Submitted by David Emmett on
Bradley Smith and Tom Jojic got Guy Coulon's handiwork up to speed, improving by nearly a second over the three days of the test
They're pretty handy with aluminium in Buckingham
All of the Suter Moto2 teams now have the 2012 swingarm
Duct tape? Exhaust butterfly valve? Mystery surrounded the Aprilia RSV4 at Jerez
Not as mysterious as the Aprilia, but there were plenty of questions to ask about the Ducati too
Gino Rea hasn't got a contract for 2012 yet, but he spends all his time in the Gresini garage
Fat pipes and fat Bridgestones: a new world for Aprilia
Under the fairings of the BMW Suter
We've seen his face before: Ivan Silva returns to MotoGP after an absence of 5 years
Plenty to see for the attentive eye
Riders. Incorrigible.
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Comments
Fat Pipes
Hmmm, I wonder if placement of the exhaust so close to the wheel helps heat up the tire temperature :P
In a 320kmph air blast?
.
Fuel tank in the subframe?
In the second to last pic, theres a large plate with a lot of bolts in it under the subframe (above the heel plate and exhaust sensor in the pic.)
Looks like a lot of bolts for a simple blanking plate and the plate looks to be very thick. Am I correct in thinking its the bottom of the fuel tank? That area is covered in on the WSBK RSV4, seems low down to me, they normally that low on GP bikes?
The exhaust valve is an interesting one as well, first thing many ditch in the transformation from road to race bike and now Akrapovic and Aprilia are bringing them back. Seems odd to have a device that boosts midrange on a machine that would presumably be chasing top end power.
An interesting bike and good to see them in their development stages like this, as you say, a lot to see.
True
True re the exhaust valve, unless of course the pipe diameter has increased and this is an attempt to retain driveability.
Plate
I think the plate and bolts are the fuel pump mount.
Duct tape - stress gauges
Any chance all the duct tape on the Aprilia is just securing a bunch of stress gauges. I'm not sure whether it is done, but given Aprilia claimed to be testing the forces on the chassis...
Possible
Although it would be hiding rather than securing: a stress gauge has to be directly attached to the metal to work.
Given they used the whole roll, though...
Or maybe...
The entire chassis is built from duct tape?
rumors are that the myth
rumors are that the myth busters team built it for them...
Think of the savings.
Actually, I hear duct tape frames are a cost saving method we are looking at for 2013.
You haven't seen
the list price of a roll of HRC duct-tape, have you...?
Interesting
Interesting that in that shot of the Aprilia it actually has a Pirelli on it - did they compare these back to back with the Bridgestone's?