RideFast May 2018

BIKE TYRE WAREHOUSE:
TYRE FITMENT CREW AT
PIRELLI DIABLO ROSSO
CORSA II LAUNCH.
Three months before the launch of the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa
II, Pirelli BU Moto Motorcycle Testing Dept arrived from Italy
with a technical team to assess Bike Tyre Warehouse’s technical
capabilities; equipment & experience with regards to providing the
technical support team on the ground for the event. As is the norm,
these international entities regard our capabilities in Africa as limited
to say the least. BTW passed the initial assessment & inspection
with flying colours and the Pirelli contingent left with happier faces
then when they arrived in SA.
They then appointed Bike Tyre Warehouse as technical team, to fit
the rubber and look after all 40 plus bikes on the launch.
The brief was to put a technical team with the right equipment
together to handle 40 sport bikes for a 10 day period in two
locations. Bike Tyre warehouse has a mobile division that can set
up a full totally self-contained fitment centre within 8 hours in any
location.
The real challenge was the time allocation given - change the tyres
on 20 bikes, in 2 hours twice a day. To put it into perspective, that’s
80 wheels remove/refit; tyres remove - refit and balance all day.
All at the Kyalami race track for journalists to test the new Pirelli
Diablo Rosso Corsa II super sport tyres.
Bear in mind that this was not a motorcycle test event; this was
about the tyre itself, so every tyre had to be fitted perfectly and
every wheel balanced to one hundredth of a gram. Air pressures to
exact inflation specification for the particular bike. There could be no
mistakes because the test journos would take any abnormal feel as
coming from the tyre, so the fitment had to be 100% on every bike
every time.
Bike Tyre Warehouse also ran calibration & heat tests; where two
of the Pirelli test pilots ran 1 lap only on a tyre; whilst two bikes
were out on the track they had to change; fit and balance on spare
wheels and so on throughout a two day period, its all thee did; hot
laps and hot swops, which becomes a monotonous task but a very
important one, so again 100% perfection with no margin for error.
End result - never an issue during this 48 hour high stress cycle the
team delivered constantly.
Initially, there was some shoulder rubbing between the BTW Tech
team and the Pirelli Motorcycle Test Dept team that was sharing the
technical pit area; but after the first day, Pirelli realised that BTW was
able to deliver, so everyone settled into their individual tasks and the
job was done.
This from Bike Tyre Warehouses Bruce:
“Being the crew chief in the pit is a constant; there are no breaks
or sit downs you stand centre pit and rotate because the work is
happening all around you; it’s a flow process when it is happening
so fast and fluid; bike in and on stands or in a sling and winched;
wheels off ; all loose parts in the see through billet; wheel moved
to tyre changer; old tyre off; new tyre on; correct size check; check
valve; check pressure then off the machine to the balancer; chucks
in; wheel rotated; 6-7 wheels rotating on the balancing deck;
balancer checking; fitting weights, spin move to next wheel; come
back double check and make a change if necessary; wheel off
remove chuck and take wheel to wheel fitment tech; fit wheel make
sure billet tray is clean; no loose bolts or clips so everything is on the
bike that should be; all bolts torqued; bike off the stand; wheeled to
final inspection point; tech rechecks inflation pressure and fuel, bike
released to pit crew. The Crew Chief has to watch constantly and
hop in anywhere along the line to stop; recheck or get something
redone; it’s a line and under pressure mistakes can happen, so final
responsibility rests with the crew chief. Yes we had some teething
issues and yes, we had to redo some stuff but nothing was missed
and every bike went out 100%. “
End result: The Bike Tyre Warehouse Technical Team was rated
as up there with the best of the best globally by Pirelli Global
Motorcycle Test Division Head Salvo Pennisi; a feather in the cap
not just for this crew but for SA’s biking industry, showing the
top guys in the world that down South we have the capability to
produce the technical expertise to match those considered the best
in the world of motorcycling.
Nice One Boys!
WSBK Spec
Balancing Units
10 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE MAY 2018