Suzuki and Moto-GP
My Oct 6th blog post titled “It’s time for Ducati to have some pride” said that Suzuki would come back into Moto GP racing in the big boys class. Well, Suzuki will race as a wild card this weekend at Valenciana but they will do so in the Factory Open class.
I understand the logic behind this but I strongly disagree with the choice. Better to take your lumps like Don Quixote than to play stick ball in the majors. Many people think the success of the moon program was getting to the moon and back, I think the lasting lesson was doing it in full view of everyone. Warts, and all.
Ducati’s special treatment is poisoning the well.
Strike Three
MG has another good post up over at http://motorbikeroadracing.blogspot.com/p/words.html. Time for a little explaining about self adjusting suspension:
Suspension speed is how fast the forks and shock move up and down. A corner first compresses the suspension slowly, then lets it rebounds slowly. Hard braking compresses it at a medium speed. Bumps move it fast. This has little to do with bike speed.
The clickers on most forks and shocks adjust the low speed part of the damping. Some have a high speed compression adjuster.
Until there is enough force in the oil to open the shim stack all the oil goes through a bleed that can be adjusted by moving something to change the size of the hole. A high speed adjuster works by preloading a shim stack different amounts. The shim stack uses flexible shims of different thickness and diameters to control oil flow at all speeds.
Moving the low speed adjuster does next to nothing for bumps because the oil is moving too fast to use the bleed passage. It does effect where you are in the suspension’s travel and that can help with bumps. Pre loading the shim stack makes the low speed part of the stack stronger or weaker and mostly effects how it feels in corners.
So you have a passive system that self adjusts for the different loads and speeds. Now add a system to adjust the low speed part of this while you ride.
You are still stuck with the spring rate and damping curve they think will work for the most people. My work is secure. This system will make the bike handle better for believers because they will coast less.
As to ABS, I’m really happy the driver behind me has it. I race because it’s difficult and getting into turns is the most difficult part. I don’t care if the rule allow you to have ABS, I will beat you or not beat you without ABS. Don’t turn my racing into a video game.
Zero + Zero = Shocking
Do you have a Zero Electric bike? Not happy with the suspension? The 2015’s will have Showa and that is good but I have no problem making the older stuff work too.
MG’s Reply
Moto GP thoughts as of just after the Sepang 2014
Miller: I raced a factory Superbike for a second time even after I learned at the first race how bad the team/bike were, so I understand that Miller has to take the chance when he gets it. If he does well next season it will be because he learns to calm down, not just after he gets what he wants but mostly when things are not going his way. The key thing he has to understand is the first thing every new parent learns overnight, it’s not only about you.
Rossi: Many of you and my friend MG over at http://motorbikeroadracing.blogspot.com/ said Rossi was washed up. What do you have to say now?
MM: One of the commentators for MotoGP.com told how MM delayed the start of a press confess on Saturday so he could see the end of a support race. Then when he saw the winner of the race in the press room he went over to shake his hand and congratulate him. The guy is fast and nice. He is so fast that when you take second to him you feel like you won. Truly, Yamaha is not being hurt this year taking 2nd and 3rd overall.
Fans: Ayrton Senna deliberately crashed into another driver at the start of a race taking them both out thereby guarantying that Senna would be world F1 champ that year. The fans loved him, no penalty was given. Until the paying fans stop hoping a hockey game will break out at the track, we will have riders who think it’s ok to win at any cost.
Hysteresis
When you compress your suspension oil is displaced from one place to another. When your suspension extends it moves back to where it was. We control the oil movement and thereby the handling.
The piston and shim stack are on the end of the shaft that is displacing the oil. They are surrounded by oil. The piston moves at nearly the same moment as the shaft so there is no measurable delay between movement and damping here.
But the reservoir is not right next to the piston. Because fluids, mostly, can’t be compressed, does the reservoir do it’s thing at the same moment as the piston? Because the oil has mass it can’t move as fast as light so the speed has to be slower than light. What speed does this signal travel at? Hint, fast enough that you can’t feel any delay.
There is also the flex in the body of the shock, hose, seals and everything else in the system.
Hysteresis is the totality of all this and the left over effects of whatever the system was doing just before whatever it’s doing now.
This is true for forks too.
Slow, Look, Lean, Roll
There are a lot of correct ways to go around any corner. You can start braking at any number of points, you can let off the brake at any number of points. You can start your turn here, here or there. You can apex over there or round about here or even somewhere near that spot. The variations are as wide as the number of corners, times the number of different bikes, times the number of different riders multiplied by their skill level squared.
You can break this all down to the simple MSF catch phrase, Slow, Look, Lean, Roll. This applies to all corners, all bikes and all skill levels.
When done correctly there is one throttle cycle. Closed on the way in. Open on the way out.
If your plan is to slow down, get on the gas, slow down again, then get back on the gas you are doing it wrong. This is more work. It’s harder to do. It’s slower. It asks more of the tires and suspension.
Funny reasons for doing it wrong are just arguments for your own limitations.
It’s time for Ducati to have some pride
No Japanese motorcycle manufacture has ever asked for special Moto GP rules. They win or lose on their merits and take pride in doing so. Ducati on the other hand asks for and gets special rules. We can argue forever about the merits of different rules to make the racing better, to get more bikes on the grid and so on. But in the premier world class? In a prototype class? This is not stick ball.
There are lots of good reasons for handicapped events of all kinds. When you play catch with your kid you don’t throw the ball as hard as you can. Fine. But what value does a front row start, a pole position, a podium finish or a win have if you can only get it because of special rules?
I feel best when I do my best. If that earns me a win, so much better. But I don’t race a 600 in the 250 Ninja class even though I’ll win for sure.
Suzuki did not ask for special rules, they regrouped and they will be back. They will get spanked but they will not ask for more fuel, softer tires or anything else. When they stand on the top step you will see in their faces, pride for a job well done, pride earned.
Better to take your lumps, then to take special treatment. It’s a good thing Ducati has a special customer base.
My friend MG over at http://motorbikeroadracing.blogspot.com/ agrees with me on this. Here is what he has to say:
LE, Suspension for Monsters
Prime Meridian
Photo from NPR, thank you.
A little over a hundred years ago Great Britain won a war with China and more or less stole the island of Hong Kong for 100 years. Britain wanted a naval base and trading center in that part of the world. All part of their successful scheme for world power.
Over the course of the 100 year deal Hong Kong changed from a Colony ruled by a far away power into a representative government and an economic power house.
Now the people of Hong Kong are helping to speed political change in China. It won’t be fast and it will be messy but it will happen. The result will not be what we except, it will be what they want.
The list of problems caused by the British is long but the list of good work is longer. There is a reason that the Prime Meridian is in England.