Submitted by David Emmett on
Thomas Morsellino is a French freelance journalist and photographer, with keen eye for the technical details of MotoGP bikes. You may have seen some of his work on Twitter, where he runs the @Off_Bikes account. After every race, MotoMatters.com will be publishing a selection of Tom's photos of MotoGP bikes, together with technical explanations of the details. MotoMatters.com subscribers will get access to the full resolution photos, which they can download and study in detail, while readers who do not support the site will be limited to the 800x600 resolution photos.
Thumb rear brake lever on Jorge Lorenzo’s Ducati GP18
Aerodynamic (large version) fairing used at Misano on Andrea Iannone's Suzuki GSX-RR
Stefan Bradl’s Honda RC213V used at Misano, probably the 2019 version with a curved radiator
Rear tyre temperature sensors on the KTM RC16 (Pol Espargaro)
Battery of the KTM Moto2 bike
Ride-by-wire throttle on Stefan Bradl’s RC213V. Throttle position is measured electronically, and sent to ECU to operate butterflies
Danilo Petrucci’s front fork with the two brakes temperature sensors (small red sensor behind suspension reservoir)
A mysterious part underneath the front of the fairing on Michele Pirro's Ducati GP18. Could it be a ballast weight?
6-axis accelerometer (Suzuki GSX-RR) that provides gives accurate information on lateral grip. This also helps to be more precise for vibration analysis and grip loss detection.
Yamaha M1 electronics connector "hub" with wheel speed (SPD), suspension travel (SUS), brake temperature (BRK) and a fourth connector, with a cable marked TB
If you'd like to have full-size versions of these technical photos, as well as desktop-size versions of the other fantastic photos which appear on the site, you can become a site supporter and take out a subscription. A subscription will also give you access to the many in-depth and exclusive articles we produce for MotoMatters.com site supporters. The more readers who join our growing band of site supporters, the better we can make MotoMatters.com, and the more readers will get out of the website.
If you would like to buy a copy of one of thes photos, you can email Thomas Morsellino
Comments
Mysterious part?
I'm thinking it's a temp sensor, looking at the track.
It does have what appears to be an adjusting screw, labels read+ and read-
Hell yeah!
i know it’s hard to come by but more of this please!!!
The secret details of peak motorcycle engineering are such a joy!
Misano bike pictures
Fascinating. Jewel like parts, incredibly complicated electronics. But is a way it makes it easy to see how if one part isn't operating at 100%, race and qualifying positions might be lost.
Yet another reason
...motomatters is the best damn MotoGP site on this here internet. More of this, please!
Bradl's radiator (image 3)
That radiator may be curved, but it's taken a bit of a beating. Sub-optimal!
(Lovely photos, by the way!)
Always impressive how big the
Always impressive how big the radiators are on these bikes. Probably similar area (or more?) vs. a car.
TB - Throttle Bodies?
TB - Throttle Bodies?
Hypothetical question
Not meaning to hijack those lovely pics but considering that people who look at these would be technically inclined...
I was wondering, just out of interest, if YOU were a new rider in a race team and you needed set up advice with your Yamaha race bike, whose advise would you take about changes to the bike.... Jeremey Burgess or Valentino Rossi?
Great addition to the best site
Damn. Thanks for these!
Beautiful shiny things
The bottom brackets on the Suzuki Ohlins forks, image nine. Very nice, each machined from a solid chunk of unobtainium. As a ex-metal worker/machine tool operator I love them. All these pix are great !
Thank you Thomas Morsellino & David Emmett.
mysterious part?
The " mysterious part underneath the front of the fairing on Michele Pirro's Ducati GP18" is the compulsary transponer, every bike has one. It send it's ID code to every timing loop in the track and receives laptime info plus Dorna & Team messages, to be displayed on the Dashboard.
Second that ...
It's got the word "Read"on each side pointing out to the sides.
From that angle, the graphics
From that angle, the graphics on the Suzuki fairing are a hot mess.
Pic 1
Lorenzos thumb brake extension is so badly filed! I can only assume he made it himself.
Fantastic pictures, making me feel like I need to sign up.
Awesome
I remember when I used to spend my two minutes in Rossi's pit on Saturday at PI checking out all of the really tiny sensors and really neat cable routing all over the Yamaha and Ducati !
Thanks Thomas, David and crew!