After a difficult 2019 there was about a microsecond thought about scurrying away from the track with my tail between my legs. However, common sense was locked in the basement and this year we're chucking in everything, including the kitchen sink.
First news is that a new single is in
process, the Hypermono. Second is that I’ll also be making a full mock-up of the V4
in the hope of drumming up interest to get it into running condition. Third is there will be several racing events
on the calendar, starting out using the Rotacular and with the Hypermono rolling
out by June. I’ll try to have a fast rider on it for the AHRMA Barber
event in Oct that can challenge for the win in the open singles class,
SoS1.
Having this all happen so quickly was a lot for me to digest. A few seconds later plans were fully developed and in process. A pretty wrecked but running and complete 2016 1299S to use
as a donor appeared and the clock has started ticking.
I will
be also IGing it with the hashtag #hypermono which will be mostly visual but most of the content will
be posted here. Lots of text does not go over
well with the IG crowd.
The V4 will be a complete, non running version of the full bike, which has been amply documented on this blog.
The single will use the V4 FFE/idler rolling chassis, which initially was hijacked
from the Ducati 1098-based single that never make it past CAD. The
1098-based bike was supposed to be the successor to the existing Rotacular but
the V4 took over, then fell prey to various factors beyond my control.
Sometimes shit happens. Fortunately, motorcycle suspension has not
changed in the past 10 years, so comparatively my design is as advanced today
as it was 10 years ago. Sigh. For the swingarm I am thinking of
doing a one piece aluminum sand casting using a 3D printed sand mold from Hoosier
Pattern or Humtown and cast locally. Then post-machining using the
trunnion table on my VMC. The largely complete chassis design also lends
itself to fitting a big battery and motor so you never know want else might
come out of the shop.
1999-2001- The Start Of It All: racing RS125 and TZ250 CCS/LRRS and USGPRU
2002-2006- Getting In Deeper: building and racing the first two version of the Rotacular
2007- How Deep Is This Hole?: designing the Ducati 1098 based successor to the Rotacular
2008-2009- Delusions Of Grandeur: 250GP class changed to Moto2. The initial rules were for open engine specification, so I got an investor on board, jumped in and designed a 600cc V4 that used cut-in-half ZX-6R heads from an Attack Kawasaki Formula Xtreme bike. The engine would fit nicely into the nearly complete rolling chassis design for the 1098-based single cylinder engine. About 6 months later, news came out that Moto2 would use a spec CBR600 engine, dashing any hopes of us getting into the GP paddock and forever relegating the middleweight Grand Prix class to irrelevance.
2010-2019- Licking Wounds: Having dumped all my resources in to the V4 project, emerging into a recession-hit economy was not the best exit plan. I recouped, ran down some new business, unrelated to motorcycles, yet kept tinkering in CAD in the hope it would all come good again. And being happy that said investor takes a calm, long term view of things!
2020-It All Comes Good Again: I repeat, it all comes good again. And wow, that was 20 years of my life!
I now have everything needed to get the project started, so watch this space as it all comes together over the next 6 months.
Chris
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