MotoGP decided to retire Jason Dupasquier #50 from Moto3 class ahead of Dutch GP happening this weekend.
A special ceremony will be held on Friday afternoon, which sees Dupasquier racing number officially retired from further use in Moto3.
The 19-year old rider died due to injuries sustained in a qualifying accident at Mugello last month.
Dupasquier was hit by another bike after falling from his own and slid down the track during the session before an official announcement regarding his death was made at race day.
The ceremony will occur in the Sachsenring press conference room in front of Dupasquier CarXpert Prustel GP Team.
Nicky Hayden’s #69 also retired following his death due to a cycling accident, while Loris Capirossi #65 and Kevin Schwantz #34 were retired after announcing their retirement from competitive racing.
Indonesia plans to sell an only electric motorcycle to replace the conventional combustion engine by 2040.
According to the country’s energy minister Arifin Tasrif, Indonesia is looking at selling electric motorcycle by 2040 and electric cars by 2050.
The move is expected to boost electric mobility in South East Asia as the country currently sold an average of 6.5 million and around 1 million cars every year.
Based on data from 2019, Indonesia currently has more than 112 million motorcycles and 15 million cars on the road.
The new initiative is laid out as part of the national plan to curb air pollution as major cities such as Jakarta is among the country’s most polluted cities.
In April, Indonesia’s e-hailing giant, Gojek, aims to use only Electric Vehicle (including cars and motorcycles) by 2030.
Honda has unveiled a Special Edition of the ADV 150 adventure scooter in Japan.
According to Honda, The special edition scooter comes in a unique Ross White paint job and is limited to just 1,000 units worldwide.
The paint scheme combines white with sporty grey graphics that are visible at the front and side panels.
Despite the special colourway, overall features and specification remain the same as the standard ADV 150, including the 149cc single-cylinder engine that produces 14.5hp @ 8,500rpm and 13.8Nm @ 6,500rpm.
Currently, the ADV 150 is available in Malaysia for a price of RM11,999. However, we were told that you might have to wait up to 3-months to get your hands on the new scooter.
There was some serious rumour doing the round in 2020 concerning the Cagiva brand allegedly to be relaunch by MV Agusta, including the resurrection of the iconic Elefant adventure motorcycle.
At the time, Cagiva was rumoured to be relaunch as an electric mobility brand while the Elefant could be reintroduced under the MV Agusta badge.
However, according to the Varese-based company CEO, Timur Sardarov, that might not be the case as it appears that Elefant could become a brand on its own, focusing on adventure/off-road motorcycle.
“Cagiva is a brand that belongs to MV Agusta.
“Our marketing department is evaluating the possibilities of products with the Cagiva brand, and we are also considering whether to define Elefant as a ‘sub-brand of MV Agusta or as Cagiva Elefant.
“The decision hasn’t been made yet,” he explained.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi marked his debut season as ARUBA.IT Ducati rider with a sensational Superpole Race wins at WorldSBK.
Riding onboard the Panigale V4 R, the Italian rider secured Ducati first win of the season in front of 5,000 fans at Misano.
Rinaldi finished ahead of Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu in the Superpole Race while the 6th time WorldSBK champion, Jonathan Rea, claimed third place.
The 25-year old rider then completed a spectacular weekend by placing second in Race 2, this time behind Razgatlioglu.
Jonathan Rea continues his championship leads with 149 points, followed by Razgatlioglu with 129pts and Redding with 104pts meanwhile Rinaldi sit fifth with 82pts, just six points shy of Alex Lowes with 88pts.
“I am very happy with this weekend: we just missed the icing on the cake. But I must admit that in Race 2 Toprak and the Yamaha were better than us and that’s why I want to congratulate them.
“I gave my best trying to chase the victory, but in the last laps, I took a high risk and then I decided to bring home this very important second place. It’s a very important step forward,” said Rinaldi.
Fellow ARUBA.IT Ducati rider, Scott Redding, struggled to keep up the pace against his teammate but managed to place 4th in both races.
“It was a very difficult weekend for me. Today we were able to improve a little bit the feeling with the bike compared to yesterday, but it was not enough to be able to reach the podium.
“honestly, in the first laps of the Superpole Race, I thought I could fight with Jonny (Rea) in an incisive way, while in Race-2 I felt I had no grip with the front tire. The season, however, is still long and I hope to be much more competitive in Donington,” he said.
Redding will have a chance to redeem himself in the next round at Donington Park in July.
Here we describe how the principles of the cooling system and how coolant works.
Engine coolant or antifreeze is a necessity in most bike these days but it’s another thing many take for granted. Do some research and it will turn out that there’s so much to that coloured liquid sitting in a translucent plastic tank.
How does the cooling system work?
It’s about heat transfer.
Credit Dan’s Motorcycle Repair Coourse
The coolant/water pump pushes coolant through passages called “water jacket” surrounding the engine block. Some of the heat from combustion is transferred to the coolant.
The KTM 790 cylinder block. The space around the bores is the coolant jacket. The large rectangular hole on the right is cam chain cavity
The coolant continues its journey to the radiator. The radiator consists smaller tubes that are surrounding by little fins. These fins provide bigger surface areas thereby absorbing even more of the heat (just like fins on the engine block).
Incoming air cools the coolant as it travels back to the engine block. A fan takes over to pull heat away from the radiator when the bike idles for an extended period.
This is why the radiator is also known as a heat exchanger or just “cooler” unit.
What is coolant and antifreeze
First and foremost, let’s talk about the good ol’ Edge-Two-Oh (H2O). Water freezes at 0-degree Celsius and boils at 100-degree Celsius.
This is why we need to add something else to the water to change its freezing and boiling points. As such, coolant and antifreeze are essentially the same as far as product terminologies go.
Ready to use coolants usually feature a mixture of 50% water and 50% glycol. It brings freezing point down to -37-degrees Celsius and boiling point up to between 240- to 270-degrees Celsius.
However, to be more precise, coolant is the medium i.e. antifreeze or water or oil circulating through the cooling system; while antifreeze is the concentrate before being diluted. Most coolants are sold as premixed these days, so again, they are the same. However, do check the descriptions and instructions on the bottle on whether the product is ready to use or needs to be diluted.
What are the types of glycols in antifreeze?
There are generally two types of glycol used:
Ethylene glycol
It used to be a common ingredient but its toxicity can cause birth defects, reproductive damage or even death if ingested. It’s appealing to young children and animals due to its sweet odour and flavor. Consequently, it requires specific handling.
Propylene glycol
It’s significantly less toxic than ethylene glycol. The words here are “less toxic” at low levels.
What are the types of antifreeze?
There are three types:
Inorganic Additive Technology (IAT)
This is the common green antifreeze with corrosion inhibitor package. It typically includes silicate, borate, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and molybdate. It has a lower lifespan, typically 2 years.
Organic antifreeze (OAT)
Typically based on a variety of carboxylic acids and derivatives. Carboxylic acids is the general terms for acids found in plants. Coolants with OAT generally last longer (up to 5 years).
Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT)
It combines both inorganic and organic substances, hence provides the best of both worlds. It’s also compatible with both IAT and OAT coolants, therefore users can just top up their coolant levels, regardless of the type present in the system.
Why can’t I just use water?
Again, it’s because water freezes and boils too early. Corrosion will clog a cooling system and/or cause leaks.
Apart from that, good coolant also:
Prevents rust and corrosion of metal parts.
Prevents corrosion of rubber hoses and plastic parts.
What about the colour?
Coolants used to be available in green only (I personally call it “radioactive green”) but there are all sorts of colours now. The colours are supposed to mean different proportions of glycol and water, but they are not regulated therefore colours don’t offer a specific guide between different brands.
A bit on maintenance
Coolant doesn’t go on working at its best forever and therefore is considered a consumable. Manufacturers typically recommend replacing it every 2 to 3 years regardless of type used.
We will touch more on maintenance, replacement, handling in a future article.
