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Drysdale 1000 V8 Superbike in the driving report

Superbike with a V8 engine

A superbike with a V8 engine sounds like madness? Perhaps. But in Australia the impossible is always a challenge. Thanks to a lot of zeal and inventiveness, this bike transforms the streets into a magnificent concert hall.

Australia is known as the land of optimists – a nation where problems turn into opportunities and the glass is always half full. The question here is not whether something can work, but only how to approach the challenge. This philosophy also springs from D.rysdale 1000-V8. Anyone looking at a colossus like the Boss-Hoss with two wheels and eight cylinders is completely wrong. The Drysdale is a supersport motorcycle designed by its 54-year-old namesake.

Drysdale 1000 V8 Superbike in the driving report

Superbike with a V8 engine

Drysdale 1000-V8 weighs only 210 kilograms

There is one single fact that never disappears from the head: ready to drive (but without petrol) the hand-built Drysdale 1000-V8 weighs just 210 kilograms. Yes, you got it right: Despite two cylinder banks at 90 degrees to each other, each with four combustion chambers, there is no question of overweight. Drysdale explains that if you want to, you can easily push the weight below the 200 kilogram limit. That could work, because apart from the rear silencers of the two four-in-two exhaust systems and the rear fender, no component has been made of carbon or other sinfully expensive materials.

The transversely installed engine including the throttle valve body from Keihin, each 39 millimeters in diameter, weighs 86 kilograms alone. An impressive figure, which is quite impressive when you consider that eight pistons whiz through the cylinders. The sand-cast aluminum crankcase of the Drysdale 1000-V8 makes a solid and stable impression. The six-bearing crankshaft with four crank pins and two connecting rod bearings on each weighs 5.5 kilograms. It is with some pride that Ian explains that it was made from a block of iron weighing 44 kilograms and that, in contrast to most eight-cylinder concepts, it starts with an offset of 180 degrees.

150 HP peak power at 12,200 revolutions

This is called a flatplane and means nothing more than that all crankpins are in one plane, as in a normal inline four-cylinder. You shouldn’t expect a babbling sound like that of large-volume eight-cylinder engines in fat American cars. This originates from a so-called crossplane crankshaft with a 90-degree offset, which with optimally positioned counterweights also enables an almost perfect balance of free inertia forces and moments and runs almost vibration-free. The flat plane concept used in the Drysdale 1000-V8 cannot offer this smoothness. However, since lower counterweights are required on the crankshaft, the engine turns more lively and significantly more stable thanks to the lower centrifugal mass, even in high speed regions. But you actually want to move a V8 motorcycle that doesn’t have a babbling sound and may vibrate?

Ian asks for a detailed tasting. He seems sure of what cannot be said of the driver. After all, he is doing the very first lap ever with the V8 superbike. Neither Drysdale nor the already established buyer of the one-off item valued at around EUR 66,000 have ever driven one meter with the machine. Fortunately, the bike looks anything but scary or uncontrollable, even if you suspect that the sitting position requires a long, stretchable upper body. 150 hp peak power at 12,200 revolutions won’t make an experienced tester work up a sweat either. Usually at least. Because the idea of ​​spurring eight cylinders on two wheels is something special. That the test drive takes place on the racetrack: anything but reassuring.

Finally the all-important button can be pressed. No, these eight cylinders do not just come to life, their work resembles the sounds of a symphony orchestra. It’s like pressing the play button on your home CD player and turning your own four walls into a concert hall. It patters gently while standing, but only a light tug on the throttle and a scraping note mixes into the soundscape, which would never force the neighbors to protest. Crossplane or flatplane: this moped sounds awesome. Let’s go!

The six-speed cassette transmission is easy to operate. Like the entire motorcycle, the rear derailleur consists of a conglomerate of our own designs and parts from the spare parts stores of Japanese manufacturers (mainly Yamaha). The gear ratio, for example, comes from a Yamaha FZR 750, the oil bath clutch from an FZR 1000. Anything that sounds jumbled together works flawlessly.

There are simply no power peaks

This is all the more true of the core that is integrated as a supporting element in the specially developed chassis. Even at the lowest engine speeds, the unit, whose cylinder heads were transplanted from an FZR 600, pushes the bike powerfully out of the pit lane and climbs on the straight, completely free, completely calm and without audible vibrations through the speed range. There are simply no power peaks. As if drawn with a ruler, the engine of the Drysdale 1000-V8 with a rather low compression ratio of 10.5 continuously gains power, only to be caught by the limiter at 14,200 revolutions.

It’s amazing how softly the eight-cylinder hangs on the Bowden cable and how softly the performance begins. Even load change reactions are barely noticeable and clear your head in order to quickly find the right line on the racetrack and to knead the flanks of the 190 mm rear tire with a 50 mm cross section (Pirelli Supercorsa). One is amazed. Handy, precise and completely neutral, the superbike can be moved from bend to bend without the heavy engine ever pushing itself into the foreground as an inert mass. The center of gravity has been optimally chosen, and the short wheelbase of just 1415 millimeters enables a jagged driving style. The upside-down fork from Kayaba (parts dispenser was an older Yamaha R1) gives a lot of feedback and tautly smooths out even the smallest bumps. The Ohlins shock absorber, which is installed across the direction of travel and controlled by levers on both sides, also does a great job.

Because everything is so easy and you are just as familiar with the Drysdale 1000-V8 as it can be decelerated with the R1 brake system, you dive deeper and deeper into the lean angle. So long until the suspension strut bracket in front of the rear wheel rattles around in the asphalt much earlier than expected and the inauguration drive ends almost prematurely. But the Australian wouldn’t be Australian if he didn’t pick up the wrench as soon as the driver reported, to eradicate the problem in no time at all. According to the buyer, the lack of ground clearance is no longer a problem. Absolutely Australian!

facts and figures

Piper

The frame was specially developed, the fork and brakes come from an R1, the aluminum swingarm from a ZZR 1100.

engine
Water-cooled eight-cylinder 90-degree V-engine, four overhead, chain-driven camshafts, four valves per cylinder, bucket tappets, wet sump lubrication, injection, Ø 39 mm, hydraulically operated oil bath clutch, six-speed cassette gear.
Bore x stroke: 62.0 x 41.3 mm
Displacement: 996 cm³
Compression ratio: 10.5: 1
Rated output: 110.3 kW (150 PS) at 12,200 rpm
Max. Torque: n / a A..

landing gear
Steel tubular frame, load-bearing motor, upside-down fork, Ø 43 mm, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, two-arm swing arm made of aluminum, transverse central spring strut with deflection levers, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, double disc brake at the front, Ø 298 mm, Four-piston fixed calipers, rear disc brake, Ø 220 mm, double-piston floating caliper.
Cast aluminum wheels: 3.50 x 17; 6.00 x 17
Tires: 120/70 ZR 17; 190/50 ZR 17

measurements and weight
Wheelbase 1415 mm, steering head angle 66 degrees, caster 108 mm, weight (ready to drive, without fuel) 210 kg.
Color yellow
Price: 100,000 AUD (around 66,000 euros)

About Ian Drysdale

Piper

Already 20 years in business – Ian Drysdale (54).

Ian Drysdale (54) has been developing motorcycles with V8 engines for 20 years. As the owner of Drysdale Motorcycle Co. in Victoria, Australia, he unfortunately has little time to do this. Full order books repeatedly force him to spend longer in China, where he develops ATVs for the manufacturer Linhai. This is no small fish: the Linhai Group produces 600,000 vehicles and 1,000,000 engines per year.

Ian is considered a visionary of the unusual and therefore also works as a consultant on numerous projects in his home country – such as the wind tunnel at Melbourne Monash University. With the 1000cc engine, Ian plans to build a total of five bikes.

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