that junior Gala doesnt all short o chasing hisrally dreams. It remains to be seen how an average dad(read non-motorsport encouraging ather) would reactto the prospect o sponsoring their childs rally/racingdreams a ter reading this eature!

Within the budget of his pocket-money, beta has beenborn With a golden spoon in his mouth!

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Te spectacle o MotoGP has never been so good,thanks to awesome dogfghts between the Fiat Yama-ha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.Rossis 4 victories put him in the championship lead

with 176 points ollowed by Lorenzo with 2 victo-ries and 162 points. World champion Casey Stonerhas maintained his blinding pace astride the Ducatiand with victories at Losail and Mugello. He standsthird in the title fght with 148 points and still hasa fghting chance to claim the title. While Casey hasbeen able to channel the Ducatis ury in the rightdirection Nicky Hayden has struggled at getting withgrips with the scarlet bike. Te ormer world cham-pions per ormance on the Ducati has raised serious

doubt about his competence. Te Repsol Honda duoo Pedrosa and Dovisioso havent been able to mounta consistent challenge or the title so ar. Marco Me-landri has been the surprise o the season with someunbelievable per ormances on the sole Hayate racingKawasaki. Colin Edwards has turned out to be thebest-o -the-rest with consistent points-scoring fnish-es in all the races. Sete Gibernau meanwhile has hada dismal comeback to MotoGP, with his sponsorsannouncing their withdrawal rom MotoGP leavinghim in a fx.

Next Race 26 July 2009, Donnington Park.

Te 2009 WSBK season is turning out to be a realscorcher with 2-way fght or the title between BenSpies and Noriyuki Haga. Haga now in his 10th seasono ull time racing in WSBK has twice been runner-upand has fnished 3rd in the championship our times.Haga switched to Ducati Xerox this year flling up the

seat vacated by roy Bayliss and is hungrier than everto win the title this year. Haga has won 6 races and hasbeen atop the podium 13 times so ar this season. Hecurrently leads the championship by 14 points, with atally o 308 points.

But the sensation o the 2009 season has to beBen Spies. Te Yankee rom ennessee has won the

AMA Superbike Championship, 3 years in a row, rom

2006 to 2008. He flled up the seat vacated by Ha Yamaha Italia and is making a strong bid or thehis rookie season. He took pole position at his verace meeting and a per ect weekend at the secondin Losail, Qatar by taking pole, the astest lap, braces, and breaking the outright circuit lap reco

broke the long-standing record o 6 consecutivset in 1991 by Doug Polen by securing 7 consepole positions. Spies has won 10 out o the18 r

ar this season, collecting 294 points. Will thecombination o the crossplane R1 and Spies besnatch the title rom Ducati? Lets wait n watch

Next race: 26 July 2009, Brno

Report Mihir Gadre

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What is the Isle o Man all about?

Racing at the Isle o Man is perhaps the purest orm o motorcycle racing. Te race is run as a time-trial but onpublic roads closed or the public during the races. Tere areno gravel traps or run o areas. Te road sur ace is ar romracetrack-smooth, while an almost 38 mile course means thatit takes decades to learn the track even partially. Te bikes arepushed to their limits on semi-slick tyres and the suspensionhas to be pliant enough to accommodate the ruts and bumps.Te racing at the Isle is more real than MotoGP. No wonderthen that in the 100 years o racing at the isle it has seen a loto deaths over the years. You got to have real balls to race atthe isle.

History

Te rst race was held in 1907 and was called the International Auto-Cycle ourist rophy. Te mountain course was raced

or the rst time in 1911. Te event was a part o the MotoGProm 1949 to 1976 but was trans erred to the United Kingdom

in 1977 due to sa ety concerns. It was run by the FIM asthe British Grand Prix or the 1977 season. Te Isle o Man

Races became part o the Formula 1 Championshipduring the period 1977-1990 to preserve the events racingstatus. From 1989 the racing has been developed by the Isle o Man Department o ourism as the Isle o Man Festival.Te Races are a part o the Festival covering two weeks

rom the end o May to the beginning o June every year. Te

rst week consists o practice racing with the second week being the main racing event.

Whats the Isle of Man all about?

Joey Dunlop is widely acknowledged to be the most talentedroad racer to have ever lived. Tis media-shy man rom NorthIreland was known as the King o the Road. He contested in25 s and won a record 26 races in total making him the mostsuccess ul rider at the isle. His achievements include a triple hat-trick at Isle in 1985, 1988 and 2000. He died in Estonia, in2000 while leading a 125cc race (he had already won the 750ccand 600cc events) when he lost control o his bike in the wet andsu ered heavy impact with a tree.

Known as Morecambe Missile orMcG, John McGuinness currently holds the outright lap-record or themountain course at 17:12.30 at an av-erage speed o 131.578 mph. He races

or the HM Plant Honda team and hasa total o 15 race wins at the to hiscredit.

Tourist trophy

Joey Dunlop: John McGuinness:

Report Mihir Gadre

Classes:Steve Pla

August 2009the 250 cc and 350 cc categories Hailwood was also anequally accomplished racer at the Isle o Man. He won a


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Widely regarded as one o the greatest racers o all time,Mike Hailwood a.k.a Mike the Bike started racing in1957 at the age o 17. By 1961, Hailwood was racinga our-stroke, our-cylinder 250 cc or a Japanese up-start actory named Honda on which he won the 1961250cc MotoGP world championship. In 1962, Hail-

wood joined MV Agusta and went on to become therst rider to win our consecutive 500cc World Cham-

pionships. In 1966, Hailwood went back to Hondaand won our more world titles in 1966 and 1967 in

Senior : Tis category allows any machine eligible rom Superbike, Superstock or Superspor categories and consists o a 6 lap race around the mountain circuit. Steve Plater won the 2009 race

HM Plant Honda teammate, John McGuinness retired due to a broken chain.

Tese races allow bikes with displacement o 400-600cc4 cylinders or 600-750cc 2 cylinders and complying withFIM Supersport speci cations. Padgetts Racings IanHutchinson won the rst race on the Honda 600 RR Fire-blade, while Michael Dunlop won the second race ridinga Yamaha R6.

Tese races allow bikes with displaco 600-1000cc 4 cylinders, 750-10cylinders or 850-1200cc 2 cylindecomplying with FIM Superstock sptions. Ian Hutchinson won the race his total win o the season to 2, oneMcGuinness.

Senior TT

TT Superstock:

Steve Pla

Ian Hutchinson

Michael Dunlop

Supersport Junior TT

total o 14 s including three straight wins during the1961 event. He won what many consider to be the mostdramatic Isle o Man race o all time, the 1967 Senior

against his greatest rival, Giacomo Agostini. In thatrace he set a lap record o 108.77 mph on the notoriousHonda 500-4, which stood or the next 8 years. A terthat he turned his attention towards Formula 1. He par-ticipated in 50 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving twopodium nishes. In 1978, a ter an 11 year hiatus rommotorcycling, Hailwood per ormed a legendary come-back at the Isle o Man . Te 38-year-old managed ahugely popular win riding a Ducati 900SS. Te ollow-ing year he raced at the or the last time. In that nalIoM appearance, Hailwood rode a 2-stroke 500cc Suzu-ki in the Senior and he won the race. He then optedto use that same 500cc bike in the Unlimited Classic andbattled or the lead with Alex George (1100cc Honda)

or all 6 laps in yet another epic losing by just 2seconds. He retired with 76 Grand Prix victories, 14 Isleo Man wins and 9 World Championships at theage o 39.

Mike Hailwood

Classes: XGP August 2009


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Tese races allow bikes withdisplacement o 750-1000cc 4cylinders, 750-1000cc 3 cylindersor 800-1000cc 2 cylindersand complying with WorldSuperbike speci cations. Veteran

John McGuinness won the racesurpassing Mike Hailwoods tally o 14 race wins.

TT Superbike:

TT Sidecar:

Te XGP was a new event or the 2009 or bikes powered without the use o carbon based uels and zero toxic/noxiousemissions. Te race consisted o 1 lap around the mountaincircuit. Te XGP was divided into two categories pro essionaland open. Te motorcycles had to weigh 100-300 kg in raceready mode. Te o cial quali cation time was 50 minutes anaverage speed o 45.16 mph or 1 lap o the Mountain Course

without stopping.

Te pro essional class will be conducted in our di erent categories or bikes, uel cell bikes, hydrogen powered internal combustion engines and hin the uture. Tis year there was only one category, the e-bikes. Rob Barber

the chequered fag aboard the eam Agni bike. A ter dominating both pralaps, Barber cruised uncontested to the nish with more than a three-madvantage over the XXL squad with a time o 87.434 mph Barber bestanding 50cc record at the Isle. Te German XXL team came second recorthe highest speed o 106.5 mph while team Brammo rom USA nished th

Cali ornia based electric motorsport

crossed the line at the top o the timesheets while bare oot motors rom Oregoncame second. eam ork rom Pune, Indiatook the nal podium step. It was a greatachievement or team the engineeringstudents rom Pune University who provedtheir worth on the international stage atthe very s rst XGP.

TTXGP

Open Class:

McGTeam Agni

Team Electtric Motorsport

Team Tork

Te ( ourist rophy)

Sidecar Motorcycle Races cover113.19 miles/182.1 km over 3laps on the Mountain Circuit.Te races allow sidecars builtaccording to ACU Formula 2Sidecars speci cations. DaveMolyneux and Daniel Sayle

won the Sidecar A eventastride A & J Racings 600ccDMR Suzuki.

Profession al Class:

This month Motoroids caught up with the Rubber Rippers on the bikingtrail. Heres all the important information about this biking club.

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If you are interested in joining t his group, drop in amail to [email protected]

If you want your biking group to be featured onthis page drop in a mail to [email protected] withyour groups pictures and answers to all the questionsabove

Q) When and where was the club ormed? A) eam Rubber Ripperz was ormed in December2007,with 6 members. We are unctional in Puneand Mumbai as o now.

Q) How o ten do members meet up? A) Te active members meet up every weekend.

Q) Which aspect o riding is the group more into? A) ouring / long distance trips.

Q) What distinguishes this biking group rom other A) It is the only motorcycle club which is exclusive

Pulsar 200s and Pulsar 220s.

Q) How many riders are associated with the groupcurrently?

A) Tere are 28 members so ar in the club.

Q) Do the members have any common hangoutzones?

A) Tere is no specifc place where we hang out.But the most likely places are Chandani Chowk,Koregaon Park and Kondhwa areas in Pune.

Q) Where is one most likely to see the group inaction?

A) Chandani Chowk and Mutha Ghats near Pune.

Q) Is there any biking hierarchy within the group? A) No we donot have any such system.

All the members are treated equally.

Q) Are there any requisites to joining the group? A) Yes,you need to be the owner o a Pulsar 200/220 with the bike you need to have a proper riding helme

25 july 2009 August 2009


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IceKUBE Acoustic Speaker

Te IceKUBE acoustic speaker rom Ice ech (USA) is the rstcompact device o its kind. It produces antastic sound romalmost any solid sur ace using the latest acoustic vibrationtechnology. Sound waves emanated rom the IceKUBEbecome vibrating pressure waves, trans erring sound to thesur ace its sitting on, turning it into an acoustic speaker andcreate a surround sound eeling, making your room comealive with high quality sound.

Price: Rs. 4,500

Nokia N97

Te latest rom Nokia eatures a big touch screen, a ull QWER Y keyboard, and

32GB o internal fash memory, 3G support, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 5-megapixel cam-era. But neither the touch user inter ace nor the resistive touch-screen even comesclose to that o the iPhone. Adding to its woes is its sky-high price tag, and anoutdated operating system but nevertheless all you people are still going to desire itand so we had no choice but to eature it on this page.

Price: Rs. 34,000

Aiptek pocket projector

Portable Video Players are history! Whats the kicks in watching youravorite videos on a 2 inch screen? Get the Pocket Projector on yourpalm and project your videos in a huge 50 inch size, wherever you like.Te Digital Video Projector rom Aiptek uses LCoS (Liquid Crystal onSilicon) projection technology and can project videos rom your iPod,DigiCam, Camcorders, Cell Phones, and also your Game Consoles.

Price: Rs 17,000

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I the rst installment o the rans ormers movie blew your minds o , then thesequel is all set to sweep you o your eet! Te Revenge o the Fallen introducesmotorcycles into the robotic mayhem. Contrary to the reports o a Buell based Ar-cie robot that foated on the net, the movie in reality employs the services o a MV

Agusta F4, a Ducati 1098 and a Suzuki B-King as a part o the Autobot gang. Apartrom the bikes and Megan Fox serving as eye candy, the movie has a ew heartrend-

ing scenes too, like the Audi R8 being sawed down or example. Enough o spoilersthen, we think its time or you to watch rans ormers now.Motoroids ip:

Dont waste bandwidth downloading the low-res DVD rip. Instead watch it onthe big screen at a theatre near you. Its worth every penny.

Masala movies woven around the biking subject, like Bikers Boyz or orque agood eye candy. However, its the motorcycle documentaries like Te Long Way Round or Faster that really appeal to a true biker. One such Indian documentary that earned a lot o applause rom bikers around the globe was Riding Solo Te op O Te World. And i you are one o the many like us who were smittenby that Dirt rack Production, then this is just the lm or you. Christened OneCrazy Ride, this new documentary chronicles the adventures o ve bikecharting their own route through the eastern extremes o India. o know more,or to order your own DVD, log on to www.dirttrackproductions.com

ACID TESTAugust 2009


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Collecting riding gear is ast becoming a passion or me. As aras race boots go though, its only a set o Alpinestars SMX-4that I have been cherishing or over an year now. I have had theliberty o trying on some other brands/models as well, but theSMX-4 has suited me the most, yet. Being less hardcore thanthe top o the line race boots, the SMX-4 are so ter aroundthe ankle, making it easy to walk around when you are o your bike. On the bike, the sole is per ectly contoured and

works well even on the ootpegs o bikes like the Pulsar orthe Karizma, which are niether too commuter oriented, nortoo hardcore. Tese boots can pose a problem while shi ting

on the ootpegs o out-and-out commuterish, rubber ladenootpegs o some bikes. Te toe end o the boot is quite broad

and swollen, making the process o squeezing your leg betweenthe peg and the gear shi ter a little di cult. I have had a coupleo crashes while having shod these boots and they have servedtheir purpose just right. Tere is an extra bit o protection orthe heel and the shin, while the ankle is designed to bend inthe orward direction only, and not sideways. Te stock plastictoe sliders are su ciently thick but i you tend to scrape yourtoes on a regular basis, I would strongly recommend shi ting tothe magnesium type they are thicker and have a longer li e.

ROHITS ALPINESTARS SMX-4

DSG NERO

New gear, more often than not will work perfectly. We tell you what state itll be inafter it undergoes some hammering

Te DSG NERO proved to be a ver y good investment or mebeing my very frst article o riding gear. Firstly, its easy on thepocket compared to most o the riding gear available in themarket. Secondly it caters per ectly to your need or a basicriding jacket. Te jacket comes with a water proo liner andprotective elements in the shoulder, back and elbow regions.Te jacket works well in various weather conditions. For rainsor winters, the waterproo -cum-thermal liner is a boon andfts in very com ortably with minimum water seepage. Inthe summer, get rid o the liner, and the six air vents provideenough ventilation.

Tere is some space inside the liner to store your cellphoneand a ew other small articles and protect them rom gettingdrenched during wet weather. Te textile quality is good andthe zips never get stuck. Earlier DSG jackets had this problem,but my jacket comes rom a later lot whereon the company hasadressed the issue.

With practically no drawbacks (except the velcro aroundthe neck that tends to leave a rash sometimes) the jacket is asteal or its Rs. 5250 price tag.

ACID TEST

ACID TESTAugust 2009


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A ter about nine long years, dozens o crashes, relentless

abuse and clocking close to one lakh kilometers, thegood old Fiero is still as ready or responsibility andgame or challenge as it ever was. It has withstood

the toughest test that ever could be the test o time. It stillunctions with clockwork precision, consistently returns a uel

e ciency o 45kmpl and gives its peers a good run or theirmoney. Te rock solid and incredibly reliable bike has provedits mettle yet again by winning the cover story contest eaturedelsewhere in this issue by a huge margin.

Te time has taken its toll on its heart though, the enginesomehow doesnt eel as punchy as it did during its prime, andsometimes I do eel the need or a bit more poke when on thehighways. Te lack o a th gear too makes itsel obvious a terhaving ridden the modern 150s. Its been some time since Ireplaced the clutch plates and its quite evident that Ill haveto go in or a new set very soon. While ascending the ghats,

I realize that the gap between the ratios o the second andthird gear is quite large. Tird cog eels a tad too tall to thrustahead with assurance, while second is a little too short andrevvy. Te ront tyre, even a ter having done close to a hundredthousand kays, still has some groove le t on it. Its all thanksto the eather-light ront o the bike that makes its steeringprobably the lightest ever on any reasonably powered bike inthe country making it one o the best o -roading machinesthe country has produced.

O course, I cannot compare its corner carving capabilitiesto the incomparably better balance o todays bikes, but knowingthat this bike was one o the rst 4-srtroke 150s o the country,I dont have anything to complain about. Utterly robust andreliable, the Fiero holds true to the Indestructible epithetbestowed very ondly by the journalist raternity on it. I know itdoesnt anymore take a Fiero to catch a Fiero, but its sure takes aFiero to make my heart skip a beat.

Tis puny little 150cc monster needs nointroduction. Every other automobile

journalist, including me, has been praisingthis Yamaha, times without number, or itshandling abilities and how its made oddero the cubic capacity game by delivering aper ormance that could shame bikes closer tothe quarter litre capacity. Since none o the

other magazines have given the readers a longterm report yet, let me be the rst to do it.Even amidst all the praise, there have beenpeople ridiculing the R15 too essentially thebreed who advocate the act that there isnt any replacement or displacement. But putting allsuch critics aside, I did buy this motorcycle. A downgrade as some would call it, I sold o my 220cc motorcycle or this baby supersport.So have I made a mistake? No, I dont think so.I have owned this bike or almost a year now.

In all these months the R15 has clockeover 10,000 kms since it was parked a

weekend bike. But times are changingbike is now assisting me in my daily cas well. And this is precisely where she impressing me even more. Its light weiand precise handling gives it fick abnone other. I agree to the act that there

any juice under the 5,000 mark. But oget used to the bike, keeping her in a meisnt all that di cult. She has been retura decent uel economy between 35 to

within the city. No parts have been replbut by this month end I would be goingnew set o clutch plates, oil and air ltand would be shi ting rom the Yamaluoil to Motul semi synthetic. Read this smonth or my R15 experience a ter I ca orementioned components.

TVS FIERO

YZF-R15

tech-speak August 2009


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A ter an intense evaluation o all engine concepts the Saint-Hilaireteam designed a unique engine called the Quasiturbine combustionengine in 1996. Te Quasiturbine engine has none o the intricate

parts o a typical piston engine like a cranksha t, valves, pistons, pushrods, rockers or cams. It operates more like a rotary (Wankel) engine.Te housing (stator) orms the cavity in which the rotor rotates. Itcontains an intake port, an exhaust port and a port or the spark-plug.Te rotor is made o our blades, which replace the pistons o a typicalinternal combustion engine. As the rotor blades turn, the volume o the volume o the chambers varies. First the volume increases, whichallows the uel-air mixture to expand. Ten the volume decreases,

which compresses the mixture into a smaller space. As the mixture iscompressed, a spark ignites the mixture which pushes the rotor givingmotion. However unlike a 4-stroke engine, as soon as one combus-tion stroke is ending the next is ready to re. In one revolution o therotor, our power strokes are created. Tats eight times more than atypical piston engine! Te result is continuous combustion, just like inthe airplane gas turbine.

Te Quasiturbine engine is able to burn uel more e ciently thanany other type o engine. It also has some other signi cant advan-tages like almost no vibration because the engine is per ectly bal-anced, aster acceleration without a fywheel, higher torque at lowerrpm, nearly oil- ree operation and lesser wear and tear because o lessmoving parts. Te one and only Wankel engine still in production,

the Mazda RX8s engine already puts out an incredible 2xx bhp roma 1.3 litre engine. But unlike the Wankel engine, the Quasiturbineis also more uel e cient than a conventional IC engine. Ongoingresearch at the Sweden University is claiming it to be upto 60%more uel e cient than a conventional engine. So i and when theQuasiturbine becomes a reality we might be able to extract upwardso 300 bhp as well as 30 kpl rom say a 1.3 litre engine.

Why arent we already using it?

Considering the modern internal combustion engine hasenjoyed almost 120 years o design re nements, the Qua-siturbine engine is still in its in ancy. Te engine is not usedin any real-world applications that would test its suitability a replacement or the conventional IC engine. It is still in itprototype phase. Te best look anyone has gotten so ar is wit was demonstrated on a go-kart in 2004 (check out the vidon You ube). So why arent the Hondas and Audis o this weven acknowledging this technology, well because they havready invested zillions o dollars in developing the convenengine, and it will take up atleast a decade o R&D to get thQuasiturbine ready or use.For more in ormation on the Quasiturbine engine, other entypes and related topics, check out the links on our website.

What are the Advantages?

Whats the deal with this new engine ?

Report Mihir Gadre

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August 2009History


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The Wanker!

Te 75 Suzuki RE5 with Star-trek inspired dials and tail-lamp.

Te 76 REs ditched the star-trek inspired dials or normdials and a conventional tail-lamp

Te Mazda RX-8, currently the only productionautomobile with a rotary engine.

Te Wankel engine in its complete orm and glory.

Y ou might have heard about the Wankel rotary engine rom Mazdas RX8 sports car, but did youknow that the rotary engine ound its way into some motorcycles as well? Te most notable o the rotary engined bikes produced was the Suzuki RE5. Many manu acturers experimented withthe Wankel engine in the early 70s but Suzuki was the only motorcycle manu acturer that used

the rotary engine on a mass produced bike.Suzuki showcased its rst and only, rotary engined motorcycle at the okyo motor show in late 1973.

Te RE5 was Suzukis technical fagship at the time. Te engine was based on NSUs licensed Wankel ro-tary technology. It was an extremely re ned mill, thanks to its design with no reciprocating parts like theconventional IC engine. Te rotary engine produced impressive power gures rom a low displacementengine and seemed per ect or motorcycle applications.

Report Mihir Gadre

Specifcations Suzuki RE5 Suzuki GT550Engine type Single Rotor 2-stroke Air-

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Engine type Single Rotor Wankel engine

2 stroke Aircooled inline-3

Displacement 497 cc 543 ccPower 62 bhp at

6,500 rpm50 bhp at6,500 rpm

Torque 75 Nm at3,500 rpm

54 Nm at6,000 rpm

Fuel consump -tion

11-12 kpl 13-15 kpl

Weight 229 kg 200 kgAcceleration:Quarter Mile

13.9 sec at 148kph

14.6 sec at 141kph

Top speed 176 km/h 158 kph

Te rotary engine has a much simpler design as there is no need or cam-sha ts, cranksha ts, pistons, connecting rods, intake and exhaust valves andthus has a very ew moving parts, making it re ned and rev-happy. Te RE5

was quite advanced in its steering and overall handling with critics aroundthe world remarking on this. It also had exceptional ground clearance andyou had to be a brave man indeed to scrape the pegs o an RE5 on its origi-nal Japanese tyres.Te RE5s rotary engine produced a lot o heat, requiring a large and cum-bersome radiator or liquid cooling as well as a separate oil cooling radiator.Te very high exhaust temperatures necessitated the use o an air coolingduct between inner and outer shells along with external heat guards mak-ing the exhaust pipes heavy and complicated. Ignition was CDI but usedtwo sets o ignition points, one or normal acceleration and the other underdeceleration. Tis also required additional sensors and speed relays. Tere

were three separate oil tanks (sump, gearbox and total loss tank) and two oilpumps (one or normal engine lubrication and one to supply oil or tip seallubrication via the carb). Te throttle controlled not only the primary car-buretor butterfy but a second valve in the inlet mani old o the secondary throat (the port valve) as well as the oil pump which provided lubrication

or the tip seals by mixing oil with uel. Te carburetor was adaptedrotary power unit in a car and was exceedingly complicated by motstandards (o the day) and only operated well when in a care ulstate, something o ten outside the abilities o the average owner.Motorcycle buyers in the mid-1970s did not take to the RE5, and vero them were actually sold. Final numbers were around 7,000 units

wide with most o those going to the U.S.A. Te RE5s complex lomechanicals combined with some teething problems made the buyer

or sa er alternatives. Te reality though was that the bike was mupler than it looked and gave good service to the ew who persistedMany RE5 owners have lovingly restored their bikes. On the road, th

was heavy compared to the GS500 but was much more power ul animportantly produced substantially more real world torque. Ridden sethe bike would return around 37 miles per imperial gallon. reated wRE5 proved to be a reliable bike provided you were prepared or its heel, the single spark plug. Carry a spare one and the bike was as gany Japanese machine o its time. It has to be one o the most novemachines on the road today.

Te motor tooling and blank apex seals rom the Hercules were later used by Norton to produce the Norton Commander model in the early 1980s. wotypes o Commander were built. Te rst, code-named P52 was a single-seatmodel equipped or police use, while the second version o the Commander,code-named P53, was a dual-seat model sold as a civilian tourer.

Dutch manu acturer Van Veen produced the OCR-100tween 1978 and 1980.Te rst prototype was complet1974 using a 1000 cc Comotor 624 twin-rotor engine. series production o the OCR 1000 began in 1978. 38 ex

were built be ore production ceased in 1981.

From 1974 to 1977 Hercules produced a limited number o motorcycles powered by Wankel engines. It used a 297cc singlerotor Wankel engine which produced 27 bhp at 6500 rpm andpropelled the 176 kg bike to a top speed o 140 km/h. It alsoreturned a respectable kpl o 15.5.

How the RE5 compared to a contemporary 550 cc two-strokemotorcycle from the Suzuki stable

Hercules Wankel 2000 Norton Commander Van-Veen OCR-1000

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B e p r e p a r e d f o

r t h e d i v i n e

j u s t i c e, y o u

s i n n e r !

The word hybrid takes ameaning! This bike fea

a Bajaj Discover bo

Hero Honda Karizma fawith the Honda emblemWings splattered all ac

it. What do we call it? HDiscover

Do only urine here. Wait a sec, isnt tspot on the door a little too high to anything else? Even the former feat is a litoo dif cult to achieve wed reckon

Read that? Dont you dare involve yourself inan accident on this road. If only all the roadsin the world had such a sign. Sigh!

Lets get rockin baybeh! Yo, dude, get us a VadaPaav, two Missals and a two Pesal Chai. Oh andplay Laavni in the meantime

And you conceited souls thought it was great, eh?

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03. Who needs a schoolbus? The kid sitting at therear seat is made to wear a helmet to comply withthe safety regulations.

04. So, which variety of humans would youprefer to have?

Disclaimer : Te pictures in this feature have been procured from theInternet and are not owned by Motoroids

02. Wait a minute, what is that supposed to mean?Are we supposed to be, or not be Rash (RohitParadkar) to not end in a crash? Very confusing.

01. Wine and dine Indian ishtyle. Have a roastedchild bear with child beer - an unbrewed, raw formof beer which tastes best when served chilled.

Think you can get crazier thanthis? Send us your crazy picturesat [email protected] andwell feature them here along withyour name.

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motoroids2 aug 2009

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