Det här låter mycket intressant. Vad har Yamahas GP-hoj M1 för tändföljd?
Kawasaki recently filed patents for an in line four cylinder
motorcycle engine with an uneven firing order. While similar to the
design from Yamaha in the latest R1, the Kawasaki engine design steps
things up a bit by adding some electronics to aid the uneven firing
order. The Kawasaki design would traditionally have had problems, in
that the radical nature of the firing order would have made the engine
incapable of running at low RPM, due to a lack of momentum in the
crank on the long 540° revolution. The second problem would have been
the requirement for a very heavy and almost impractical crankshaft,
which would have made the engine slow to rev, and would have limited
high end RPM. Kawasaki have solved these problems by using clever
electronics. An electric motor operates only on every second
revolution, during the compression stroke, and only on cylinders one
and four. This tiny electric motor operates only long enough for the
motor to gain momentum, and then switches off again. Engine sensors
are used to monitor crank angle, degree of throttle opening, vehicle
speed and gear position. The new electric motor will also be used as a
generator to charge the battery when it's not boosting the crank, and
that means it can do the job of the traditional alternator too. What
does this all mean? Well to you and me, probably nothing other than a
bike that sounds like the Yamaha M1, but if you are a really good
rider, you will now be getting more traction and therefore better
feedback from the rear tyre under acceleration, meaning faster corner
exits, and ultimately better drive out of corners which means better
speed down straits and hopefully an advantage for the green team (and
don't they need one right now?) The radical 540° gap in the firing
order is double the gap that the new R1 uses, and means that the
ZX-10R motor turns a full one and a half revolutions without any
cylinders firing. The gap in the R1 firing order is only 270° which in
itself was considered rather long. However the most significant
benefits from the Kawasaki design are that the crankshaft retains the
natural balance as found in a traditional (screamer) in line four.
This in effect reduces production costs, improves reliability, and
also enables the normal high rev limit found in screamer engines,
which means that the peak power output will not be adversely affected.
It seems like next year the major brands will all be making V4's or
'Big Bangs' if they want to stay competitive. Aprilia have already
gone the V4 route, so we still need to find out what Suzuki & Honda
have planned. Honda could easily build a V4, and Suzuki have the GSVR
in MOTOGP which is a V4, so they know how to do it too. It looks like
2010 is going to be another one of those years with amazing technology
coming to the consumers because of racing... Latest Update On This
Story Kawasaki recently announced that the new ZX-10R will only be
released at the end of 2010, due to the fact that it's a total
redesign, so they are still aiming at a 2010 release, but later in the
year. Those who bought the original ZX-10R in 2004 when it was
launched, will remember that the bikes were only in dealer showrooms
in May of 2004. So its not an unusual situation. At least Kawasaki's
comments have confirmed the rumours that the next gen ZX-10R will be
radically different to what we have now.
