£22k!!! Fucking no chance will I pay that for a new Blade even if it's the new racing version. (Though you'll have to spend another £5k at least to get it to a decent spec) Sorry to say it guys but as I originally thought when I heard the prices, but Honda has shot themselves in the foot. Granted this is the SP2 version. All you have to do though is look at the other manufactures race ready bikes to see that they are a fair bit cheaper and already more advanced. (Now on their second generation of high spec bikes). Honestly gutted at this.
Lets see how it gets on at the races. If the old boring outdated slow bulbous Fireblade was still breaking lap records at the TT and getting results at WSB and BSB - then better get ready to have your ass well and truly kicked by this thing. Can you please post a picture of what it looks like from behind - so that others can get a familiar view of what it will look like for them Thanks
So just looking at this thing, I reckon they have been clever with the aerodynamics. They have routed some of the air round the side of the bike, rather than over the top of the rider. It looks like they have ducted some of the air so that it creates down-force, but without having to send that air over the top of the rider. It seems to me, looking at other bikes like the R1, SRR, ZX10, current Blade, that the front/top part of the fairing is shaped to provide the down-force - but the air then has to go over the top of the rider and back down creating a lot of drag. In profile this bike looks sharper /pointier than the competition I am not an expert at these things, but it seems to me that they have some kind of wining shape there, that is different to others. From what I have read Suzuki have achieved aerodynamic gains by making the bike lower and easier for the rider to crouch over the tank and get in out of the air stream. Horse power, weight - these have been done. As we have seen with wings on GP bikes, and the front of the Kawasaki H2 - making these bikes more aerodynamic is probably the next big battle.
IIRC, the BMW has holes in the front screen to avoid this and allow some of the air to go through the fairing to reduce the effect you are talking about but when PB were trying to crack 200mph they gained I think it was something like 3mph by putting duct tape over the holes.
They have made the frontal area smaller which equates to less drag! Less drag means more speed However being only 3kg lighter than the next lightest bike and 10bhp down minimum on the rest of the class it's gonna need to handle like it's on rails to make up those deficits
Thanks for the pictures Derchef. I still want one (whether I can actually afford one is a different matter). Those SP2 wheels are really good.
So there is an inherent design flaw in the BMW then, if they have to have holes in the front of it to try and make it go faster ? The point about the new Fireblade seems to be that they have used the airflow that has been routed down the side of the bike to produce down-force - rather than just getting rid of it. It seems by using the airflow down the side, to produce the down force, they have been able to reduce the frontal area of the cockpit and reduce the air flow going over the rider. Like air flow is being better used and calculated, rather than to just get rid of it. This sort of thing does not appear on a spec sheet, like BHP or weight, and so it is easy to not notice or dismiss it - but I reckon they are on to something here, and it all adds up.
If they really wanted a small frontal area they should have gone for a v Twin or triple. As they went for an across the frame four I'm guessing this wasn't their major concern. Incidentally, motorbikes have the aerodynamic's of a brick.
Actually, thinking about it - the holes or venting in the BMW might be to reduce buffeting, and be a comfort thing, rather than a performance thing. I do not have a BMW in front of me but......... The front of a screen produces high pressure air and the pressure behind the screen is low pressure. So as the air comes over the top of a screen it tries to fill the low pressure zone behind the screen, causing buffeting. So to reduce that they put air holes in to equalise the pressure, or reduce this effect. So if you are prepared to stick your head right in under the screen, and reduce the buffeting for a few one off speed trials, then the air holes can probably be taped over. But I am sure it would be a pain in the backside to ride like this al the time !
Sometimes you guys think too deep. All this talk of aerodynamics etc. The holes in the front screen area are there to prevent a partial vacuum being created behind the screen. That is all. There's nothing flash or clever about that.
T Think I'll keep me r1 was going to buy one but no better than the yam and don't tell me they are you ain't a pro so won't make any difference to the jolly rider
