Monday, June 4, 2012

Random TTZERO tweets, Monday June 4, 2012, Lightning seen, MotoCzysz breaks ton, etc








Zytek makes hard decision to withdraw from 2012 SES TT Zero

NOTE: This is copied directly from an IOMTT press release.

The Zytek Bournemouth Kawasaki racing team has withdrawn from the SES TT Zero challenge at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.

The decision to postpone the debut of the team was due to the ambitious nature of the plan to harness the very latest in electronic power train technology, and the team not being able to complete the comprehensive testing schedule it had planned.


Zytek had pursued its own motive solution developing an innovative, technically-advanced Permanent Magnet Motor, with a liquid-cooled rotor and the latest in Field Orientated control techniques for their electric racing motorcycle. Relying on this advanced technology the team developed a motor with more power and torque than a modern 600cc in a package weighing only 20kg which, when combined with their choice of Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R chassis and racing suspension, gave the project a real possibility of podium success.

Zytek spokesman Des Hill explained withdrawal was not an easy decision.

He said:

“Due to the boundary-stretching nature of the technology involved it naturally takes time to test all the systems fully to prove their reliability and effectiveness for powering an electric racing motorcycle.”
“When you add the normal demands of TT racing, such as suspension and chassis refinement to suit the rider’s specific requirements, it is possible to perhaps understand what huge time pressure we were under.”

“Unfortunately we have not completed our planned test programme in time to be able to commit to racing in the 2012 SES TT Zero. Zytek would like to thank the TT organisers for all their help and encouragement along with our partners, Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing and the many other sponsors who have helped push this ambitious project forward.”

He added:

“For our rider, James Hillier, I know it will be frustrating, but he can rest safe in the knowledge that once our test programme is finally complete, we will have a formidable racing motorcycle displaying some of the most advanced technology yet featured in the class.”


http://www.iomtt.com/News/2012/06/01/Zytek-makes-hard-decision-to-withdraw-from-2012-SES-TT-Zero.aspx

The "ton" is gonna break in this years TT ZERO at IOM TT 2012 - MotoCzysz 102mph lap

The Isle of Man Government has put up a £10,000 prize fund for the first bike in the TT ZERO to "break the ton", meaning turn in a lap speed over 100 miles/hr.  Last year Mike Rutter riding for MotoCzysz nearly did the deed, with a 99.604 miles/hr lap speed, and team-mate Mark Miller not far behind with a 98.288 miles/hr lap speed.  It's widely expected that the ton will break this year, if only because of the year-on-year advances all the teams have made, not to mention entrance of deep pocketed teams like Mugen.

Trawling the IOM TT forums, I find that today in practice Mike Rutter did indeed turn in a 100+ mph lap.  One must note that the official TT Week schedule does not have time slots for TT ZERO practice or qualifying, but the organizers must be including TT ZERO bikes with the other classes for qualifying and practice runs.  That part is rather unclear from my perspective thousands of miles away.

In any case the report on the forum says:  102.5 miles/hr, lap speed, and another thread claims he hit 153 miles/hr top speed

A followup comment said the MotoCzysz bike was pretty well spent after that, and that the Mugen bike had a lot left, passing the grandstand doing 97 miles/hr.  That means Mugen can "turn the wick up and cruise to victory."  On the other hand both MotoCzysz bikes lost their dashboards during the run, leaving the riders to guess how much power they had.

Rutter for MotoCzysz

Morecambe Missile not far behind. 



http://www.iomtt.com/Home/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=290129

http://www.iomtt.com/Home/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=290128

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Electric bicycle "world championship" in Bristol England, sponsored by Atmosphere Electric Bikes

As part of the Brisol "Green Week" in mid-June, Atmosphere Electric Bikes has organized what they're billing as the "First ever Electric Bike World Championship Hill Climb" event.  Over 10 electric bicycle manufacturers are entering bikes for a series of races up Park Street, which is said to be Britain's steepest shopping street (see the picture below).

It's not entirely clear from the websites (see below) just what is involved in the "Championship" other than the "Hill Climb".  Hill climbing is a scenario where electric bicycles really shine, because adding an electric motor to a bicycle lets the bicycle rider go up hills w/o standing in the pedals.  On the other hand non-powered bicycle riders have to stand on the pedals or maybe even dismount and walk their bike uphill, depending on the steepness of the hill.  Hence, adding the electric motor to a bicycle makes the bicycle more practical to the average person, ones who would appreciate a power assist to climb hills and maybe gave up on bicycle riding because of hill climbing.

The point of a hill climb event is to test an electric bicycle in the most challenging scenario it can face, and where electric bicycles can give the biggest benefit to bicycle riders.   Hill climbing is challenging to both powered and non-powered bicycle riders simply because of the physics, it takes more energy to climb a hill than it takes to ride on flat ground.  The energy can come from the human body on a non-powered bicycle, or from a hybrid combination of human and electric energy on the electric bicycle.  In both cases the challenge is to organize enough energy for the hill climb, while keeping the whole bicycle unit light enough to make it an enjoyable bicycle ride.

It's clear from the event page that this is mostly a public demonstration of electric bicycles where the goal is to give the general public a generally positive experience with this style of bicycling.  The event is part of Bristol's Green Week, and there will be a "demo area" in which the public can "have a go" with electric bicycles to try them out.  Additionally Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf, Scrap Heap, and the Fully Charged podcast) will be on hand to "compere" something or other.  I'm not sure what "compere" means but he's been doing a variety of TV and Podcast work covering green technology and electric vehicles, and I suppose means he'll be MC'ing some of the events, as well as filming material for broadcast on TV and Podcasts.





I do have to point out that this is not the first time an uphill electric bicycle race has been organized.  In 2003 and 2004 a pair of events was organized by Ken Trough who at the time owned the V is for Voltage forum (which I now own).  I attended both events.  The first was held in the Marin Headlands and operated in cooperation with the National Park Service.  The second was held kind of on the sly, on a piece of road in the mountains of the San Francisco Peninsula.  While Ken had some big ideas of organizing yearly uphill electric bicycle and scooter racing, he did not bill it as a "World Championship," and in any case the event fizzled after 2004.  He did bill it as the Anti-Gravity EV Expo, and I have the t-shirts to prove it.


Source:



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

TTXGP Europe 2012 opener in Sweden

Sunday (race day) http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=282

Himmelman made light work of the season opener and set a blistering race pace that the other racers could only hope to match.

Himmelman led from the start. His team mate was unable to join the TTXGP season opener due to contractual conflicts however this hasn't deterred the team to deliver a solid performance on the track. All summer they have been busy developing their production race bike. This will only help more teams join the grid with a highly competitive machine without the pain and expense of developing a new platform from the ground up. It certainly will provide any smart team with a head start in a championship bid. More on this when we get a chance to catch up with 2010 and 2011 world champions.

Matthias Himmelman on winning the race commented "I loved this track, it is very fast and quick paced. My team were amazing with the setup of the bike we ran the same set up from qualifying apart from changing the front tyre. The bike is heavier than last year due to reconfiguring the battery pack, but I am extremely happy with the handling characteristics. It performed amazingly in the straights. I look forward to more bikes at the next round!"

Interestingly all four of the remaining competitors were running DC Agni motors which although much lighter than their AC counterparts do not have the enormous power offered by their brushless counterparts. We were hoping to see the all new Agni motor fielded by its inventor team Agni Racing, on the track for the first time since it was first mentioned in 2010 but sadly the team pulled out last minute citing last minute technical issues and stating they would be back for round two at Snetterton.

Cedric Lynch in an interview on the TTXGP forum has stated "We have more than one new motor. We have the 111R which is like the 95R but we have found a better insulation material for use between the copper strips. This material has a layer of resin-bonded mica flakes and is much more resistant to breakdown under abuse such as happens in racing, so we have been able to increase the number of copper strips without reducing thickness. This allows the use of higher voltage and also raises the efficiency. We are also working on a larger motor which we hope to have in production soon, and we are hoping to get 25 to 30KW continuously to start with." Something for us all to look forward to seeing in action and up close.


PosNo.NameLapsTotal timeDiffBest timeIn lapBest speed
149Matthias Himmelman1714:38.981 50.2742131.973
259HoChi Fung1614:40.6691 Lap53.64815123.673
326Tang Yu1614:50.6039.93454.4863121.771
453Peter Lindén1615:18.10937.44055.9014118.688
55Stefan Bernström1415:28.3003 Laps1:03.9316103.781





(Pictures from TTXGP's website, which credited Bengt Johannesson and Muench Racing)

Saturday (Practice day) http://www.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=281
The rain had only started to fall, but was still changeable, so teams waited until the final moments before making their tyre choice. All teams with the exception of Zongshen ran with dry slicks, Zongshen being the only ones who opted for wet tyres.
The undisputed TTXGP world champions, Muench Racing, produced the fasted lap times of the session. We had a chance to catch up with the defending champ after the first practice.
“It nice to be here in Sweden, the track isn’t slow and safe one but I like, well I like every track. Our first practice went beautifully. We changed the setting on the suspension and it was perfect first time. From the first turn, I saw the Chinese guy, HoiChi Fung, and he was very quick, he overtook me on my within the first lap. I must say, he is a very good rider, but overall, we produced the fasted lap times. I managed to follow him, which was quite surprising as we do have a heavier bike. I can keep up with him in the corners but I know that I was much faster in the straights. I now feel that I know his riding style. My aim for tomorrow race is to consistently set lap times of under 50seconds, and thanks to my wonderful mechanics, I strongly feel that this is a possibility.”
“I found that the track was very easy to learn. I haven’t had a chance to get any real practice session in before the season so on my free practice session I decided to push the bike to its limit. Unfortunately, I pushed too hard and ended up sliding the bike as I entered a corner. For some time I thought that I was pulling away for the Germans, but it turned out that they were just too quick and managed to close the gap.”
Qualifying Results
PosTeamRiderNo.Best TimeDiffLaps
1Muench RacingMatthias Himmelman4949.82218
2ZongshenHoiChi Fung5950.9171.0957
3ZongshenTang Yu2653.8374.01522
4Linden RacingPeter Linden5317
5Team FiverStefan Bernstrom52

John McGuinness tweeting about the Mugen electric bike at IOM TT ZERO

The world et al is getting ready for the IOM TT ZERO race, and one of the people involved is John McGuinness riding for Team Mugen.  Shows some up-close pics of the Mugen bike.  It appears there are two of the bikes, and probably one is a backup bike.  Our friends at Manzanita Micro were especially eagle-eyed to notice the green box in the background of one picture, indicating Mugen is using Manzanita's chargers.




@jm130tt John mcguinness
null
Wed May 23 15:48:41 +0000 2012








Thursday, May 17, 2012

2012 SES TT Zero Challenge attracts highest entry ever

In late April the SES TT Zero organizers posted the entry list at - http://www.iomtt.com/News/2012/04/23/2012-SES-TT-Zero-Challenge-attracts-highest-entry-ever.aspx

It is the largest entry list with this race under the TT ZERO name.  The inaugural year, under the TTXGP name, had a larger entry list, but not all of those teams made it to the starting grid.

Team Segway Racing MotoCzysz from Portland, Oregon - Mark Miller and Michael Rutter 


Team Mugen - (a branch of Honda Racing) - John McGuinness - http://www.electricracenews.com/2012/02/mugen-aka-honda-is-sending-electric.html


Bournemouth Kawasaki/Zytek Automotive - Kawasaki-Zytek ZX10ev - James Hillier - http://www.electricracenews.com/2012/05/bournemouth-kawasaki-racing-and-zytek.html


Team Agni - had sat out 2011 - Jenny Tinmouth


Team Ecotricity Kingston - George Spence and Paul Owen


Brunel - Russ Mountford


Imperial College - Roy Richardson


Team Tork/Yaiyin Racing - Antonio Maeso


KomattiMirai Racing from Japan - Yoshinari Matsushita - http://www.electricracenews.com/2012/05/slick-electric-motorcycle-headed-to-tt.html


Team Vercarmoto


ManTTx - Dan Kneen


Sarolea - Paul Shoesmith


Lighting Motorcycles - John Burrows




http://www.iomtt.com/News/2012/04/23/2012-SES-TT-Zero-Challenge-attracts-highest-entry-ever.aspx