VOL. 55 ISSUE 23 JUNE 12, 2018 P109
S TANDOUT FEATURE
Mind-blowing MotoGP tech
explained in layman's terms
RIDER AN ALYSIS
I have always loved Neil
Spalding's writing style. Neil
can take the most complex
information, such as explaining
the intricacies of chassis flex of
fluid dynamics or chatter, and
distill it into bite-sized pockets
of information that are both
informative and entertaining.
It's a skill very few technical
writers possess.
MotoGP Technology Third
Edition is Neil's life's work.
It is a staggering volume of
absolutely everything you could
possibly want to know about
the world's fastest race bikes.
The lessons learned in
the book don't just apply to
MotoGP. Subjects like how a
motorcycle changes geometry
under braking and acceleration,
or how different engine lay-
outs/combustion timing cycles
affect handling, are lessons
everyone who is interested in
how a motorcycle works needs
to know.
The sheer detail of the tech
can be overwhelming, even if
you're a die-hard MotoGP fan
like me, so don't be surprised
if this volume takes you twice
the usual time it would take
you to read a 300-page book.
The reason this is so is
because Neil has left absolutely
nothing on the table when
compiling his work. It's a book
that will serve the reader for
years because it covers 16
years—2002-2017—of racing at
the highest level.
If you have even the slight-
est interest in what makes a
MotoGP bike tick, this is a book
that must reside in your home
library. CN
•Incredible technical
detail explained as simply
as possible
•Beautiful full-page glossy
photos of unattainable,
prototype bikes and parts
•Tech that applies to every
motorcycle, not just
MotoGP race bikes
•Nothing, except the
sheer volume of technical
information can be a touch
overwhelming. That just
means you need to read
slower and take it all in!
LOWDOWN
four-cylinder engines.
An official MotoGP
product, which means
unfiltered access to the
racing paddock and
everything contained in
it, this 304-page volume
is a book for the diehard
MotoGP fans. MotoGP
racing is about finding
those minuscule tenths
of seconds around a
racetrack, and this book
charts each team's quest
through the years to
produce not only the
world's fastest racing
motorcycles, but to pio-
neer various technolo-
gies that have filtered
down to production
street motorcycles.
Filled with glorious
glossy tech images of
stripped down bikes like
Loris Capirossi's fear-
some Ducati Desmosedi-
ci GP3; Valentino Rossi's
various Yamaha YZR-
M1s and long-gone bikes
like the Ilmor X3 (the first
800cc machine ever to
score points in 2006) and
the Team Roberts KTMs,
Protons and Hondas, this
book as a feast for the
reader's eyes as much as
their brains. CN
TECHNOLOGY
