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/311007
IN THE WIND P24 because the piston for a twin-cyl- inder is homologated, and it is the same homologation as last year. Conrod is production so that is also exactly the same. Inside the engine we have been working on the oil circuit, developing with Shell some new products, work- ing a little on the camshaft, and a little bit on the exhaust, so we can have one horsepower there, one and a half there - but when you put it all together it was definitely a decent step. Compared to last year I would say around seven or eight horsepower more." Marinelli told us a bit more about what makes the 2014 Pani- gale a better beast than the 2013 version. "The main difference from last year was electronics, where we changed the whole system. The ECU [now a Magneti Marelli WLF], the position of the ECU, and the wiring harness. It is a different technology so it is one step up from last year. It derives from what they used in MotoGP. We moved the ECU from the front of the bike to immediately behind the top yoke, inside the covered part of the tank. We wanted to centralize mass a bit more and we reduced a bit of weight. The result is that it is more compact, near the center, which is where you normally want to put everything." The reasons for the change of ECU were a myriad. "A better ECU you can have better strategies with a few differ- ent concepts that have been used in MotoGP," he said. "Everything is working a bit more smoothly, the engine brake, the traction control, and the ride-by-wire. It is an adaptive system. All the sen- sors you have allow you to moni- tor what the bike is doing. Loads, positions, so on, and you can adapt how much grip you have, how the spin is being controlled and working on the feedback in that. In the end, from the demand side - which is the throttle in the rider's hand - to what is happen- ing on the rear wheel, everything is controlled by electronics. The strategies are really complicated, but the final output is how much torque you want to deliver." There are two more steps in engine spec and performance planned for the remainder of 2014. Gordon Ritchie Ducati's Panigale is getting better, as evidenced by Chaz Davies' two second-place finishes in the Italian World Superbike round at Imola on Sunday. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE METCALFE TO STEP IN FOR VILLOPOTO W hile Ryan Villopoto recov- ers from knee surgery this summer, Brett Metcalfe will fill in and ride Villopoto's works KX450F on the Monster Energy Kawasaki Team for the 2014 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Metcalfe appears to be a good fit for the team, as the Australian is well familiar with the KX450F, having ridden it the past few years. As of late he's been prep- ping and training to defend his number-one plate in the Canadi- an outdoor Nationals, which he'll now forego to race in the States. Metcalfe says he got the call from Kawasaki a few days before the Las Vegas Supercross and on his 30th birthday. "I was so excited to get the call PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SUZUKI