TRIUMPH OF IMAGINATION

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                    Is this hovercraft the future of motorcycling? 

Never underestimate the power of fantasy! Before Englishman Christopher Cockerell could build that first hovercraft in his Norfolk shed, he had to imagine it. And once the Ministry of Defense took it off their “secret” list in 1959, it wasn’t long before giant hovercraft were carrying 400 passengers and 50 cars at a time back and forth across the English Channel. Cockerell was knighted for his creation.

The basis of the invention was a flexible skirt, which maintained the smallest-possible leakage path for the air that supported the vehicle. All that was needed for support was modest air pressure, acting over the entire underside of the machine.

At one time, it was predicted that “hover-cars” might take to the roads, but the difficulties of starting, stopping and turning led Cockerell to say, “Driving a hovercraft is like driving a car with four flat tires on ice.” What he meant is that the fans providing guidance to the hovercraft had very little thrust in relation to the vehicle’s weight, so the operator must think far, far ahead! Other obstacles to tarmac use were the camber of roads (which makes the machine slide off to the side) and the rapid deterioration of the skirts from pavement abrasion.

The “Triumph of Imagination” in these Photoshopped images is more inspired by England’s Hawker Siddeley Harrier V/STOL aircraft. While a helicopter lifts itself by pushing a large mass of air downward at a moderate speed, Harrier’s much smaller downward-directed jets accelerate a lesser mass of air to a much higher velocity, and in doing so, it uses a great deal of fuel (combat radius of 200 to 300 miles). That would be the case for this hover-cycle. Once aloft, Harrier rotates its lift jets gradually aft, accelerating to speeds at which its wings take over the support task and the jets become purely propulsive. It then maneuvers as an airplane.

Many times on long trips to and from races in a van, I have imagined easing back on the yoke, seeing the earth fall away below and flying.

Artist: Toby Wheeler

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ECOSSE ES1 SPIRIT

It is a relief when a new motorcycle project is announced whose claims a) are arguably new but do not exist outside physical possibility, and b) are not founded upon T-shirt sales and nostalgia.

A group of English Formula One engineers, together with an American couple, have shown plans for a new sportbike to be called ES1 Spirit. Its design can actually be termed “radical.” When I asked Ecosse’s Don Atchison (the American), “Who’s paying?” he replied, “Friends. For now.”

Engineers Richard Glover, Andy le Fleming and Richard Tyrrell represent a range of motorsports skills. They saw two major areas—weight and frontal area—in which significant advances could be made. Here is a short bill of particulars: 265 pounds, 200-plus horsepower, 50 percent of the drag of modern Superbikes. The plan is to build 10 track-day examples and test public response. As of now, the bike exists only virtually in SolidWorks, a 3D CAD software system, though extensive FEA and CFD computer analyses have been performed.

The light weight—100 pounds less than current 1000cc sportbikes—comes from “deleting the chassis.” Some savings come from the literal lack of a frame. Swingarm and rear suspension attach to the gearbox, and front suspension to the engine. More comes from eliminating the weight associated with transmitting front-wheel forces up a slender fork through a steering-head then back down to the rest of the machine. The front suspension consists of twin A-arms, projecting forward, their apices defining a steer axis and carrying an upright from which projects the front-wheel spindle. The lower A-arm is, in effect, a single-sided swingarm. To avoid the “muddy” steering feel of earlier articulated front ends, the handlebars are on the upward-projected steer axis, their motions so defined that resulting feel will be like that of the familiar direct-steering telescopic fork.

Entirely missing is the friction of umpteen spherical joints.The engine will be a “bespoke” (made for the application) transverse inline-Four, integrated into this design. When I asked Richard Glover for details of the engine, he replied, “It is a chassis project.” This is wise. The more ambitious the revolution, the more numerous the failure modes become.

And how is drag to be reduced? Current-day designs set the rider as high as necessary to keep wide-spaced footpegs off the ground. Footpeg width is set by swingarm structure and the amount by which the drive chain is offset from the bike’s centerline. The Ecosse group has rearranged components to narrow the rider across the knees and lower the seating position, said to cut frontal area 28 percent. A major element in this is to send power up the centerline to a transfer shaft at the top of the swingarm, then by a second, offset chain, down to the wheel sprocket.

ES1 is therefore a design based upon adapting the machine to the rider, rather than the other way around. Predictive analysis has reached a high level in F-1, and Ecosse’s studies say this project will work as claimed. We hope to see a prototype under test soon.

Sound off! Pipe dream or in the pipeline? What’s your take on the Ecosse ES1 sportbike?

SUZUKI CROSSCAGE CONCEPT

One of Suzuki’s concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show is the Crosscage. It’s an example of Suzuki using green concepts in a high-performance, high-style way.

Suzuki enlisted the help of the British company Intelligent Energy for the power unit, a compact and lightweight fuel cell combined with a lithium-ion battery and an electric motor. You may remember Intelligent Energy as the makers of the ENV bike, (say “en-vee”) a fuel-cell and electric hybrid bike. The Crosscage concept uses Intelligent Energy’s thin-membrane-construction fuel cells and a lithium-ion battery (unlike the ENV, which uses lead-acid batteries), to “combine safety with a low environmental burden,” according to the Suzuki press release.

Despite the eco-friendly copy, the bike looks performance-oriented, and the chassis is as unique as the drive system. The “crosscage” design uses large-diameter tubing and a unique center brace on each side. The front and rear wheels use single-sided swingarms, and overall there is an emphasis on light weight, which should equate to good handling, not to mention longer battery life.

Hydrogen as a cheap, readily available fuel source is many years away, so don’t look for a bike like this in showrooms soon. But as a message that Suzuki can design environmentally conscious vehicles that are still sporty and fun to ride, the Crosscage is loud and clear.

SUZUKI BIPLANE CONCEPT – FIRST LOOK

Most concept bikes at the Tokyo Motor Show are definitely just that: concepts that are probably years from production, if ever. However, we might have said the same about the B-King in 2001; now that bike is a reality, Transformers-inspired styling and all.

This is the Suzuki Biplane, penned at Suzuki’s recently re-opened U.S. design center. Suzuki’s goal was to give the rider the sensation of flying in a vintage biplane with no canopy, a distilled, in-the-wind riding experience. It (conceptually) uses a V-Four motor, with cylinder heads and exhaust headers visible on the sides, just like the fabric-skinned twin-wingers of the last century. The front end gets a girder fork (kinda like the Confederate Wraith) and rim-mounted brake discs (a la Buell XB). The exhaust is tucked in underneath the cowling, and the link-type rear suspension can be seen under the tractor-style seat.

Will we see a V-Four motor in a stylish roadster from Big S anytime soon? We’ll keep you posted.

YAMAHA TESSERACT CONCEPT – FIRST LOOK

In the last few years, we’ve seen more interest in using motorcycles as a platform to test new technology like hybrid power units, alternative suspension and multi-wheel systems. Yamaha, not one to be left behind, took a stab at putting all this stuff together in the wild-looking Tesseract.

It’s not technically a motorcycle, and “Tesseract” sounds like something Scooby-Doo would say, but who cares? It looks incredible and has enough techno-jewelry to make the most jaded gearhead drool. Mounted in that spidery chassis is a V-Twin motor that’s the basis for a hybrid propulsion unit. Front suspension is something Yamaha calls “dual scythe,” and like the Piaggio MP3, the wheels lean with the chassis into the turns to impart that authentic motorcycle-riding feel. Like the Piaggio, the frontal profile is almost as narrow as a motorcycle, which would make this a fun and interesting street ride. The extra wheel will add stability, for sure, but also make this as likely to become DOT-legal as a Tiger tank.

Don’t look for this machine in a Yamaha dealer anytime soon. It’s just a styling concept, but what a concept, huh?

WAKAN TRACK RACER – FIRST LOO

Wakan’s next chapter in the blending of American V-Twin power with a French-designed chassis is the Track Racer. Built as one of 50 bikes to commemorate S&S Cycle’s 50th Anniversary, this machine isn’t so much a one-off design as it is a prototype.

While similar to the Roadster, the Racer features a 100-cubic-inch S&S SB100 engine (good for more than 115 hp and 115 ft.-lb. of torque), with high-compression (11.0:1) pistons, a reworked oil pump and larger pushrod tubes for better oil scavenging. Chassis highlights include a 46mm Ceriani fork (set at 22 degrees with 3.15 inches of trail), Marchesini wheels and a single AJP six-piston caliper squeezing a 340mm disc at the front. Unlike the Roadster, the Racer features a swoopy half-fairing with ram-air intake.Wakan principal Joel Domergue is currently seeking a U.S.-based partner to build a limited annual run of S&S-powered motorcycles. If he succeeds, expect the bike to carry a price tag of around $35,000.