Crighton CR700W & guy martin

[Nordboy]

Bloody hell, 700cc, 220bhp and weighs 130kg, bonkers.

Sounds bloody amazing as well.

[Cousin Jack]

A bit too rich for me, but it does ask the question of why modern bikes are so bloody heavy.

[dern]

A bit too rich for me, but it does ask the question of why modern bikes are so bloody heavy.

Modern bikes have silencing, starter motors, ABS, lights, don't have carbon fibre bodywork and have to have a lot of emissions stuff... this would stand no chance of meeting current standards. God knows what the budget/cost is. I don't think is in anyway comparable to a street legal superbike.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The last 500 two stroke GP bikes were making over 200bhp and weighed around the same

[Supermofo]

Being a Wankel I presume it's also a 700cc or much bigger depending on how you measure it? Still impressive though.

[The Spin Doctor]

Being a Wankel I presume it's also a 700cc or much bigger depending on how you measure it? Still impressive though.

2.1 litre if you're measuring swept volume.

[The Spin Doctor]

Modern bikes have silencing, starter motors, ABS, lights, don't have carbon fibre bodywork and have to have a lot of emissions stuff... this would stand no chance of meeting current standards. God knows what the budget/cost is. I don't think is in anyway comparable to a street legal superbike.

Ditto the original GSXRs, and they were featherweight.

OK, the cat weighs a bit and there's the ABS too on modern bikes... but I suspect that the plastic, alloy and steel parts are lower quality and thus heavier. That certainly true of the old GS500s we had as training bikes - the early 2000s F model was significantly heavier than the E model - the wheels were heavier and so was the steel tank. Even stuff like the fork brace went from being alloy to silver painted steel.

[weeksy]

Modern bikes have silencing, starter motors, ABS, lights, don't have carbon fibre bodywork and have to have a lot of emissions stuff... this would stand no chance of meeting current standards. God knows what the budget/cost is. I don't think is in anyway comparable to a street legal superbike.

Ditto the original GSXRs, and they were featherweight.

OK, the cat weighs a bit and there's the ABS too on modern bikes... but I suspect that the plastic, alloy and steel parts are lower quality and thus heavier. That certainly true of the old GS500s we had as training bikes - the early 2000s F model was significantly heavier than the E model - the wheels were heavier and so was the steel tank. Even stuff like the fork brace went from being alloy to silver painted steel.

Because people want cheaper and cheaper.

[Pgm]

I’d have one just need the lottery numbers to come up trumps.

[Mr. Dazzle]

A bit too rich for me, but it does ask the question of why modern bikes are so bloody heavy.

I had to look it up, but MotoGP has a minimum weight limit of 157kg and is significantly 'chunkier' that this ^ bike. Much fatter and stiffer bits, gigantic brakes etc.

Making a really light bike with loads of power ain't THAT hard. Making one which can pass an MoT and which has a warranty...touch more difficult, as your man says.

[The Spin Doctor]

Because people want cheaper and cheaper.

MCN ran a story a week or so back to show that bikes were the same price relative to inflation...

...and you couldn't get much cheaper than the GS500!

[Tricky]

Love the idea and the sound, and would love a shot on it but can't believe they didn't put a QS on it- if ever a bike needed one, this it is it

[Potter]

Love the idea and the sound, and would love a shot on it but can't believe they didn't put a QS on it- if ever a bike needed one, this it is it

As well as a mechanical genius he's also an electronics genius so he's easily capable of putting a QS on it, but Mr Crighton wants it as analogue and mechanical as possible for the full experience, rather than something that does half the job for you. He said he wants it to be a similar rider experience as the old two stroke GP bikes that didn't have any rider aids at all.

He put a lot of effort into the gearbox design, so it should be slick, and he reckons the bike is manageable if you have decent throttle control and know how to ride an old school bike. It's not everyone's cup of tea but if old school philosophy in a next generation mechanical package is your thing then it's amazing. He's a super guy to talk to, proper old school and chooses to stay that way, rather than go down the route of chasing the latest electronic rider aids.

If given the choice I'll always choose something without the gimmickry of modern electronic packages, you rarely get to choose these days but sometimes you can. E.g. for a track car I bought a Caterham, you don't even get power steering or servo assisted brakes, let alone ABS, TC, stability control, etc, it's much harder to drive but IMO much more fun.

[KungFooBob]

I thought ESP and ABS where a legal requirement on all new cars since the mid 2010's.

Do Caterham get round it because they don't sell enough cars?

[Potter]

I think so, lower volume manufacturers get away with quite a bit.

[v8-powered]

Lovely piece of engineering, nice to see Guys Volvo make an appearance too!

[Mr. Dazzle]

Do Caterham get round it because they don't sell enough cars?

Pretty much! I think there might be an element of grandfather rights involved too, not sure. But yeah it's the low volume which does it.

Other classic one to do is categorise the vehicle as "Exhibition" which brings different rights/requirements. This is really common in the US with ultra-expensive hyper cars. It's also why cars like the McLaren F1 came with a fancy lightweight tool kit, one of the quirks of the exhibition approval is/was that the car has to have an onboard tool kit.

[Potter]

Here is a clip where BC talks about how he started and mentions why it doesn't have fancy electronics (around 22.30).