revtothelimit - motorbike forum

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

Sounds bloody amazing as well.

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

Cousin Jack wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 1:37 pm 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.

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

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

Supermofo wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 2:58 pm 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.

dern wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 1:47 pm 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.

The Spin Doctor wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 3:57 pm

dern wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 1:47 pm 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.

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

Cousin Jack wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 1:37 pm 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.

weeksy wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 4:04 pm 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!

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

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?

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

KungFooBob wrote: Tue May 23, 2023 8:17 am 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.