Driving report MotoGP-Honda RC 212 V

Posted on by admin

Menus

Driving report MotoGP-Honda RC 212 V
2snap

Driving report MotoGP-Honda RC 212 V

In secret mission

Kphotos of the engine and details, scant technical information and only two laps with lukewarm slicks ?? Honda, runner-up in the world championship with a lot of luck, was in the "Test drives" very buttoned up in Valencia. It’s good that MOTORRAD editor Werner Koch has at least one measuring device hidden in the leather suit.

No question about it: It is a heavenly privilege to be able to ride the high-tech marvels of the MotoGP superheroes. Even if it’s only two rounds. Many of my friends would give house, yard, grandma and Gixxer including leather suits for it? and the girlfriend too. So no complaining please. Not even if you are presented with Daniel Pedrosa’s works motorcycle with tires that the colleague in front of me simply ran cold. Briefly put the bare palm on the fat rubber, "uhh, sorry, you could possibly stretch the electric blankets over it for a few minutes before I bring your beautiful Repsol disguise back as a puzzle?" "Sorry, does not work, the schedule, we have no air." Ah, the schedule. Of course, it could ruin it even more if the cold slick shoots me in the dirt with a highsider. What apparently nobody cares about in the Honda box.

It’s good that the ergonomics of the RC 212 V are reasonably good and that the motor raises the hairs on the back of my neck when I open the throttle for the first time: A V4 in its purest form growls and trembles as it should. "RC 30", it shoots through my head. Even if the cylinder angle and thus the ignition offset is not 90, but only 68 degrees.


2snap

Compact, extreme, runner-up in the world championship: factory Honda RC 212 V 800.

And of course there is almost twice the power and speed compared to the superbike classic. It can be almost 19,000 rpm when the going gets tough. The muscle man hangs on the gas, is extremely transparent, very seductive. First left turn, slight hanging-off, turn in gently ?? and then: Lord, what’s going on here? The load bends over the rear wheel, stands up again and rolls around the elongated arch at a 25 degree incline like an ancient CB-900 Bol d? Or with worn out struts.

The chassis will probably not be, although the spring and damping on this GP racer are almost comfortably designed. No, the Honda simply suffers from the so-called cold tire wobbling that amateur racers know when they try to do the first laps with real racing tires but without tire warmers. What to do? Stalking through the lettuce like a stork over the GP course and hoping that the 16-inch Michelin slick doesn’t slip out of its lane uncontrollably at some point.

At least I’m not alone with this mishap. Kevin Schwantz, as a VIP test driver, is only allowed one three-lap ride. "No grip, lousy cornering stability, zero feeling for the whole motorcycle? you can’t say anything like that", says the 500cc world champion from 1993 and fan favorite for the ages, disappointed.

The 800 engine goes to work smoothly.


2snap

The 220 hp of the vice world champion Honda want to be tamed: brute Brembo brake pads.

At least we’re not standing there with our trousers cut off after the mini-turn. To find out how fast 220 HP can pull around 250 kilograms, including the pilot, we let the 2D GPS data recording hidden in the hump of the leather suit run along the home straight while accelerating at full throttle.

Rolled comfortably around the tight bend in front of the start and finish line, straightened the motorcycle and then ?? full of soup, trust the anti-wheelie control to prevent rollover. Nevertheless, the right foot lurks on the brake pedal to stop the somersault if the worst comes to the worst. In contrast to the brutal 990 of the previous year, the engine works really smoothly, but still pushes ahead without any noticeable weakness. The power and torque of the new MotoGP generation, which has been slowed down to 800 cm³ by the regulations, feel friendlier and more manageable. Which of course has to do with the electronic control as well as the reduction in displacement.

In this witchcraft with countless parameters, the engineers try to cushion the excess power before the fork bridge hits the driver’s nose or the tire with a thick plume of smoke slides over the asphalt. A fact that unfortunately also makes grandiose drifts an exception. It’s a good thing that there are still a few daring characters in the MotoGP class who can adjust the slip control so aggressively that it is still enough for a neatly brushed slide. Just like the nice Mr. Nicky Hayden from Kentucky likes to celebrate.


2snap

Be careful with cold tires: the MotoGP driving experience could only be enjoyed to a limited extent.

Back to our acceleration attempt, in which 3.5 seconds passed from 100 to 200 km / h. Assuming that thanks to the electronic engine control, the relatively long wheelbase of almost 1500 millimeters and the high front wheel load, the sprint from zero to 100 km / h easily succeeds in under three seconds, the total sprint from standstill adds up to 200 km / h just under 6.3 seconds. As fast as a 400 hp turbo Hayabusa on the drag strip. Only above this does the RC 212 V drop a little, because above 220 km / h the air resistance devours more power than the engine can do.

The Honda engineers designed a visually very rugged fairing to improve handling at high speeds. After all, surfaces that are too large stiffen in the airstream like the wings of an airplane and make changes of direction hard work. The disadvantage: In order to keep up with the aerodynamically sophisticated Ducati, the Honda needs more top performance. With such an exhausted engine, this can ultimately only be done via speed.

So that the valves do not collide with the pistons during this tightrope walk, pneumatic springs without moving spring masses and with less dangerous resonance vibrations than with conventional coil springs made of steel are working on the new test engines of the RC 212 V, as is usual in Formula 1. To illustrate the problem: At 19,000 rpm, the valves open and close 158 times per second. In addition, the pneumatics can be used to combine large valve lifts and short control times for low fuel consumption, which is a decisive advantage for the power output over the entire race distance, given the small 21-liter tanks required by the regulations. The disadvantages of pneumatic valve resetting: a complex, ingeniously sealed system that results in major engine damage in the event of pressure loss.

Thank goodness without any damage I deliver the RC 212 V in the Honda box. You nod in a friendly manner, refer to a technical data sheet if you have any questions and remain silent ?? the way it should be for a secret mission.

Honda four-stroke V engines in racing

Honda of all people? With the epoch-making CB 750 F from 1968, the origin of all modern machines ??, quasi the »inventor« of the four-cylinder in-line engine in the motorcycle, the greatest racing success was achieved with engines whose cylinders were arranged in a V. And that, although the first attempt ended with a grandiose and foreseeable belly landing. At the beginning of the 1980s, the Japanese tried to turn the Grand Prix world upside down and designed a 500cc V4 four-stroke with oval pistons, two connecting rods each and a common combustion chamber with eight valves. The experiment that was supposed to put the powerful two-stroke engine in its place failed miserably.
In contrast to the second V4 attempt. With a whole bunch of technical refinements, what was probably the most beautiful and compact racing machine with road approval? the VFR 750 R, or RC 30. The superbike had its roots in the RVF racing machines with which Honda caused a sensation in endurance races. The fact that the street version of the RC 30 had to suffer from teething problems due to the radical construction did not bother the knee slider group in the least, especially since the racing version, pepped up with kit parts, was a safe bet for podium places and victories.
Fred Merkel, US-American in the Italian Rumi racing team, secured the title for Honda in the first Superbike World Championship in 1988, which he defended in 1989. Slowed down by the technical regulations, the RC 30 lost power over the years because the 35.5 millimeter small constant pressure carburettors could not be replaced and Honda was not interested in a facelift with corresponding modifications.
More than a demonstration of technical superiority and less intended as a racing machine, Honda presented the NR 750 with an oval piston engine in roadworthy trim in 1991. 100,000 marks were called for the flagship, which meant that the clientele and the number of units built were limited.
As a long-awaited successor to the RC 30, the Japanese pushed the RVF RC 45 out of the box in 1994. The name with the letter combination RVF alone brought the superbike closer to the thoroughbred factory machines. Instead of the usual flat slide carburetor, the fuel mixture was prepared by a freely programmable injection system. In combination with the powerful engine concept, the new V4 racer was supposed to take the wind out of the sails of the near-series World Cup superbikes of the competition, especially Ducati.
But the RC 45 became a problem child. It was less the performance than the chassis that caused great effort for both technicians and drivers. For years, Honda entered the Superbike World Championship with immense effort and absolute top riders, from which only John Kocinski was able to win the 1997 World Championship.
Superbike attempt number three gave Honda the world championship title straight away in 2000. With the VTR 1000 SP-1 and its 90-degree V2 engine, Colin Edwards beat the strong Italian competition from Ducati with their own weapons. Since then, Honda fans have been waiting longingly for the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer to finally mix up the uniform in-line four-cylinder on the road with the V-engine concept. Although the technical advantage of a street motorcycle would be only marginal, nothing beats the throaty rumble of a robust V4 racer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *