TTXGP on the Trans World Sport TV program [Video]

Trans World Sport followed TTXGP British Army team Electric Hussars to Albacete for the TTXGP world championship final for 2010. Also included is an interview with the Team principle for...

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Sunswift Solar Electric Car Breaking the Guinness world record [Video]

News footage from the UNSW Sunswift team's record-breaking run at Nowra NSW where the solar car, IVy, became officially the world's fastest solar car with a speed of 88 km/h.

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Green Overdrive: VW’s Electric Golf! [Video]

This week Katie Fehrenbacher goes for a spin in VW's all-electric car the Blue-e-motion Golf. Volkswagen won't launch their EV until late 2013, or 2014. VW say they intend to wait for the next...

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Buy the best, pay more...

Here's this awesome quote on the Arai website. Neatly says everything I try to explain when someone asks me why my helmet costs nearly Rs 20,000

What to pay?
"It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money...that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the things it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better. There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell for a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only, are this man's lawful prey"
John Ruskin(1819-1900), Economist

Yamaha R15: 17 bhp's too little, surely

So, it would appear that most of you were expecting the R15 to make in excess of 20 bhp. 54 per cent, to be precise. Hmm...

I did some checking, and here's what I found.

Fact 1: It's not impossible
Yes, a 150cc engine can easily make as much as 24 bhp. But there are specific conditions under which this can happen. Producing big power means burning big amounts of fuel, producing large amounts of exhaust gases and since the bangs are bigger, literally, making a heck of a lot more noise. Which means, you, the customer has to be willing to live with a rackety, polluting motorcycle. Which you may well think is fine, but the Government doesn't. India happens to have some of tightest norms in the business, especially noise norms, which means big bangs, much as we like them, are not on menu. In fact, the R15's motor, incredibly similar to the Indonesian V-Ixion's actually makes about 1 bhp less. Blame goes squarely to the norms.

Fact 2: You probably won't like it
While we all love to harp on and on about horsepower, the truth is bhp is not all its cracked up to be. Yes, that's a pretty strong statement, but hold on a minute and lemme explain.

First of all, horsepower doesn't exist, except as a mathematical function of torque. Dynos measure torque. Not horsepower. The dyno's computer calculates the horsepower and plots the curve we so love.

Second, it is torque that really thrills you. Despite all the claims to the contrary, not more than a fraction of a percent of enthusiast buyers actually use the full potential of their motorcycle. By that I mean riding up to the redline, repeatedly, daily, purely for the enjoyment of it. Which is the sole riding mode in which horsepower comes out to play. The rest of the time, all you're enjoying is the torque curve, playing with the peak and enjoying the satisfying surge that comes with opening the throttle.

Third, and most importantly, a 25 bhp 150cc, almost by definition must make its significant torque far up high in the rev band. Which means it will require a right thrashing to produce any sort of performance. Any time you want the bike to pick up its skirts and run hard, you're going to have to suspend all mechanical sympathy and whip the poor thing. No one can ride like that day after day. Even racers can't ride like that – it is simply too stressful!


But here's the thing. Would I have been happier if the motorcycle were making 25 bhp? You bet your, um, you know.

But I understand that it isn't possible, and from what the engine designer folks (and not just at Yamaha) are telling me, a genuine 25 bhp 150 wouldn't be a pocket rocket, it would be a ticking bomb. When you light the fuse, it would explode. And there'd be nothing in it before or after the event. Big explosions like that are fun. But too many of them, strung in a row get stressful, and eventually, you simply don't want any more. I was also checking on google and I found a couple of people who were upgrading their 19-odd bhp CBR150Rs to 25-odd bhp. But the interesting thing is that both were talking about having to install a 195cc kit to make the power reasonably useful.

All right, now I'm waiting for your comments.

Kinetic Flyte: An owner's opinion

Here's some feedback Nomad has on the Kinetic Flyte. I thought it was interesting...

I got sick and tired waiting for a multi cylinder bike over 250cc so i went ahead and got myself a flyte last week. Nice scoot overall.

Done about 200kms and there are a few things I noticed that could have been done better.

1:Pass light switch is missing. Its a pain in the butt to turn on the light switch and back again. I dont see it lasting very long the way I use it.

2.Seat could have been a bit longer.Its a very tight fit with a heavy person behind me

3.Pickup not that good for a 125. Or maybe I feel that way because the scoot's so silent and vibe free.

4.Disk brake not available even as an optional extra.

5.Doesnt have a halogen bulb.(Kinetic, how can you be so cheap?!)

6.No engine kill switch.

7.Ground clearance is very low. The scoot scrapes its belly on bike-breakers 2 up.

8.Horn sounds like it came straight off an electric cycle.Not that it matters much because I hardly use it anyway.

9.Gray color not available.(I have a soft spot for gray!)

10.Mirrors not to my liking. Its weird moving the entire thing instead of just the mirror itself.

11.No rear brake lock like on the other scoots.Quite annoying at traffic signals and potentially dangerous when parked on a slope.

12.The petrol lock should have been separate from the bike lock. My dad always open the petrol tank when he means to lock the scoot. Its also too fiddly. I don't see it lasting too long. On the day I bought it, my dad almost broke the key in the keyhole because the lock wouldn't work :) But now we're used to it. It shouldn't be a case of getting used to something like that.The problem shouldn't even exist in the first place!

13.There should have been a mudguard for the front wheel. It throws an enormous amount of muck everywhere! I don't know how but some mud ended up on the lower front part of the seat and needless to say on my pants! But to be fair, I rode the scoot through some pretty deep water really fast.

14.Flimsy rear footrests. They just flap around when closed and dont look too sturdy.

Now on to the good stuff.

I had a Kinetic Honda prior to this and with the quality of service that I received, I made up my mind never to go for another kinetic. ever. That changed the moment I test rode the flyte. Its that good.

2.Its smooth! That could be because all other bikes/scooters I've had/have are 2 stroke and not really the smoothest either.

3.Readily available. One of the reason I went for the flyte is because the other scoots I shortlisted , access has a 45 day waiting period and the dio has a 30 day waiting period.I'm very impatient and dont want to wait 30 to 45 days for a friggin scoot!

4.I love the underseat lighting. And the huge space under the seat. Yes, a full face helmet does go in but no way in hell will the seat close. Unless I chop off 2 inches from the top of the helmet...

5.Even though it lacks disc up front, the brakes are quite good.

6. Ride quality is very good. Keep in mind that my benchmark is the old Kinetic Honda ZX. But still, compared to some bikes I've ridden, the damping is pretty good.

7.Acceleration is ok. Could have been better on account of the fact that its a 125cc. Midrange and top speed are quite good. I saw a speedo indicated 90. Yes, I'm aware that the company claimed top speed is 80. Did they mean on the speedo or true speed?

8.Quality is quite good overall.

9.Mileage:I'm sure it must be good but I havent checked. To be honest, its not really a priority for me. I'd gladly sacrifice mileage for more performance.

Overall, I'm a happy camper. This is going to be my daily ride till something serious comes along from the manufacturers.

(This is my first purchase after 12 years of waiting for something better/fasterquicker to come. And here I am, still waiting......)

Yamaha FZ16: First Ride

So you want to know how the FZ16 is , is it?

Styling
As you can see for yourself, the styling of the FZ16 was central to the project. At least that is the official line. They first created the look and the 'fitted' the engineering into the design. No, really. That is why the FZ16 runs those fat tyres, has the faux pivot plate in aluminium colour, the faux aluminiun subframe look sidepanel and all. Like they scaled the R1 down for the R15, they scaled the FZ1N down for the FZ16. Personally, I'm just happy to be looking at an Indian bike that would hold its own anywhere in the world. As is usual with Yamaha, build quality, fit and finish levels are all great and I don't get the feeling that something will rattle loose, soon or later.

Engine
This is where the actual engineering began. The FZ16's aircooled engine is significantly different from the R15. Despite much prodding, for instance, Mizuno San, the project leader refused to accept that the R15 and the FZ16 motors shared more than a bare minimum of aggregates.

Creating two significantly different engines for what is effectively the same displacement band is a significant thing. It means that Yamaha is willing to look past economies of scale and parts sharing to create motorcycles that clearly adhere to a pre-defined role. Which is why the FZ16 feels quick of the line. Not quick enough to blow your socks off, mind you, but quick enough for you to notice the performance. I've read that the top-end isn't all that great and that FZ16 is reading from the same chapter on top-end as the Unicorn, but I don't subscribe to the same school. I think the FZ16 is clearly defined as an urban tool with styling and effortless low-rev performance being the two central themes, and this the engine does. That said, it is lighter than the competition, which should fill most performance gaps that the FZ16's peers might expose. The gearbox is a regular Yamaha job - slick and I don't think too many people will complain of the FZ16 being a laggard. In fact, I'd be very surprised if despite the low-rev focus, the FZ16 didn't equal or outperform its immediate competition.

Ride Quality, Handling and Braking
Personally, going into the test drive, I was expecting the storming tyre sizes to cause much trouble. Needless to say, my confidence in Yamaha's engineers was redoubled. Not only does the FZ16 handle well, it seems not to notice the extra rubber at all. I later found one of the reasons while helping some Yamaha staffers transfer a set of spare MRF tubeless radials from one car to another. The weigh nothing. Really, with tyres that light, it's no surprise that the not only does the FZ16 feel grippy, stable and responsive, it feels happy rather than that 'anchored' feeling that overtyred bikes seem to develop.

Ride quality is stiff and sporty, though. Again, personally, I've had the privilege of riding enough bikes to know that while plush ride feels great, stiffer setups encourage you to push harder and explore the envelope more... sometimes at the expense of your back. This is a compromise I have no problem with. You, on the other hand, might. Some riders who had the foresight to lower the preload to the softest settings reported instant, and noticeable ride quality improvements. I found the setup bouncy only over the worst of the roads, where the tyres do seem to bounce up off the surface entirely. In any other situation, the ride quality never comes to the point where you will leap off the motorcycle hurling abuse. I like it, but I think this is a personal choice so you should, ideally, ride an FZ and form your own opinion. Your experience will vary.

The braking is superb. No surprise there. Fat forks offer flex-free feedback-rich braking which the fat tyres respond to really well by mashing the larger contact patch firmly into the ground. I do wish that Yamaha'd put in a set of radially mounted brakes for brag value alone... but the whole wishes-horses thing applies to that line of thought, right?

Features and other stuff
Full LCD instruments, baby! But all is not well in that department. Internationally, Kawasaki came in for all-round notoriety for the all-LCD revcounter on their Ninjas from two generations ago because of readability issues. On the other hand, Ducati are currently running a slick, large race-spec all-LCD instrument cluster on the 1098, 848 etc. So it can be done. Yamaha haven't cracked it, I must admit. The tacho readout is cluttered by lots of design elements and the effect is that gathering info off the LCD meters takes some getting used to. Only the speedo is easy to read and the surfeit of carbon fibre, orange and white stickers makes the otherwise sleek instrument cluster a bit, how shall I put it, overdone. I do also have to point out that there's a few random stickers (like 'Monocross' on the side panel that add no value whatsoever to the motorcycle's style and could easily have been skipped.

Overall
As you can probably tell, I'm as impressed with the FZ16 as I was with the R15. But, there's a catch. The FZ16 is expensive compared to the 150s it wants to beat and the question is, is that extra money worth paying. This is something you must decide for yourself. I would have no hesitation paying the Rs 6000-odd extra for the solid feel, international looks and the general competence of the motorcycle. But would you? Tell me, leave a comment.

Image from Yamaha India