BROUGH SUPERIOR TAYLORMADE MOTO2 RACER
RACER TEST
P60
is intent on claiming its rightful
place at the top table of today's
motorcycle marques."
Conceived by Taylormade
Racing's British-born boss Paul
Taylor and designed in Great
Britain by former Triumph and
Buell designer John Keogh,
the U.S.-built Brough Superior
Moto2 follows the high-tech tra-
ditions of the brand in employing
leading-edge technology in the
pursuit of performance. It uses a
carbon fiber composite chassis
that integrates the fuel tank and
bodywork in a single monocoque
structure, thus cutting weight, re-
ducing frontal area, and increas-
ing stiffness.
According to Taylor, the aim is
to produce a stripped-down race-
bike with an enhanced stiffness to
weight ratio, incorporating a wide
range of adjustment to suit differ-
ent riders and track conditions.
"The bike is simple, and has
very few components," says Tay-
lor. "Just the carbon fiber mono-
coque, two pieces of bodywork
comprising the nose and seat,
the swingarm and shock, front
fork, radiator, and the engine."
But this isn't a freshly minted
mechanical masterpiece that
has yet to prove its worth on the
racetrack, for the Brough Supe-
rior Moto2 has been undergoing
development incognito for the
past three years - in the hands
of experienced U.S. racer and
former factory Buell rider Shawn
Higbee, who took the 130 horse-
power 600cc bike (powered by
a Honda Moto2 spec engine
based on the CBR600RR motor
and sourced from Dorna's sup-
plier Geo Technology) to second
place in its debut shakedown
Formula 1 race at Las Vegas
Speedway last November.
"It's very narrow, so that's an
advantage in maximizing top
speed," says Higbee. "And it's
also very light and agile. That
helped us out-handle the bigger,
heavier bikes in the infield, and
minimize the reduced top-end
performance down the straight
on a 600 against the much more
powerful 1000cc Superbikes."
The bike will be raced in its GP
debut by Brit Luke Mossey with
sponsorship to come from British
motorcycle insurance special-
ists, Bennetts.
The new Moto2 racer's sev-
eral innovative features include
an integral fuel cell positioned
just behind the engine, running
vertically to below the swingarm
pivot and thereby centralizing
mass. Putting it there also keeps
This is how the
bike will look when
it lines up in the
Moto2 British GP.
