Trellis frame is KTM religion and it won’t be changed - Beirer

[weeksy]

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news ... ged-beirer

KTM’s MotoGP boss Pit Beirer has categorically stated the manufacturer’s trusted trellis frame will not be changed to a beam design to match the rest of the field.

The Austrian firm has stuck to its guns with the existing frame and will also stay with its in-house WP suspension instead of using Showa or Ohlins.

“That’s religion in our house. The frame and WP suspension, this is a part of the motorsports success and the reason why we could succeed in so many disciplines,” Beirer told bikesportnews.com.

“So we want to use it as an advantage. We don’t see this as a disadvantage. The only disadvantage that I can see that you cannot hire so many people from outside with a lot of experience for your chassis or your suspension, because you cannot compare it.

“You need to find your own way. But by finding your own way, this can also make you very strong because on the days you are strong you are not easy to copy, so there is no sauce in that direction of changing these two basics.”

[Mr. Dazzle]

Didn't Ducati used to say the same thing?

Fair play to KTM though. No-one really buys a bike on what's subjectively best and I doubt many riders could really tell the difference in stiffness etc. anyway. So you might as well keep with your 'character' and carry on charging more for it.

[weeksy]

Didn't Ducati used to say the same thing?

Fair play to KTM though. No-one really buys a bike on what's subjectively best and I doubt many riders could really tell the difference in stiffness etc. anyway. So you might as well keep with your 'character' and carry on charging more for it.

Well KTM don't sell sportsbikes anyway, so what they use on GP bikes is irrelevant ?

[demographic]

Aye, Ducati 90 degree L twin desmo engine in lattice frame forever!

Well, mebbe alter that angle a bit, and stick a couple more cylinders on there and we might not actually need desmo on everything either. Ahhfuckit beam frame as well..

Everything stays the same til it doesn't. Just give it enough years.

[Skub]

Well KTM don't sell sportsbikes anyway, so what they use on GP bikes is irrelevant ?

What happened with the RC8R? ISTR fueling issues early on,but a quick bike. Did they not sell,or did KTM just cease production?

[weeksy]

Well KTM don't sell sportsbikes anyway, so what they use on GP bikes is irrelevant ?

What happened with the RC8R? ISTR fueling issues early on,but a quick bike. Did they not sell,or did KTM just cease production?

KTM basically said "180bhp sportsbikes are daft on the road, we're not making any more"

[Skub]

Well KTM don't sell sportsbikes anyway, so what they use on GP bikes is irrelevant ?

What happened with the RC8R? ISTR fueling issues early on,but a quick bike. Did they not sell,or did KTM just cease production?

KTM basically said "180bhp sportsbikes are daft on the road, we're not making any more"

If the RC8 had been outselling everything in it's class,I wonder if that comment would've been made.

[cheb]

Where's that thread about HD shares plummeting? It might be different for HD, it's their customers who won't move on.

[IanB]

Was there an engineering reason why Kawasaki used a trellis frame on their bonkers H2? Regardless, it does look rather nice to my eye anyway.

[G.P]

KTM basically said "180bhp sportsbikes are daft on the road, we're not making any more"

But a 180bhp Super Naked isn't daft at all!

[weeksy]

KTM basically said "180bhp sportsbikes are daft on the road, we're not making any more"

But a 180bhp Super Naked isn't daft at all!

Absolutely, was a crazy statement.

Back in 2013, KTM President and CEO Stefan Pierer was reported as saying: “If your Superbike is reaching 200 horsepower or more, it’s impossible to argue that it belongs on the street. It really doesn’t, any more.”
It caused more than a ripple of controversy at the time and, in the nearly two years since, there has indeed been no replacement for the Austrian firm’s RC8R–a 2009 evolution of 2008’s RC8.

We’d like to produce a successor to the existing RC8 V-twin… In which case, let’s do the following: We’ll stick to making a Superbike, but only for closed course usage. So it won’t be homologated for sale as a streetbike. So then to produce that we will take the best prototype development arena available, which is MotoGP. And for the 2016 season there will be new rules introduced when the playing field will be leveled with a standard electronic system, so then KTM can challenge Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia on an equal basis. So that’s the concept for development. We’ll call it the RC16 and it will also be available for the normal customer for track days or private use on track, but it won’t any more be homologated for the street. It’ll be a really serious sports and race item for closed course use only.”

[Skub]

Was there an engineering reason why Kawasaki used a trellis frame on their bonkers H2? Regardless, it does look rather nice to my eye anyway.

I'm puzzled as to the reason Kawasaki used a trellis frame on the H2. Wasn't the bike's raison d'être a showcase for Kawasaki technology and performance?
Didn't Ducati stop using a trellis frame on their race bikes because all the configurations had been explored and development had peaked?

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's probably cheaper to make a trellis frame for a relatively low volume bike like the H2. Maybe they weren't expecting / never planned to sell many?

With a trellis you can essentially just buy tubes off the shelf and weld 'em together. That's a cheap and easy way to make a few bikes. Beam frames - at least the modern swoopy ones - require custom presses/dies etc. and more complex welding.

But thats just a guess. Maybe they just thought it looked cool.

[MingtheMerciless]

KTM basically said "180bhp sportsbikes are daft on the road, we're not making any more"

But a 180bhp Super Naked isn't daft at all!

Having a ZH2, I prefer "batshit mental" when you really twist the throttle.

[mangocrazy]

Good on KTM. I think it was Kenny Roberts that said that you need a performance differentiator. If you just follow the herd you get herd performance. I'd be very interested to hear from a metallurgist just what the benefits/disadvantages are of a steel trellis frame vs. an alloy beam frame. I suspect that they are two very different philosophies/disciplines that require very different methods of exploitation, and it's who makes the best job of their particular design that comes out ahead.