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The Electric revolution gathers pace.........

Towpack

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Today sees the first round of the MotoE championship at the Sachsenring along side the Moto 3, 2 and GP bikes. 6 laps, approx 15 mins, top speeds around 170mph on bikes apparently weighing close to 300kg! That’s heavier than a road going zzr1400. The extra weight is proving to be an issue if the bikes crash out. For comparison a 1000cc MotoGP bike weighs 157kg, has 260+bhp and tops out well north of 200mph with arm stretching acceleration and ball crushing brakes. Some way to go before the E bikes replace the real bikes then, thankfully.

Edit.....
Apparently the series was due to start back in May but a fire back in March, attributed to battery charging, destroyed the special MotoE facility at Jerez along with all the bikes :wtf:
 
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I thought the current MotoGP bikes were 800cc.

Be interesting to see but agreed it is a long way short of the current formula and no noise!

Regards,

Rodger
 
800cc bikes are 150kg (minimum), 1000cc bikes carry an extra 7kg weight penalty. Your right about the lack of noise! Rubbish! I still reminisce about the sound of a YZR500 2 stroke “on the pipe”.
 
And the hill record of 20 yrs got broken this weekend by Romain Dumas in an electric VW!

The sound reminds me of Scalextric racing or those electric kids cars.
 
Why put riders on them , its not safe you know , and think of the money they would save not having to build spactator stands .
 
And the hill record of 20 yrs got broken this weekend by Romain Dumas in an electric VW!

The sound reminds me of Scalextric racing or those electric kids cars.

I guess short hill climbs are the forte of electric vehicles by virtue of their instant torque from zero revs and no endurance issues to worry about.


Why put riders on them , its not safe you know , and think of the money they would save not having to build spactator stands .

How long before the bikes and cars do indeed have no riders/drivers onboard and are controlled from trackside like a full size Scalextric?
 
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I don’t think there’s any doubt the move to all electric power is unavoidable but, fast though they may be, these clinically sterile, point and squirt machines are not for me, they’re for the next generation. For me personally, a race meeting is as much about the assault on the senses as much as the spectacle of speed. The ear splitting sound of a well tuned 2 stroke or a race 4 stroke screaming past on the redline. The smell of high octane exhaust or, even better, Castrol R. I even find the sound of big multi cylinder diesels (I’m talking locomotive size here) quite appealing. Do we really have to give up all this to safe guard the planet and our children’s future? If we do then I’m glad I’m nearer 60 than 6.
 
remember Stallone's Demolition Man , i wonder if thats the future kids are voting for :shock:
 
I even find the sound of big multi cylinder diesels (I’m talking locomotive size here) quite appealing.
My personal favourites being the Paxman Valentas in the (now MTU engined) inter city 125s and, of course, the Napier Deltics, going at full chat.
Fabulous!
 
My personal favourites being the Paxman Valentas in the (now MTU engined) inter city 125s and, of course, the Napier Deltics, going at full chat.
Fabulous!

You’ve read my mind there SC! Napier Deltic, what a motor that was and still is. Also a favourite of mine on Youtube.
 
You’ve read my mind there SC! Napier Deltic, what a motor that was and still is. Also a favourite of mine on Youtube.
Yep, though a screaming Paxman Valenta comes a close second. :thumbup: I remember one of them pulling out of London Bridge while I was climbing the stairs one day and have been hooked ever since. Used as gen sets on the Ark Royal too. Could hear it was a Valenta running 300 yds away.

The Deltics have a nice tone, you get the same from other opposed piston diesels. Not the Commer knocker so much though.
 
I watched the race this morning, run over seven laps but on lap five a rider threw it down the road, the bike hit the airbags & burst them with the extra weight which bought out the red flag, marshal's not allowed to touch the bike until the recovery crew arrived who have to test it to see if it's safe.
 
I watched the race this morning, run over seven laps but on lap five a rider threw it down the road, the bike hit the airbags & burst them with the extra weight which bought out the red flag, marshal's not allowed to touch the bike until the recovery crew arrived who have to test it to see if it's safe.

Given the nature of the sport and the serious damage bikes can suffer when they cartwheel through the air at high speed, a potential Lithium battery fire is definately a new hazard to be considered.
 
How is this going to help global warming as all these batteries need recharging? Or is it just to take fumes out of built up areas?
 
I don’t think there’s any doubt the move to all electric power is unavoidable but, fast though they may be, these clinically sterile, point and squirt machines are not for me, they’re for the next generation. For me personally, a race meeting is as much about the assault on the senses as much as the spectacle of speed. The ear splitting sound of a well tuned 2 stroke or a race 4 stroke screaming past on the redline. The smell of high octane exhaust or, even better, Castrol R. I even find the sound of big multi cylinder diesels (I’m talking locomotive size here) quite appealing. Do we really have to give up all this to safe guard the planet and our children’s future? If we do then I’m glad I’m nearer 60 than 6.
With you all the way on this one TP. Back in the day (early 70s) we used to go to Mallory Park every weekend to see whatever was going on. Bikes, touring cars, especially the 850 class races, mostly minis and imps...
There was a one-man one-car guy there who’d built a mini with 1/2 a Ford 1.6 V4 BDA engine under the hood. He’d sliced the V4 in half to make an 800 cc twin, bored it out to 860cc, spliced it to the mini gearbox, and won every race he entered.
He’d done all the machining himself in his workshop and the sound of this thing was unique. Imagine all the other 4 cylinder cars going past on the circuit, screaming as they do pulling close-on 12,000 revs on the back straight, then him in the lead in a twin, pulling some 15,000 revs!!
We had to queue in the paddock to get a glimpse of that engine, the twin OH cam head almost filled the engine bay, with this little twin sandwiched between the head and gearbox...
He thrilled some 5000 spectators, some 500 individuals who queued in the paddock, and himself. They were pioneering events which made the sport.
Batteries and motors might be high tech but they will never match the blood and sweat that went into the old school racing, IMO. I’m glad I won’t be around to see the demise of the ICE, even if it’s proved to be essential...
 
VW’s IDR also smashed the Pikes Peak record last year along with the Nürburgring record so its a bit more than a short distance wonder.

Goodwood also saw the unveiling of the Extreme-E off road racers this year
 
VW’s IDR also smashed the Pikes Peak record last year along with the Nürburgring record so its a bit more than a short distance wonder.

Goodwood also saw the unveiling of the Extreme-E off road racers this year

Yes but how many laps did it do? The long circuit at the Nurburgring is just under 13 miles. The German F1 GP at Hockenheim is over 190. Maybe they should look at an easily removable battery pack which could be changed during a pit stop.
 
Do we really have to give up all this to safe guard the planet and our children’s future? If we do then I’m glad I’m nearer 60 than 6.
I agree TP, the future is bleak, I'm almost glad I won't be here to witness it.
 
I’m glad I won’t be around to see the demise of the ICE, even if it’s proved to be essential...

I have a nasty feeling we're just pissing in the wind with this 'Global Warming' issue.

Sure, we should all be doing what we can to reduce damaging emissions, but its the small, developed countries like Britain who are taking it seriously and I doubt our reduced emissions will make much of a difference.

Until the human population is reduced to a sustainable size it will only get worse - and no democratic country will be able to do anything about that. World human population has doubled in my lifetime.

If we don't do something, nature will and the result will be a breakdown in society, war on the streets, starvation and disease.

I won't be around to see it either :thumbup:.

Bob.
 
Thats exactly it. Growing carbon emissions may be damaging the planet but they are a symptom of the cause which is overpopulation. It took 200,000 years for the worlds population to reach 1 billion and only 200 years to hit over 7 billion. The projected estimate is 15 billion by 2100, if we make it that far. The UK isn’t even in the top 10 carbon producers.
 
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