As the
2019 MotoGP season nears an end, we take a deeper look into what these speed-machines are all about. To the uninitiated they may appear to be ordinary road bikes but to racing fans, they are super-fast, massively expensive and technologically advanced machines painstakingly built by hand.
Demonstration of the Best Engineering Skills
Why are MotoGP bikes so special? MotoGP is not only about the riders and the teams. It’s a cross-continental showpiece where the best motorcycle manufacturers in the world demonstrate their engineering skills.
In this highly competitive, super secretive and extraordinarily innovative zone, the top constructors spend millions of dollars in an effort to create machines that are quicker, safer and handle better than their arch-rivals.
Purebred Prototypes of the Track
The result? One of a kind purebred prototypes constructed from expensive lightweight materials and fitted with the most advanced components known to man.
The aim? To win the most races in a season and delight millions of MotoGP fans who span the world, from Taiwan and Zambia to Qatar and Peru.
To appreciate the specialised skills that go into developing these super stallions of racing, it’s essential to get the facts, figures and statistics:
Quick, Agile and Responsive
MotoGP bikes can reach top speeds of around 350 kph, accelerate from 0 to 96 kph in 2.5 seconds and hit up to 160 kph on corners.
In contrast, F1 racing cars accelerate fractionally slower and travel at up to 370 kph at full throttle. Their performance around corners is however far quicker, with top speeds at Silverstone’s Copse for instance registering 290 kph in 2019!
Durable, Lightweight Materials
MotoGP bikes are constructed from durable, lightweight materials such as titanium, magnesium and carbon fibre. As carbon is approximately ten times more expensive than plastic, it is easy to see why each bike costs in the region of $3,5 million to build.
Take into account that it is now mandatory for MotoGP teams to prepare two bikes for each rider in a race and the total cost of just the machines is a cool $7 million!
Specialised Custom Components
Aside from the sophisticated build materials, MotoGP bikes are fitted with specialised hand-built parts, many of which only last one or two races.
Carbon fibre disc brakes, capable of enduring temperatures of up to 900 degrees Celsius, are custom MotoGP components that, when cold, are too brittle to integrate into standard road bikes.
Super-Slick Gear Shifts
So too are seamless-shift gearboxes that effectively allow a new gear to engage before the previous gear has disengaged. The result? Super slick gear shifts in 0,009 seconds compared to the 0,038 seconds of conventional transmission systems.
Soft Sticky Tyres for Maximised Grip
Even the tyres are bespoke and manufactured from soft sticky compounds that suck onto the track to prevent the bikes from losing traction around the corners. These racing tyres can withstand incredibly high temperatures but have equally short lifespans.
High-Tech Racing Machines
That is the engineering side of the bike. How about the technology that we know is integrated into the build?
Along with advanced tech like engine management systems and traction control, each bike is fitted with around 40 sensors that capture data on the machine’s performance during a race.
Everything from water temperature, lap time and suspension travel to brake and exhaust temperatures, steering angle and mechanics diagnostics is measured, downloaded and analysed after every practice lap and every race.
The modern MotoGP bike is – for all intents and purposes – a giant high-tech computer that can go at one heck of a lick!
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