Keith Code: The evolution of the art of cornering

Keith Code says that the art of cornering a motorcycle has already evolved through four complete phases, and phase five is now upon us. It certainly makes for interesting reading...

Motorcyclists love corners, right? Doing 300km/h in a straight line on a ZZR1400 is all very well, but riding a properly sorted NSR/RGV/TZ/RS250 through a set of mountain twisties produces a rush of adrenaline like nothing else on the planet. Some time back, Keith Code wrote a piece on the evolution of the art of cornering, which we thought was quite interesting. Here are some excerpts:

The evolution of the art of cornering has had four complete phases so far. The neat, tidy, knees-to-tank, stretched-out-on-the-bike style of the 19-teens through the 1960s was handed down as the path of least resistance. You could say it was the ‘natural’ style of riding.

Phase two. Mike Hailwood let his inside knee come off the tank in the 1960s and practically created a stock market panic in the riding style etiquette market – it was a huge departure from tradition. Paul Smart, Barry Sheene and others followed. Then, phase three, Jarno Saarinen actually moved his butt off the seat a bit, which was emulated by many.

The fourth phase is credited to and was pioneered by Kenny Roberts Sr’s knee-down, hang-off style in the 1970s. Initially this earth-shattering look was quite personal to the rider, each having his own iteration of the new form. Cal Rayborn and Kel Carruthers were halfway guys, still clinging a bit to phase two. Some others had lots of bum off, some with lots of leg and knee off, some rotated around the tank a la Mick Doohan. A few went head and body way down and on the inside of the tank, Randy Mamola style. Some hung-off but remained sitting more upright, like Kevin Schwantz.

The torso positions for the 500cc world champs of the era; Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Wayne Rainey, were half way between – on the tank but not inside it. Most of the originals also tended to ride forward on the tank and finally everyone was stationary in their hung-off position once in the corner. The neat part of that era, with all these splinter groups, was that a fan could have instant recognition of the individual’s style and look. Not so today, when phase five is upon us.

Conceptually, hanging off couldn’t be simpler. Lower the combined Center-of-Gravity (CG) of the bike/rider combination and you go through the same corner at the same speed, on the same line with less lean angle – a brilliantly utilitarian racer’s tool with huge residual benefits, chief among them being an accurate, on-board gauge for lean angle. And true to most evolutionary progressions, function now rules the new look and style of road racers.

Take a look – riders are low and inside of their bikes. More and more we see them perfectly in line with the machine, not twisted or rotated in the saddle. The bum off/body twisted back across the top of the bike positioning, which many phase four riders had been doing, was and still is an interesting piece of self-deception. With their torso mass on the higher side of the bike, it not only neutralizes the mass of the hips being off the bike but actually is a negative, raising the combined bike and rider CG, defeating the technique’s main function and purpose.

Other notable changes in phase five include not being so stretched out as before, but not always with the family jewels on the tank either. The one new variable in phase five riders is coming further off the bike mid-corner to exit. You’ll see it on the bum-cam position next time you watch riders like Rossi in MotoGP. That and the fore/aft in the saddle differences appear to be the only options available to phase five evolution racers.

We have five choices now in how we can look and relate to our bikes. If you keep your eye on the style’s function and do some limbering exercises, all the benefits of phase five will become apparent as you become comfortable with it. Is it easy? My experience says it is not a natural style at all and riders are hard pressed to assume the new form. If it is your desire to do it, I suggest taking your time and, step by step, experimenting with each of the stages through which it has evolved. Good luck!

For more of Keith Code’s motorcycle wisdom, you could order a copy of his new Twist of the Wrist II DVD and/or enroll for classes in the famous California Superbike School

MotoMorphic JaFM: It’s about ‘standout,’ not ‘speed’

Think the MotoMorphic JaFM is cool? You can have one, provided you're willing to shell out at least US$100,000 and above for the bike...
Pics: William Ross

We wrote about the MotoMorphic JaFM back in June 2008, when we published the first few pics of Jim Davis’ radical custom bike on Faster and Faster. Now, MotoMorphic have released more pics of the JaFM, which, with its outsized tyres and comically outlandish chassis, looks as over-the-top as ever.

Davis says the ‘inspiration’ for the JaFM came from streetfighters, fat tyres, American muscle cars and fighter planes. ‘Along with the massive visual impact of the MotoMorphic JaFM, there is a balance and congruity to the overall design. Overall, the bike functions exceptionally well, as a radical yet eminently rideable motorcycle that makes an undeniable statement about its owner and his/her individuality,’ claims the bike’s creator.

Oh, well, there’s more to the JaFM than its styling. The engine, for one. It’s a 998cc DOHC 8-valve Rotax V-twin, mated to a six-speed gearbox with a slipper clutch. The engine produces about 110bhp and 90Nm of torque, which we suppose should be just about adequate for a bike that weighs close to 250 kilos. Top speed is in excess of 160km/h and MotoMorphic admit that the JaFM is more about getting attention rather than going very fast. They also claim that the bike’s fully adjustable ergonomics make it quite comfortable to ride.

If you want a JaFM, MotoMorphic will tailor make one for you, though with a base price of US$100,000 you’d have to want one pretty bad. The bike comes with high-spec components: fully adjustable Ohlins fork and Penske shock, Brembo brakes, Dynojet Power Commander III with optimised mapping and optional bits like carbonfibre bodywork and components, Ostrich or Stingray hide upholstery, various CNC-machined aluminium bits, stainless steel brake and clutch lines, wave rotors, a rear-view camera system and many other toys.

Here's a video of the JaFM in action...

For more details, visit the MotoMorphic website here

Münch TTE-1.2: Son of the Mammut

The Münch TTE-1.2 won the 2010 TTXGP world championship and the manufacturer's title in the 2010 FIM e-Power race series. They are now preparing for the 2011 season...

Those who’ve been following the electric bike racing scene would probably know that in 2010, a legendary German company won the 2010 TTXGP world championship and the manufacturer’s title in FIM’s newly set up e-Power series. That company is none other than Münch, which was established in the mid-1960s by one Friedel Münch, who went on to build the absolutely outrageous Mammut TTS-E and, later, along with Thomas Petsch, the equally outlandish Mammut 2000.

You can read about the old Münch Mammut here, but this story is about Münch’s comeback vehicle – the TTE-1.2 racebike. The old Mammut was a pretty radical machine for its time, and by eschewing the internal-combustion engine in favour of an electric motor, the TTE-1.2 follows in its footsteps. The TTE-1.2 is fitted with a lithium-ion battery pack that powers its three-phase synchronous motor, which produces 90kW (120 horsepower), which is sufficient to push the 220-kilo bike to a top speed of more than 200km/h. The TTE-1.2’s range, depending on how hard the bike is ridden, is between 40-150km.

Münch have engineered the bike to exacting standards and they’ve fitted top-spec components to ensure the bike delivers very high levels of performance on the track. The TTE’s Öhlins suspension, Brembo brakes and steel-aluminium spaceframe chassis (with 52/48 front/rear weight distribution) have all been extensively tested and optimised for high-speed performance.

The 40-year-old Matthias Himmelmann, the man who raced the Münch TTE-1.2 in the TTXGP and FIM’s e-Power series in 2010, is probably no Valentino Rossi. But he does having about 20 years of motorcycle racing experience. And he had some very capable people supporting his efforts on the track. In 2010, the Münch team consisted of Thomas Schuricht (automotive electrician), Marko Werner (automotive electrician and mechatronic engineer), Thomas Petsch (Friedel Münch’s erstwhile partner, hardcore motorcycle enthusiast, entrepreneur and owner of Münch Motorrad Technik GmbH), Ralf Ernst (handles administration, organisation, sales and marketing for Münch) and Stefan Stepputtis (finance). By winning the manufacturer’s title in the e-Power series, this small team was able to keep the Münch name alive.

Today, the TTE-1.2 is a pure racebike but with fast-paced developments in battery and electric motor technology, Münch just might be able to do a street-legal version of the TTE in the not-too-distant future. And then, in deference to the Mammut heritage, they’ll probably build an electric bike with a dozen lithium-ion batteries, six electric motors (with each motor producing at least 100bhp), two-wheel-drive, computer-controlled air-suspension and hubless wheels... :-)

Welcome back, Münch!

For more on Friedel Münch and the old Münch Mammut, see here and here
Some Mammut pics: The Vintagent