A very rare look at what it’s like to do a lap of the North West 200 course on a 250cc bike. Except this is from 1997, and was filmed during the race with a camera attached to the side of Alan Patterson’s helmet.
If you dig this stuff then check these out. As this is obviously years later but all that happens is the speeds get faster.
Great wasnt it?
Here is some olf footage from back home, pure 1970’s filming.
Sometimes you see concept bikes and thats the end of it as the cost to produce, far exceeds the Customers pocket, but this Cafe Racer, seems to be a great idea and functions well, the 3 Cylinder motor sounds like a MV Augusta to me and hope that this gets at least to track racing as its a fun and unusual looking motorcycle that I thought I would share with you which I saw on grease n gasoline.
SO have a look below and see if this floats your proverbial boat or not.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder café racer as a complete novelty in the world of motorcycling. The idea behind the Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder is that by turning the engine upside-down it can use.THIS is the Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder, a prototype motorcycle that’s about to be put into limited production. The Nembo uses an 1814cc three-cylinder inverted engine.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
The Nembo team were testing at the Franciacorta circuit in Italy. The final machine will use a larger, 1925cc engine.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
The idea behind the Nembo 32 is that by turning the engine upside-down it can use the crankcase as a structural part of the chassis without putting any loads through the cylinders or cylinder head. The front and rear frame sections bolt straight to the crankcases while the cylinders and head just hang there.
It’s a wonderful looking motorcycle and we applaud it’s unique look. However, the downsides to the idea are not in short supply:
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
1) All the delicate bits of the engine – the cam covers, cooling fins, electronics, spark plugs etc – are hanging down in the path of any rocks being thrown up from the front wheel.
2) The lubrication has got to be complex. Even with a dry sump and scavenge pump oil is going to try to collect in the cylinder head. It’s also going to work its way past the piston rings into the combustion chamber. Not good for performance, engine life or emissions.
3) It needs a long intake manifold to move the air intake up to a conventional position where there’s room for an airbox. That’s got to sap power.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
4) The exhausts are in totally the wrong place. You can see from the design that they’ve struggled to get enough length into the pipes.
5) In terms of weight distribution they’ve put the crankshaft way higher than any conventional bike. That can’t be good, can it?
6) The swingarm pivot is very high. Again I’m not certain of the effect, but nobody else seems to want to do that in their designs.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
7) If you were to drop it, the first thing to hit the ground would be the cylinder head. Which is fragile compared to a crankcase.
In short, there would be many, many easier ways to solve the problem than turning the engine upside down. Like, er, having a normal frame, for instance. All this design saves is a couple of bits of steel that would turn its two sub-frames into a single, conventional trellis. One that’s proven and doesn’t need a radical new engine design.
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
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| Nembo 32 Inverted 3 Cylinder – Concept Motorcycle |
Upside-down engines have been around since the dawn of time (for instance, most German WW2 fighters and bombers used them – notably the Messerschmitt 109). They were always known for using a lot of oil..
Summary :
The Marc VDS Racing rider broke his left wrist in a high speed qualifying crash and the injury will require surgery in Melbourne this evening that will rule him out of tomorrow’s race.
Redding was transported to Epworth Hospital in Richmond where he was due to undergo surgery at around 10pm local time this evening.
The 20-year-old is almost certain to be ruled out of next weekend’s Japanese round at the Twin Ring Motegi, meaning his title chances have suffered a huge blow.
The Gloucestershire rider would have started tomorrow’s race with a nine-point lead over Spanish rival Pol Espargaro.
But he will not start a race shortened from 25 to 13-laps after a new Phillip Island surface caused major tyre wear issues for official tyre supplier Dunlop.
A decision on the likely date of Redding’s return to racing will be made together with the medical staff at Epworth Hospital after the operation this evening.
Marc VDS Racing team boss Michael Bartholemy told MCN: “If this does cost us the championship after all the hard work we have put in for the past four years it will be very tough to take.”
In an official team statement, Belgian boss Bartholemy said: “Obviously I am absolutely gutted for Scott. He was pushing hard and the rear just got away from him. Normally he’d have dusted himself off and put it down to experience, even at the ultra-fast turn 12, but he was unfortunate in that he got caught up with the bike and ended up with a fractured wrist. The most important thing now is that he recovers properly before making his return to racing. Yes, there’s a championship to be fought over, but our priority now is Scott’s health. If that means we have to forfeit the championship then so be it.”
