Having confirmed our plans to enter the 2012 TTXGP electric motorcycle championship the next step was to raise the necessary money and come up with a range of plans that would ensure maximum coverage for our brand and technology partners.

We came up with a three stage strategy:

- Create an innovative chassis design taking full advantage of the packaging opportunities created by losing the heavy petrol engine.

- Transfer full spec. Motec electronics from the SuperBike to the electric motorcycle to take full advantage of the traction control & launch strategies and allow sophisticated power management strategies to maximise performance.

- Film a television documentary following the design and development stages all the way through to the chequered flag at the end of the first race.

After being so impressed with the work Mario Picariello at www.mariodesign.co.uk did for us in 2011 we have updated our sponsorship brochures for the coming season based on his original designs.

Mario’s A5 booklet looks great and really helps sell what we have to offer. Please feel free to take a look if you think you know somebody that might be interested to help us.

Click here to download a copy.

MIST Suzuki Racing are pleased to announce the team has reached agreement with Azhar Hussain MBE, founder of the TTXGP electric motorcycle championship, to build an electric motorcycle in time for the 2012 championship and to compete in the European, and hopefully the World, championships. Making the switch from the long established fossil fuel powered racing to the emerging world of renewable green energy is a big step but one the team are looking forward to making.

Team owner Mike Edwards said “We’ve long been converts to the benefits of electric motorcycle racing. 2011 was a landmark season with the fastest electric bike qualifying just ten seconds off Jorge Lorenzo’s pole position time in the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca. That’s a huge step and I can’t imagine any electric cars getting that close to F1 cars anytime soon. With technology progressing at the current rate we are confident that gap will start to close even further and look forward to building a competitive bike that will help set new benchmarks in electric motorcycle racing. It is tremendously exciting as there are few opportunities outside of the MotoGP race paddock where can you design and build a complete machine from a clean sheet of paper.”.

TTXGP founder Azhar Hussain was equally enthusiastic: “We are incredibly pleased to welcome the MIST Suzuki team to the TTXGP family. They bring with them world class motorsport experience from WSBK and BSB. We believe MIST are a fantastic example of what can be achieved when TTXGP integrates it’s technical support with the passion and motorsport heritage that Mike and his team bring to the next generation of motor sports. Their involvement brings us closer to our goal to have the most competitive and thrilling grid anywhere in the world for clean emission zero carbon racing.”.

MIST bring with them a number of highly experienced technical partners, ranging from chassis design and build expertise to the MotoGP and World SuperBike race paddock, class leading electronics firms looking to develop their top SuperBike products for the electric bike market plus a number of battery and controller experts from other highly experienced electric vehicle manufacturers.

Mike added: “We are holding talks with a production company about making a documentary on the design and development process, showing the project from it’s inception through the build and testing to the first race of the season. We have some world leading electric motor and battery expertise in this country and, when combined with some of the extremely talented motorcycle chassis designers, the goal has to be to use the combined talent of our team and our partners to fly the flag for British engineering and technology on the world stage.”

“We also plan to continue the development of the World Superbike spec. Suzuki we have been building this season and will use it as the benchmark for both the electronics and handling targets for the new project. We may even complete a WSB wild card or two to help publicise the TTXGP entry.”.

For further details please get in touch with the team via the website at www.mistsuzuki.com or email at ‘info@mistsuzuki.com’.

About MIST Suzuki Racing

Team owner Mike Edwards, one of the original founders of the MiniTwins race series, set up MIST Suzuki Racing to provide a path for young riders to reach the top levels of international racing. The path led from points scoring finishes against factory supported teams during their three year tenure as one of the largest British teams in the World SuperBike paddock, to podium finishes, race wins and multiple lap records in the British SuperBike Evo class. The team was accepted to compete in a number of wild card races at World SuperBikes in 2011 but had to postpone their plans until the following year due to issues obtaining the necessary parts in time.

About TTXGP

TTXGP, the eGrandPrix is an international race series providing a high profile platform for the development of electric vehicles. Using motorcycles as a resource effective development platform, TTXGP enables the futuristic technology behind them to be tested in an exciting and challenging way. TTXGP aims to drive low carbon technological innovation forward, to demonstrate that clean-emission transport technologies have matured and can be fun, fast and exciting.

MIST Suzuki are pleased to announce their plans to race in the final round of the World SuperBike championship in Portugal next month.

After a year of hard work building their Suzuki SuperBike to the highest possible standard the team are all set to begin testing this month in preparation for their first International SuperBike event.

With over two years experience developing and successfully racing SuperBikes the team are eager to use Portimao as the stepping stone to their 2012 race season. Having previously spent three years competing in the support classes at World SuperBikes the team are well respected in the paddock and are looking forward to showing what a small professional team can achieve on a tight budget.

Team Manager Mike Edwards said “We are delighted to have been offered wild card places at Magny Cours in France and Portimao in Portugal. Due to time constraints we have chosen to focus our attention on the later round in Portugal and are hoping to bring a new title sponsor on board to help with the running costs for the event.”.

“We have had excellent support from Motec Europe, the world leader in the design and manufacture of engine management and data acquisition systems. MIST Suzuki are one of the few top level teams to be supplied with their latest electronics package. It is the same system that took former MotoGP rider John Hopkins to pole position at the Silverstone round of the championship earlier this year so we are feeling quite positive about things.”

He added “We have several projects under development for the 2012 season and hope to make an announcement on those soon. We are keen to push new technology in racing so are very much committed to seeking the widest possible audience to showcase our talents”.

With the bike build nearing completion the team need just a little more help to reach the twenty thousand pound target needed to cover the costs of competing. In return we can offer title sponsorship for the event plus exclusive access to the circuit, team garage and hospitality over the race weekend for selected guests. There is even the opportunity to work alongside the team if the hands on approach appeals.

Anyone in a position to help out can get in touch via the team website at www.mistsuzuki.com or email: mike.edwards@mistsuzuki.com

Addendum (25/10): The best laid plans of mice and men…

In 2010 the team worked with a company to produce a wiring harness suitable for our Evo spec. Suzuki. When we planned our full spec. SuperBike in 2011 we kept them up to date at every stage of our plans. After trying to pin them down for several months we were eventually promised the loom for the end of August. Later than we wanted but still plenty of time for the WSB wild card entries.

As the end of August approached it appeared that delivery was unlikely so we contacted another respected loom making. We were promised a quote and an estimated delivery date but by the end of September we were getting worried as nothing had been forthcoming and the company had gone quiet on us.

We found a third company who came highly recommended for being both capable and reliable but they were unable to guarantee delivery before the Portimao round so, regretfully, we had to withdraw out entry and our dreams for the 2011 season. Roll on 2012.

The big problem with all these types of projects is that nothing is available off the shelf.

I managed to buy the suspension linkage, then I had to get some hardened spacers, then some of those hardened spacers had to be machined. Then I had to find the right length and type of bolts to give enough clearance.

Having the wiring harness made is relatively painless, albeit expensive, but every sensor has to be in position first, so a dozen or so one off brackets have to be designed and made.

When we ran in the BSB Evo class in 2010 we had a wiring harness made but most of the sensors stayed were they were on the stock bike. On this bike everything will move, the battery will be in a new position, the tip over sensor is being replaced by an HRC item, the regulator/rectifier is an aftermarket item, etc.

The bespoke dash bracket we used last year was quite simple, one major connector for the dash and one to allow us to hook up the laptop to connect to the electronics. We found we still had plenty of wires for various sensors, etc. getting in the way. This time the dash bracket will have connectors for the front potentiometer, front brake pressure sensor, etc. and then plenty of internal wiring to give us another big connector to bring everything together and connect it to the main harness.

We are hoping to use a fuel tank that will centralise the weight distribution of the bike. This then needs a different rear subframe, in fact it’s so small you could hardly even call it a subframe. This positions the standard fuel pump a lot further back so we need a new fuel line which, of course, requires that we modify both the end of the pump and the fuel rail that sits on the throttle bodies.

Everything takes time and money.

The biggest challenge when building SuperBike is getting all the new pieces to work well together. Nothing is ever easy, whether it is a small bracket to mount a wheel speed sensor or something major such as a new fuel tank, swing arm or even the wiring loom.

The new shock is a special Ohlins item made specifically for SuperBike use with factory suspension linkages. Of course, it is longer and the reservoir cylinder is facing away to give more clearance. That’s fine except is hits the bottom of the standard subframe but we were planning on changing that anyway.

When we get the new tank we will have to change the top mount to fix the clearance problems. For the moment we have a narrower top mount but we need a longer clevis anyway. The bottom fitment is also non-standard to work with the new linkage.

Even the simple things need special brackets, note the clip on potentiometer mount in this photo:

The actual linkage is reversed compared to normal and although we are using a standard swing arm for the moment it has been modified to have quick release wheels and the linkage mount has also been modified. This gives us an option of a variety of mounting brackets that can be bolted on.

The settings we have should work well which should be a good interim step until we get the money to have a bespoke swing arm made. We have had this tested and found the torsional stiffness is where we want it to be but the lateral stiffness is way too stiff for the optimum edge grip. As usual every little problem can be solved with money…

The axle mounts and adjusters have simply been cut off and new blocks welded in. This allows us to run a longer wheelbases than with the stock swing arm but also has some other benefits.

Here you can see the adjuster block with one of the other secrets. The wheels have captive spacers and the blocks have small supports underneath so you can just drop the wheel in to place and it is held without the axle. In fact, it is totally self supporting and the axle can just be slid through with one hand when required.

And the same things from the other side…

More little ‘nice to haves’. There are the bespoke oil cooler brackets. They bolt on as usual but have lightweight HEL oil lines between them. You can also see the oil pressure sensor mounted on one block and the oil temperature sensor on the other.

After a brief hiatus working on other things we finally managed to get back to the engine. First step was to rebuild the freshly ported and skimmed head with the Yoshimura Cotters & Retainers.

Somewhere in our pile of parts is the original see of Cotters purchased for the project but, not being able to find them, we had to buy another set to allow things to progress.

Having double checked the cam timing on the Yoshi cams it was time to shim the head properly, or at least take an initial best guess at it, and fit the cams that we had cut to our profile a couple of years ago. As we never got around to using them at the time we had to press the Yoshimura cam wheels on and then get them timed up to an initial spec. to see how they would perform.

Of course once we had the timing set we had to go back and re-shim everything to give the correct clearances. An engine builders work is never done.

In this modern age it is a constant surprise that we have to resort to the old school method of cam timing. Even with a dial gauge accurate to the nearest one hundredth of a millimetre we still rely on a big degreeing wheel to measure the crank position.

The promoters of the British SuperBike Championship yesterday announced the rules and regulations for the 2012 season.

As expected the rules have heavily relaxed the no tuning concept found in the Evo class over the last couple of seasons despite retaining the Evo name. In reality it is a transition to something close to the fully tuned SuperBike spec. engines that exist at World SuperBikes and the rest of the British SuperBike field.

They are being sold as a cheaper alternative but this revolves around the use of standard pistons and a ban on expensive titanium rods. As discussed previously running full spec. engines is crucial to be able to have a competitive field across the board yet few rely on the titanium option so the cost saving is questionable but the new found freedom is most welcome.

In fact our own SuperBike is already using stock pistons and rods although, to be fair, the rods have been balanced. Fortunately we can continue to run these modified items although the rules state “The weight must be the same or greater than the original homologated part.”

Due to the tolerances allowed in the homologation papers we re still safe. We could even have some aftermarket rods made up to 15g lighter than standard despite the new rules. It gets even more confusing with an Aprilia where 21g can be removed due to some minor contradictions in the official paperwork.

Some of the less relevant rules are mainly noise to help sell the concept that this is a new cheap initiative. You can’t lighten the crank but, realistically, nobody ever does these days. In fact many would rather make it heavier to provide greater inertia to help increase grip at the rear tyre.

You can’t use surface treatments on standard parts although it is still possible on crankshaft bearing surfaces. We relied on Superfinishing our crank as it reduces drag and evens out any surface irregularities. This was a cheap option to effectively strengthen the part so that is now not possible.

There are no changes to the previous SuperBike rules as far as the cylinder heads go. Nobody bothers using aftermarket valves so only using stock valves won’t make a difference. Porting is free, adding filler to change the port shape is permitted, replacement camshafts with different lift and duration remain, valve springs, cotters & retainers can also be changed.

You can still replace the stock gearbox with an expensive aftermarket item. The Yoshimura item in our bike retails for around four thousand pounds and, as yet, there are no other aftermarket items available.

The only real oddity is that kit or aftermarket generators are not permitted. Any privateer that has tried to race a tuned Yamaha will be well aware just how much longer their cranks last without the extra weight from the standard flywheel. Whether it should be permitted for cost or safety grounds it remains a strange call, especially as an aftermarket version is available for around five hundred pounds.

In fact, looking at the SuperBike engine we have just built for our wildcard entry in World SuperBikes the only thing to fall foul of the new rules would be the kit generator.

The biggest difference is really with the electronics as the engine is pretty much untouched. The fixed rev limit of 750 rpm over than the standard limit for each model of motorcycle fits within our existing plans also.

The one headline grabbing change for 2012 is the banning of all traction control and other sophisticated electronics strategies such as launch control, auto-blip, etc. The obvious question is why? As discussed in the previous blog there is no real cost associated with having it enabled and Pirelli has already said that the tyres have been developed based on it being available so the real question is why ban it?

Other than the lack of traction control and the absence of a non-standard generator the changes seem pretty much inline with my suggestions in the previous blog so why did I label this as “BSB Increase The Cost Of Entry…”?

One of the reasons given by BSB for these changes is to “Increase the opportunity for private teams to compete competitively”. Inarguably this could only be applauded except for the announcement that followed saying that they were reducing the grid to 32 riders, preferably with 16 two rider teams.

At the first round of 2011 British SuperBikes started with 38 riders, one of the biggest grids in it’s history, although that has now dropped to 28 regulars for a variety of reasons. Lots of new teams joined the series, primarily in the Evo class with the promise of cheap racing.

For 2012 many of those riders won’t be welcome. Perhaps the organisers foresaw the diminished grids as those teams realised they could not afford the higher cost of the new engine rules or maybe they simply wanted to ensure the teams accepted in to the series will be able to fund their racing beyond the middle of the year.

What happens to the number of highly competent but one rider teams? Will they have to double up with another team or miss out altogether? Who owns the entry and what might happen to the partnership in the future?

Once up and running any new teams that wish to join the series will have to buy out an existing team. If sixteen teams want to continue racing that buy out will prove to be extremely expensive. It’s just as complicated should an existing team have problems with sponsorship one year. If they have to drop out through non fault of their own how will they get back in?

For the privateers things just got a whole lot more expensive. The Evo class that attracted so many new riders now doesn’t appear to want them. If they can’t make the new cut for the 2012 season then it is unlikely they will ever be able to afford to get back on the grid.

I understand the logic behind the introduction of these rules, it is intended to secure well financed teams and ensure a row of 16 big trucks behind the pit lane at every round. Whether it can count as more cost effective racing, either from a technical or a logistical viewpoint, remains to be seen. I, for one, have my doubts.

Really please to say that there has been some interest in our recent blog entries. They’ve been picked up by a couple of influential US-based websites and given a much wider audience. They’ve even generated some interesting discussions in the comments section.

Check out the www.motomatters.com and moto-racing.speedtv.com to read further.

A few years ago we switched to race in British SuperBikes after several seasons in the highly competitive FIM SuperStock series run as part of the World SuperBikes calendar.

Having raced for several years in a world class series where stock engines were combined with higher than standard rpm limits we were acutely aware of the fragility of components taken beyond their intended performance limits.

With much higher refresh intervals to ensure reliability the costs spiralled to the point where our relatively low spec. 200 hp SuperBike in 2009 cost no more to build and refresh for a season than the 180 hp FIM SuperStock spec. machine we ran the year before.

When the Evo class was first proposed for the BSB championship we suggested a number of alternative ways to reduce costs whilst ensuring an exciting and evenly matched field with close racing:

- Permit aftermarket updates to potentially fragile stock parts when preparing their standard engines on the grounds of safety, e.g. cotters and retainers in some bikes, slipper clutches or gearboxes in others, etc.

- Permit basic tuning rules to ensure an even playing field for performance across different manufacturers and models of bike, e.g. 174 hp Suzuki versus a 195 hp BMW. Getting a Suzuki to 195 hp is relatively cheap so why not let us keep our brand allegiance?

- Implement a price limit for the aftermarket electronics similar to the FIM SuperStock rules, i.e. 1.5 times the cost of stock ECU, or for SuperBike a fixed price cap. If a manufacturer wanted to sell a £100k electronics package to everyone in the paddock for £10k then fair enough.

We thoroughly endorsed the concept of a fixed rpm limit. Spending money on titanium rods or other costly engine internals was always going to be a waste of money if the bike couldn’t rev high enough for them to be of benefit. The fixed rpm limit rather neatly solves most of the other problems of engine cost.

After our sponsorship fell through shortly before the start of the 2010 season we chose to enter the BSB Evo class and built a completely new bike in just 30 days. With only the money for a few rounds we were still able to win races, set lap records and even led the championship despite giving away 20 hp, and a significant amount of budget, on the more powerful stock bikes.

The move to a one bike rule was inspired but you still need a second bike broken down in boxes should the unthinkable happen. Then only the big teams have the manpower to be able to put the parts together again in time for the next session. What are the small teams supposed to do?

To their credit BSB took note of some of our concerns and recommendations. For the 2011 season the rules were modified to allow teams to replace certain key components for reasons of cost and safety. Even models without air bleed systems to control engine braking or slipper clutches were allowed to add them.

They have clearly been listening again as for 2012 the rules will be changing once more and it looks like they will allow enough tuning to equalise the performance across the manufacturers. Trying to make up a 20 hp deficit really makes life hard particularly on some of the faster circuits.

In fact, the key change for BSBin 2012, as the whole grid moves to the Evo rule concept, is that is that the proposed Evo rules are reportedly the same as the previous SuperBike rules but with standard pistons and a ban on titanium rods. Pretty much everything else remains with the addition of the control spec. Evo ECU albeit with a slightly higher rpm limit.

Whatever the engine rules, and let’s face it banning titanium rods will save a sizeable chunk of cash, a decent engine will still cost £10k to build. Kit gearboxes, generators, slipper clutches, head work, cams and other valve train components don’t come cheap. Evo racing is still expensive so why try to sell it as a cheap alternative? The chassis is still the most expensive part of that equation.

Motorcycle racing is now at a crossroads. For so long the high costs have put people off but there are still issues. It’s not just the cost of the parts, it’s the cost of the parts you cannot buy and the information on how to put them together.

This is where the AMA has it right. Everyone can buy the same parts at the same prices. I think they went a little too far in some respects but there are no factory specials for a few select teams. In the same way the one make tyre rule made a huge difference to letting everyone compete on an equal footing this takes it one step further.

Sure we can develop a swing arm just like the one the factory supplied to another team but it will cost us a lot more and that’s money most teams just don’t have. It doesn’t have to be standard, especially as standard swing arms are invariably stiffer than the race items these days, but it does need to limit the input of the factory resources.

John Hopkins and the Samsung Crescent team put on an excellent showing at the recent Silverstone WSB round and they did it with a Motec ECU that costs £6.5k. Even at that price it includes the £2.5k data logging and analysis software upgrades so the base ECU is something of a bargain. That’s less than a decent swing arm and, given the rise of the new fuel tanks that are required to help rebalance most bike by moving the weight around, amounts to the equivalent of just two aftermarket fuel tanks once you have the special carbon bodywork and other parts you need to go with them.

Decent electronics need not be expensive. Sure, it’s not going to be the same as the kit the MotoGP boys are using but it doesn’t need to be. Does the Yamaha WSB electronics really need to cost up to 10 times the amount, as has been alleged in the press, to finish just 6 seconds ahead after a 106 km race?

If Motec can supply an ECU with full traction control, launch control, etc. that is capable of putting a bike on pole at a WSB meeting for a base price of £4k why is everyone so keen to remove traction control? Teams will still need a data guy at every round so it can’t be about cost.

Do the front runners in any championship believe it allows lesser riders to keep up with them? Sure they do although not everyone is trying to get it banned. Wiser minds than mine are already concerned that the riders in the CRT class at MotoGP won’t be able to keep up without a decent electronics package. Would the gap increase or decrease if they banned them altogether? If you are looking for close racing then it could be argued that taking it away could be counter productive.

The poor BSB Evo guys are preparing their bikes and throwing away sophisticated electronics, incl. basic traction control, and replacing it with a very capable ECU without it. The 2010 BSB Evo champion on his BMW was only fractionally faster than the SuperStock champion of the same year on his BMW despite better tyres, forks, brakes, suspension linkages, etc.

Even Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director for Pirelli Moto, has been quoted as saying that without traction control Pirelli would have to change a lot. So the man that oversees the tyres that BSB riders have to run with says they would have to change but because WSB retains their rules it is unlikely to happen.

As a small team we set out to make a point this season. We are building a bike as close to some of the race winning BSB bikes as we can in an attempt to show that it can be done on a budget. It might take us all season and we might not be able to afford the expensive swing arms but we can sure afford the not very expensive ECU with traction control. We just won’t have the high staffing costs or other overheads associated with running a big team.

I wonder whether there are too many vested interests in racing trying to sell solutions without being able to clearly communicate the problems they are trying to solve. Racing needs to be cheaper but do you really need more than a few simple changes?

- One bike per rider and a rolling chassis as a back up.
- Price capped electronics with a fixed rpm limit for each manufacturer.
- Homologated parts to reduce the gap between the factory teams and the rest.

The rest of the cost savings need to come from elsewhere, e.g. tyres, transport, staff, etc.

And the final word from someone working with a leading race organisation:

“Do you want to fill your grid from the front or from the back?”

If racing in a National championship can be considered expensive how about running with the big boys at World SuperBikes?

Sure the bikes are more expensive but the base costs are also much higher also. Even when we competed in the FIM SuperStock class we spent an additional £20k just on fuel, tolls and ferry crossings to get there. Not forgetting the need for someone to drive all over Europe during the season.

Don’t forget that WSB is a global championship and that for each fly away round it is estimated the cost to ship the full team, bikes and equipment, and look after them once there, costs in the region of 60k Euros per event.

For 2011 the entry fee was 10k Euros per rider with a further 2.5k Euros for Clinica Mobile contribution. Then add a further 55k Euros for tyres for the 13 race weekends and 2 official tests.

Whichever way you look at it the numbers soon add up regardless of the debate on the spec. of the engines or which electronics package to use.

Does it need to be as expensive as it is? Of course not but it’s a difficult balancing act.

For any SuperBike round you need rubber, lots of it. The regulations permit a total of eight front tyres and eleven rear tyres for each round. Some might be qualifying tyres, others wet or intermediates with the rest being whatever is required over the weekend.

At £222 a pair it’s not cheap, in fact it’s very close to the trade cost that any dealer can purchase them at, but they don’t have to pay for a team of people support the racing and fit tyres to the never ending line of wheels over the race weekend.

MSVR who run BSB events have done well to reduce the fuel cost for 2011. The 2010 price was £3.79/L, or with the recent tax hike £3.87/L. Having said that why are racers still obliged to pay £3.59/L for the control race fuel?

Sure there is a cost associated with delivering it to the circuit and making it available in 25L drums but, after a back to back test at the end of the 2010 season, the 98 octane fuel from the local garage was found to offer a negligible power increase at a significant 40% of the cost.

With three practice sessions, qualifying, warm up and two races a SuperBike has a lot of track time. That’s a full quota of tyres and around 125L of fuel. That comes to £449 plus the £2154 spent on tyres.

That’s just the cost of the bike out on track. How about the wages for the team manager, the suspension and data technicians, the truck driver or the guy that sorts and manages the tyres? Not forgetting the crew chief and the two mechanics needed for each rider.

One team we raced against last year said their biggest expense for each weekend was the hotels and catering required for their small team.

Pretty soon you start looking at the cost of fuel and insurance for the truck, the public liability insurance for the team, the workshop and dyno facility, etc.

Perhaps the cost of actually building the bike isn’t the most significant part of the budget…

Our 2011 electronics have finally arrived. The latest specification Motec M170 ECU and the SDL3 Dash. It’s the same ECU that HM Plant and Samsung Crescent Suzuki have been using in British SuperBike in addition to the Parkalgar Honda World SuperSport team. In fact there are probably less than a dozen in existence and we will be running the most recent firmware with some bespoke functionality to meet our needs.