Best Four-Stroke Engine Sound Ever?

I enjoy watching the top guys on speedway Jawas as much as I enjoy watching the top guys on flat-track Harleys. I don't enjoy MotoGP or F1 cars because I cannot relate to them. When a MotoGP rider goes around a corner with his elbow touching the ground, that is not the quickest way around. It is dictated by the excessive power and tyre technology. There were handling improvements in the 90s which were superseded as the available power rose. Have you ever wondered why Norton Rotaries were banned ?
 
No, but anything different tends to draw attention, especially if it is successful against established machines.

If you really know a quicker way around a racetrack than what MotoGP machines do, you could make a lot of money selling that info. Back in the 70s, particularly in roadracing, the speeds were not that much more than modified streetbikes could attain and most street riders 'related' because they could see themselves going as fast as the racers. Anyone viewing a top-level roadrace since the late 80s should know better unless they are deluded. The fastest guys aren't dragging their knees and elbows for show, they're doing it because that's what happens when you lean a bike as far as it will go (and then some) at speed.

Freddie Spencer used to do the same stuff Marc Marquez does now only with heavier, slower machines with crappier tires and suspension than they have now. When asked about Freddie's style, Kenny Roberts said, "Freddie doesn't have a style, he just copes." The top guys (except for Lorenzo, who always looks like he's taking a walk in the park) are riding the wheels off and would still be the top guys regardless of machinery.
 
acotrel said:
To my mind, THIS is much more interesting than any MotoGP race which has all the latest and greatest modern innovations :

Click to expand...


Al there irony here...you’re bitching about the cost of racing certain machines, and extolling the relative merits of classic racing...

But unless I am mistaken, that is a Gilera replica on the ‘cover’ of the video clip you posted...

And unless I’m mistaken twice, one of those would set you back more than 3 or 4 times the cost of a brand new Manx rep...
 
The facts are humans continue to improve as does our machinery .... the fastest man in the world Olympic 100m champ from '46 would not have qualified for the last Olympic 100m final .... right now machines and the riders are measurably superior to any comparable in the past .... you can choose to prefer the old days , no problem but the evidence speaks for itself ... the current crop of GP racer is greatest/fastest ever and I guess that would include MM .... not my fave .... I too find myself looking back more and more as I age , to the good old days , eh?
Craig
 
None of us would be here if it weren't for being somewhat enamored of the good ole days. It wasn't until nearly the 1980s when motorcycle racers started treating themselves as athletes, training and consuming a proper diet. Now even the wannabees train, bicycle and dirtbike riding, gym work, running, what have you.

I look at it as a progression with a common thread and preserving the history in memories is just as important as the latest developments. And vice versa. To stop at some point and say, "that's it, good enough, no need for anything else" ignores what came before as well as what came later. To someone in the future, these are the good ole days.
 
In about 1993, Suzuki won the 500cc MotoGP world championship with an under-powered bike, by making it tighten it's line in corners, so it could be ridden faster. At about the same time Honda discovered that by raising the centre of gravity of the 500cc MotoGP bike, it handled better because the forward and aft rocking changed the rake on the frame more. Both of these improvements became redundant when the engine power rose to a much higher level and made the risk of a hi-side so much greater. These days it is an out and out power contest with technological improvements to reduce the risk of the hi-side. Getting a quicker line around corners by changing the steering geometry carries too much risk when the engine power is very high.
I don't believe racing motorcycle development is a natural progression. 200 horsepower motors are a paradigm shift even though the change has happened slowly. I cannot relate to motorcycles which can hi-side you even if you don't move the throttle. In the old days that did not happen even with crappy tyres on a wet and oily circuit.
 
Danno said:
None of us would be here if it weren't for being somewhat enamored of the good ole days. It wasn't until nearly the 1980s when motorcycle racers started treating themselves as athletes, training and consuming a proper diet. Now even the wannabees train, bicycle and dirtbike riding, gym work, running, what have you.

I look at it as a progression with a common thread and preserving the history in memories is just as important as the latest developments. And vice versa. To stop at some point and say, "that's it, good enough, no need for anything else" ignores what came before as well as what came later. To someone in the future, these are the good ole days.
Click to expand...

People in the future will look back on these days with incredulity. I am 76 and I seriously believe that our world has been as good as it was ever going to be. I am happy that I lived when I did and experienced our world before it becomes really fucked. I road raced in the 60s and 70s - I was extremely lucky. In future the world will be entirely different - look at the current trends. How many kids road race these days, even though there are plenty of old bikes about ? Who has got a job, is raising a family while studying and still going road-racing ? I don't believe it is still possible.
 
Without outside money, I'm not sure that was ever possible. My hard-core racer buddy quit for 15 years to raise a family and establish his home.

But all the doomsday stuff is about perspective, not an indictment of current conditions. Babies are born everyday and they have to have some hope for the future to grow up normally. My former boss used to say the world changes every day and if you don't change with it, you're left in the dust. It's fine to get old and say 'enough' at any point about any subject you can't deal with. That's the priveledge of senior citizenry. But time marches on in any case. Everyone longs for simpler times because we obliviously survived them. But it's never been a better world to be alive in than it is today. name any one of those old times and you can make a list of all the threats, hazards and diseases that have been eliminated. Not to mention ignorance overcome.
 
I probably have a different perspective to you. When I was a kid, life was not easy. However you could always get a job, study while doing it and work your way up. These days when I see what young people have ahead of them, it has become immensely more difficult. People adjust to cope with their problems and as far as China is concerned, something will happen to effect change. But it won't be easy. A lot of it is in mindset - progressive or conservative, but we cannot extrapolate the industrial revolution to infinity because our world is finite. This is why I believe that teaching kids music and performing arts and creative writing is very important. The market for the product is huge, creating it is not energy intensive and it does not pollute.
 
One thing which surprises me, is that few of our Australian schools ever teach the fundamentals of audio or video production. We have country towns where there is very little work. However most towns have performing arts groups, dance schools and camera clubs.
 
Any school activity that says "Look at Me!" is well-funded and supported. In the USA, we have multi-million dollar high school football stadiums, but most districts have gutted their vocational programs and the ones that still have them use them as a dumping ground for kids who are too dumb or disinterested to pass conventional classes.
 
One thing my mother said to me is that Americans can write a song about anything. When you look at American music, it is absolutely fantastic. However that does not mean they have a monopoly on creativity. I think these days we need to move away from the old industrial and business mindset and move in a different direction. I live in North-east Victoria. So far I have only been able to find one foundry in our area and it is almost defunct. We have a few excellent engineering workshops who service the farmers and that is about it. So if you want to make a dollar, what are your options ? These days you can upload videos to Youtube and other places on the web and sell yourself that way. You will notice that Ken (Fullauto) is situated in Perth and makes a living by manufacturing Commando cylinder heads. That is a very difficult row to hoe.
I think the important thing is 'mindset'. If you have a victim's mindset, you will become a victim. Kids at school are uniformly programmed to do certain jobs and think in certain ways. We need to think outside the square.
 
Rob North Triples racing at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium:



The banshee wail of these engines is something to behold, and I remember watching these bikes when the Brits raced the Yanks in the Transatlantic Trophy series in the 1970s - happy days.
 
bucksfizz said:
Rob North Triples racing at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium:



The banshee wail of these engines is something to behold, and I remember watching these bikes when the Brits raced the Yanks in the Transatlantic Trophy series in the 1970s - happy days.
Click to expand...


I don't think it would have been very pleasant riding that bike. It seemed to be wallowing and tending to run wide in corners and a lot of guys were passing it. The exhaust noise is something we all have to live with when racing - I prefer a quiet bike. My own bike is too loud.
 
My brother rode that bike at Murray Bridge a few years ago. He said he felt as though he might end up in the Murray River - it is a monster. I think somebody stuffed up with the exhaust cam. When you fit a supercharger to a motor, it is usual to also fit a milder exhaust cam. That motor probably has race cams fitted. You don't get best power that way, just more noise.
 

Similar threads

KiwiShane
Motorcycle racer blends-two-and-four-stroke-design-1300cc-single
Replies
7
Views
709
concours
concours
F
  • Locked
Four Stroke / Tractor
Replies
6
Views
915
Alan W
Alan W
Back
Top