HRC leaves MotoGP RCV1000R riders twisting in the wind.

[Speeddog]

No updates at Post-Jerez test for Hayden, Aoyama, Redding and Abraham.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/mcn/sport/sportresults/motogp/2014/april/apr3014-no-honda-update

Livio Suppo: “We believe the machine still has potential to do reasonably well in its current format but in Japan we are evaluating the data and analysing what could possibly be done. But there is nothing coming for the test after Jerez.”

I ran that through Google Translate and this is what I got:
"You guys don't know how to ride fast. No soup for you. Ever."

[Triple J]

...and Hayden gets f'ed over by HRC again.

[Spidey]

Ouch.  

When was the last time Nicky had a decent bike?  2005, before he was the HRC test mule for Pedrobot?

[thought]

A bit of a side question but why are pneumatic valves so expensive?  I know that's what's missing from the production racers and I'm guessing thats why they are so down on power on the top end.  If Honda went into production with pneumatic valves, would that drive the cost of having them in there down enough so it could be a streetable technology?

And did they ever get a fuel tank that could hold more than 22 liters?  Pretty big facepalm moment when you design a bike for a class that can run 24 liters and then only let them have 22.

[Speeddog]

Pneumatic valves aren't even remotely street appropriate, they need quite a bit of mechanic supervision.

Not sure how long they last hours/miles, haven't seen any info on that.

AFAIK, the expense is more related to the licensing of the proprietary equipment.

In normal street engine rpm range, current technology valve springs work very well.
Much cheaper to just build a motor a bit bigger if more power is desired.

More info here:
http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/12/28/valve-control-101-pneumatics-part-3-of-3-by-kevin-cameron/

I haven't seen any talk of a bigger tank.
My understanding is that the bikes are a 'lease to own' sort of arrangement, and no modification or disassembly allowed until the 2-year lease is up.

[thought]

Pneumatic valves aren't even remotely street appropriate, they need quite a bit of mechanic supervision.

Not sure how long they last hours/miles, haven't seen any info on that.

AFAIK, the expense is more related to the licensing of the proprietary equipment.

In normal street engine rpm range, current technology valve springs work very well.
Much cheaper to just build a motor a bit bigger if more power is desired.

More info here:
http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/12/28/valve-control-101-pneumatics-part-3-of-3-by-kevin-cameron/

I haven't seen any talk of a bigger tank.
My understanding is that the bikes are a 'lease to own' sort of arrangement, and no modification or disassembly allowed until the 2-year lease is up.

great article... I wonder if it will ever go mass market due to trickle down car tech.  Like how them mentioned the possible fuel savings by using them in cars.  It's something I could see the auto industry finally looking at in the quest for more mpg.

[derby]

great article... I wonder if it will ever go mass market due to trickle down car tech.  Like how them mentioned the possible fuel savings by using them in cars.  It's something I could see the auto industry finally looking at in the quest for more mpg.

they've been used in f1 for over two decades. it's a lot of complexity and expense for "mass market" automobiles and i'd imagine that hybrids could give the same efficiency with less cost and complexity.

[thought]

they've been used in f1 for over two decades. it's a lot of complexity and expense for "mass market" automobiles and i'd imagine that hybrids could give the same efficiency with less cost and complexity.

Not sure if it would ever happen either but it's something I could see being thought about.  I could see them doing it on high end showpiece cars like the BMW i8 first (which is a hybrid) and then eventually trickling some of it down as they get better at it.

The IC engine is going to be around for a long time till at least the next stage of battery tech (maybe lithium air battery composition... thats what everyone dumping research into) and I think this a avenue they will eventually explore.  It's proven tech that works... I'm sure they will figure out some what to reduce the complexity/expense.

[thought]

Yup... no real upgrades till 2015

http://motomatters.com/news/2014/05/21/major_upgrades_coming_for_honda_rcv1000r.html

At least if Nicky keeps his current standings he'll be on track to be the one that should be testing and developing the new engine.  I'd say he's the best candidate of the 3 anyway... the most xp and has ridden the most bikes out of the group.

[koko64]

In perspective, that would be a nice semi retirement job.

[duccarlos]

Not sure if Nicky needs to be a glorified test rider at this stage of his career.

[thought]

I still think Nicky could be up there with the satellites if he was on the same hardware but that's about it.

I'd love to see him do a retirement season or two in WSBK and see if he could pull another championship out... I could see Dorna push him in that route with financial incentives to bring a bit more spotlight on the series for America.  Because ever since WSBK went to BeIn I havent been able to follow it and I've seen general interest drop because it's too hard to get to watch.  Nicky there poking around the lead pack would give me enough incentive to make the effort though... I like the guys there but ever since Checa/Biaggi bowed out it's not been as fun.