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New Sponsor !
BATTERY
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Hi Mototune USA Fans !
I'm really
excited to give you a look at roadracing on the other side of the
Atlantic. Here you'll see racers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and
even Estonia !
The thing that makes European roadracing so special is the mechanical
innovation that the Supersport rules allow. Cylinder head porting, milling
and camshaft duration changes are permitted. The rules let the tuners
shine just as much as the riders, and the ban of super expensive
oxygenated fuels makes racing a lot more affordable than it would seem.
This was my first time in Sweden, and I met a lot of really cool people
from all over Scandinavia. Most people here can speak English very well,
but it still hasn't stopped me from trying to learn the language ! Since I
have met so many friends in Norway, I learned Norwegian first, but I
noticed that Swedish is similar, and after a while I could even understand
some Swedish !!
A big thanks to Mike Luff, the promoter of the Scandinavian Open
Series
for getting me a photo pass!
And a huge thanks to the Budweiser / Battery
Energy Drink team of
André Løwen, Tanja
Stauning and team manager Øyvind Sæther for
sponsoring Mototune USA on this opportunity to show the world what it's
like to race at Anderstorp, Sweden !
Enjoy the pix, and be sure to sign up for my free Power
News horsepower
tuning newsletter at the bottom of this page !!
Sincerely,
Pat McGivern
~MotoMan |
Click on the photos to see the full sized
version !
Anders Källman
Sweden |
André Løwen
Norway |
Bengt Albertsson
Sweden |
Bjørn Bye
Norway |
Carlbark - Løwen
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Sundby
Sundby goes for the pass ! |
Christer Miinin
Sweden |
Claes Johansson
Sweden |
Dag-Steinar Sundby
Norway |
Håkan Olsson
Pauli Pekkanen
Håkan goes for the pass in the rain |
Hampus Ahlsén
Sweden |
Henrik Gustavsson
Sweden |
Henrik Nordgren
Sweden |
Jan Greven
Sweden |
Jim Jimmerholt
Sweden |
Jimmy Pallander
Sweden |
Joel Vides
Estonia |
Joel Vides
Estonia |
Jonas Svensson
Sweden |
Kim Jensen
Denmark |
Lars-Erik Landström
Sweden |
Lars Lönn
Sweden |
Lars Rulffs
Denmark |
Lasse Carlbark
Sweden |
Magnus Vesterberg
Sweden |
Marcus Nilsson
Sweden |
Mathias Mattsson
Sweden |
Mattias Johansson
Sweden |
Niklas Hedlund
Sweden |
"Road Trip" to Denmark !!
When it looked like rain for Sunday, Øyvind and I had to find some more
rain tires. The problem was we could only get them by driving down to the
southern tip of Sweden, and taking a ferry to Denmark.
Ferries are a way of life in Scandinavia, because the countries are
surrounded by sea, and especially in western Norway, the fjords (wide, deep
mountain rivers) separate many cities and villages from each other. When the
roads end at water in Scandinavia, you just drive up into a ferry !
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A car enters the ferry in Helsingborg, Sweden
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The castle in Denmark where Shakespeare's
"Hamlet"
took place.
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Arriving in the port of
Helsinore, Denmark
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Lonely Train Station
" It looks so European "
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" Rain Tired " ...
It was raining for Friday practice and Saturday's qualifying. The racers in
Scandinavia are some of the best rain riders in the world. It was simply amazing
to watch them flying in the rain, but I was really hoping for a dry race on
Sunday so I could get some better photos...
Of course, when we got back from Denmark with the rain tires, the rain
stopped after Sunday's morning practice and the track became 100% dry ... but hey,
it was a great excuse to see a new country !
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Øyvind & MotoMan
Getting Rain Tires ... or just
... Getting "Tired" Of Rain !!
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André Løwen is #1
in Norway !
Pay close attention, because he knows how to ride fast in the rain !!
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André Løwen's Red
Hot Rain
Racing Tip:
" Many people use tire warmers to get a lot of heat
into their rain tires before a race. Naturally, that seems like a good
idea, but it actually works against you. During the first lap, the tires
have a lot of traction, but then as they cool from the rain, you start to
lose traction and most importantly ...
confidence ! "
" My solution is to just put the warmers on for about 10 minutes
before the race, so they're warm, not hot. That way the traction gradually
gets better during the race, rather than worse. "
" As you get the feel for the traction your confidence goes up,
meanwhile the other riders are experiencing more and more slides and their
confidence is going down. That's when you can start to see a lot of
crashes. In the rain, the race is usually won by the rider with the most
confidence in his tires at the end of the race, not the beginning. "
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The Crash !!
It was just a matter of 2 riders
trying to occupy the same line on the turn entrance. Fortunately, no one was
hurt, maybe just a " little muddy " from the rain saturated ground ...
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Eric Hulth ... Marcus Nilsson ...
Ooooo Noooo !!
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Marcus Nilsson motocrosses his big 1000 cc Yamaha
as Eric Hulth begins to get back to his feet.
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Girls Going Fast !!
It's cool to see women getting into
roadracing. Here are 2 of the top racers from the 2001 "Jente Cup"
series in Norway. [Jente means girl in Norwegian] :)
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Tanja Stauning
Denmark
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Nina Marie Hagen
Norway
Team Nina
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More Wild Wet, Dry and "Kinda
Dry" Roadracing Action:
Exclusive: Kawasaki Superbike
"Spy" Photos !!
Jan Greven
was real fast on the track, taking an impressive 3rd in the Superbike Race. He was also kind
enough to let me take some photos of his very trick 163 horsepower Kawasaki Superbike.
The bike is loaded with externally visible speed tricks, but the most interesting thing was a feature that
Jan added, which links the rear
brake to the front. It was invented by a man from Switzerland.
Unlike the simple linked braking systems used on some streetbikes, this one features 2 rear
brake calipers, one above the disc and a much smaller one below it. The main purpose
is to transfer force through a system of levers to provide an ingenious advantage
...
The Advantage:
The upper caliper functions as a normal rear brake, that is to stop the wheel.
But, the lower caliper isn't actually used for stopping force, (although it does
do that too.) Instead, a system of linkage "torque" arms transfers the braking torque from
the lower caliper to the swingarm and frame.
When the lower caliper grips the
disc it naturally "wants" to rotate towards the rear of the bike. This
torque force is transferred via the linkage rods, so it actually
"pulls" down on the swingarm. This makes it harder for the rear tire
to lift off the ground under hard braking ("stoppies" are cool to
watch, but you don't want them while racing !) The result is increased braking stability
as well as allowing much harder
braking ! Since the rear brake is linked to the front, it works
automatically. Wow !!!
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Jan Greven
Fast rider and also a
really good guy !!
Give his photo
another " hit " !!
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Inserts on the outer part of the ram air openings reduce the size of the
openings to ... increase ram air velocity !!
This power secret is "invisible" on the dyno ... but not on the
track !
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Notice the welded aluminum gas tank and the tapered exhaust design. The
Suter dry clutch is a beautiful piece of work. This is one trick race bike
!
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Wow !!
Jan has the exhaust gasses pointing into the bike's
aerodynamic wake !! This little known power secret is also invisible on
the dyno, and it's one of the subjects of my Power
News horsepower newsletter.
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Note the upper caliper and the smaller lower caliper.
Behind the swingarm is the 1st linkage that connects the lower caliper's
pulling force to a triangulated lever. The pivot for the lever is mounted
in the middle of the swingarm, where the welded in section is.
From the top right of the triangulated lever, the second torque link leads to
the frame. This prevents the lever from just rotating back. Instead, it forces
the lever to transfer it's torque down onto the swingarm. Study the
photo, and you'll see how this unique set-up allows Jan to brake deep into
the corners !
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Here you can see the lever and the upper linkage that leads
up to the frame. Also notice that this disc is floating, and drilled
radially in addition to the usual longitudinal drilling pattern !!
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In front of the top triple clamp is an adjuster valve to
change the proportion of front and rear brake hydraulic force.
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Help Mototune USA Make Worldwide
Roadracing Grow !!
" Switch To The Products That Are Making It
Happen: "
Attention Racers: Make Your Bike Faster !!
Sign Up For My Horsepower Tuning
Newsletter:
The Internet Is Powering The Roadracing Revolution !!
The ability of racers to provide updates on their race adventures and
sponsor info is what's
behind the popularity growth of this amazing sport !! If you know of a website that's
related to
this page and it's not listed here, send me an e-mail at: mototune@go.com
