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/448799
IN THE WIND P36 WORLD SUPERBIKE RULES FINALIZED T he process of devising and refining the new form of World Superbike rules and regu- lations—to take the entire cham- pionship into a much more stock- based era–was completed by Dorna and the FIM recently. With no more Evo class and no more traditional liberal engine tuning for the full Superbikes, the new rules unify the class into one again in 2015. There will be strict cost cut- ting rules governing electronics in 2015, but as the new season starts so early as usual, at Phillip Island on February 22 this year, some teams and manufactur- ers have had no hope of getting their full new cost-capped kit electronics parts ready. Or at least fully ready for all comers. Supplier issues for some components, and lack of testing time to make sure the full sys- tems are fully tested and operat- ing properly mean that Dorna and the FIM have given a two meeting dispensation to teams to use their 2014 kit, if they so desire. In one way at least, 2015 will start out as 2014, minus a little bit. As manufacturers are required to provide, at a strict cost cap, the same equipment that their official teams use to any other team using their bikes, there would also be the demands of other teams to meet, not just a couple of ECU software maps and sensors to supply to their official riders. Gordon Ritchie BYE BYE WORX NINJA I n 2015 there will be something of a small revolution in what a World Superbike machine is, with more stock components than ever before and stringent cost limits and universal availabil- ity of electronics systems. For Kawasaki there has been several changes—partly because it was so heavily modified from stock—including the tightening up of chassis tolerance rules, which will maybe have the great- est effect on the overall handling package. Ichiro Yoda, from Kawasaki, explained what has had to be changed on the powerplant side of the KRT machines. "On the engine side we are quite limited," said Yoda on the first day of testing at Aragon. "We have lost maybe more than 15 horsepower because we cannot use titanium con- rods. We cannot use some special tappets and also we cannot touch some details of the combustion chamber. The crankshaft is very standard. Five percent off the crank is allowed, but five percent of it is like nothing. Added to this we have some new things and some possibilities." Like some other major World Superbike teams, at the moment Kawasaki will probably not be able to run a full 2015 electronics package for the first round—as things stand at the moment. "We cannot use 2015's ECU as we are still waiting," said Yoda-san. "We continue with Marelli but the former ECU system and the new one are quite different. For the first race we will have to stay with the old ECU, probably. Marelli says that the new ECU technology is a little bit updated, technol- ogy updated, but we have to keep the standard injectors. The new ECU should have a faster processor." Gordon Ritchie PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE Kawasaki's Ichiro Yoda explains their new World Super- bike under the 2015 rules.