Tucson Motorcycles of France has been working on a new motorcycle for racing against the other twins in Europe. Their plan is light weight and small dimensions to offset any power disadvantage when taking on the Ducatis, Buells and Aprilias raced in the big twin classes. Their first prototype, powered by an SV650 engine, has been out racing and served as a proof of concept before building their BT550 Superleggera which will be powered by an Aprilia V2 550 engine.
Jeff Robert, engineer and owner, sent me a note to say the new Aprilia powered racer is now in the early stages of development. The design, the work of Yann Bakonyi of Bako Design is a very light and minimal racer. The prototype, Veloce 1, is 319 pounds ready to race, which could be shaved even more with a few parts changes, the top of the frame is less than 9 inches wide. They want to get down to near 125cc dimensions with the idea that cornering speed will level the field against their higher powered competitors. This prototype, by the way, is being offered for sale at 15 000 €, to help finance the project.
It looks like a very capable machine and the plan is sound, however, when your strategy is light weight, you have to make sure your rider is equally tiny and light weight, otherwise you lose the edge and I think how well the advantage works depends on the track, short straights and lots of turns would be key. Neat bike.
More photos below:
Link: Tucson Motorcycles
tom w. says
Vary cool! I’ve always been a fan of light-weight, and I’ve always been frustrated that more manufacturers don’t go that route and improve acceleration, handling and braking all at the same time.
Heck, isn’t that why a lot of us prefer bikes to cars in the first place?
I’ve always thought it would be fun to have a racing series that uses only very tight tracks and then doesn’t put many other restrictive rules in place.
If the tracks are twisty enough, there should be a point at which a smaller, lighter 600 would have some advantage over a larger 1000.
I’d love to see something like that with every available configuration going head to head.
lucky_Cevns says
somebody help me out here what is that yellow spring for on the left side of the bike. is that the rear suspension?
Jeff Robert says
Hi!
The yellow spring in the öhlins shock absorber for the rear suspension. We have used the fact the the rear cylinder is not in the middle of the bike, but on the right side to place here the rear suspension. On the front the cylinder is on the left, (because the 2 connecting rods are side by side). We used the free place to put the battery. So most of the weight (engine battery and shocks) is in the center of the bike. We also put the tank under the pilot. Regards
lucky_Cevns says
thats pretty slick. thanks for the info.
Nathan says
I think I saw something a while back that said a R6 out performs the R1 on the track.
Sean says
And the Street Triple outperforms the Speed Triple around the Nurburgring. I like this concept a lot, a lightweight, short wheelbased V-twin with funky brakes and funkier rear suspension is really overdue.
abbas says
Yeah, its a neat bike. But i wonder where is the fairing? Are you take it loose, or this bike don’t have?
If that so, why? a race bike which capable to go beyond 100 mph should have fairing, right? You need it for lesser air drag and stability. And its already prove that a good aerodynamic fairing will allow the bike go more speed with less power.
One more thing, i don’t like the pink color of the front disc.
Sean says
I’m assuming the fairing isn’t there because, while it may increase performance, when you’re bringing out a trick-framed one-off racing motorcycle, you really want to show off what you’ve made. And acres of plastic or carbon fibre aren’t as interesting as the engineering that’s gone into this.
guitargeek says
Looks fast.
rafe03 says
How ’bout buckle a supercharger on the side of the engine? (top? back?) More HP without a lot of xtra avoir dupois. Do it right & it’ll sound like nothing else.
Maybe a turbo? But then there’s turbo-lag to contend with. Nothing that a few million Euro couldn’t fix.
I’d almost buy one just for it’s looks!
rafe03
PS: Is there an equivalency rating for boosted engines in international racing? Like when F1 was either 3000 cc plain induction OR 1500 cc supercharged. 70’s or 80’s?
rafe03