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/1542396
Controlling Traction I ver wonder aoout tne lacK oi I on-bike cameras on the tront- h l.unn..r of an Al4A SuDerbike I .".et l4e. too. So lasked. And E , o,rao""."o tnat at one pornt Yoshimura Suzuki aSreed ro run a camera on Ben Spies'Suzuki GSX-R1000. But there was one caveat - no audio. Why not? The short answer is, traction con- trol. The long answer is, well, longer. Stand in a corner and listen to the sound comins off the motorcycles of Spies or f4at l4ladin. The engines burble, like they're misfiring or on the rev-limiter, then miraculously clear up on the corner exit. Lap after lap. What's going on? Simply put, Suzuki is the best in the paddock at programming their engine control unit (ECU). The ECU can legally measure crank speed and rear- wheel speed and engine tem- perature and airbox tempera- ture and a bewildering number of other parameters. A g;rro- scope can help tell the ECU when the bike is leaned over, and on the side of the tire, and when it's upright, and on the fat part of the tire. And at some point the ECU is made aware of wheelspin or a wheel- ie, both of which are some- times useful, sometimes not. The trick is figuring out what happens next. Do they retard the ignition? Do they cut a cylin- der? Do they cut the sparkl Do they cut the fuel injection? Probably they do a liftie of each in differing amounts. The net result is that they're modirying the map around legally moni- tored pararneters. "lt's not tmction control. it's a map," one crew chieftold me. And mapping is not illegal. pop, pop, pop. And when it did that, I just went by him. And after that, it was a heat race all the way to the line. That problem they had with the anjectaon finally caught up with them.'' ls American Honda innocent? They agreed to run a camera on lake Zemke's CBRIOOORR but mn into problems tryinS to power it off the motorcycle, rather than with an auxiliary battery And there was no restriction on the audio. But they aren't complerc innocents. There was suspicion they had some form of ''traction control" back in 2004, the last year they had full fac- tory bikes, and the last time they won a Superbike race. Hondas won nine of 18 races that yean and Duhamel finished sec- ond in the championship. And the more people you ask, the more you will be led to Unlimited Ducati hasn't replicated their World Superbike effort because the facto- ry system uses a front-wheel sensor, which would draw immediate attention. They could develop a sensorless system, but the cost in time and money rules it out. They have run a front-wheel sensor in tests, The best way to get a rise out of Neil Hodgson or Ben Bostrom is to ask why Troy Bayliss and Gregorio Lavilla can wrn in their respective series, World Superbike and British Superbike, where traction control is legal, while they can't hope for a sniff of the podium without the misfortune of many. lt's true that the Suzuki GSX-R1000 is the best chassrs in the field. lt's also true that Yosh has tlvo of the best riders- But is that enough for everyone else to be racing for thirdl if the software is proprietary, Suzuki or any other factory would be well withrn their righrs to refuse ro give the AMA a copy- Formula One got so fed up trying to enforce traction control that they gave up the fight. Not surprising, when you have budgets that run as hiSh as half a bil- lion dollars. The AMA is aware of the issue. lt has been repeatedly discussed, most recently at a meeting on the Friday night of the lnfineon Raceway weekend. But it was put into a state of suspended animation pend- ing a .lune 6 meeting in Rome, where rep- resentatives of many national series, includ- ing the AMA Superbike Championship, are to meet with the World Superbike brass and the FIM to unify a worldwide series of technical sundards. 14uch of the discussion will center on Ducati's desire to raise the displacement for twins to l200cc, What will the AMA bring back? At the moment they're powerless, since no one i5 doing anything illeSal. The only intelligent thing to do is legal- aze full traction control. Ask why they don't. and the AMA will dust off the old canard that it's unfair to the privateers. Which is crap, The cost wouldn't be great for a clever technician with the right software and, most important- ly. a front-wheel sensor- A pri- vateer could buy a third-party slstem that would improve the performance of his machine in ways that hours on the dyno never could, at a much lower cost, and without stressing the engine, which leads to greater cost. And it would be easier on tires, which makes it safer and cheaper. And, as much as rac- ing relies on privateers to fill the field, no one has ever forked over folding green to watch a steel cage death match for ninth. Most importantly, if it was legal and everyone had it, the racing would improve, which is befter entertainment, which might make someone outside the industr), take notice. which miSht lead to a series sponsorship. lvhich, I admit, is a stretch, Siven the rudderless state of Al4A Pro Racing, but we can hope. What isn't a stretch is that the quality of the television broadcast would improve. True, if it was mounted on Spies' bike, you'd want a rear-facing cameia. But, instead of just [4ladin, you might see a few different bikes fading in the dis- tance... or not. Cll believe that everyone is desperately tinker- ing with their ECUS like mad scientists try- ing to decode the Colonel s Secret Recipe. The Suzukis are the most obvious by their distinctive sound. Some believe Spies has been successful this year because he finally has faith in the s/stem, that he can open the throftle before the apex and know he won't be put into a low graviational orbit. Aaron Yates doesn't seem to like it. Kawasaki began its ZXIoR Superbike proiect with Magneti Marelli, the masters of ECU wizardry, before switching to Mitsubishi. When Yamaha hired electronics engineer Vittorio Bolognesi away from Parts Unlimited Ducati, it was widely assumed it was because of his knowledge of the Magneti Marelli system. Parts What would happen if Bostrom and Hodgson had it? And do theyT Was Bostrom's fast lap at the recent Miller Motorspors Park test assisted by tiaction control? Everyone admits Suzuki has the finest system in the paddock. Their bikes are fast, but they're not doing anything illegal. Rival crew chiefr I've spoken to don't begrudge them their success. They're allowed to have data acquisition, they're allowed to change their ECU. The rocket science is knowing when to apply it. What if the AMA asked to look inside? What would they flnd? Maybe nothing, if they didn't have the proper software to read the data. And even then they might not know what they were looking at. And 82 JUNE 7,2006 . CYCLE NEWS o. D 6 n t t, - r+. t (,-i ,.1. Bv Hrrruv RrY Aanems And that has the AI4A bouncinS off the rev-limiter. Legally. Rule 23 a. of the AMA Road Race Rule Book General Equipment Standards reads: "Electronic devices specifically designed for traction control are prohibit- ed. This includes sensors that can deter- mine front-wheel speed, and any elec- tronic control of the brake systems.'' ln the flnal corner ofSunday's Superbike race at Barber l'{otorspons Park, Hladin had a slight edge before American Honda's Miguel Duhamel surged forward to take second by .050 of a second. "l think they're having a problem with their fuel injection: the bike was popping a lot," Duhamel said with a straight face and tongue firmly in cheek. 'And it went