The TTZero 2012 update thread - Teams

[Warren]

Simon,

Thank you very much for this coverage. And especially thanks for the pix of Harold's bike. As someone most interested in maximum range at 55 mph, Harold's bike is most interesting bike there.

Warren

[castrophony]

Simon,As someone most interested in maximum range at 55 mph, Harold's bike is most interesting bike there.Warren

That's understandable. His bike seems out of kilter with the event, but if you leave aside fastest times/highest average speed his would be among the most efficient designs, which if we recall is one of the best reasons to go electric.
Harold was telling us that there is a performance factor where he outdoes the Mugen bike; apparently the differential in his bikes speed on the flat compared with going down an incline is 40kph greater than the Shinden, which is his proud triumph in the event. We sincererly hope he does get a run.

[podolefsky]

Great pics and write up!

I love the diversity in the field. It's got to be intimidating to go out on track with Mugen and Czysz, but it seems like a healthy amount of camaraderie and sportsmanship. Gonna be one for the history books.

[picaroon]

Your updates are great Simon. I think we are an easy audience to please though!
Its great to have the insider information and the quality photo's

Cheers

[Dicey]

Hey Simon,

Wanted to say thanks for the absolutely fantastic updates from the TT Zero. Can't really top hearing what's going on directly from one of the teams. What weight do you think there is to the rumor of the Mugen Shinden running a 20 kWh battery pack? Hope to see you guys put in a quick lap tomorrow as the bike really seemed to show promise on Monday.

Good luck!

Dicey

[Square Wave]

It is incredible to me that the best coverage of this important event is coming from one of the competitors (who must be very busy and short on free time to spend writing) and being posted here on a relatively obscure forum. I went to the IOM TT site and had to search to find mention of the TT Zero. Why aren’t the promoters promoting this event? How will it become well known and popular if it is hidden from casual fans? There aren’t enough people who have built their own electric bike to be an audience to sustain events like this. The promoters need to show the uninitiated what we’re doing.

Anyway, thanks for the excellent coverage Simon! Please keep it coming.

[__Tango]

...

I just finished my engineering degree, and spent the last year researching this very subject; for my dissertation, I mounted the Ducati 999 rolling chassis for our TT Zero bike in our wind tunnel at uni to explore the benefit of these techniques.

...

I'm not saying that I have rewritten the rules or that I know better, but after a year working in this field I can recognise the methods being employed on the Moto Czysz bikes; they haven't wasted their time and money on the features we see here....

BTW, Science with experimentation FTW!

[Brammofan]

That feet-forward bike reminds me of something that Craig Vetter would be trying to enter into the race. I hope they let him run.

And Simon- you are awesome!

[Mike Edwards]

The largely unchanged ManTTX bike

Largely unchanged except for the additional battery packs, new gearbox and a plethora of other modifications over the Winter.

[Mike Edwards]

What weight do you think there is to the rumor of the Mugen Shinden running a 20 kWh battery pack?

The specs. for our bike were in the same ball park so no reason to doubt the Mugen figures given the overall weight of the bike.