Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128353
KTM 's Stefan Pierer Q A Together with BMW, we are working on a concept #-\that cou ld see both our compan ies' big twin-cylinder bikes competing together in a se ries we 're ca lling Megamoto . It'll be a mixture of Supermoto and a little bit of road racing, which we foresee taking place at major eve nts like MotoGP or World Super bike, or eve n a Formula I GP - it needs to be part of a bigger program . We 'll need racetracks like Assen or Hockenhe im or eventually Daytona, which have a little bit of space to run this in but with spectator viewing facilities . We'll start off the series in just the central European countries, like Austria, Germ any, Switzerland , maybe France and Italy, as we ll as the Benelux region. Then, if it works out okay, we 'll take in Great Britain and hopefully export it to the USA - but it all depends on how the concept develops. The plans are still com ing together, but the ser ies will definitely take place in 2006, with maybe a couple of introductory races in the second half of next year to help us understand better what we need to do to put on a good show. It should be fun! I think this collaboration with BMW isvery positive and will become more common in the future - we have to talk to eac h other more, especially as markets are shrinking and the number of manufacturers is getting less. BMW's president, Mr. Diess, is a very experienced motorcycl ist who understands the market very well, and we're already worki ng together on the supplier side, too . We might inte nsify this, so we 're looking at a common frame manufacturing ope ration, either he re in Austria or in Slovakia, or maybe in the Czec h Republic - and hopefully the Italians are realizing this, to o . Mr. Colaninno is just completing his takeover of Aprilia, and wh ile I don't think he knows a lot about mot o rcycles yet, for sure he's a clever guy and knows what's needed, so here too I hope we can wo rk together in some way. Q Megamoto could be one way for KTM to go raci ng w it h a V-twin, bu t how about Superbike, w here you told me a year a go you planned to corn pete w ith the RCB when it fina lly enters production ? Is that st ill your int e nt ion? A Yes, it's true - we had intended to come to Superbike Hracing instead of MotoGP because this kind of racing 32 DECEMBER 8, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS is exactly suited to KTM 's philosophy. But the regulations are so unstable, it's impossible to plan ahead and start deve lopment knowing that in three years time you willstill have the same rules. So, we 're waiting to see if the latest set of rules are maintained, and also if V-twins like the RCB can still be competitive in the future. It seems that next seaso n the re will be very few Ducatis on the grid in World Supe rbike, so maybe the time is past when we can go Super bike racing with a V-twin. In any case, our concep t for the V-twin engine is to make it small and light, so you have a very slim, compact bike, and maybe this is not the right idea for a bike to go Super bike racing with - just good to have lots of fun with on the road and at trackdays. So, our Superbike deve lopment program is on hold right now; we are only making development of the road version at the mome nt. Q Okay, no V-twin KTM Superbike just ye t - but how a bo ut a V4? You o rigin ally said it was you r intention to use you r V4 MotoGP engine as a test be d for developing a sp inoff range of sporting street bikes. Is that still t he case? A As you know, we deve loped the KTM V4 engine origMinally to race ourse lves, the n decided to cancel the project because of the impact of the U.S. exchange rate . But we've been discussing with Mecachro me [the French specialist that builds Renault's FI engines] about jointly manufacturing a small series of engines to allow private teams like Kenny Roberts, or others who don't have an engine, to buy or lease KTM V4 motors. Kenny has been working hard on building a bike with our motor, which he's already tested and wants to race with next seaso n, and it seems that although Proto n cut his budget by 50 percent for next year, he still has enough money to go racing if he doesn't have to develop his own engines - and we and Mecachrome take care of that for him. But he has a problem with tires; ifhe can fixthis, then we' ll sit arou nd a table and decide what's going on . Racing it wo uld be nice in terms of image for us. We don't expe ct to get back the investment we 've put into it over the past three years, but from a marke ting standpo int, it wo uld be nice to show what we 're capable of doing with a high-tech engine like this. 40th Anniversary Okay, but how about a street version of the V4? Wouldn 't that e arn kudos • as well as euros - even without r e t ai ning the r ace engine's pneumatic valves? A I'm not convinced that a 1000cc four-cylinder engine Mis the right concept for us to bring to the marketplace and expect to be able to occupy a unique specific position with it co mpared to the Japanese, as we must do with a high-end performance prod uct like this- and especiallynot a V4, which is so closely identified with Honda. So, we are working on somethi ng quite different - a V6 of more than 1000cc, pro bably 1200cc or I300cc. We expect in the future that you're going to want more torq ue on the bottom and a fat midrange but still lots of revs and a good sound. A V6 will provide all this, as well as being quite unique; the re are any number of fours, so nothing so unique about that , and Honda already put a mark down on the V5. So that leaves a six - and nobody yet made a V6 street bike, so our KTM ultrasports with this engine will stand apart . Even back in the Benelli days, with the inline motor, this was a very unique engine concept. And while noth ing is dec ided firmly Kurt Trieb and his team have been working , on the preliminary outlines of our V6 for a little while already and sho uld have the feasibility study ready by Christmas; then we 'll decide for sure . But it seems probable we will indeed make a high-tech six-cylinder, which will be deve loped entirely as a nice-riding ultrasports street bike, since there's no class of racing to support such a bike. This is contrary to KTM's previous policyand the opposite of w hat we were planning to do with the V4, but we feel it's important to identify ourselves as a standalone manufacturer that does things differe ntly from the rest. Q Supe rbike and MotoGP a re on ho ld, but your 125cc road ra cing program is go ing ve ry we ll, with KTM's first Grand Prix victory this season. Do you plan to start offering custome r replicas of Casey Sto ne r 's FRR 125 for sa le t o privateers in 2005? A No, we still have too few resources to do this just yet, Hespecially as the Red Bull Junior program is going so we ll, which we wan t to intensify next season. But for 2006 , we can think abo ut making a limited series for private sale - that could work, because we had many enquiries from various teams , especially after Aprilia's troub les. Q Th e reason you r re sources are stretched is presumably because you've decided to e nte r 250 GP roa d ra cing next ye ar with An t ho ny We st. What's the thinking behind that? A It's like in the factory - you need a second shift to keep #-\the machines busy! Technically, the 250 classisa doubleup spinoffof I 25cc racing, so it makes sense to do it. Butour main concentration in 2005 will be to win the I25cc World Cha mpionship, wit h just o ne 250cc bike running a deve lopment program - I be lieve the best testing is racing. But after that, we will take the 250cc class very seriously , with a two-ri der team planning to win races in 2006. It' s too early to say if we'll make replicas of this bike to sell - a lot depends on what happens to the 250 GP class in the longer term, if it has a serious future after 2008. Q Would you consider making a st reet replica of the KTM FRR250 GP racer to r e pla ce the much-lamented Aprilia RS250 a nd Suzuki RGV250 repli-racers? They were forced ou t of production by emissions regulations • but KTM has a lre a dy won a 125 GP w it h a two-stroke fit ted with fuel injection, which presumably could r esolve this problem. How a bo ut it?!