Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts

So.. they say it's coming..

1000cc Honda Moto GP Bike Puts Out More Than 250hp 

LCR Honda released specs (see below) for the 2012 Honda RC213v yesterday, claiming that Big Red has delivered more than 250 hp to satellite teams for 2012! By comparison, Ducati claims “only” 230+ horsepower from its new Moto GP bike.

Interestingly, despite the relatively long stroke design of its new bike (dictated by the new rule limiting bore size), Honda has fitted pneumatic valves to its new race bike. RPM limits (red line) will be dramatically lower than last year given the displacement increase (from 800cc to 1,000cc) and the new bore/stroke configuration, but Honda saw benefit from pneumatic valves, nonetheless.
LCR’s Stefan Bradl rode this machine to the 10th quickest time (within 1/10 of a second of Valentino Rossi’s time on his new Ducati) on the opening day of the final MotoGP test at Jerez. We will give you the full rundown on the final test when it concludes this Sunday.

Interestingly, LCR Honda has produced a superb “white book”, which you can see here. It is an elegant and interesting presentation of their racing team, sprinkled with quotes from Honda founder Soichiro Honda. Definitely worth taking a look.
LCR Honda RC213v
Engine features:  Four stroke liquid cooled pneumatic valve engine, V4 ,DOHC 4
Displacement:  Up to 1000 cc
Maximum Power:  Over 250 HP
Maximum Speed: Over 350 km/H
Gearbox:  Six speed “seamless” cassette type gearbox with alternative optional ratio
Clutch:  Fully adjustable multi plate slipper clutch
Exhaust:  Arrow Titanium line
Overall length:  2050mm to 2070mm up to circuit lay out and specification
Overall height:  1125mm
Overall width:  645mm
Weight:  157kg
Fuel: 21 litres capacity ELF
Oil:  ELF
Chassis Features:  Aluminium twin spare frame
Fully adjustable steering and geometry
Fully adjustable HRC magnesium triple clamp

Front Forks:  Fully adjustable Öhlins TRVP25 diam 48mm upside down
Rear Suspension:  Fully adjustable Öhlins TRSP44
Tyres:  Bridgestone
Wheel:  OZ
Front Brakes:  Nissin 4 pistons caliper, 320mm Nissin carbon disc
Rear Brake:  Nissin Twin piston caliper, 196mm Yutaka steel disc
Screen :  Rama
Grip:  ProGrip
Sprockets:  PBR
All accessory:  Rizoma
p/s - can't wait for Motogp 2012

2012 FIreblade Revealed

So its true...

Hong Kong bikers already knew the bike look.. yet it just launch at Imola 2 days ago...

No more Cute Rabbit....


Two Honda race teams - Castrol Honda World Superbike and the Honda TT Legends - simultaneously unveil the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR in Imola, Italy and Le Mans, France on 23 September 2011.

Launch of the NSF250R Commercial Road Racing Machine

TOKYO, Japan, June 2, 2011 — Honda Racing Corporation will launch the NSF250R, a newly developed machine for the Moto3 class that will be added to the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (WGP) in 2012. Sales of the new vehicle are planned to start in December 2011.

In developing the NSF250R, Honda took the “Next Racing Standard” as its development concept and reaped the benefits of racing technology cultivated in the RS125R, thereby achieving a high-level combination of outstanding controllability and racing competitiveness.
The liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, single cylinder, DOHC, 249 cc engine was specifically designed for Moto3 to be lightweight and compact while delivering high output. To achieve this high output together with excellent responsiveness, the machine incorporates a front-intake/rear-exhaust configuration with high charging efficiency, while adopting a layout with the cylinder tilted back 15° to concentrate mass.

To ensure power delivery all the way through to the high rpm range, the NSF250R adopts titanium valves for both the intake and exhaust to reduce friction. Furthermore, the design reduces friction between piston and cylinder and improves durability by offsetting the cylinder centerline and applying nickel silicon carbide (Ni-SiC) for the cylinder surface treatment. The easily replaceable cassette design selected for the close-ratio 6-speed transmission, allows gear selection to be optimized over a large variety of racing circuits.

The frame ensures a degree of freedom in cornering and nimbleness that matches and goes beyond the RS125R by revising the rigidity balance and the shape while inheriting the compactness of the RS125R. Even though the basic structure of the front and rear suspension is the same as the RS125R, the NSF250R-exclusive settings produce a machine with excellent riding stability.

The cowling makes the NSF250R the equal of the RS125R in aerodynamic performance, while a cooling duct on the under cowl improves the engine’s cooling performance.

As a new-generation road racing machine that complies with Moto3 regulations, the NSF250R will help revitalize road racing while meeting the expectations of road racers.


(Coloring shown for body and stickers is for photographic purposes only. The body color is all white.)

Fireblade lovers gonna hate this...

Honda launches Casey Stoner replica Fireblade

Honda Australia has announced a special edition of the CBR1000RR 2011 Repsol Honda Fireblade in Casey Stoner colours and trim – sadly it’s only for the Aussie market but they have made a great video to promote the bike.

Star of the video is Australian Honda MotoGP rider Stoner who gets to put one of his own replica bikes through its paces.

The bikes will be limited to just 170 and are due into dealerships in Australia at the end of February.

Each Stoner special edition will come with a plaque of authenticity, a Repsol seat cowl and Stoner decals mounted on the motorcycle.

Purchasers of the bike will have Casey Stoner’s racing number 27, his signature and branding on the bike.

Honda's MotoGP gearbox explained

Patent drawings reveal the workings of the new gearbox that has caused a stir in MotoGP
Recently acquired patent drawings have allowed us to examine the workings of Honda’s new MotoGP gearbox. It’s clever. Very clever.

It uses gears that spin freely on the output shaft when they’re not engaged, with internal ratchet mechanisms in each gear. There are four pawls on each ratchet – two take drive loads when the ratchet is engaged and the other two are used to limit backlash. During engine braking, the backlash-limiting pawls take the load.

These pawls are normally held in the “neutral” position, so the gear isn’t engaged, by sliding rods inside the output shaft. These rods have indentations in them, so when they’re slid into a particular position, they allow the pawls for one gear to engage (the pawls are sprung, so they will pop out and try to engage the ratchets on the inner circumference of each gear as soon as the selector shaft allows them to). Honda’s DCT twin-clutch system (banned by MotoGP rules) uses hollow output shaft technology to run one shaft within another to drive both clutch baskets.

On changing up to the next gear, first the backlash pawls in the first gear are disengaged (but not the drive ones) and the drive pawls in the second ratio are engaged. As the 2nd gear pawls connect with the ratchet inside 2nd gear, they take the load and accelerate the output shaft. Because the ones in 1st gear act as a ratchet, they can remain engaged right up to that moment – when the output shaft starts spinning faster than the 1st gear output ratio, the pawls will get pushed out of the way. Then, in the second stage of engagement, the backlash pawls in 2nd gear will be released and slot into place while the drive pawls in 1st gear are locked out of the way.

This new take on gear engagement has a couple of key advantages: First, it’s a seamless-shift arrangement (1st will be driving right until the moment 2nd gear takes over, and so on) so there’s no loss of drive. Second, there’s no conventional selector forks or gearshift drum, so it’s ultra-compact (the selection process is done via the rods inside the hollow output shaft). A corollary of that is that the gears themselves can be wider, and therefore stronger.

Finally, whenever you’re changing gear, the parts are moved in a sequence that means you’re never moving a part that’s under load. That means it’s easy to shift gear and doesn’t need powerful hydraulics (which MotoGP prohibits anyway).

The downsides are that it could really do with an electronically-controlled clutch to make the most of the system – allowing a modicum of slip as the gears are shifted to smooth the transition from gear to gear. Downshifts will rely totally on the slipper clutch to soften the torque loadings.

At the recent Jerez MotoGP race, several Honda riders did mention that downshifts were sometimes a problem. This system, as far as we know, is in its development infancy but the potential appears to be huge and for such a revolutionary departure the bugs appear to be minimal.

Honda's dominant on day two in Sepang

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) led the charge on the second day of testing at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, with Honda riders sweeping five of the top six spots to confirm the off-season work done by the team's engineers on the Honda RC212V.

On a typically sweltering Malaysian day, Pedrosa threw down the marker early, improving his Tuesday lap time by almost 1.3s to on the fourth of his 39 laps to finish the day with one of the fastest laps ever of the 5548m circuit.

The lap of 2m 00.770s came close to the 2m 00.518s circuit best lap set in 2009 qualifying, and it was much faster than the fastest ever race lap. It was also comfortably faster than his team-mate Casey Stoner, who was second (2m 01.434s) at a gap of 0.664s.

Pedrosa tested a new engine, rear shocks and chassis configurations, already thinking ahead to the next test here in Sepang in roughly three weeks' time.

The Spaniard's performance was made more impressive because of his slightly diminished physical condition. Pedrosa broke his collarbone and injured his shoulder at last year's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi and has yet to regain full fitness.

Not so for Stoner, who dominated the first day's proceedings. In his second day in factory colours, the Australian slightly improved his lap time, while turning in an impressive 60 laps. The best of the 60 came on his penultimate lap.

Stoner couldn't get the most out of the softer rear Bridgestone as he continues to gain comfort and confidence with the RC212V.

Pedrosa and Stoner stayed on the 2010 front forks, while Andrea Dovizioso, the third member of the Repsol Honda team, tested the 2011 forks. Dovi finished with the fourth fastest time, only 0.078s slower than Stoner. The Italian improved his position by four places and his time by a second overnight. Like Stoner, Dovizioso wasn't able to make the most of the softer rear tyre, though he was hopeful of an improvement on Thursday.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) came within 0.010s of Dovizioso, while finishing with the fifth fastest time of 2m 01.522s. His new team-mate, Hiroshi Aoyama, was only 0.012s off Simoncelli's pace and the fifth Honda rider in the top six.

"Super Sic" was more concerned with being on the pace on race rubber, rather than an outright fast lap on soft tyres, and on that count he was successful. He plans to conduct a full race simulation on Thursday, which he admits will test his physical condition as well as the factory RC212V.

Aoyama scored the best finish of his rookie MotoGP season here at Sepang and he continued to take advantage of his familiarity with the circuit. The Japanese rider plans to consolidate his settings from the first two days of the test for day three.

The day wasn't as kind to Toni Elias (LRC Honda MotoGP). His re-entry into the premier MotoGP class after a one-year hiatus continued to be a challenge, with the 2010 Moto2 World Champion carding the 19th fastest time. The Spaniard made a number of changes to correct issues with braking and direction change, and he was confident that there was more to come on Thursday.

The test concludes on Thursday before a 19-day break, after which the teams will reconvene at Sepang for the second test of the pre-season.


HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) : 1st, 2m, 0.770s
"I think it's the first time I've ridden so fast on this track, but you're just fresh in the morning and I did four very good first laps. I was not looking for a time, but I saw that the track conditions were good and I pushed. The closer you get to the limit, the clearer the changes you are doing on the bike become, which lead you in the right direction. Today I tried the new engine, which has improved from Valencia, some chassis configurations and rear shocks. Tomorrow the plan is to continue comparing both bikes and it would be great to come away with the chassis and engine decided for the next test."

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V): 2nd, 2m, 1.434s
"Yesterday we really didn't expect the best time, today we expected a bigger difference with the soft tyre - but with the chassis we chose we just couldn't get the best out of the tyre. Tomorrow maybe we can focus a little more to compare the chassis again and then see which direction to go from there. We've got a few other small things here and there but they can wait until the next test. Now I'm starting to understand the bike a bit better and when I ride it, it feels more like home."

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 4th, 2m, 1.512s
"I'm satisfied with the work done today. We have a good base that works well on different tracks.  We started comparing again the 2010 and 2011 front fork and decided to stick to the 2011 version because it allows me to brake harder even if a small vibration still remains in the middle of the corner. I'm very happy with the pace I had today, but I am still not happy with my ability to improve my lap time when I try to push harder on the softer tyre."

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 5th, 2m, 1.522s
"I am really happy with today and, apart from the 'stratospheric' time set by Pedrosa, in race set-up I have been consistently amongst the best. We have improved the set-up compared to yesterday and experimented with some different electronic solutions. I can say that the base set-up of the bike is good and everybody, myself and the team, is finding that with more experience we are able to consolidate our work more. Last year when we spoke with the telemetry engineer from Honda we were struggling to understand but now everything is easier. After a positive first test at Valencia this is good confirmation for us at a track I have never really been fast at. So I am confident about the future and tomorrow we will try a race simulation, my physical condition permitting, of course, because  as usual here in Malaysia the heat is tremendous!"

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 6th 2m, 1.534s
"Today we opted to use a soft tyre to try and improve the set-up. I rode both bikes and we tried a number of different settings on each to make back to back comparisons with the balance and things like that. At the start of the day I was struggling a little but by the end we had improved and I could have maybe even pushed a little harder. I have improved my best lap time from yesterday, so that is a positive thing and tomorrow we will look for more consistency using the combined settings from the things we found with each bike today."

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP): 19th, 2m, 4.026s
"It has been another full day for us as we are trying several solutions to find the right setting. I still have a strange feeling in the braking and in changing direction in the curves, so we had to change many things during the whole session. We are still very positive as we do have the experience, the will and the parts to improve our performances." 






Castrol Honda returns to World Superbike

Team ten Kate line up at the official team launch today in the UK.

The latest incarnation of an iconic team has returned to the World Superbike championship following today's launch of the new Castrol Honda team, with the global lubricants brand announcing title sponsorship of Honda's superbike effort for the upcoming 2011 title race.
The new team will feature riders Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus campaigning Honda's CBR1000RR Fireblade, with the squad being run by the Netherlands-based Ten Kate Racing outfit, who have led Honda's World Superbike effort since 2004.

Castrol's association with Honda's motorcycle racing activities goes all the way back to the Japanese manufacturer's first foray into the sport at the Isle of Man TT in 1959 and the two companies celebrated 50 years of racing together in 2009.

While Castrol has maintained support of Honda's annual World Superbike championship effort in recent years, its previous title sponsorship of the Castrol Honda team generated no fewer than three world titles, with John Kocinski in 1997 and then twice with fellow American rider Colin Edwards in 2000 and 2002.

For Jonathan Rea, 23, the new season, which opens on 27 February at Phillip Island in Australia, will be his third in the World Superbike championship. The Northern Irishman finished in fifth place in 2009, taking two wins, a tally which he doubled last season on his way to fourth place in the championship.

Ruben Xaus, meanwhile, first competed in the World Superbike championship in 1998 and finished as runner-up in 2003 before a two-year spell in MotoGP. The 32-year-old Catalan rider has 11 career wins to his name and a total of 35 podium finishes to date.


Donald Smith - sponsorship manager, Global Marketing Unit, Castrol:

"Castrol are delighted to join Honda once again to see the return of the famous Castrol Honda World Superbike team to racetracks around the world. Motorcycle racing provides Castrol with the ultimate environment to test and develop our advanced Castrol Power One technology and the Castrol Honda World Superbike team provides a powerful and exciting platform to demonstrate the performance of our Castrol Power One products."

Carlo Fiorani - racing operations manager, Honda Motor Europe:
"We are absolutely thrilled that Castrol has shown this level of faith in Honda and its World Superbike championship team. We are really looking forward to the 2011 season and to achieving even more wins under this famous racing banner. It's great to have an such an iconic motorsport brand as title sponsor for the team and, personally, I think the Castrol Honda CBR1000RR race machine looks absolutely fantastic!"

Ronald ten Kate - manager, Castrol Honda World Superbike Team:

"When our world championship racing adventure was first beginning, many years ago now, Castrol Honda was the one team in the paddock which everyone looked up to, whose professional and performance standards we all wanted to achieve. It is an honour for us now to be racing under this famous and historically successful banner and we are privileged to be following in the footsteps of the team we admired so much in the past. You can be sure that everyone in the Ten Kate Racing organisation—riders, mechanics, and all the workshop staff - will give 100% commitment to this really exciting new phase of our World Superbike campaign.

It does the soul good to see the Castrol colors back in WSBK. American's Colin Edwards and John Kocinski won three titles on Castrol Hondas.

Jonathan Rea - #4:

"One of my main inspirations for racing was watching Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards battle Troy Bayliss for the World Superbike championship in that epic season in 2002. It's a real honour for me to be racing under those same famous colours for the 2011 season and I'll be trying my hardest to recreate what Colin did for the Castrol Honda team. I think the bike looks fantastic and I know the Ten Kate guys back at the workshop have been working really hard on its technical development since last season finished so now I just can't wait to get started."



Ruben Xaus - #111:

"After many years of racing at world championship level it is very nice and important for me to be part of a big project like the new Castrol Honda team. The biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world is joining together with one of the biggest lubricants companies in the world and supporting the Ten Kate team, which has had a lot of success with many world championship titles. All together it's a big and really exciting mixture and I will give my talent and every effort to help Castrol and the Honda CBR1000RR become a regular winning partnership in the 2011 championship.

Rea admits to 'good feeling' on MotoGP debut

Ten Kate World Superbike Championship front-runner Jonathan Rea makes an encouraging MotoGP debut in a private test session with HRC at Sepang in Malaysia


In a private three-day test session around the Sepang International Circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Honda Ten Kate World Superbike Championship front-runner Rea joined HRC test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi to help to develop the RCV212 in preparation for next season.

After the bike's riding position was adjusted to suit his stature, the 23-year-old joined his Suzuka 8-hour team-mate out on-track, with the pair making the most of the warm weather at the 5.548km circuit to complete almost a full day's work, interrupted only by a brief rain shower.

“Today I had great fun learning a MotoGP bike, and the Sepang circuit is impressive!” the Ulsterman reported following 51 laps as he familiarised himself with the characteristics of the grand prix machine. “My body is still not 100 per cent and this is a pity, but I had a very good day with the HRC test team.

“I've spent almost all of my career on production-derived bikes; I just rode a 125GP a few years ago, and today I had a good feeling riding the Honda RCV212. The bike feels very powerful, the engine revs higher than my CBR1000R and it is easy to change direction. I'd like to thank HRC and Honda Europe for this opportunity, and I'm looking forward for the next two days of testing.”

Honda Hornet 600 2011

Bestseller motorcycle market for many seasons, the latest version of the Honda CB600F Hornet, launched in 2007, failed to collect the sales success that was expected. Ironically, the last Hornet 600 placed on the market was the best of all, thanks to a new engine, derived from the CBR600RR the same year, and a chassis really to the point, but it did not have a well-deserved commercial success. Much of the low public acceptance, in our view, it is derived from upstream of codon look too, which did not meet the favor of customers, loyal to the flowing lines and slender, pointed upward, while the tail of the Hornet, was aimed inexorably downward.

The new 2011 version of the Hornet, presented at EICMA 2010, stands out for its modern and sporty look. The single tank was unchanged, while the head lamp now has a more streamlined and compact design that integrates the instrumentation has also been completely renovated. The 2011 Hornet was distinctive due to the new sleek and slender tail upwards, which accentuates the sporting image of the vehicle. After all, the design of the latter is undoubtedly more conservative than before, but many will agree in saying that, at this historical moment, the market is not that good inclined to accept flights of fancy, and so it is best to focus on forms perhaps less personal but can better accommodate the tastes of a broad audience.

To help propel the look of the rear, the passenger door handles are now integrated in the tail. The new headlight / fairing is surrounded by two side profiles that evoke the wing and increase the Honda family feeling with the CB1000R. The projector is now in double rather than single dish, and it is placed under the position lamp shaped like a V. The technical basis of the Hornet 2011 is unchanged, then we find the known 566 cm3 engine capable of delivering 102 hp, the well-known single-beam frame Alloy adjustable suspension and introduced the 2009 model year. Both the front to the rear which, in fact, you can adjust the spring preload and rebound damping.

Three colors are planned for 2011: Sprint Pearl and Yellow Pearl Cool White added that the inevitable Nightstar Black Pearl.

p/s - hope to see some on Malaysian road soon....

some pic...












vids...


It's back! 2011 Honda CBR600F

The greatest-ever 600cc middleweight is coming back.

IT'S BACK! We've secured images of Honda's 2011 CBR600F - the real world sports 600 that's dominated the middleweight sportsbike class for the last 23 years.

Featuring a 16-valve engine, producing around 120bhp at 12,000rpm, the subtly-styled CBR boasts and aluminium girder frame, 41mm front forks, a single rear shock and an 800mm seat height. The new CBR also features a 180-section rear tyre for that all-important big bike look, and 17-litre fuel tank.

The new Honda tips the scales at 203 kg (210 kg with ABS).








Zamri's new Moto2 ride



Malaysia’s Moto2 wildcard rider Mohd Zamri Baba will have No. 87 on his bike in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The bike for the Petronas SIC TWMR Malaysia rider was unveiled yesterday. Zamri will be the first Malaysian to ride in the Moto2 class, which was introduced to the world championships this season.
The colours green, red and white of the main sponsors – Petronas, Sepang International Circuit (SIC) and Two Wheels Motor Racing (TWMR) – adorn the bike, which is courtesy of chassis manufacturer Moriwaki of Japan.
The general manager of Petronas Motorsports, Anita Azrina Abdul Aziz, said: “This is the result of the collective effort, long-term commitment and hard work of all the parties involved.
“I hope that we can continue in our efforts to maintain this momentum to achieve the objective of producing a pool of talented riders who are able to challenge the world’s best.”
Besides the three main sponsors, the team also have the backing of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM), MotodotMania, Racing Boy, Uma Racing, Berik, Shoei and Dunlop.
Meanwhile, TWMR promotions director Ron Hogg said that he was pleased with what they had achieved thus far and hoped for an eventful weekend.
Having a pool of talent is just half of the story and none of this would have been possible without the sponsors,” he said.

“I hope in the future we will be able to scale greater heights and more corporate sponsors will come flooding in to support the motor racing industry if we are to see more Malaysian riders making waves in the international arena.”
Zamri said that he was looking forward to riding the bike in the practice session today.
Finally, I have it in front of my eyes. I will not waste any time in the practice tomorrow to get myself accustomed to the bike before the race on Sunday,” he said.

Dani Pedrosa is now in Malaysia

Last Friday during free practice at Motegi Dani Pedrosa crashed and fractured his left collarbone, flew back to Spain and underwent surgery on Saturday to plate his damaged collarbone. On Monday he left the hospital and yesterday underwent a check-up where the Spanish rider stated “there is a very small possibility of going to Malaysia, but the realistic target is Australia.”
This very small possibility has now turned into reality, because according to Alex Crivillé, former two times World Champion and now Spanish TV commentator revealed this morning, that Pedrosa has boarded a flight to Kuala Lumpur and will try to ride in Saturday’s free practice at the Sepang circuit.
Pedrosa’s (or infact any other rider) desire to try to ride should really no longer surprise anyone, considering the number of rounds in his career he’s ridden injured and even if title hope effectively ended at Motegi.
UPDATED:
It looks like Alex Crivillè was looking for a little attention, because Honda with the following press release has officially denied that Pedrosa will be at Sepang this weekend.

Honda Line Up for 2011


Honda today at the Intermot 2010 (Cologne Exhibition) display models for the year 2011. In the photo gallery you will find the new color models: CBR1000RR (three new colors available with ABS to replace the current color), CBR600RR (three new colors, available with ABS only in the white tricolor, which replace the current color) CBF1000F (new colors) XL700V Transalp (new colors), Varadero (new colors) and VFR1200F (new color that adds to the existing three, also available as a DCT).

It is yet to confirm about Varadero 2011 sweeps entries and it possible replacement of a new engine with a powerful 1200cc V4 propultore that equips the VFR1200F.

However the Japanese giant recently announced that it will present eight new models in the next EICMA 2010 (International Exhibition of Milan Motorcycle) which were scheduled at the Fiera di Milano on 2nd to 7th November 2010.