KTM RC16 Moto GP
File:KTM-RC16 17 1.jpg | |
Racing Bikes KTM RC16 Moto GP | |
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Overview[edit | edit source]
KTM RC16 Moto GP
KTMs return to the MotoGP class for the 2017
season, the factory-based KTM has signed a two years contract
with the 2009 125cc runner-up, Bradley Smith, and the 2013 Moto2
Champion, Pol Espargaro.
The Austrian company had in ill-fated and under-budgeted attempt
in 2005, supplying engines to an equally cash-strapped Team Roberts,
but did not complete the season. This second attempt has little in
common, after extensive development and testing, backed by a company
that has in the interim grown from 800 to 2,800 employees, has all
but taken control of Moto3, and is now the biggest bike manufacturer
in Europe and still growing.
This new KTM has a 90-degree V-4 and a steel-tube chassis with
graceful bottom-braced aluminum swingarm. Everybodys bottom-bracing
these days because the rear shock and linkage have to move down to
make room for an extension of the fuel tank under the seat. The
front 60 percent of the RC16s tank is a black carbon cover over
the engines sealed intake airbox, fed through a generous-sized oval
hole in the chin of the fairing. The rear part of the tank looks
very Honda-like because its upper part, containing
the far-back filler cap, is just a conning-tower that nicely fills
the space between the airbox and the rider. Most of the fuel is
lower down, closer to the machine/rider center of mass.
Bore is limited to 81mm so that is the commonly chosen number,
with a 48.5mm stroke. If youre making a V-4, might as well choose
the 90-degree cylinder angle that can make the engine self-balancing
without a shaker shaft. One Akrapovic exhaust exits from the seat
tail, one from under the riders right foot, which says V4. Fuel
quantity will be whatever Dorna allows in 2017maybe 22 liters, but
subject to change without notice. Wheelbase, rake, and trail are
pretty uniform among the brands, and everyone works hard to make the
swingarm as long as possible.