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Honda is developing a new radar safety system for use in the Gold Wing (Honda /)If you want to experience automotive-like levels of comfort and equipment on two wheels, Honda’s Gold Wing has been the go-to bike for decades, but in 2021 it’s now starting to lag behind in the key safety areas, such as external sensing technology. That’s something the firm is clearly keen to rectify, so development work is already well underway on a radar-equipped Wing with adaptive cruise control. It’s fast becoming clear that adaptive cruise and radar-assisted rider alert systems are going to become a new tech battleground for the world’s bike makers. The first production bikes with radars have already been revealed in the form of BMW’s 2021 R 1250 RT and Ducati’s Multistrada V4, and many more are expected to join them in the coming months and years. That’s largely thanks to the work of Bosch, which has developed the first viable motorcycle radar cruise control system and is offering it to any manufacturer that wants to use the system. Along with BMW and Ducati, Kawasaki and KTM have already revealed deals for the Bosch setup, and others are sure to follow suit, so if the Gold Wing is to reclaim its crown as the ultimate in long-distance touring, it’s vital that it gets its own adaptive cruise system. Honda’s patents focus on how and where the new system is mounted to the bike, not necessarily how it works. (Honda /)Whether Honda has signed up with Bosch or is developing its own radar cruise isn’t clear yet, but the firm’s latest patent filings show that an ACC system is being developed for the Gold Wing. Since the technology behind adaptive cruise control and radars themselves is already well established, Honda’s patent doesn’t focus on the electronic aspects of the radar system, but on how the radar sensor itself is bolted to the bike and hidden behind the fairing. Hiding radar sensors has proved troublesome for the ACC-equipped bikes we’ve seen so far. Both Ducati and BMW’s setups tuck the Bosch-made radars into blacked-out surrounds to give the impression of dummy air intakes, but neither firm has put bodywork in front of the radar sensors. We know that cars using near-identical Bosch sensors are widely sold with thin, smooth plastic panels in front of them to hide them from sight, and Honda is aiming to do much the same. The radar waves themselves can travel through plastic, but the material needs to be smooth and relatively flat to make sure it doesn’t affect either the outgoing waves or the reflected ones that the sensors pick up to form a picture of the traffic in front of the bike. So far that seems to have caused problems for motorcycle firms, but Honda is working on solutions. The drawings show Honda looking to locate the radar in front of the Wing’s fairing and between the headlights. (Honda /)The Gold Wing radar patent specifically focuses on isolating the radar sensor and the bodywork in front of it from vibration. The radar is firmly mounted on an extension of the bike’s fairing and headlight stays, themselves bolted to the front of the frame, and Honda suggests that the gap between the radar and the body panel in front of it would be filled with a spongelike, radar-invisible damping material. The radar doesn’t change the appearance of the bike compared to the current, non-radar version. It sits above and between the headlights, set back behind the sloping front bodywork. Honda’s patent document doesn’t specify whether the radar unit is a Bosch part, as used by its rivals, but the firm does have deals in place with Bosch; the German firm provides radars for some of Honda’s cars and makes many of the ABS systems used on its bikes, so to adopt the same technology would be the simplest way to catch up with the competition. As pictured, the added radar unit doesn’t noticeably alter the Wing’s aesthetic; there’s no word on whether Bosch will supply the system. (Honda /)Ducati’s Multistrada V4 radar system also includes a rear-facing radar to monitor blind spots, with mirror-mounted lights to alert riders if there’s anything lurking over their shoulder, but Honda’s Gold Wing patent makes no mention of a rear-facing sensor. It’s possible the firm isn’t interested in the rear-sensing part of the system—BMW’s R 1250 RT doesn’t use it, so it’s not a vital component—but another patent suggests the firm is working on its own alternative. We’re not entirely sure if rear-facing radar will also be in the mix; a second patent shows the use of an ultrasonic sensor out back. (Honda /)The second Honda design uses an Africa Twin as its guinea pig rather than the Gold Wing, but shows the fitment of rear-facing ultrasonic sensor rather than a radar unit to provide warnings of vehicles behind. It’s a cheaper, simpler arrangement than radar, and one that’s already been seen on at least one two-wheeler; BMW’s C650 scooter has been offered with ultrasonic blind-spot monitoring since 2015. It’s basically the same technology that’s been used in cars’ parking sensors for decades, measuring the distance to objects using ultrasonic frequencies instead of radio waves. Between them the two patents show that Honda won’t be left behind for long when it comes to the latest trend of bikes that are aware of their surroundings. View the full article

Kevin Cameron (Robert Martin/)According to what we’ve read, some older experienced surgeons have resisted the use of checklists. It’s fine to have pride in one’s skill, but the appearance of a clamp on a post-op X-ray, inside the patient, crushes that pride. A deadly fire in a routine test of the Apollo 1 command module resulted when an accumulation of scrap bits of wire insulation and other build detritus caught fire in the pure oxygen atmosphere then being used. Among changes made to prevent future fatalities, a continuous inventory of everything that went into or out of the module was required. In similar fashion, mechanics make rules for themselves through experience to prevent bad outcomes. If you work on older bikes, you will see that other mechanics before you have made unnecessary work for themselves or have even damaged the equipment while working on it. This may have been part of their learning process, as it’s easy to fall into one’s usual mistakes; the result of ignorance or lack of thought, though let him/her who is without sin cast the first stone; or from backyard methods taken to extremes. I will review some of the incriminating evidence you may find in engines. 1) Inappropriate Use of Case Sealer Case sealer (Yamabond, Hylomar, &c) is used to seal case halves together. But it is not necessary, or even harmful, when applied to gaskets, seals, or O-rings. The mating surfaces of crankcase halves are finely machined to fit closely together, so all that is needed to assure good sealing is a thin application, sufficient to fill the fine irregularities left by machining. The mating surfaces must be clean and oil-free if the sealer is to adhere and seal properly. On modern assembly lines, robots apply sealer from a kind of pen, which leaves a uniform line of sealer about 2mm wide. That’s all it takes. If you don’t like sealant on your fingers, get a box of inexpensive acid brushes and use them to apply the stuff (throw away after use). I just checked and got a price of $9.99 for 36 of them. Modern gaskets, oil seals, and O-rings have soft surfaces which intimately conform in order to seal to other surfaces (do we use case sealer to make tires stick better to pavement?). I have seen a case in which dry cylinder base gaskets remained in place but the same gaskets, coated with sealer, oozed out and leaked. The sealer in this case acted like a high-viscosity lubricant, allowing the gasket to glide out of place. 2) Crankshaft Threads or Tapers Ruined by Hammering When I was rebuilding a lot of pressed-together two-stroke crankshafts, every now and then I would get one whose ends had been hammered into junk. Sometimes it was a threaded end, mushrooming the threads beyond use, or the end with a taper for the ignition rotor. In the latter case, the end of the taper was mushroomed by the hammering such that the rotor could no longer be mounted. I do understand that sometimes, not having a rotor puller, a person may resort to “Maybe I’ll get lucky” methods such as tapping on the end of the shaft in hope that the rotor will pop off from its own inertia. My uncle taught me this method but I soon learned otherwise (he learned during the Great Depression). No banging on parts with a steel hammer! This is why soft hammers are made, with heads of brass, plastic, or rawhide, so as not to damage what is being tapped. Aluminum, being much softer than steel, needs our compassion especially. When I didn’t have the required clutch-holding tool to remove the very tight clutch nut from a Honda CBR600 engine, I was tempted to use the bush method of “feeding a rag into the primary gears” (I actually read this one in a British bike manual). This does keep the clutch from rotating, but it exerts tremendous wedging force, tending to push the crank and clutch shafts apart. Knowing that I could order the $14.95 holding tool on the internet and probably have it in a day or two, I did other things until it arrived. Therefore it makes best sense to order the correct rotor puller or other special tool you need rather than bang on expensive parts—crankshaft!—with a hard steel hammer. If bang you must, use a soft hammer. 3) Breaking Things While Trying to Separate Crankcase Halves I recently put a fresh crankshaft into a Yamaha TD1-C 250 race engine. As I was removing the screws holding the case halves together (this is a vertically split engine) I noticed that some previous mechanic had given in to the temptation to pry between crankcase fins to separate the cases. Pieces of fin had broken out and there were gouge marks from the long-ago moments of mechano-drama. Embarrassing! We don’t want our work to look like it was done with explosives. So, some suggestions regarding separating crankcases. First, be absolutely certain that you have removed all case fasteners. Check and check again in good light. Next, cases separate best when warm. Setting the unit in hot sun or next to the shop stove for some hours softens the case sealer, just as for removing stickers from fairings. Another point is that some crankcases have a deliberately designed point or points for applying separation leverage—usually at the back of the gearbox. If not, a few moments of inspection will usually reveal some way that you can apply separating force without levering against weak sections like fins. Take a moment and it will come to you. Impatience is the enemy! Usually there is a pair of large dowel pins that align the case halves to each other, and they too resist separating. Often tapping with a plastic hammer—aluminum is soft—can keep things moving. Once the cases begin to separate, Beelzebub infiltrates your mind with the idea of poking a screwdriver between them and prying. Fight it! Carried to an extreme, this gouges up the sealing surface where the cases touch each other, leaving incriminating evidence against you and possibly creating a leak. 4) Things to Check Before Closing the Crankcase Halves When it comes time to reassemble the cases of a horizontally split engine, it’s easy to overlook small features included to prevent unwanted spinning of ball or roller bearing outer races in the case. In some cases there are C-rings or snap-rings to positively locate shafts endwise: Be sure they are present and in their grooves. Are the connecting rods free to move? Sometimes pegs, dowels, or little balls are present in bearing outer races, to be placed in corresponding little retaining slots or holes provided for them in the case. Go from bearing to bearing to be sure all are in their correct positions. On a couple of occasions I was brought DIY customer engines whose cases had been permanently bent by closing and torquing them up without putting all the locators in their proper orientation. Check also to be sure that all seals are in place. 5) Check for Free Rotation of All Shafts, and for Gear Selection Another point to be made before closing the cases is that this is the time to check for free rotation of all shafts and for gear selection. In an assembled engine, both gear shafts are located axially by being pulled up against a ball bearing, either by the output sprocket nut or by the clutch retaining nut. This is necessary to guarantee that shift dog engagement will be correct; some of the gears are located by the shift forks, and some by snap-rings on the shafts themselves. Therefore, to make the above checks before closing the cases, both shafts must be correctly located by being pulled against their respective ball bearings. This is easy with the output shaft because the only parts required are the seal spacer, drive sprocket, and nut. The nut doesn’t have to be torqued, just run solidly into place to locate the shaft where it belongs. On the clutch shaft the whole stack has to be present to allow tightening the nut to pull the shaft firmly against its bearing. Do all shafts turn easily? Does the gearbox shift all its speeds? (Sometimes you have to rotate one or the other shaft to get the dogs into position to engage the next gear.) I once ignored this rule while assembling a TZ750 Yamaha race engine at 4 a.m. When I did up the nuts after the cases were closed and torqued, I had a tight shaft, and no amount of tapping or fussing with the nuts freed it up. So it had to come apart again so I could do it right. Pride for dinner. Don’t ignore your own rules. Do have service and parts books at hand. Special tools are only a few keystrokes away. Just do everything perfectly, and the equipment you build need not bear witness against you. View the full article

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CFMoto’s new MT800 is close to its official unveil, as these leaked renderings show. (CFMoto/)CFMoto’s tie-in with KTM is increasingly bearing fruit for the Chinese firm. Earlier this year it launched its 1250TR-G tourer using the Austrian firm’s big V-twin engine and now it’s on the verge of unveiling its MT800 adventure bike based on the engine and chassis of KTM’s 790 Adventure. The MT800 design renders clearly show an adventure-style motorcycle based on the KTM Adventure. (CFMoto/)And while the impressive-looking 1250 tourer is currently still a China-only model, the MT800 is expected to be offered worldwide, and if it wasn’t for lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it would have already been officially unveiled. KTM revealed the bike’s existence in investor presentations earlier this year, initially saying it would reach the market in October 2020, a date that was revised to “Q1 2021” in the most recent presentation. CFMoto already builds the parallel-twin LC8c engine and entire bikes on behalf of KTM and is due to manufacture the China-specific KTM 750 Duke, 750 Adventure, and 750 Supermoto T models in the near future around a detuned version of the twin. The Chinese firm’s model is expected to keep the lower-displacement 790 motor and be more street-oriented than KTM models. (CFMoto/)The MT800 is seen in full in these design renders, filed with Chinese intellectual property authorities by CFMoto to stop its styling from being copied. They clearly show that despite being an adventure-style bike using the engine and frame from KTM’s 790 Adventure, it won’t directly compete with any of KTM’s existing models. That’s because for 2021, KTM’s 790 Adventure has evolved into the more powerful, 889cc 890 Adventure, while the CFMoto MT800 is expected to keep the earlier model’s 799cc capacity and lower power. The bike is also much more road-oriented than KTM’s offerings, with a bias toward touring rather than venturing off the beaten track. While the crash bars around the radiator and perforated alloy skid plate under the engine suggest some off-road ability, the bike’s heavily sculpted seat is a far cry from the much flatter, enduro-style design of the KTM Adventure, and the use of alloy wheels—a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear instead of the KTM’s 21- and 18-inch-diameter tires—shift the style toward asphalt use. Wire wheels are expected to be an option, as prototypes of the MT800 have been spied wearing them in China. Smaller-diameter wheels, a more sculpted seat, and large fuel tank all point to a touring bias as well. (CFMoto/)While the frame is the same tubular steel design that’s used by KTM, the CFMoto bike gets its own alloy swingarm and opts not to use the unusual, low-slung, side-mounted fuel tanks that enable KTM to use a long, flat seat on the 890 Adventure. Instead there’s a large, conventional tank in front of the rider, giving the MT800 a bulkier look overall. The styling is also more mainstream than the KTM, with a nose fairing that melds into the sides and tank, topped by an adjustable screen and bearing twin headlights that join in the center. Auxiliary lights are fitted to the sides, with distinctive “floating” fairing panels attached to them. RELATED: 2021 KTM 890 Adventure Rally And R First Look Given the KTM connection, WP is expected to supply the rear monoshock and upside-down fork, while Bosch will be used for the electronics, including the ABS brakes. A large TFT dash is visible in the designs, suggesting the bike will come complete with Bluetooth connectivity for audio and navigation. Rear frames also indicate luggage mounting points, though it’s unclear whether that will come standard or as an option. (CFMoto/)Rear-mounted frames give a clear indication the production MT800 is expected to be fitted with luggage as well. Prototypes have always been seen equipped with large, aluminum boxes, and that’s probably how the production version will appear. Given the KTM tie-in, the MT800 is expected to have solid build quality and components. (CFMoto/)While there are still barriers for Chinese bike firm to overcome, particularly when it comes to Western perception, the KTM-sourced parts and the fact that CFMoto already makes many of KTM’s own machines means signs are positive that the MT800 will have the build quality and reliability to compete with European and Japanese rivals when it hits the market early next year. View the full article

Dial in your sting with any of these Scorpions. View the full article

Will we see a CB1100X sport-tourer released in 2022? If so, it could look something like this. (AutoBy/)We might not have seen all of 2021′s new models yet, but rumors of the 2022 model year’s new bikes are already starting to swirl, with Japanese sources saying Honda will bring another Africa Twin-powered machine to the range in the form of the CB1100X. RELATED: Honda Puts the Africa Twin Engine in the 2021 Rebel 1100 It’s a move that makes a lot of sense. Honda’s already shown that the compact, lightweight, 1,084cc Africa Twin engine is suited to wider use, creating the new Rebel 1100 around it for the 2021 model year. Just as the smaller Rebel 500 is part of a range of models that includes the naked CB500F, sporty CBR500R, and adventure-touring CB500X, it makes sense to use the Africa Twin’s motor across a similarly wide spectrum. The rumors say it could be powered by the same 1,084cc parallel-twin engine found in the Africa Twin, bolted to a backbone-style frame. (AutoBy/)The mock-up pictures you see here are the work of Japanese bike magazine AutoBy, which has a record of accuracy with its Honda scoops. As long ago as mid-2018 the same title predicted the style and performance level of the 2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, accurately stating its power and many of the styling details more than a year before any official information was released. According to the Japanese information, the new model will feature a backbone-style frame to keep it slim, and that detail ties in neatly with a patent application filed by Honda earlier this year showing the Africa Twin engine bolted to a tubular chassis with a half-length backbone and a cradle underneath, using the engine itself as the third side of the triangle to create a rigid structure. An earlier patent showed the engine being used within the tubular chassis for more rigidity. (Japanese Patent Office/)That patent also showed upside-down forks, radial calipers, and a cast-aluminum seat subframe, all elements that also appear in the mock-up images from AutoBy, albeit with differences in the design details. If the bike in Honda’s patent was described to an artist, it’s easy to imagine them coming up with something like these mock-ups. RELATED: 2021 Honda CB500F, CB500X, And CBR500R While the patent doesn’t show styling, the Japanese information is that the CB1100X won’t follow existing styles from models like the CB500X or NC750X. It makes sense that as the largest “X” model, it will be the first to show a new look that will later filter down to the smaller machines. There’s definitely a hint of the CB125X concept bike from the 2018 EICMA show in the renders, with a similar use of angles and flat surfaces on the bodywork. Despite a hint of adventure bike in its height, the overall stance is more like the Interceptor-based VFR800X Crossrunner, a bike this would effectively replace. Although styling is an open question, there’s a hint of the CB125X concept bike in these renders. The side cases are a nice touch. (AutoBy/)If Honda does in fact build a CB1100X using the Africa Twin engine, we also know that particular configuration is likely to make around 100 hp and 77.5 pound-feet, which would be roughly on a par with the VFR800X on power and significantly ahead when it comes to torque. We’ve still got at least a year to wait before we find out how accurate these renders are, but the evidence for a CB1100X model is stacking up, so don’t be surprised if something very like this appears in Honda’s range come 2022. View the full article

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Louis Ferrari “working” hard on the Yamaha MT-10. (Caliphoto/)This week’s Beyond the Classroom article focuses on a common issue: A rider with a passion for motorcycles eventually quits riding due to crashes. They walk out of our industry because of the cost and pain of big mistakes. A sport they hoped would be a lifelong pursuit ends; we lose them and they lose a dream. In this week’s audio chapter, Louis Ferrari shares his story with all riders or ex-riders who struggled after a crash or two. cycleworld · Motorcycle Lessons Beyond the Classroom: Crashes Ferrari drove his home-built 1,400 hp Nissan GTR down to Colorado’s Pueblo Motorsports Park to watch fellow-instructor Ryan Burke in Motorcycle Roadracing Association competition. A few years before this, he considered quitting riding but reapplied himself to core techniques to grow into an extremely competent rider and Senior YCRS instructor. (Nick Ienatsch/)RELATED: Motorcycle Lessons Beyond the Classroom RELATED: Getting Ready to Stop Beyond The Classroom Part 2 RELATED: Motorcycle Lessons Beyond the Classroom, Part 3 RELATED: Motorcycle Lessons Beyond the Classroom, Part 4 RELATED: Motorcycle Lessons Beyond the Classroom, Part 5 Ferrari and 2016 MotoAmerica Superstock 600 Champion Bryce Prince have an “all-in” mentality in MotoAmerica; Ferrari recommends this approach to all who have decided to ride motorcycles. (Nick Ienatsch /)More next week! View the full article

Red rover, red rover, let dual sports come over. View the full article

The latest patent for Suzuki’s parallel-twin engine suggests it may power a new V-Strom 650 model. (Japanese Patent Office/)Suzuki’s ongoing development of a new parallel-twin-powered model seems to be accelerating with yet more patents emerging in Japan that suggest multiple bikes are being conceived concurrently around the same new engine. While the rest of Japan’s Big Four manufacturers have already launched several new or updated 2021 models this year, Suzuki has had little to show other than new paint schemes, and the last couple of years have told a similar story. The V-Strom 1050 and Katana are the most significant new models from the firm in the last 24 months, and both are heavily based on existing bikes. The last clean-sheet new model we saw from Suzuki in Western markets was the GSX-R1000 back in 2017. But all-new bikes take time to develop and Suzuki’s R&D department hasn’t been slacking, instead putting a huge amount of work into the development of its new parallel twin. The new engine design might slot into several other models, but the most likely candidates in the near term are the V-Strom and SV650. (Japanese Patent Office/)First seen as the “XE7” turbocharged engine, which was given a low-key reveal at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, the new powerplant has since appeared in a host of patents for a wide variety of models. Believed to displace around 700cc, the DOHC motor’s initial development was in boosted form and probably good for around 150 hp. It also showed up in various designs based on the earlier Recursion concept from 2013, which had featured a smaller, 588cc, SOHC twin. More recently we’ve seen that Suzuki is developing a normally aspirated version of the new engine, clearly destined as a replacement for the SV650. And now another patent filed in Japan hints at an adventure style model to replace the V-Strom 650. The picture is starting to emerge of an entire range of Suzukis, across a spectrum of different styles and performance levels, built around variations of the same engine. A deeper oil pan, taller seat, and an underseat airbox all point to an adventure-style design. (Japanese Patent Office/)The latest designs show the now-familiar parallel twin, but where the previous patents illustrated a street-oriented model in the mold of the SV650, with a very low-profile oil pan fitted to allow the engine to be installed as low as possible in the chassis, the latest designs reveal a much deeper oil pan and taller seat along with a completely different frame layout and an unusual airbox design. Previously we saw the airbox above the engine, with curved intakes leading to near-vertical throttle bodies to keep it compact. On the new design, all that is gone, replaced with a set of horizontal throttle bodies leading to an airbox that’s sited under the seat, sculpted to fit around the upper end of the rear shock. Drawings show the airbox placed under the seat and fitting around the upper part of the rear shock. (Japanese Patent Office/)It’s a layout that takes advantage of the tall seat of the adventure-style design, and one that leaves the area above the engine free to fit a larger fuel tank. The airbox itself is sealed where it’s exposed to the rear wheel, with an intake duct on the top feeding from inside the bodywork, where additional ducting will no doubt be fitted on the finished bike to bring fresh air to the engine. It’s a design that’s unlikely to be able to take advantage of any “ram-air” effect, but that’s less important on an adventure bike. The airbox intake duct at the top feeds air from inside the bodywork. (Japanese Patent Office/)With at least seven years of development work already spent on the new parallel-twin engine and the bikes set to use it, you might have thought that a launch would be imminent. However, at the moment there’s still no sign of the production versions of these machines and Suzuki recently unveiled 2021 colors for the existing V-Strom 650 and SV650 models. That means the earliest we’ll see the fruits of these designs will be the 2022 model year, and since Suzuki has managed to update the 20-year-old 650cc V-twin engine of the existing V-Strom and SV to meet the latest Euro 5 emissions limits set for Europe next year, it’s under no pressure to get replacements for those bikes into production any sooner than necessary. View the full article

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Will Honda’s brainwave detection patent lead to more seamless rider safety systems? (US Patent Office/)It might sound more science fiction than science fact but Honda has filed a patent showing that it’s working on a brainwave-detection system to help future motorcycles know their riders’ intentions. Why? So that on-board safety systems can ensure the bike does what you want even if your control inputs are clumsy. The new patent application comes from Honda’s Los Angeles-based R&D Americas facility and aims to improve the way man and motorcycle interact. It might seem futuristic, but in a world where Elon Musk is developing brain-implant ‘neurotechnology’ that gives a direct connection between mind and computer (via his Neuralink company), the idea of a bike that can read your thoughts might not be so far-fetched. Related: Kawasaki To Employ Radar-Assisted Safety Systems The brain-machine interface tech would seek to send riders’ brainwaves to the bike’s onboard computer. (US Patent Office/)The principle of Honda’s idea is simple enough, even if the actual technology involved is at—or even beyond—the current bleeding edge of what’s possible. In short, you wear a helmet with built-in electrodes that can pick up brainwave signals and feed them to a “Brain-Machine Interface” computer that interprets them and then sends them on to your bike. The motorcycle itself is much the same as any of the latest, rider-aid-packed models. The integrated suite of accelerometers, an inertial measurement unit (computing lean, yaw, and pitch), an electronic throttle, traction control, and computer-controlled ABS brake system is no different than what you’d find on a host of current machines. The only notable addition mentioned in the patent is a sensor measuring steering angle and an actuator to move the steering itself if the computer decides it’s necessary. The motorcycle portion of the equation would be outfitted with many of the latest electronic rider-assist systems already in use. (US Patent Office/)Impressive though they are, the latest rider-assist systems are still essentially limited by the fact that they can only react to what they sense, relying on programming to try to interpret the rider’s inputs and deliver what he or she wants. That’s why you still need to pre-select settings for things like traction control and ABS to tell the bike how early you want it to intervene and by how much. By adding sensors that can literally read your mind, the same rider-assist systems have the potential to be much more effective. A helmet with built-in electrodes would pick up brainwaves and send them to the bike’s onboard computer for interpretation. (US Patent Office/)Honda actually uses the wheelie as its main example of a rider’s mind control over the bike. After all, we can all picture an impressive wheelie, but even if you know the theory of how to do it, actually pulling one off isn’t straightforward without a lot of practice. The patents say that the bike could sense inputs, including brainwaves, that “may be indicative of the user’s intent to perform the wheelie” and actually assist you in doing it by taking over control of various aspects of the bike automatically. Wheelies via mind control? It maybe become a possibility in the near future. (US Patent Office/)Other passages explain the process: “Once controlled, the throttle may be increased to cross a threshold value and immediately clutches may be pulled to disengage transmission gears. Further, as engine revolution increases, the clutches may be immediately released by a certain amount (e.g., “80%”) while the throttle is controlled. This may pull the front wheel to lift up while the rear wheel stays on the ground…” Once the computer takes control it can modulate various systems to complete the operation safely. (US Patent Office/)While a bike that can pull off a perfect wheelie regardless of the rider’s skill might not be an obvious benefit to road safety, and is sure to rile everyone who’s put in the hard hours learning how to do one unaided, there are bigger implications from the system. Honda’s own Riding Assist and Riding Assist-E concept bikes have shown that the firm is capable of making self-balancing, semi-autonomous motorcycles. By combining that technology with a system that can accurately interpret a rider’s intentions, it should be possible to create a bike that makes up for any deficiencies in the rider’s skill while still doing exactly what he or she wants it to – giving all the pleasure of riding but eliminating many of the risks. Acting to interpret the rider’s intentions via the ‘brain-machine interface’ team up to offer assistance. (US Patent Office/)Brainwave-operated control systems are already subject to plenty of military research, with DARPA and others working on methods that could control certain fighter jets systems by thought alone—the sci-fi of “Firefox” brought to the real world—and to create thought-controlled prosthetics for paraplegics and amputees. It might be in the early stages but there’s every indication that direct thought control is going to become increasingly common in future, even on motorcycles. View the full article

Kevin Cameron (Robert Martin/)I’ve written about this before but it’s a message that bears repeating. We live in a time of marvelous, highly capable motorcycles in every category, but the old tradition of at-home maintenance has grown thin, that of dads who on certain Saturdays confidently changed the oil in the family car’s engine, or replaced noisy wiper blades, or changed a fan belt. More than one woman has told me, with a certain ironic look, that “Today’s guys know mainly two things: How to do whatever it is they do at work, and how to watch sports on TV.” When, during the 1970s and ’80s, I modified cylinders or machined heads for more compression for club racers, I wasn’t asked for carburetor jetting specs. When I’d offer, riders would say, “I’ll handle it.” During the ’90s that changed, and so did the population of people going racing. The older “man in a van with a plan” was being replaced by box trucks filled with bikes that were increasingly professionally prepared. People picking up custom pipes or altered cylinders from me wanted carb jetting specs, and they wanted to be guaranteed their engines would never, ever seize. Eventually I stopped doing that work because a day was clearly coming when I would need something like doctors’ malpractice insurance. How do you become comfortable with machinery? More people used to grow up on farms, where if you couldn’t fix broken equipment yourself, you did without. More people had manufacturing jobs at which they worked with machines; manufacturing is now down to 8 percent of the US GNP. The armed services were great places to become familiar with tools and equipment, but increasingly, service is now performed by manufacturer’s reps. My middle son, asked by his officer to round up a working mine roller, was told hands off—the maker’s reps were the only ones authorized to touch that equipment. When he bypassed the hydraulics and got one working, he was nearly in big trouble. Fortunately his officer showed up. The spoken or unspoken message today: If you’re not an expert with documents to prove it, don’t dare touch equipment. You might wreck it! I don’t like to hear that, because there has never been a better time to take an interest in mechanical work. I’ve listed the reasons before. Here they are again: Huge numbers of used bikes, engines, parts, and sub-assemblies are easily available, cheap, on the Internet. So cheap!<br/> Tool sets in fitted plastic carrying cases are also cheap and can be at your door tomorrow.<br/> Illustrated service manuals exist and are for sale, also arriving tomorrow.<br/> If you get stuck, you have hundreds or thousands of potential online colleagues on brand-and-model forums who have hit the same problem you have, and they have uploaded their solutions, often with video.<br/> Yes, you need a place to work with decent lighting and heat. A work surface. Containers for parts. A drain pan for oil. People do good work in all sorts of improvised work areas. You can start with easy stuff like an oil change (the spec for oil and filter is in your owner’s book). Or you can adjust hand and foot controls to suit yourself. Ever get a cramp in your ankle from trying to keep from pressing a brake pedal that’s set too high? Annoyed by excessive slack in a throttle or clutch cable? Fixing these things is common sense. Yes, there’s fear, because things are unfamiliar at first. When I was seven, my mother had a worn-out car engine brought to the unused side of our two-car garage. It took me considerable staring time to get over how strange it was, up close. Andit filthy with leaked oil and caked-on road grit. Gradually I got used to it, as I would also to clocks and watches. Lots of just staring until the sense began to emerge. Finally I began to unbolt things and stare at them, too. I was in new territory. Teachers don’t teach so much as they create situations in which people can’t help but learn. Teaching yourself teaches best, because the knowledge gained is all yours. Twenty years later I found myself still staring at parts when new race bikes arrived in the spring. I’d walk up and down with a cylinder or piston in my hands, staring, trying to see what was new, trying to make sense of it. I’d make bad instant coffee and walk and stare some more, sipping. Two years ago Cycle World wanted some videos made of what’s inside a late-model sportbike engine. The not-exactly-princely sum of $150 summoned a 26,000-mile CBR600 engine from the teeming parts marketplace. Lots of people think nothing of laying out similar money to put a framed art print on their wall or go out to a nice dinner for two. Buy a used engine and treat yourself to the instructive experience of taking the thing apart, tracing out its systems, and getting familiar with all the parts and how they look. Your hands will become familiar with the forces involved in loosening fasteners (this is the origin of “common sense” in such matters). More staring, plus reference to a service book, brings everything within the range of human understanding. View the full article

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Miguel Oliveira took the win at Portimão. (MotoGP/)The top three finishers in the season-ending MotoGP of Portimão, Portugal, were all on satellite bikes—Miguel Oliveira topped the podium on a Tech3 KTM, Jack Miller on a Pramac Ducati, and Franco Morbidelli third on a Petronas Yamaha. All this year it has seemed that satellite teams have hit it right more often than the factory groups. With Suzuki’s Joan Mir taking the 2020 MotoGP championship last weekend at Valencia 2, all that remained was the question of who could find a working combination for Portimão, a circuit new to the MotoGP paddock. Its ups and downs caused some riders to liken it to motocross, and another to find closest similarity to Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California. Although recently repaved, evidently presenting an abrasive surface that ages tires rapidly, both Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci (both on Ducati) noted that bumps and “holes” remained numerous. As so often, Maverick Viñales, the man of two moods, greeted Friday saying, “It’s been a long time since I enjoyed myself like this on the bike.” Oliviera topped FP1, saying, “I’m feeling really good and enjoying every moment on track, happy with every lap.” Miller, after qualifying third behind Oliveira and Morbidelli, would say, “I have been feeling good from the beginning.” There had previously been a Portimão test in which MotoGP regulars were allowed to learn the circuit, but only on production bikes. On Saturday morning, Viñales’ fortunes nosed over as so often before: “…today we didn’t have the same feeling, especially when it comes to rear grip. “Saturday was a disaster.” This has been Viñales’ oscillating trajectory so often in his career—the Fates smile upon him, only to deceive. Yet in that same session, Miller and Oliveira remained strong as 1-2. Petrucci, starting a lowly 18th on a Ducati team bike, was finding hard going with his factory Ducati: “I…still can’t get a good feeling with the bike on this track.” He described the production bikes they rode in the test as, “…softer and more flexible bikes, and that helps a lot. MotoGP bikes are made to go very fast but here there are bumps and ups and downs.” Jack Miller finished second in Portimão, but was nearly 5 seconds behind Oliveira. (MotoGP/)Years before, Ben Spies’ crew chief Tom Houseworth had described MotoGP bikes and their tires as being much stiffer than their World Superbike equivalents. Where there are bumps, that is a recipe for what MXers call “air time.” Tires generate zip for grip up above the pavement. This put me in mind of things said about dirt-track car chassis setup. Yes, you can stiffen up the chassis like on an F1 car, but if you do, the suspension has to be exactly right or it doesn’t work at all. That is because the suspension must do the whole job. But with a more flexible chassis you get something that can work pretty well even if everything is a little off, because accidental chassis flex can compensate to a degree for an imperfect suspension setting. Could it be that MotoGP bikes are in general too specialized, too dependent upon a high level of pavement smoothness? The undulations and bumps of Portimão made setup difficult for the super-stiff MotoGP bikes. (MotoGP/)In the race, Oliveira was master of ceremonies and pulled away. Miller said, “He went away so fast from me and Franky (Morbidelli) that the win was pretty much off the table about two laps in. After his win he said, “It was long! … I didn’t want to look at the board for the first three laps. I just wanted to do my pace and my lines and try to see if anyone would go for a lunge on the inside.” But he was alone. “After FP4 I realized I had something more. I pushed from the start without looking back, but managing the tires and the advantage in the final laps was not easy.” By lap 21 he led by 4.597 seconds. The drama was behind him: a resumption of the Morbidelli-Miller battle which Morbidelli had won at Valencia 2. This time the finish was reversed as Miller-Morbidelli. About his own setup, Miller said, “…it’s a challenge to work out your setup and where you might have to sacrifice on one corner to make the bike better for others. I’ve really found my groove again with the bike in the last few races…” Morbidelli, too, had found Oliveira unapproachable: “(He)…had something extra today and we weren’t able to follow him.” Dovizioso, leaving the Ducati team, fought through to sixth place, which is where Ducatis were finishing when he first came on the scene. Cal Crutchlow, also saying his goodbyes, finished 13th after a strong fourth in qualifying. I will miss the education both have given me in their words. Cal Crutchlow finished his final MotoGP race in 13th. (MotoGP /)This year results have often seemed more like a lottery than a result of discoverable cause and effect. It’s tempting to just accept randomness in thoughts like: “Yamaha is out of it, except for a strong Morbidelli and sometimes Quartararo. Ducati is out of it, except for Miller, who seems to have some grasp of his fate. KTM is at last solidly on its way (three wins this year, two bikes in the top five today), but Honda must for the moment be content with the occasions when Nakagami or Alex Márquez has a good day and stays upright. Will Marc Márquez bring back the past, or will time’s arrow have flown on? Unknowable, so 2021 will see what Pol Espargaró can do as a hedge. Can Yamaha break out of its comfortable years of having nearly enough rear grip in the spring and not nearly enough in the fall? Will Ducati continue its fascination with braking stability and acceleration, to the exclusion of grip at the apex? Will Suzuki, the present master of all-around performance, emerge as a dominant force in 2021?” As the Japanese manufacturers focus ever-more tightly on their Asian markets and backpedal in the West, the push and shove of sales competition is heating up Europe. That competition is the only good reason to race. What will be in 2021? Will teams like Tech3 continue to see success when Marc Márquez returns to competition? (MotoGP/)If what MotoGP has to sell is suspense, this year brought a bumper crop, as up-and-coming riders up-and-arrived, gaining in confidence and experience. Will they wilt in 2021 as Marc Márquez returns full strength to shade them out? No one rider stands out, for the system now in place has provided all with the same excellent schooling of national series, then Moto3 and Moto2 to prepare the top performers for MotoGP. Meanwhile a series of schemes to put competitive bikes on the start grid has succeeded in placing each arriving graduate on a fully engineered bike, designed from the start as a factory MotoGP machine. This has brought machine and rider parity comparable to that of Moto2 while preserving the proven appeal of many brands in contention. Prospects for a return of this suspense in 2021 look good. View the full article

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Meanwhile, the Yamaha Ténéré 700 is stealing the segment. View the full article

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