F1, trickle-down, etc.

[James Montebello]

Hmm...For several years now, Kevin Cameron, an engineer who writes an
excellent column for _Cycle World_, has said exactly the opposite.  
Current F1 engines have far higher specific outputs than current
front-line 4-stroke motorcycle engines.  Pneumatic valve gear is not used
by any of the bikes.  None of them approach the insane piston speeds
currently seen by F1 engines, nor do they use materials anywhere near as
exotic.  The 2-strokes used by the premier classes are not particularly
sophisticated, and haven't been developed to significantly higher power
levels in several years, primarily because their chassis and tires simply
won't handle anymore than they have.

On street bikes, fuel injection has only very recently become commonplace,
and still isn't universal on even the best-selling sporting machines.

Now that the premier class is switching from 2-strokes to 4-strokes, I
expect we'll see some catching up.  But the very fact that they have to
play catch up indicates that bikes are, in fact, quite a ways behind cars
in the technology stakes.  Most bike companies are relatively small, and
have tiny race budgets in compared to the F1 budgets of Mercedes, BMW,
Renault, and Ford.  Honda is alone in serving both camps, and has 
certainly lead the 4-stroke charge in bike engines historically.  

Perhaps 20 years ago, your statement was true.  It certainly hasn't
been for the last 10 years, however.

james montebello


On Fri, 28 Sep 2001, Bob Wooten wrote:

> Amen to that.  I have said for years & years now, if you really want to see
> where "automotive" technology is, look to the motorcycles, THEY have
> technology.
> 
> BW
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-diy_efi at diy-efi.org [mailto:owner-diy_efi at diy-efi.org]On
> Behalf Of Eric Bryant
> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 6:45 AM
> To: 'diy_efi at diy-efi.org'
> Subject: RE: F1, trickle-down, etc.
> 
> 
> > From: Bruce [mailto:nacelp at bright.net]
> > Subject: Re: F1, trickle-down, etc.
> >
> >
> >
> > Honda and bikes are a whole nother issue.  The race shop just
> > has to be the
> > most interesting place in the world to work
> > Bruce
> 
> The neat thing about Honda is that their racing guys end up getting promoted
> to high positions within the company, where they can really do some good.
> For some odd reason, racing engineers seem to have a positive effect on a
> company's product - who would have ever guessed such a thing?
> 
> I can't imagine what goes on in Honda's race shop.  Just seeing some of the
> stuff that they turned out for bike racing makes one really wonder what
> their "top secret" projects look like.  And then, they turn around and find
> a way to put all that gee-whiz stuff into production.  Simply amazing.
> 
> I just can't wait for the four-stroke GP bikes.  There's so much technology
> development that's on hold because of regulations in other racing series,
> and I think it's going to get a chance to shine in the next few years.  That
> is, if anyone can actually bully a 300 HP 320 lb bike around the track.
> 
> 
> Eric Bryant
> mailto:bryante at ghsp.com
> http://www.bryantperformance.com
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from diy_efi, send "unsubscribe diy_efi" (without the quotes)
> in the body of a message (not the subject) to majordomo at lists.diy-efi.org
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from diy_efi, send "unsubscribe diy_efi" (without the quotes)
> in the body of a message (not the subject) to majordomo at lists.diy-efi.org
> 
> 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from diy_efi, send "unsubscribe diy_efi" (without the quotes)
in the body of a message (not the subject) to majordomo at lists.diy-efi.org