The 11 hour flight from Copenhagen to Tokyo is a quite a stretch, even in business class. Where you can be in 45 degree position instead of sitting. Usually I could sleep in any position but the excitment was too big. The hotel I lived the first two days is approx 30 km from Motegi Twinring. After unpacking and lots of bows I took a taxi and right to Motegi Twinring Hotel, where the Yamaha technical presentation was about to begin.

Rossi was late as usual, about 15 minutes. Everyone, the room packed with journalists, photographers and TV personalities waited patiently. I had best seat in the house, facing Colin and Valentino. Then he walked in, accompanied by Davide Brivio.

Technical Side of Championship-winning Yamaha M1

The main focus has been on retaining agility while increasing stability. Key animation for this was a modelled bike braking into a corner, lifting the back wheel, taking turn and accelerating out of the corner while shaking quite violently.

First, engine types: R4, not V-4 or V-5. Why? Becase the R4 can be made shorter. Therefore - the wheelbase can be shorter and the center of mass has less inertia.

As you can see in this picture it has an average 2.5% percent less turning inertia. That’s a LOT.

and

show what has been done and how relatively small imaginary mass has become as a result.

From the rider input side, one thing that stood out was the electronic throttle control. To make throttle response as linear as possible, Yamaha has implemented torque control. As the picture

The above images shows it controls power output to up to 5th gear. From the rider side, it is percieved as predictable response from the bike. Every time the throttle is opened AND closed, as electronics imitiate “expected” engine braking, too.

And last but not least: economy. The 2005 bike is 8% more efficent than the 2004 version. But more powerful and a hell of a lot quicker. On average, 5km/h per track. And when you look at this picture:

They are not stopping there.

After a lengthy technical briefing by Nakajima-san, it was time for “technical questions only”:

I asked two questions:

Q: With all the gizmos on MotoGP bikes - traction control, anti-wheelie, anti-slip, hundreds of sensors etc, why there is no ABS, Anti-Lock Brakes?
A (Valentino Rossi): Like cars? It’s easier that way
A (Shigueto Kitagawa): To implement it correctly, you need a lot of computation power and riders have found it easier to be without it.

Q: Like many World Champions have said, the rider is 80% of rider-bike package. With Humachine technology and with all the electronics that goes into bike, how has this all changed the equation?
A (Jeremy Burgess): bikes have come a long way and are getting better all the time and are very capable. But to bring out the best in a machine, you still need a very capable rider.

Very diplomatic answer for sure.

Other questions asked, most interesting was Eurosport commentator Julian Ryders about when did Yamaha switched to 5-valve (it was 4 before???). Apparently it was, and they changed to 5-valve per cylinder right before 2004. I guess this invention was heavily insisted upon by Burgess and Co.

And one more:
Q: Have you tried the electronic suspension?
A: (Shigueto Kitagawa): Yes, as early as 1992 (!), for about half of season. But it is still a work in progress, as it is still heavier than regular suspension and needs a lot of electronics. I think it will be in streetbikes next year or so but not on MotoGP. Not before we have eliminated some negative things. It has positive things over regular suspension but also some negative ones, unfortunately.

After that, taking pictures and personal questions to everybody par riders, who rushed back to hotelrooms to chill. The press kit included the CD, and Yamaha labelled swiss army knife with USB memory, 128MB. Nice Smile

Later, waiting for a taxi at the hotel lobby, I saw Valentino taking off to restaurant with his lookalike assistant, Randy Mamola chatting away with Honda guys, Nicky Hayden chilling with his manager and suddenly it came to me: I’m in the middle of MotoGP carousel.

More soon, including:

Day 2 preview: red sticker on camera, damage assesment in MotoGP, what power has international press-card, and more.

Heiti

[ed. note: The full YZR-M1 presentation is available here. It’s a 1.2Mb PDF file.)

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