25 years of sportbike development

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by smileyman

You guys may be right, I just now how much volumetric efficiency and advances have been made. I mean look at an F18. Awesome performance but engine replaced every 1000 hours or so. Ragged edge tuning may not be so ragged edge for an OEM that makes 220 hp 800cc engines!?

Remember back when a literbike was a hoss at 119 hp? It has come a long way...

I remember when my V-Max was "cock of the walk"!

[derf]

Eventually they are going to hit a wall where they can't improve power without sacraficing reliability, its bound to happen eventually.

The way it wil work out is that a few years from now they are gonna pop out a liter bike that makes 200 whp, but after 10k mi a nice chunk of the bikes on the road are gonna blow their engines. Then the oem will fix the problem for a few years, but in their quest to keep up with the competition they will eventually build a weak engine.

Suzuki went through this cycle recently with the frame snapping issue, they did everything they could to shave weight until they created a major weak spot in the bike. Then they fixed it and now the weight is bellow that when they had frame problems. Eventually they just can't get rid of any more weight, unless they create some kind of anti gravity thingy.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by smileyman

You guys may be right, I just now how much volumetric efficiency and advances have been made. I mean look at an F18. Awesome performance but engine replaced every 1000 hours or so. Ragged edge tuning may not be so ragged edge for an OEM that makes 220 hp 800cc engines!?

Remember back when a literbike was a hoss at 119 hp? It has come a long way...

Originally Posted by derf

Eventually they are going to hit a wall where they can't improve power without sacraficing reliability, its bound to happen eventually.

The way it wil work out is that a few years from now they are gonna pop out a liter bike that makes 200 whp, but after 10k mi a nice chunk of the bikes on the road are gonna blow their engines. Then the oem will fix the problem for a few years, but in their quest to keep up with the competition they will eventually build a weak engine.

Suzuki went through this cycle recently with the frame snapping issue, they did everything they could to shave weight until they created a major weak spot in the bike. Then they fixed it and now the weight is bellow that when they had frame problems. Eventually they just can't get rid of any more weight, unless they create some kind of anti gravity thingy.

the only place they really have left to gain powerwise is rpm. we already have solenoid driven velocity stacks and e throttles. next is going to be on the fly cam advancement and or some form of variable lift cam (i know already failed on vfr) and then pneumatic poppet valves. downsides besides added weight for parts are gonna be lighter more expensive internals. but maaan the first group to get it right...

[derf]

Originally Posted by Dave

the only place they really have left to gain powerwise is rpm. we already have solenoid driven velocity stacks and e throttles. next is going to be on the fly cam advancement and or some form of variable lift cam (i know already failed on vfr) and then pneumatic poppet valves. downsides besides added weight for parts are gonna be lighter more expensive internals. but maaan the first group to get it right...

Direct cylinder fuel injection, an I 5 engine design, the list can go on for quite a while

[Mr Lefty]

I can't see me, in 10 years being able to ride a street bike for very long... with as track focused they've become in the last 5 years... I can't imagine how uncomfortable they'd be for even a 100 mile jaunt.

the numbers are impressive... but I don't see a point... but then again I'm not a racer. I would rather them focus on makine the bike more rider friendly, little more attention to safety... brighter headlights... tail lights, blinkers, and mirrors that aren't just after thoughts... guages that tell us more info... or has GPS built in... a sport tourer that is more sport than tourer... something with the comfort of a late 90's street bike but with the handeling, weight and power of a 08 or 09.

Idk... just my thoughts

[tached1000rr]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

I can't see me, in 10 years being able to ride a street bike for very long... with as track focused they've become in the last 5 years... I can't imagine how uncomfortable they'd be for even a 100 mile jaunt.

the numbers are impressive... but I don't see a point... but then again I'm not a racer. I would rather them focus on makine the bike more rider friendly, little more attention to safety... brighter headlights... tail lights, blinkers, and mirrors that aren't just after thoughts... guages that tell us more info... or has GPS built in... a sport tourer that is more sport than tourer... something with the comfort of a late 90's street bike but with the handeling, weight and power of a 08 or 09.

Idk... just my thoughts

I agree and have always said each of the big four needs more choices just under the race replicas, focused more on practicality for the street oriented crowd.

[No Worries]

Maybe they should graph how the midrange torque has decreased as the horsepower and rpm range has increased. I use midrange torque dozens of times a day. High rpm horsepower? Once a day if I'm lucky.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

I can't see me, in 10 years being able to ride a street bike for very long... with as track focused they've become in the last 5 years... I can't imagine how uncomfortable they'd be for even a 100 mile jaunt.

the numbers are impressive... but I don't see a point... but then again I'm not a racer. I would rather them focus on makine the bike more rider friendly, little more attention to safety... brighter headlights... tail lights, blinkers, and mirrors that aren't just after thoughts... guages that tell us more info... or has GPS built in... a sport tourer that is more sport than tourer... something with the comfort of a late 90's street bike but with the handeling, weight and power of a 08 or 09.

Idk... just my thoughts

On the fly ergo adjustment ala Akira... There's no reason that rake and trail, handle bar reach, seat height, etc couldn't be adjusted like in a car.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

On the fly ergo adjustment ala Akira... There's no reason that rake and trail, handle bar reach, seat height, etc couldn't be adjusted like in a car.

i'll hold out for a highway star forkless hub steering, all ceramic twin turbo 1500cc producing 700+ horsepower. sign me up.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by derf

Direct cylinder fuel injection, an I 5 engine design, the list can go on for quite a while

i see direct injection tech as the saviour of the two stroke streetbike. air metering is a problem however. id assume that could be countered by a MAF layout and a fast ecu. then again there is the matter of the narrow powerband. perhaps some kind of twin chamber exhaust with a valve? who knows?