WSB BLADE ON THE ROAD LATEST MOTOGP TECH 10 INCREDIBLE YEARS REAL ROAD, REA'S ACTUAL BIKE FACTORY SECRETS REVEALED IN WSB, MOTOGP, BSB + ROADS
THE BIKES | THE RIDERS |
THE BIKES | THE RIDERS | THE INSIDE STORY
'THIS IS THE SIDE OF ME NOBODY SEES'
THE ROSSI INTERVIEW
THE INSIDE STORY 'LORENZO IS DANGEROUS, STONER UNBELIEVABLE. BUT I ONLY RACE TO WIN'
SPRING 2010
MOTOGP | WSB | BSB | ROADS
SPRING 2010
HASLAM, TOSELAND, CRUTCHLOW, BYRNE, REA, CAMIER & SYKES
SEASON GUIDE 2010
ACCESS ALL AREAS WITH WSB'S BRIT PACK
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STONER'S GENIUS ROSSI'S HOLIDAYS MOTOGP 2012
THE ULTIMATE BIKE RACING PREVIEW
24/3/10 16:01:04
Approximately a million man-hours went into making this story happen. Read it slowly.
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WORLD SUPERBIKE ON THE ROAD
‘THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN’
WSB bikes may be production based, but can anything with more power-to-weight than an F1 car ever feel at home in the real world? Only one way to find out – and only once WORDS MICHAEL GUY PICTURES MYKEL NICOLAOU
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his shouldn’t be happening. I’ve just hit the red starter button on Jonathan Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda World Superbike and I’m about to head out on to the public road. No, this isn’t a joke, and nor is this a road-legal race replica dressed up in fancy clothes – it’s the real deal, as ridden by Rea to fourth place at Phillip Island. The pressure I’m feeling from Ten Kate team boss Ronald, and Rea’s crew chief William, as I’m about to leave the safe confines of their clinical workshop and out on to the streets is intense. I guess watching the £125,000 race winner that you’ve spent most of your waking life over the past year fettling, perfecting and loving disappear in the hands of a journalist onto a public road will do that to a man. With the tickover set to around 3,000rpm, the clunk when I raise my foot and select first gear of the race pattern gearbox is harsh and I’m sure I let out a little whimper at the crunch it makes. I glance a look at Ronald but he’s unfazed – the noise is perfectly normal and goes with the territory. With a hard race-spec cush drive and tight chain the bike wants to go, and it wants to go now. But I’m pleasantly surprised at the relatively normal feeling from the clutch and throttle and that pulling away is a simple task – though the resonance from the 220bhp powerplant is a constant reminder of what lies beneath.
Steady, don’t scare the locals
Top: ‘See this motorcycle? This motorcycle is priceless to me. No pressure. Enjoy.’ Middle: A gentle spring ride through Holland. Above: Loodvrije? Loodvervanger? Soort benzine? The mother of all misfuels beckons.
It’s slow going to start with and there’s no reason to change out of first gear. The alldigital dashboard is flashing numbers at me that I’m not familiar with and with no speedometer I’m using other traffic to try and govern my speed, not wishing to upset the local population so early into my ride. I need to find some open roads because this thoroughbred just isn’t made for this sort of riding. The suspension is so stiff I can feel every minute crack and join in the block paved road and with each speed bump I’m ejected from the seat and slammed back into it again – yet the Ohlins suspension barely gives despite the thud of my 11-stone body. A wrong turn sees me turn down the local high street, trickling past the supermarket trailing big decibels and desparately searching for my reflection in plate glass windows. I’m trying to keep a low profile, but going the wrong way about it. People are starting to stare, making sure their children are close to their side. The look on their faces says it all: I need to leave this place. Now. Heading out of town, the speed bumps become less frequent and the speed limit signs dissipate. I click down to select second, completing probably the lowest-revved change this bike has ever made. The quickshifter means you don’t have to close the throttle, but there is obviously some unburnt fuel kicking around the cylinder head and it ignites with a bang as the ignition cuts.
I’ve been lucky enough to ride some quick bikes in my time with MCN – full race system and power-commanded Japanese and Italian exotica, but this Ten Kate WSB machine makes them feel like stock 600s. And I don’t mean that in a road-tester-reaching-for-astartling-exaggeration kind of way. I mean it literally. Weighing 40kg less and blessed with 50bhp more than a road-going litre sportsbike, it has a power to weight ratio to shame an F1 car - some 1350bhp per tonne. The tight, highly-strung chassis makes everything instant and as I wind on the throttle and watch the numbers climb I know it’s all about to get very serious. The monster torque is combined with a rough, raw growl but it’s not all exhaust noise I’m feeling. It’s the world’s best-tuned Blade motor showing me what Rea has to play with at weekends.
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WORLD SUPERBIKE ON THE ROAD Just enough steering lock, just enough grip from the slick tyres, just long enough without attracting attention to enjoy the 220bhp Blade on the road. Watch the video at www.motorcyclenews. com/tenkateroad.
‘I’M STARTING TO LEAN THE BIKE, WHILE BEING MINDFUL OF HOW COSTLY ANY MISTAKE WOULD BE’ Warp speed – and then a problem By 10,000rpm the bike’s nose is reaching for the sky and the revs are still rising scary fast. I roll the throttle slightly to get the front back to earth, hook third and it’s up again. This has to stop. I can’t comprehend the speed I’ve just reached in just a partial turn of the throttle – and I don’t really want to. I finally find a twisty road, but the 16.5in Pirelli slicks used by Rea at the January Portimao test aren’t working. With no tyre warmers to get them up to their 60°C-plus operating temperatures, grip and feel is minimal. The ultra-stiff suspension and steering damper aren’t helping either, but with each corner I can feel the tyre starting to wake up and begin to work. Before long fun is edging out fear and I’m leaning the bike, while being mindful of how
Riding Rea’s 100dB+ WSB machine through civilisation: surreal and hilarious, yes; stealthy, no.
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Fireblade’s inherent good manners and rideability haven’t been lost . Bottom left: ‘No, it isn’t insured for the road. No, it isn’t taxed. No, it has no numberplate. Or lights. No, it’s not mine... ’ Below: Safely back in Ten Kate’s workshop.
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WORLD SUPERBIKE ON THE ROAD
‘THE BIKE COP CIRCLES ME OPEN-MOUTHED. SUDDENLY THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS WHOLE AFFAIR SINKS IN’ costly any mistake would be. Now I can feel the benefit of a 162kg bike compared with a 200kg road version as I run through some left, right third gear corners. But at well over 100dB and with nothing so much as a nod to the law about it, my fear for the day is realised. I guess it was only a matter of time before I attracted some unwanted attention. It’s a bike cop, and by the look on his face my actions are going to have consequences. I try to do everything right, take my helmet off and dig out my driving licence, but I sense we’re already way beyond all that. He’s circling the bike open mouthed, flabbergasted at what he can see. From the lack of numberplate, mirrors, lights, indicators or speedo, to the slick tyres and offensive exhaust note he’s agog, and when he hears that I’m English his astonishment reaches a new peak. Ronald Ten Kate has now arrived on the scene and there are some frantic exchanges and arm-waving. From the outside Holland may seem like a country of few rules, but the ones they do have they don’t like to see broken. People get locked up here for excessive speeding and vehicles impounded. The seriousness of this whole affair is sinking in like a barium meal. The option to flee darts across through my brain – he’s on a Honda Pan European so one thing’s for sure – he’ll never catch me.
I don’t know what Ronald said to him at this point, but the bike cop looks me square in the eye and tells me to go. For sure he’s not giving me his blessing and I’m left with the clear idea I need to get this bike out of his sight and off the road immediately. My Arai is on in a flash and I pull away, tentatively struggling with basic clutch and throttle operation due to the shakes. My heart is pumping stupidly fast. Somebody, somewhere just handed me a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
Fear to fun, to fear, to fun again There’s no mirrors so I can’t see if the bike cop is following me and I don’t want to look back. But I spend the next ten minutes riding like I’m trying to on my test – minus the mirror and signalling part of course. With the bike safely back on its workbench in Ten Kate’s workshop I can relax. I’m not in prison and the bike is one piece – everyone looks relieved. Ronald has a patient grin on his face as he holds out his hand for me to shake. Neither of us mention the bike cop. Instead he leans over and says: “Good job, but Michael you know this will never, ever happen again”. I’ve just ridden a full-blown WSB bike around the streets of a sleepy Dutch town and potentially made civic life a little more uncomfortable for my hosts. I have to agree it was a crazy idea. The bottom line here is that while this bike is capable of doing 200mph and lapping within 1.8 seconds of Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP M1 at Phillip Island, it was totally useable on the road. In nearly three hours of riding I didn’t stall it once. The fuel mapping and throttle connection are immaculate and the seating position isn’t particularly cramped or uncomfortable. The biggest issues, as a road bike, are the acute lack of steering lock (designed to mitigate the kind of hand-amputating tank slappers possible at WSB speeds) and the incredible stiffness. I’m not saying this bike could be your daily commuter, but Ten Kate have invested a great deal in getting it from stock to WSB winner while leaving the bike’s famous exploitability intact. The DNA of the street bike remains; the package is useable. Tadao Baba would be proud. But man is it fast.
everything but I’ve often wondered about how good it would be on the road. I wouldn’t have to worry about being top of the speed trap somewhere like the North West 200 that’s for sure – the thing would do 200mph easy!”
Properly unwound at Portimao.
AND ON THE TRACK? Portimao is demanding track, full of blind crests and undulations. But there are no excuses, I’m riding the bike that topped the winter test here in the hands of Rea. My first lap is all about track familiarisation, but as I exit the final corner and open the throttle my focus is most definitely drawn to the mindbending acceleration that I’m feeling. I crest the rise where the pit wall starts and the front wheel lifts before being reunited gently with the Tarmac through the PI Pectel anti-wheelie electronics. The change light flickers in third, fourth and fifth, but then I hit the brakes for turn one long before maximum revs in sixth, tens of metres away from Rea’s usual braking point. Turn-in is accurate and by mid-corner the chassis is poised and balanced before it’s hard on the gas again. You could ride this bike every day for a month and still never get used to the speed, but it’s still not an unwieldy beast. The chassis setup, power delivery and mapping are all geared toward rideability. The team learnt its lesson at the start of 2009 when they struggled after producing a fast but hard to ride bike. Now the perfectly-balanced traits of the road bike have been nurtured and enhanced. Although steroid-boosted and rippling with Marvel Comic-muscles, on a big, wide track like Portimao, it’s civilised enough for mortals like to not just ride but begin to exploit its 220bhp. Better power-to-weight than an F1 car remember, but it wants to neither kill nor humiliate you. ‘Enjoy’ reads the sticker only the rider can see. And it means it.
With thanks... ‘You rode my bike?’ We called a slightly bemused Jonathan Rea the day after our ride. After we apologised for not asking first he said: “I’m glad you liked it – it must have been a lot of fun. I know it’s stiff and
Thanks to Ronald Ten Kate and his team for going along with the silly idea of letting us ride their number one race bike on the road. Thanks to Johnny for not being too peed off. And thanks to the cop for his understanding. We shan’t trouble you again. At least not until Ten Kate build a MotoGP bike.
Rea demolished rivals at the winter test. motorcyclenews.com | MCNSPORT
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TEN KATE HONDA CBR1000RR
How Ten Kate out-think HRC's brightest to get better than the best out of the Blade 1 | Engine Ten Kate have a well deserved reputation for building some of the most powerful engines in WSB and WSS. Using a combination of Honda kit parts and their own components including tailor-made pistons and conrods, Rea’s 2010 contender is no exception. But it’s not all about chasing big outright bhp and then making it rideable through electronics. The team spend hours experimenting on the dyno with tuning specs and cam profiles to ensure the motor has the rideability and smooth power that aids mechanical grip.
2 | Suspension Midway through 2009 the team switched from WP to Ohlins and now use FGR000 closed-cartridge 25mm forks and fullyadjustable TTX36 rear shock. The team’s
previous relationship with WP saw factory technicians based in-house working on tailor-made solutions for its riders. Although the relationship with WP has ended, the team have continued this work with Ohlins and fully utilise their suspension dyno. This is important because they are not a full factory Ohlins team and don’t have access to the latest spec through-rod forks, as used by the factory Ducati and Yamaha teams. The team conducted exhaustive testing during the winter with different shapes, sizes and specs of outer tubes, and have the facility to change and adapt internal pistons, rings and valves in both the TTX front forks and the rear shock.
3 | Brakes The team began using Nissin brakes in 2005 and became a development team
for the Japanese brake specialists in the same year, meaning they get the latest six-piston prototype material. Ten Kate benefit from a full-time Nissin technician who joins the team at every test and race. When Rea first started riding the superbike he barely used his rear brake, but he’s now starting to use it more and more to control wheelies. SBS brake pads are new for each race – front and rear.
4 | Swingarm The GPMS (formerly Team Kenny Roberts) swingarm was introduced during 2006 when James Toseland joined the team and has been used by some (but not) all the team’s riders since then. The swingarms can be made stiffer or more flexible than stock and give the team the facility to run the bike 20mm longer. While Checa used the Honda kit
3
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SUPERBIKE ON THE ROAD
swingarm last year, Rea used the GPMS item and still does. The choice is essentially about rider feel and preference in mid-corner grip and dealing with chatter.
5 | Linkage Also down to rider preference, Rea likes a stiff bike with steep rate of progression from the link. It is critical, especially on bumpy tracks, to prevent the bike from skipping while offering good grip. Neukirchner tried Rea’s rear link set-up and found it unrideable, while Kiyonari’s set-up in 2009 was unlike anything the team had ever used in terms of rate of progression.
6 | Electronics Pectel ECU, datalogging and advanced electronics systems enable the team to make infinite changes to the fuel maps, and use advanced electronic strategies while recording and analysing data acquired from the hundreds of sensors around the bike. Advanced electronics include traction control, anti-wheelie, launch control and pitlane speed control. Rea uses a lot of electronics, but the one area he’s starting to
use less is the anti-wheelie system, due to his increased use of his back brake to keep the front wheel down.
7 | Adjustability Rea has plenty of options available to him during a race and can refine the set-up of his bike using the selection of buttons on his left-hand-side handlebar. Red = increase in traction control, Green = less traction control, Blue = change of map, Top black = pit lane speed limiter, Bottom black = Launch control activation.
8 | Dash The bike can be put into ‘Mechanics’ mode for the warm-up procedure, which displays rpm – but when the bike is actually raced, this part of the display becomes the lap time for the rider’s reference. Instead of a rev counter, a sequence of lights illuminates across the top of the dash and there is a circular LED cluster that flashes red when the revs are at their maximum. The dash also displays oil and water temperature and indicates when the mapping has been changed.
9 | Cooling While the bike did not overheat in 2009, it did run too hot at times, leading to the development of a larger-capacity oil cooler. Changes to the exhaust system saw downpipes moved away from the oil cooler, which has contributed to reduced engine temperatures under racing conditions. Optimum operating temperature is 80°C; over 85°C the bike starts to lose power.
10 | Exhaust During the winter ,the team spent four days in Italy at the Arrow factory experimenting with different technology. For 2010 the team are using revised and reshaped downtubes to aid cooling and make power smoother. Rea has tested a HRC exhaust, but raced with the Arrow system in Australia and looks set to continue with this in the coming races.
Enjoy!!! When Rea is having fun, he is generally fast – the team have added a sticker on the inside of the screen where only he can see it. It simply says ‘Enjoy!!!’
Dutch masters Ten Kate have conjured a series of refinements to what was already the world's best Fireblade.
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