On Track Off Road No. 185

By Graeme Brown
I also read this week that Yamaha
have applied for various patents for
their reverse rotation crankshaft
and variable valve timing for their
engines, technologies widely used
in MotoGP. The article went on to
say that Honda and possibly Kawasaki
were going down the VVT
engine route as well for new 1000cc
road machines expected in the
next year or so. Most manufacturers
are coming to the end of their
current model cycles and all will
have to update their existing bikes
to comply with the upcoming Euro5
emission regulations in 2020. It
is widely accepted that VVT is the
best way to retain the high power
output needed to counteract the
losses incurred by complying with
the emission regulations. In race
terms we may be on the cusp of
another performance revolution.
Ducati and BMW have played their
cards first. It could mean that
Ducati steal a march on this year’s
WorldSBK title but if Honda, Kawasaki
and Yamaha bring new models
to the market for 2020, WorldSBK
could be in for exciting times.
It was interesting on Sunday that
Alex also picked up on something
that I had noticed in the dynamic of
the MXGP event and the difference
to WorldSBK. There were a lot more
families, in particular young children,
at the motocross. My experience
of road racing events is that
there is predominantly a middle
aged male demographic but there
was a completely different feel to
the paddock in MX. For one it is
also a lot more compact. You have
to, and can relatively easily, walk
everywhere. The start line, the paddock
and the trade stands were all
cheek by jowl. At a road race circuit
I wouldn’t be able to my job to the
level I do without a paddock scooter
and the facilities for the fans are
much more spread out.
In terms of manufacturers marketing
it would also seem that the way
to attract the next generations to
the world of motorbikes would be
through the off-road market. This
is easily done in a country like the
US where there are thousands of
square miles of open space and
places to go riding off road are
easily found. In Europe and especially
in the UK, there is a constant
conflict between land owners, residential
areas and off road riding. I
saw a fair few electric trials bikes
on the weekend and that may be
the future. It also reminded me of a
little lad that lives at the end of my
street who has a Yamaha PW50. He
has the full gear as well and rides
along side his dad, down the lane
at the back of our houses, whilst
they are walking the dog. A little
twist of the throttle and off he goes,
waits for dad and the dog to catch
up and Braaap, off he goes again.
I love it but I can imagine some of
my neighbours getting a bit antsy
when he is a teenager and starts
pulling wheelies up the street. With
electric bikes we could get more
kids on bikes and have less of the
perceived nuisance value.
It’s a bit of an intense period of
work for me with four races on
the bounce. This week I am off to
Valkenswaard in the Netherlands
for MXGP before heading straight
to Spain for WorldSBK at Motorland
Aragon. This is also when we
have the only back to back races in
WorldSBK, where we go direct from
Motorland to Assen. After that,
I may be at the MotoGP race in
Jerez, but that’s still under negotiation.
At this rate I will be pinching
a battery from one of those little
trials bikes and plugging myself in.