Scooters, well, more specifically adventure scooters are all the rage these days. It all began when Honda introduced the X-ADV (750), which turned out to be a sales success. Before long, Honda scaled things down to the ADV160. Since then, almost every manufacturer has an “adventure scooter.” Finally, the Honda ADV350 “Urban Adventure Scooter” was launched amidst heady anticipation in 2022 and arrived in Malaysia in 2024.
The ADV350 was the first 350cc adventure scooter in market when it was launched, and continues to enjoy steady sales despite several new challengers. This maxi adventure scooter category is definitely heating up.
Why did the Honda ADV350 win?
First and foremost, it bears striking resemblance to its bigger X-ADV brethren, more so that the ADV160. A big sized body, which also ensures maximum space for storage and the seats, in addition to providing protective features such as a large screen from the elements. It looks great, too, maybe even more so than the bigger bike.
Powered by a 330cc, single-cylinder, SOHC, liquid-cooled engine equipped with PGM-FI fuel injection with enhanced Smart Power Plus (eSP+) technology, it produces 28.8 HP at 7,500 RPM and 31.8 Nm at 5,250 RPM. It provides punchy torque and power, while maintaining frugal fuel consumption.
Its transmission is CVT, unlike the X-ADV’s trick Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT).
One nifty feature is the Emergency Stop Signal (ESS – Emergency Stop Signal) which flashes the brake lights when the rider apply sudden and hard braking. it is the first for a scooter.
Lighting is LED all-around, the underseat ‘trunk’ can accommodate two full-faced helmets, the TFT screen provides Bluetooth connection, and fuel capacity is 11.7 litres.
These are the aspects that endeared us to the bike. Talk about having your cake and eating it.
Nett selling price: RM 33,999
What we liked: Practicality, great looks, build quality, torque.
Winning the Best Kapcai of the Year category for the Yamaha Y16ZR in the Allianz-BikesRepublic.com Motorcycle of the Year Awards 2025 is no easy feat.
This is a hard-fought category, chock-full of motorcycles that are truly capable, showing us just how far kapcais have come. It used to be that kapcais were just a means of getting from Points A to B, but there are so many these days that are full of great features. It is no surprise that even veteran bikers buy kapcais to get their adrenaline fix while revelling in the bike’s practicality.
Supporting this category of motorcycles is a fully mature aftermarket industry that provides all the solutions to customise one’s kapcai from bog stock to personalised, and of course, the upgrade the bikes’ performance from mild to wild.
So why did the Yamaha Y16ZR win?
Launched in 2021, the model took performance kapcai category to a new level, even overshadowing its long-running cousin, the Y15ZR, more commonly known as the YSuku.
Central to this shift is the Yamaha Y16ZR’s engine. The 155cc, liquid-cooled, SOHC with Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) powerplant produces 17.7 HP at 9,500 RPM and 14 Nm at 8,000 RPM. It remains as the only kapcai to utilise an engine with VVA, and was the first to feature a slipper and assist clutch.
Heck, this engine platform is so good that it powers another three of Yamaha’s super popular motorcycles, namely the YZF-R15/R15M sportbike, MT-15 naked bike, and the NVX scooter.
The VVA features ensures that the bike pulls hard from the lights, and continues to pull all the way to its redline. Overtaking is a breeze, too, as there is torque and power available throughout the rev range.
While there is one particularly more powerful kapcai in the market, the Y16ZR boasts a well-rounded character, in terms of performance, handling, (passable) comfort, practicality, and features. Its overall build quality is fine, too.
Last but not least, although it is not something we recommend, there are plenty of aftermarket parts and accessories to support the model.
These are the reasons why the Yamaha Y15ZR is the Best Kapcai of the Year in the Allianz-BikesRepublic.com Motorcycle of the Year Awards 2025, despite being launched 4 years ago.
What we liked: Flexible engine, sportiness, handling.
It it probably morbid, but while the Second World War saw more and more new technologies to kill another human being more effectively, the conflict also gave rise to many innovations that fast-forwarded technologies for better everyday living thereafter.
WWII also saw the rise of the jet engine. However, these engines did not work like piston engines. Instead, air is pulled in at the front, compressed, burned and expelled out the rear to push the aircraft forward. And they burn much hotter. They lubricants in the engine must withstand this heat in order to keep the bearings turning.
Conventional oils broke down quickly, along with the parts of the jet engine. Hence, synthetic oils became a necessity, especially when the U.S.A. and Soviet Union began to push the envelope on jet aviation along with supersonic flight.
Born to fly
One person who’d come to understand this firsthand was Al Amatuzio, Lieutenant Colonel and squadron commander in the Minnesota Air National Guard. Stationed in Duluth, Minn., Amatuzio had experienced the benefits of synthetic lubricants in his squadron’s jet aircraft.
Amatuzio had taken an interest in aviation from a young age as he watched the Sikorsky mail plane fly over his neighborhood on its way to Lake Superior’s St. Louis Bay. At 12, a short ride in a Piper Cub cemented his love of aircraft.
In 1942, Amatuzio answered America’s call during WWII. He attended Naval Air Corps training until the Navy closed the program. After the war and eager to again pursue his dream of flying, Amatuzio joined the Air Force. He helped usher in the era’s new jet-aircraft technology by flying the F80 Shooting Star.
“If it works that well in aircraft…?”
Seeing synthetic oil in action, Amatuzio wondered why it wasn’t used in automobile engines. He reasoned that the same performance benefits could be applied to the vehicles and equipment people depended on every day for work and fun.
When Amatuzio began researching synthetic oil in the 1960s, motor oil quality was poor and engines didn’t last long.
Then-modern oils were susceptible to breakdown in high heat and contributed greatly to hard-starting in cold weather. Oil industry giants thought conventional oils were good enough and thought synthetic oil was unnecessary for passenger cars.
Amatuzio undertook an intense period of research and development. He experimented with various formulations. He studied chemistry and learned about additives. In 1966, Amatuzio had formulated his first synthetic motor oil. To test his formulation, he asked one of his pilots to use it in his brand-new 1966 Ford station wagon.
Throughout the late 1960s, Amatuzio continued to develop and sell synthetic oils under a variety of names. By 1968, he was commercially selling his synthetic motor oil. He incorporated “Life-Lube, Inc.” on May 23, 1969 and continued to commercially sell various synthetic motor oil formulations.
By 1970, Amatuzio had settled on a single formulation and had renamed his company “AMZOIL” – an amalgamation of his name and “oil” – which he’d later change to “AMSOIL.”
Still serving in the Air National Guard, Amatuzio ran his company in his spare time, working from his basement and warehousing product in his garage.
His financial resources, however, didn’t match his energy, and he nearly bankrupted himself leading his fledgling company. Since no one believed in his idea, no one would lend him money. And few motorists were willing to pay for synthetic motor oil no matter how profound its performance benefits since it cost several times more than conventional motor oil.
Ah, MV Agusta. The name alone sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy or a particularly fancy pasta dish. But no, it’s one of the most iconic motorcycle brands in history—a brand that combines speed, style, and a healthy dose of Italian flair.
If motorcycles could talk, MV Agusta (as in Meccanica Verghera Agusta) would be the one wearing a leather jacket, sipping espresso, and dramatically gesturing about the meaning of life. Let’s dive into the history of this legendary marque, where passion, performance, and a touch of chaos collide.
Act 1: The Birth of a Legend (1945)
Our story begins in the aftermath of World War II, a time when Italy was rebuilding itself and Count Domenico Agusta was looking for something to do. You see, the Agusta family had been in the airplane business, but post-war regulations said, “Hey, maybe let’s not build warplanes anymore?” So, Domenico did what any sensible Italian aristocrat would do: he pivoted to motorcycles. Because nothing says “rebuilding a nation” like two wheels and a screaming engine.
On January 19, 1945, in the town of Cascina Costa (near the Malpensa airport near Milan), a private company, Meccanica Verghera S.r.l., was registered.
The first MV Agusta bikes were humble, utilitarian machines designed to get Italians from point A to point B without breaking the bank.
Using an engine that had been prepared by August 1943 which was a 98 cc single-cylinder two-stroke with a two-stage gear box, and spare parts obtained from the black market to bypass shortages, a prototype motorcycle was constructed. The prototype was exhibited to the press in late October 1945 at a dealership on Via Piatti in Milan. It was light motorcycle with a steel tube rigid frame, a girder fork, 19-inch wheels, and a gas tank marked with a large M and V. It was initially called “Vespa 98” before being renamed to “MV 98” to avoid confusion with the Vespa scooter produced by Piaggio.
The MV 98 was first produced en masse in 1946. Two versions were sold to consimers: Economica, based on the prototype presented a year earlier, and Turismo, distinguished by the presence of a three-speed gearbox and a rear suspension. The Turismo proved to be so overwhelmingly popular that before long, the Economica was discontinued. In 1946, about 50 units were produced.
But Domenico had bigger dreams. He wanted to race. And not just race – he wanted to win. Thus began MV Agusta’s love affair with motorsport, a relationship that would define the brand for decades.
Act 2: The Golden Era (1950s–1970s)
Count Domenico was likened to Enzo Ferrari. The Agusta family produced and sold motorcycles almost exclusively to fund their racing efforts. So soon after the start of production of its first model MV 98, the company launched its own factory racing program.
But here’s the thing: MV Agusta didn’t just win races—they did it with style. Their bikes were works of art, with sleek lines, vibrant red paint, and that iconic “MV” logo that looked like it belonged on a Renaissance painting. Even their engines sounded like opera singers hitting high notes. It was as if every bike came with a built-in soundtrack of Ennio Morricone music.
Vicenzo Nincioni delivered the brands’s first victory when he won the La Spezia road race on October 6, 1946. Just a week later, he took the third place in Valenza, where the first place was also taken by the MV racer Mario Cornalea. On November 3, in Monza, MV racers Vicenzo Ninconi, Mario Cornalea and Mario Paleari occupied the entire podium for the first time in MV racing history. It was the start of the MV Agusta dominance.
In 1961, British racer, Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood joined the Italian team. He also won the rode the 500cc four-cylinder MV Agusta racebike in its signature red and silver paint to several wins including the 1965 Tourist Trophy (TT).
And then, in 1965, an Italian racer by the name of Giacomo Agostini signed up to ride the factory’s three cylinder race bikes. He went on to win 311 races, 18 Italian championships, and 13 world championships, thereby cementing both his and MV Agusta’s names as legends.
So, if MV Agusta were a movie, this would be the montage where they win everything and look impossibly cool doing it. They won 37 World Championships, 270 Grand Prix races, and basically every trophy they could get their hands on.
End of Part 1
We shall look at the 70s and through to modern day in Part 1, so stay tuned!
Continuing this series, let us take a look at the motivation to create synthetic motor oil and how it is made.
How is synthetic motor oil made?
Let us start by saying that synthetic motor oil was born out of necessity, but more on this later.
The reason why this type of oil is called ‘synthetic’ is because it was synthesised in the lab, to offer the best lubrication properties, while minimising or eliminating the drawbacks of petroleum based oils altogether.
It is because crude oil (as we mentioned previously) consists of many different ‘parts.’ These elements and molecules cannot be removed entirely through distillation and some of them can cause engine wear or harm.
The process used to make synthetic oil solves this problem by removing contaminants. Formulators start with a crude-oil fraction. Amsoil describes the fractions as a pile of LEGO . Different chemical processes are utilised to “crack” the blocks into individual LEGO bricks, deconstructing each larger molecule into its constituent parts. They’re left with different molecules, like LEGO bricks spread out on a table.
Courtesy of Amsoil
The formulators then select only the pure, uniform materials best suited for lubricating an engine, which is typically ethylene when manufacturing synthetic lubricants. Using organic synthesis, chemists use ethylene to build larger molecules, called alphaolefins. Then they use alphaolefins to build polyalphaolephins (PAO) – “poly” meaning “many.” The final product is a PAO synthetic base oil used to make synthetic motor oil.
Wait, hang on, that PAO is not the finished product as it is just the base oil. Additives are then added to it to produce the final product that we buy. The base oil can also be mixed with mineral base oil to produce a semi-synthetic base oil.
Trial by fire
Then World War II erupted in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland.
As we mentioned in Part 1, the first synthetic oil was produced way back in 1877, which paved the way for further research for decades to come. However, the oil did not find widespread use as many still trusted the good old dinosaur juice.
The pivotal moment was when oil embargoes were enacted on Germany and Japan (for their aggression in China, prior to the Pacific).
Then in 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa and attacked the Soviet Union. The Wehrmacht (German Army) had made huge gains in the initial invasion in the summer and fall of that year but the assault came to a grinding halt during the terrible Russian winter. Men, pack animals, weapons, vehicles froze. The mineral oils in these vehicles froze solid due to the high wax content.
Come August 1942, the German 6th Army became bogged down and was besieged in the city of Stalingrad. Then Russia’s brutal winter set in again. This was the point when Stalin deployed his Siberian troops after being transported from that region. Still, Hitler refused to pull his troops back and regroup, and instead told the men to fight to the last bullet and last man.
Adding to the troops’ misery, the army’s tanks, aircraft and other military vehicles refused to start due to petroleum oil solidifying in the bitter cold. The German troops named the battle of Stalingrad ‘Rattenkrieg’ (rat war) as opposed to their fearsome ‘Blitzkrieg’ (lightning war).
On 2nd February 1943, seeing that they were encircled and cut off, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered himself and the remaining 91,000 troops of the 6th Army to the Soviet Red Army.
What Operation Barbarossa taught the Germans
The Stalingrad disaster coupled with lack of crude oil forced Nazi Germany to undertake an intense effort to find alternatives to petroleum oil. Zorn and his colleagues investigated a wide range of synthetic base-fluid chemistries, many originating from coal and other bio-based sources. Germany evaluated more than 3,500 synthetic esters (plant base oil) between 1938 and 1944, a key development in the history of synthetic oil. Their superior performance made them the focus of Germany’s synthetic-lubricant technology during the closing years of the war.
In America, meanwhile, W.A. Zinsman led a more limited research program into synthetic motor oil at the Naval Research Laboratory between 1942 and 1945. The result was the development of the first diester synthetic base oils, a notable contribution to synthetic oil history.
End of Part 2
We shall cover the developments of synthetic motor oil post WWII and to the modern day.
Synthetic engine oil is the way to go these days as they provide the best possible protection for your engine. Being synthetic as in ‘synthesised,’ means they do not have less or even none of the shortcomings while sharing the best features of the best petroleum-based i.e. mineral engine oils.
But where did it all begin? What was the impetus that drove engine oil manufacturers to create this kind of oil?
The basics – how is lubricating oil made?
Let us refresh.
The earliest and most basic engine oils until today is petroleum based. It starts with raw petroleum (crude) drawn from the ground. This crude, which contains many different substances such as sulfur, various heavy metals (no, none are called Metallica), nitrogen, oxygen, waxes, etc., is then refined through distillation. Heat and pressure is applied to the crude in a fractional tower, resulting in the crude breaking i.e. fractioning into different groups of petroleum based groups, hence ‘fractioning.’
The ‘lighter’ (more volatile) groups rise to the top of the tower such gases, kerosene, and gasoline. Medium weight molecules become the base for lubricants, and the heavier molecules such as tar pool at the bottom.
However, distillation does not remove impurities entirely. There will be waxes and even some sulfur in the base oil, and these will soon rear their ugly sides.
Early synthetic motor oil research
French chemist Charles Friedel and his American collaborator, James Mason Crafts, first produced synthetic hydrocarbon oils in 1877.
In 1913, German scientist Friedrich Bergius developed a hydrogenation process for producing synthetic oil from coal dust.
Forward to 1925, his countrymen, Franz Fisher and Hans Tropsch, developed a process for converting a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons.
Over in America, the Standard Oil Company of Indiana tried to commercialise synthetic oil in 1929, but found lack of demand. However, the company’s researcher F.W. Sullivan published a paper in 1931 that disclosed a process for the polymerisation of olefins to form liquid products.
At about the same time, German chemist Hermann Zorn independently discovered the same process. Their discoveries laid the groundwork for the eventual widespread use of synthetic oil.
End of Part 1
As we said earlier, mineral engine oil began to show its weakness especially during the Second World War. We shall elaborate on this further in Part 2.
We shall also cover the basics on how the synthetic engine oil is made is Part 2, so stay tuned.
When it comes to Malaysian made motorcycles, most people will probably only be acquainted with the Modenas brand. That comes as no surprise since Modenas has been around since the 90s and has established itself as a serious player in the local two-wheel segment.
But the reality is a lot different. Over the years, many Malaysian-made motorcycles have come and gone. Some have made an impact on the local market, while some have even disappeared overnight.
If there is one thing that motorcycle buyers can learn here is to always buy from a reputable company instead of going for the cheapest model.
The latest motorcycle brand to hit the local market is Moda and it is brand spanking new, having been launched just this month. Its first salvo at the local market is a 250cc super scooter called the Sporter S.
As journalists operating across the automotive industry, we are always careful to throw our weight behind a brand through our reviews for if a brand were to wrap up and exit the market overnight (something which has happened before), it would be detrimental to our reputation.
But Moda is something different. It is built and distributed by a company called AMI, which is short for AFY Mobility Industries Sdn Bhd. You may not be familiar with the company, but it has been operating for a while and is also the sole and exclusive distributor of Suzuki motorcycles in Malaysia.
Besides that, the people helming AMI have also previously been in charge of assembling and distributing Kawasaki motorcycles for the Malaysian market. So, they know what they are doing and have been in the game for longer than you can imagine.
So, yes, the Moda brand is backed up by some powerful figures in the industry and they are not the type that would disappear overnight, leaving you with a product that you can’t service or find parts for anymore.
First, a little backgrounder.
AMI calls the Sporter S a super-scooter, which is odd since that terminology has usually been used for scooters with a displacement of 350cc and above, but we will roll with it.
What we really like about the Sporter S is that it is not a Chinese kit motorcycle with a local twist. If you are not familiar with that terminology, it is something that happens quite often.
A number of new, “local” brands are guilty of buying kit motorcycles from China, taking them apart and reassembling them here to get past local laws and taxes. This means these motorcycles are now “semi-knocked down”, or SKD, and are ridiculously cheap.
There is nothing about them that is Malaysian made but they are definitely reassembled by Malaysian hands. One local company has only embossed the Made in Malaysia wording onto the clutch cover to make it seem like a Malaysian model.
You too can start such a business if you have some money laying around. A quick check on Alibaba revealed a 50cc dirt bike that is priced at just under RM500. There is a minimum order of five motorcycles, and we are sure that you too could add a Made in Malaysia wording somewhere if you traveled to China to negotiate with the factory and put in a substantial order of say 100 units.
To get past local laws and duties, you can simply rent a factory somewhere and hire a bunch of people to reassemble the bikes. It really is that easy, provided you have the money.
But that is not what AMI did with the Sporter S. Yes, there are parts from China, but rather than go to one single factory to buy a kit bike, AMI sourced parts from some of the best companies in China.
For example, the tyres of the Sporter S are from TimSun while the suspension system is from Yu-An. The radiator fan is from Panasonic while the drive belt is from Mitsuboshi (not a typo). The ECU, fuel injector and EFI system are from Bosch while the adhesives around the bike are from 3M. The spark plugs on the other hand are from NGK.
The Sporter S is a truly global motorcycle with parts sourced from all over the world. And just to nail that fact, the design of the bike is by a French design studio called Yacouba.
So, you can tell that the Sporter S is not your regular kit bike, AMI wanted to produce something special, and they have nailed it from the get-go.
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way.
Powering the Sporter S is a 244cc, single-cylinder engine putting out 24.8hp and 22.5Nm of torque. In typical scooter fashion, the transmission is a belt driven CVT unit, and almost all of its power is delivered at the upper end of the rev band, between 6000 to 8500rpm.
We saw a top speed of 148km/h while some other publications saw 155km/h. The engines were still new so we will re-explore that topic once the engines are properly worn in.
Suspension duties are managed by inverted telescopic forks with 80mm of travel up front and double adjustable shocks with 66mm of travel at the rear.
Brakes consist of twin 260mm discs up front and a single 240mm disc at the rear. Dual-channel ABS is standard as well and it can be switched off via a dedicated button on the dash.
So how does it ride?
Just as you would expect a scooter to ride. It is smooth, power delivery is good, and it is easy to manoeuvre in traffic.
But there are a couple of things that need to be mentioned here. First things first, at 186kg, it is quite a heavy scooter. So getting on or off the double stand takes some work especially if you on the shorter or weaker side of the spectrum.
Then there is the meter panel, the good thing is that it can adjust from dark to bright automatically depending on the time of the day, but essential readings such as the fuel gauge, trip meter and such is tad small. So, if you use reading glasses, this might be a challenge.
We do appreciate the fact that it comes with a tyre pressure monitoring system though, that makes it one of the few scooters that comes with it.
The other thing that needs to be said is that the suspension travel is quite short, and that means that the scooter can bottom out quite easily. So rather than absorbing bumps, it can sometimes crash into them, throwing you off the seat.
One thing that we felt needs to be looked into urgently by the team at Moda is the high-speed stability of the bike. At speeds of over 130km/h, the front of the bike does not feel planted which makes it feel a little nervous. You really should not be riding that fast but we did push it a little during a recent first impression ride. Perhaps that is just a matter of tuning, but it is surely something to watch out for.
But that is about all we have to complain about.
What do we like?
We like that the size of the scooter, it is not very big which means that it is easy to park in congested areas. We also like that it has a 10-litre under seat storage, which some have criticised for being too small. A full-face helmet may not fit, but a couple of bags of groceries surely will.
We also like the design of the bike. Eager eyes may have noticed the similarities with the Ducati Panigale, but the Moda pulls it off quite well, especially in red.
The body mounted rear view mirrors have also attracted some criticism since it limits customisation options. But we like it because it does not vibrate as much at higher speed, and they also fold neatly against the body, which means you can lane split through tight traffic without worry about scrapping the mirrors.
We also like the fact that the windscreen can be adjusted which means that the Sporter S is ideal for highway riding. The big rider and pillion seat also deserves special mention because they are not only great for all shapes and sizes, but also means that the Moda is well suited for long distance riding where you spend hours on the seat.
Should you buy one?
At RM17,888, the Sporter S is one of the most affordable “super-scooters” in the market. Sure, there might be cheaper ones but this takes us back to the opening of this article where we advise that it is better to buy a motorcycle from a known company rather than one that has not been around for very long.
The Sporter S does offer quite a bit for your money and it seems quite easy to live with on a day-to-day basis. We only spent 30 minutes riding it so perhaps a longer test ride will show us more about the bike later.
But from what we have experienced, the Sporter S has a lot to offer.
Another feature that many motorcycle buyers seek these days is the quickshifter. As in the system that allows you to change gears without pulling in the clutch lever while the motorcycle is in motion.
As with many modern motorcycle features, the quickshifter began as race application only. Now, you can even find them on adventure bikes and there are aftermarket options for retrofitting to even kapchais.
How does the clutch work – briefly!
The earliest vehicles were direct drive, meaning the engine is hooked up directly to final drive. Problem is, it can only be switched on and move, and you have to shut off the engine when you reach a junction. Plus, the engine is stressed to provide acceleration and deceleration.
Then someone applied the principle of using gears to modify torque, and the transmission was born. Still, there needs to be a device to decouple and reengage the driveline. That is the job of the clutch.
So the clutch is a device to decouple the engine’s power pulses from the transmission, to enable smoother gear shifts.
So why do we need the quickshifter?
The clutch plates are meshed together by springs during normal drive to transmit the engine’s torque to the transmission. So, in order to change gears, we pull in the clutch lever which pushes a rod to push the clutch plates apart slightly to reduce the engine’s torque, and complete our gear shift.
Try shift gears without the clutch and see what happens! The gears in the transmission are still meshing against each other and other gears that are not meshing needs to synchronise to the running speed. Changing gears without the clutch, while on the throttle will cause the gears to grind.
So, the correct way of changing gears is by rolling out the throttle and pulling in the clutch lever simultaneously, change gears, slip out the lever and opening the throttle at the same time. Lots of work, but pleasurable when done right, especially when under pressure at the track.
However, knocking off the throttle and reopening it takes time and it causes the revs to drop. The bike needs to reaccelerate. Also, the motorcycle’s balance changes when you roll off and back into the throttle. The bike pitches forward and backwards, upsetting the suspension and the tyres’ footprint, changing traction.
A quickshifter, on the other hand, provides near instantaneous gearshifts to avoid too much rev drop and shifting the bike’s balance.
How does it work?
The quickshifter system stops the engine’s ignition momentarily (that is why you get some backfire out of the exhaust sometimes), taking the load off the gearbox to let you shift up the gears without backing off the throttle. The secret lies in interrupting the engine faster than is humanly possible to operate the throttle so time spent shifting gear plummets typically to between 15 and 50 milliseconds (0.015 to 0.050 second).
The quickshifter comprises a mechanical sensor that triggers an electronic interrupt device to the bike’s ignition. On a bike fitted with old-style carbs, this box is hardwired into the ignition coil wires to interrupt the ignition’s electrical supply, while on the device interrupts the ignition via the wiring harness at the ECU. Translogic has developed a system for fuel injected bikes that interrupts the signal from the ECU to the injector hence cutting the fuel supply.
The mechanical sensor also varies. It is either positional – i.e. you adjust it to the positioning of the gear lever, and as the lever’s position moves it sends a trigger to the electronic interrupt box. Or it is a pressure sensor – i.e. shifting the lever without shutting the throttle puts pressure on the gearbox, and a pre-determined amount of pressure triggers the control box. A positional system tends to fall out of adjustment and if you need to replace the gear lever at the track (ie after a crash) you have to re-adjust the entire system, hence GP and WSB teams opt for the pressure trigger: it’s more convenient to install and is less likely to fall out of adjustment, but it puts pressure on the gearbox and because it works with greater tolerances.
Is the quickshifter hard on the clutch and transmission?
There are stories of bikes’ drivelines suffering damage due to the use of quickshifters. This can be rather true for aftermarket quickshifters but we have also seen damage on factory equipped ones.
Truth is, the quickshifter is best used only at higher RPMs like 6,000 RPM and above. All the spinning parts like the crank and gears are moving at high speeds, so there is less shock when the quickshifter is activated. But let us cover this topic in another article.
You may remember that Ducati touted a counter-rotating crankshaft for the Panigale V4 was introduced. It is now a shared feature among their V4-engined family.
It is all about forces
Inside almost every motorcycle ever built the crankshaft turns in the same direction as the wheels. But in recent years a handful of exotic bikes have started spinning their cranks backwards. If you’ve heard the term ‘counter-rotating crankshaft’ but aren’t entirely sure what it means, what the advantages are or which bikes have one, read on.
(Quick point of order: we’re focusing on bikes with across-the-frame cranks here. Bikes with inline cranks, such as BMW boxers, Honda Goldwings and Moto Guzzi V-twins, can sit this one out. They’re free to spin either way.)
Spinning things like to stay spinning, called inertia, while the spinning motion causes gyroscopic and centrifugal forces.
When you’re riding along in a straight line, both wheels whizzing around beneath you, everything’s fine and dandy. But try to lean the bike over, shifting multiple spinning objects (wheels, brake discs, tyres, crankshaft) away from the plane in which they were quite happily turning, and they’ll resist.
How big this gyroscopic resistance is – which affects how much physical input you need to move the bike off line – depends on the weight of each spinning object, its diameter and the speed at which it’s spinning. One solution would be to reduce any (or all) of the above: lighter wheels (expensive), smaller wheels (wobblier), or slower wheels (boring).
Another fix is to introduce something spinning in the opposite direction. Something like, say, the crankshaft. It might be small, but it can spin really fast. At 100-110 km/h a typical 17-inch front wheel turns at just 1000 RPM; the crank, meanwhile, could be spinning ten times as fast.
Well, alrighty then. Simply spin the crank the other way and you’re reducing the bike’s total gyroscopic resistance. This means less effort is needed to get the bike turn, making for increased agility, lighter steering, nimbler handling and other great road test cliches.
But wait, there’s more! Spinning the crank backwards also gives a second benefit, in the form of an anti-wheelie effect. This is down to a torque reaction from the crankshaft accelerating. When a forwards-spinning crank accelerates, the rest of the bike rotates backwards: the nose lifts and the tail drops. With a counter-rotating crank, the nose instead drops, meaning less wheelie, allowing better acceleration.
So why don’t all bikes have it?
Spin the crank backwards and your rear wheel also turns backwards. To fix this mild inconvenience you have to add an additional shaft inside the engine (an idler gear/countershaft/jackshaft) to keep the rest of the powertrain moving the right way. This extra shaft adds weight, cost and complexity, plus it saps power due to friction.
The trade-off is worth making in MotoGP, where every bike on the 2023 grid uses a counter-rotating crank. It’s not actually an especially new idea in racing: Honda’s 1987 NSR500 had one, as did Yamaha’s first YZR-M1 in 2002, a year before the Petronas FP1 (which used a backwards-spinning crank by virtue of its completely back-to-front engine) in World Superbikes.
Who else uses it?
On the road, just two major manufacturers use counter-rotating cranks today: Ducati, in all its V4s and MV Agusta, in its triples. A tiny number of other two-wheelers have used them in the past, including – of all things – the Aprilia SRV850 maxi-scooter, which shared its 839cc V-twin and CVT with the Gilera GP800 and Aprilia Mana, both launched back in 2008. Curiously, Aprilia never thought to mention this feature until the SRV arrived in 2012.
We have written about fuel octane, or more specifically, what it does and why do we have different RON ratings at the pump. Fuel octane is directly tied to the engine’s compression ratio.
What is compression ratio?
A ratio means something divided by another thing. Firstly, take the cylinder’s volume when the piston is fully at the bottom of its stroke (bottom dead centre/BDC), and add the combustion chamber’s volume. Secondly, take the volume of the cylinder when the piston is fully at the top of its stroke (top dead centre/TDC). Now take the BDC volume and divide against the TDC volume. This is why compression is expressed as 10:1. 11:1. 13:1 and so forth.
The higher the ratio means the fuel air mixture that enters the cylinder is squeezed into a much tighter space. Higher compression is good for making more power as more of the heat from combustion is transferred to kinetic energy in pushing the piston down.
Whichever way we go about it boosting the compression ratio is an easy route to more power. High compression pistons are in essence “bolt-on horsepower”. Modern bike engines tend to run compression ratios in the 10:1 to 12:1 region.
However, there is a limit
But there are limits to how high the compression ratio can go.
Any medium, whether is it just air or the fuel air mixture will get hot as it is compressed more and more. The higher the compression, the higher heat the medium will achieve. And, when the heat becomes too high, the fuel air mixture will self ignite before the spark plug ignites it at the correct timing.
This self-ignition sends shockwaves around the combustion chamber that can cause catastrophic failure. These shockwaves can be audibly heard and has a metallic knocking sound, hence called “knocking” or “pinging.”
In fact, diesel engines work this way. They employ very high compression ratios and compressed air alone until it gets really hot before diesel is injected into the combustion chamber. This mix causes instantaneous ignition. It is also why diesel engines produce that signature clacking sound.
So, how do we stop self-ignition? There are three methods: Lowering the compression ratio, retarding the ignition timing, or using fuels with higher octane rating. We shall explore this in another article.
We were treated to an all-new Yamaha YZF-R1 for this year. Poring over the specification sheet we found that the engine’s bore and stroke has changed i.e. larger bores and shorter strokes. And yes, it revs higher.
What is bore and stroke?
To put it simply, the bore is the hole the piston sits in. Stroke, on the other hand, is the length that the piston needs to travel between its highest and lowest points.
But why is that?
The relationship between an engine’s bore and stroke determine, to an extent, how it makes its power. For a given capacity, ‘long stroke’ engines – ie those with a relatively long stroke in relation to the bore size – will tend to be relatively low revving but with strong low down power, while ‘short stroke’ or ‘oversquare’ motors – short stroke with a wide bore – will be able to rev higher. And, because more revs equal more horsepower (horsepower = torque x rpm divided by 5252, so increase the revs and the bhp increases too), manufacturers are always looking at ways of safely increasing the upper rev limit of their motors.
One of the major factors determining an engine’s upper rev limit is piston speed. For every revolution of an engine, the piston moves up from the bottom of its stroke (bottom dead centre or BDC) to the top of its stroke (top dead centre or TDC) and back again. So in the case of the ’04 R1, the 77mm wide piston goes from a standstill, travels 53.6mm up, stops, and comes back down again. At 10,000rpm it makes this journey just over 166 times each way every single second, at an average speed of 17.9 metres a second.
The stresses on a piston and conrod at high revs are massive. If the piston is forced to travel too quickly something’s going to break. Put very simply, if you reduce the distance the piston has to travel – ie its stroke – it doesn’t have to travel as fast and can make that journey more often. So that’s what Yamaha chose to do with their new R1, reducing the stroke by 4.4mm and adding 3mm to the bore. Last year’s R1 redlined at 11,750rpm, while this year’s redlines at 13,750, and makes its peak power 2000rpm further up the RPM scale.
Another way of reducing driveline stresses
Another way of reducing stresses is by using lighter materials for the pistons and connecting rods. Every moving part has momentum, and momentum is calculated by acceleration multiplied by mass. So, the more mass a moving object has, or/and the faster it moves, the higher its momentum. Lightening these parts will reduce stresses and also lets the engine rev faster.
We have covered the subject of the slipper clutch, now let us look at the assist clutch function. The assist function is an evolution of the slipper clutch and is fitted to an increasing number of motorcycles these days.
Why do we need the assist function?
Previously, harder clutch springs are required for high powered motorcycle engines in order to force the clutch plates and friction plates together, in order to maximise power transfer. Cutch springs that are too light can cause the plates to slip past each other, especially under hard acceleration.
Problem is, the clutch lever will feel very stiff as we need more finger pressure to overcome the springs’ force. It becomes even worse when the bike is accelerating hard and at speed, as the clutch’s centrifugal force pushes the plates in. Not only that, the gear lever can also feel really when using a quickshifter.
So how does the assist function work?
As with the slipper clutch, there are also ramps on the clutch’s pressure plate. However, these ramps face the other way, which cause the pressure plate to push inside onto the clutch plates for more positive engagement. In other words, less of the engine’s power is wasted from clutch slippage.
The takeaway from this is we can now use lighter clutch springs, allowing for a lighter pull on the clutch lever. It is especially useful when your motorcycle does not have a quickshifter. Additionally, shifting with the quickshifter can be potentially faster and the gear lever feels softer.
