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AnonymousHere’s the story from the site:
Quote:
In the week when they have pulled out of the bullshit world of F1, Toyota have clearly not lost their interest in motor sport; Joe Gibbs Racing built up a motocross “concept” bike for them to display on their stand at the high-profile Las Vegas SEMA car show !
The Yamaha heritage of the bike is evident, hardly surprising as the two firms have a long-standing relationship going back nearly half a century; Yamaha have been involved in numerous Toyota projects over the years, indeed the 2000 GT, the mid-60s sporting coupe which launched Toyota on the world market, was built by Yamaha.
At the turn of the millenium the link was cemented further when each concern took a 5% share-holding in the other, and Yamaha are currently contracted to develop an environmentally-friendly micro-car for the world’s largest car manufacturer.
The bike which appeared at Vegas was built up by Joe Gibbs Racing. Gibbs, a previous Washington Redskins coach, has been a prominent figure in Nascar for two decades and stepped over from Chevrolet to Toyota at the start of the 2008 season; the team entered supercross last year with Josh Grant, immediately winning Anaheim I, and have added Bercy winner Justin Brayton to their team for 2010.
Brayton was still racing an 09 YZ450F in Paris, though the team will presumably come with new bikes at Anaheim in January; but an immediate switch to a Toyota brand name is presumably a trifle premature, even though they could use the one-off 12 month “prototype” clause to get around the AMA production ruling.
Black carbon fibre body panels and highly-polished engine and lightened frame immediately strike the eye, and the PR mentions extensive use of titanium and other exotic metals which, together with the brittle-looking frame (aluminium is only as strong as steel with a significantly larger section), probably take the bike under the minimum weight limit.
The engine, basically an 09 YZ450F with after-market internals, is, like Yamaha’s 2010 power unit, reversed and features EFI, but there the similarity ends; on the JGR concept bike remains forward-slanted and utilises the team’s Nascar knowledge with a fan-driven forced air intake and extrusion cooling system.
Look closely and you will notice the absence of a kick-start; the starter is also “air-driven”, whatever that means exactly. The customised look is accentuated by the integration of the Toyota logo into the brake discs.
Will it ever hit the market and provide a 5th Japanese manufacturer ? Wait and see, but a niche market for “something different” has always existed – this is Aprilia’s aim – and a limited production supercross run – it is doubtful the bike could stand up to the strains and rigours of outdoor racing – comes infinitely cheaper than F1 !
Author: Alex Hodgkinson
Anonymous
AnonymousYou’re right it isn’t ground breaking, but maybe an insight into Toyota’s future. This one wasn’t even made directly by Toyota.
I’m with you I’d love to see a DI 2wd bike that’s lighter than a crosser
I like the idea of forced air intake too. It’s like a mini turbo!We seem to be stagnant ATM in the dirtbike world, the ground breaking designs that revolutionised the sport in the early 70s and 80s didn’t happen this time, Oh yeah we got 4T that emulate old 2T maintenance shcedules and rev like banshees to produce mucho power, but suspension wise and chassis design is still no great leaps from the late eighties.
I want revolution, not evolution as Moto said a lightweight 2WD with a good engine would be a start, not updated graphics and a new valve in the forks Woo-HOO how many engineers did it take to come up with that….
Come on Motorcycle designers, the sheep are revolting and demand more…. 👿
BC
Anonymous
AnonymousIt would sound weird but has the opportunity to generate some big torque! Woohoo, let’s hope VW start to make dirtbikes then
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