Club MotoAmerica

“The race only goes as planned for the winner, for everyone else it is either quit or back to the drawing board.” -MC
 

OVERVIEW-
1st practice (Tuesday)
The shipping crate containing the motorcycle arrived as planned. Unfortunately we fell behind on the first practice day due to the support crate being delayed which we only received just before technical scrutineering. This practice marked only the second time the E1pc would be on track and the first time to run a full race distance- not ideal!

The overall mode at the TT was one of very piqued interest. As the eBikes left the starting gate there was plenty of comments on their noticeable lack of acceleration and sound- then our bike left, it looked significantly faster then the competition off the line and down bray hill and seemed to surprise a great number in attendance. Unfortunately only a few miles after the start we lost two engines and the bike retired.

2nd practice (Wednesday)
We replaced all three motors Tuesday evening thanks to the generosity of the Agni team and prepared the bike for qualifying. Like Tuesday we still had the bike in a very conservative state of tune. The current to the motors was limited below manufactures recommendations and the batteries were only charged to a mild state as well as fiercely protected from a state of low discharge.

We started in nearly last place, minutes behind the first bike and again Mark Miller shot down Bray Hill with class leading speed. Within the first 5 miles Mark reported he had passed every other motorcycle except for the Agni machine which left the starting gate first. Mark rode thru the Sulby straight speed trap at a conservative 92.8mph and only trailed Agni by 11 seconds at the Ramsey hairpin mile 24 (approx. ¾ race distance).

Somewhere near Cronk ny Mona (approximately 1 mile from the start/finish the voltage dropped below our LV target and the controllers faulted and stopped. After sitting for 5mins Mark flipped the switch to see if he could ride her home thus rebooting the controllers and came limping up the final hill where Mark showed great heart and commitment by helping the E1pc across the line for what had to be the ugliest but to us, the most heart felt finish in the TT.
 

Jurby Practice (Thursday)
I rode the closed circuit in the same low state of tune to confirm yesterday’s results which though were ugly were results none the less and gave us data to calculate and configure from. The afternoon went flawless and after a front shock and spring change, saw me lapping all the other eBikes at the test.

Race evening (Thursday night)
We estimated we needed about 30%-40% more power to finish the race at full throttle for the current limit we had set and used all week which was 70% of the E1pc full potential. We had a plan and things were looking very good for Friday- based on the calculations we were very very optimistic.

Here is the breakdown:
Fuller state of charge (to manufactures recommendations) +9% energy
Lower low voltage limit (to manufactures recommendations) +26% energy
Deployment of secret weapon (to my two sons delight) rear battery pack +15%

Totaling 50% more energy density onboard for race day

For added measure we even reduced the current by 10% to conserve the motors as we felt we had extra speed in hand.

Race day (Friday AM)
All the work was done. Like most of the other teams must have experienced too, the last 5-6 months was a living hell, 100% consumed by the motorcycle. We had jumped into very unfamiliar waters and been promised lots electrical wizardry from several “experts” but in the end received very little. Everyone who worked on the MotoCzysz project from the painters to the machinist from my father to my sons were affected, the team worked increasingly harder picking up the slack left by the “experts”. But it all was about to be justified, it was all about to righted- Nobody, I mean Nobody was going to show up on race day with 50% more ability!
 

Race Day (race time)
When I saw Mark Miller I told him one thing “You can go100%!” He looked at me astonished; this is not the “Rain Race” scenario I have been feeding him for the last 2 months. “Are you sure?” he asked. I answered “100%”.

Race Day (only minutes later)
I don’t even know where but we experienced another motor failer and just like that our race was over…back to the drawing board.

POST SCRIPT
The MotoCzysz E1pc
I was repeatedly told the MotoCzysz E1pc surprised everyone at the TT ( now that I write this I am not sure if the motorcycle was the surprise or the poor results). It was the most integrated electric motorcycle in the paddock, with more torque and power than any other bike and the chassis was up to the challenge. It was the only motorcycle with hot swap batteries and should have been challenging for the win. However this was not a show event but a go event and simply came before we were fully ready. A few days at the IOM has identified where I need to put my efforts moving forward.

The Secret Weapon
After the embarrassing qualifying practice my two sons were very quiet and clearly worried by our results. It was at that moment that the greatest Daddy moment in my life occurred. I knelt down between them and told them don’t worry and then leaned in and whispered “I have a secret weapon”. This was immediately followed by complete confusion and puzzlement. “Secret weapon?” Max (the more reactionary one) asked with one of those scrunched up, head tilting, puppy dog faces, then complete silence. “More batteries” blurts out Enzo (the more contemplative one) followed by an even louder “More Batteries” from Max then Enzo says “More batteries, so you can go faster…longer?!” followed by Max screaming “MORE BATTERIES FASTER LONGER” shhhh shhhh I say but it is all over, they are jumping around hugging each other and me and chanting “secret weapon”…”secret weapon”…”secret weapon”.

Congratulations to Team Agni
If we learn nothing else from this event it is to follow your heart and never give up. That is what Cedric Lynch has done as he has been working on electric vehicles for over 25 years. We want to give a heart felt congratulations to the entire Agni team for their record setting inaugural TTXgp win. Every team that participated deserves recognition and should be congratulated, even the teams that made such a strong effort but for whatever reason came up short and did not make the start should even be appreciated.

Mark Miller
What a racer- Fastest American on the Isle!
Mark never saw the bike until the night before and never rode it until he took off down Bray hill, throttle WFO. You cannot imagine this if you have never lapped the IOM- insane and very trusting. He made my wife burst out in tears when she saw him pushing the MotoCzysz over the finish line. Next year Mark.

Terry Czysz
As hard working as anyone on the team my Father gives his all and his heart to these projects- this time he gave a little too much heart. Terry Czysz suffered a heart attack just after the bike was crated ready to ship to the IOM and that is why he was unable to attend the race with the team. He is doing great and will NOT miss next year’s event.
 

RIP rider John Crellin
I was particularly drawn to the Tork team from India as they said they learned everything about building bikes from watching me on YouTube and in the end took a brilliant third place- now I need to watch their videos!

John Crellin was team Torks rider and one of the riders I rode with at Jurby the day before the race. He was tragically lost to the mountain the following day. Rarely does one experience such high and lows as in racing. RIP John Crellin-

MC

In less than 24 hours I leave to go to the biggest race of my life, not because it is the largest, not because it is the fastest but because it will be the first time a MotoCzysz motorcycle will compete in an FIM sanctioned event.

In less than five months we took a suggestion and turned it into a motorcycle. A motorcycle that is unlike anything I have ever ridden. No gas, no oil, no clutch, no need to even warm up the engine- no engine. Gone is the age old ritual of rhythmical throttle blips that can audible seduce a motorcyclist into a pre ride trance- now your bike waits for you. Enter what may be the next big thing in motorcycles; invisible, nearly silent and magically linear power.

June 12, 2009, on the Isle of Man, will be the worlds first zero emissions (electric) Grand Prix, the TTXGP. With teams from around the world ascending on the Isle, this is a true international competition and even though the machines are futuristic the race is not and the premise even less so- this is an old fashion ‘run what you brung’ race. Never would my Grand Father or even my Father imagined such a motorcycle would ever exist, even I would have doubted this event possible in 2009 only a few years ago.

MotoCzysz will be on the Island Friday, tech the E1pc ‘D1g1tal Superbike’ on Saturday, practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday- Mark Miller will ride a race my father and I (and I hope my sons too) will never forget- a race that will forever be MotoCzysz’s first and a race that may be the worlds first view of ‘next generation’ motorcycles.

I hope we do not disappoint-

MC

To be issued a trade carnet (passport for racing vehicles to move freely across country lines) a serial number is stamped on the vehicle for identification along with the country of origin. No where else is there a better example of ‘old meets new’. MC commemorated the bike with the race and reason it was built, the Isle of Man, June, 12 2009- there is only 1- and it is proudly made in the America.

The previous post, and all E1pc dyno testings to date, utilized off-board batteries. The video above is from our latest series of tests utilizing the MotoCzysz on-board battery packs and the results were exactly on target. MotoCzysz was able to deliver the amperage required to obtain the target torque output from the motors within the designed voltage parameters, seeing no appreciable sag. This was a very solid result from our proprietary battery packs. The MotoCzysz battery packs are a very integrated and sophisticated solution, which incorporates BMS (battery management system) contoured profile and are fully “hot swap” functioning. They will undoubtedly be the most advanced battery packs at the TT.

The MotoCzysz E1pc “Digital Superbike” went from 0–120 in less than 11 seconds and that was with a very slow, 3 second roll on. As you can see in the video, MC rolls on the throttle so slow it’s even hard to see his hand move. We estimate that an aggressive roll on will reduce this time by 2 seconds. In addition, this first test utilized 75% of our total IOM pack and not at a full state of charge. If all of our estimates are correct, we could have a Digital Superbike with 0-120mph times in the 7 to 8 second range.

More importantly, this is NOT a drag bike – but a sportbike. With torque and acceleration in hand, coupled with MotoCzysz’s understanding of motorcycle dynamics, the MotoCzysz E1pc could do well when it arrives at its first track test later this week. It is hard to not feel like we are really at the forefront of something new. Will new be good? We will let you know later this week.

- MC

Though not nearly as loud as the C1, the sound of progress is far less silent than you might imagine.

I am very behind on updating the blog (even with hundreds of motorcyclists reminding me) and this short entry will not right my wrong. But I have been in the fight of my life to keep MotoCzysz moving forward. After attending meetings around the world, it was clear that there currently is little interest in standard gas ICE (internal combustion engines) all of the interest, money and deals are happening in alternative fuels and electric.

I remember feeling sad for weeks when I learned 2-strokes were on their way out but my mourning was short lived once I laid eyes on their replacements – the mighty 4-stroke 990’s. While I am NOT claiming ICE to be out or electric to be the “new” MotoGP, I am stating that this is a very magical power source. The torque deliver is what every engine designer and tuner tries to mimic. In ICE, this can only be achieve by adding layers of electronics; we now just have the electronics!

MotoCzysz is not just pursuing an electric motorcycle (that sounds like such a slow downer) but a bigger concept using electric drives – the “Digital Superbike”. The Digital Superbike, like your computer, has “open architecture” and can be upgraded and reconfigured. This is definitely an industry first and may be a major paradigm shift in the way people buy and own motorcycles. The sound of progress is building in volume…keep your ears open.

I apologize for the lack of updates. More news coming soon.

Ride safe,
-MC

More details to follow very soon.

“The MotoCzysz C1 presents unique advantages in terms of motorcycle dynamics that deserve to reach the marketplace. It’s not until you ride it that you realize how much improved its handling and performance are compared to a conventional in-line four.” – Alan Cathcart

Alan Cathcart, the most experienced motorcycle journalist in the world, rode the 08 990 C1 last Saturday (10-18-08). Mr. Cathcart was one of the 3 original journalists to test the first Proof of Concept bike. This was his first time to see, hear and ride the latest spec, pre-production C1 – Alan was very impressed and his comments echo those of earlier test riders, like Jeremy McWilliams, who called the C1 “the best turning bike ever”.

Alan tested the MotoCzysz C1 at the Reno-Fernley racetrack in Fernley, Nevada. Though the track officials could not have been more accommodating, the track itself was extremely rough and very bumpy; conditions that helped illustrate the benefits of the C1.

MotoCzysz has a very stiff frame coupled with controlled flex of critical suspension points. This is contrary to the industry standard of flexible frames. It gives the rider a solid platform to work from and lowers the flex points closer to the source, effectively reducing “unsprung” or “unflexed” weight. The result – the rider better feels and understands the circuit conditions and available grip while still feeling in control of the motorcycle, compared to other bikes used as benchmarks that felt displaced and vague.

In addition, Alan also commented on what we feel has been one of the C1’s unique characteristics – power delivery. Unlike all other motorcycles available today, MotoCzysz effectively decoupled the engine’s torque and gyroscopic forces from the chassis. This means that there is no handling effects due to hard acceleration. As Alan commented – under acceleration, the bike does not change trajectory (push wide). It simply just accelerates on the line you choose.

Look for Alan Cathcart’s full riding impressions of the C1, published in magazines around the world.

Unlike other start-ups, motorcycle start-ups never really hit rock bottom, even when you are positive you have, you can always go lower – it’s bottomless. – Michael Czysz, MotoCzysz

MotoCzysz, on many occasions, has demonstrated the C1 to interested parties.  These guests, typically investors, are expecting to witness a standard routine occurrence; to watch a bike circulate a track.  What they do not know is that we are in constant development and often riding in front of them with new parts for the first time and/or strategies that have never been tested before.  This is not a desirable scenario, but given our constraints we have no option; this test would be no different.

The bike has never sounded, looked or felt better.  That particular day the C1 was amazing.  We were all extremely proud. Down the pit lane on the limiter and the C1 boomed a staccato sound, reminiscent of a huge automatic artillery weapon.  The use of the limiter was not needed, but the sound that bounced off the pit wall was fantastic and intoxicating.

Clearing the pit exit and dropping the limiter, the bike rushed onto the straight with all cylinders firing at full pressure.  The sound instantly ignited into an overall engulfing combination of growls and shrills; the same sound you would imagine if Ducati made a Formula One engine.  One second later, second gear; a second after that, third, all while the front tire just hovered over the pavement.  She felt eager and ready to shine.  I remember thinking ‘Today was going to be a great day’.

The mood of the entire office changes before a test.  The amount of work doubles, as does the effort, but the overall atmosphere is eerily electric with a real sense of purpose.  Def-com level 5 preparation usually starts about two weeks prior to the test date.  All the latest spec parts are finished and an engine build sheet is produced.  It documents the hundreds of variables that have been specified for the next build.  The engine is built, and then loaded on the engine dyno for a break in.  It then runs through a series of tests for optimization, and then off to assembly.  Before leaving for the track, the assembled bike is rolled onto the chassis dyno for a final check.  The bike is ready to run, but still has yet to be set up for the track, where another set of parameters need to be optimized. 

After our initial sighting lap, we were met with the usual series of problems you get with a new spec prototype.  To be honest, the number and brevity of the issues were higher than normal that day, due to the large number of new parts.  The most important guests to ever see the C1 were due in a few hours and we were far from showing our full potential. The pressure was getting to us; we were clearly starting to panic.

Finally, after two hours of tripping over each other, hunting for misplaced tools and waiting for spares left behind, we got the call. ‘We have finished our lunch early and are on our way to the track.  Fluids in, warmers on; we needed to get in at least one lap at pace before they arrived. 

I had been working with this particular company for months and the anticipation for this meeting was high from both sides.  This company is a giant in the industry.  They build hundreds of thousands of bikes, generate billions of dollars in annual revenue and have hundreds of millions of dollars, in cash, sitting in the bank.  Just a small percentage of the interest they earn from their cash reserves is all we need.

After months of intense focus preparing for this meeting, while trying to launch a new company, while trying to raise money, and while trying to design a new motorcycle, everything slowed down and everything got really quiet.  This is the hidden blessing of a helmet.  All the peripheral distractions of business and life, with its constant interruptions and continuous white noise of problems, dissolve.  In a helmet, it is an entirely new world; a world of quietness, peace and solitude.  I love my helmet.

As I accelerated down the straight, I hoped all issues were resolved.  Test riding is different than normal riding – it is much scarier.  Within seconds, 150+ mph, break for the first corner, and BAM…as fast as you can think, you are sliding thru and off turn one with your single pursuit in life cartwheeling in front of you. Inside the insulated world of your helmet, the sound seems amplified.  The crisp noise of carbon fiber being ground by asphalt.  The gravely sound of aluminum being re-machined by the circuit.  Everything is being destroyed.  Everything is being ruined.  Everything is sliding to a stop.

I could not bear to look. Seconds ago, I was riding a vehicle that could change our lives and hopefully make Americans proud. Before I stopped sliding, I stood up and walked away from a pile of what feels like a life long amount of work, I had to get back to the pits.  I had VIP guests waiting. 

After years of riding arguably, questionably, and at times, potentially very unsafe prototypes, this one was expected to be near perfect.  A fatigued rod end bolt holing the case and oiling the rear tire caused the accident.  I had gone through a lot of near misses with the C1.  A crash was eventually inevitable, but the first was particularly painful, not only in the physical sense.

Next week, we will be testing the latest spec C1 that is yet again even better that the version we last tested and Cycle World reviewed.  This is without question the best spec machine we have ever built.  We are anticipating over 200hp at the crank.  It is good to feel the pre-test electricity again.

- MC

Rarely are there ever any real BIG breakthrough moments in development; more like a series of small victories won at a rate just frequent enough so you don’t throw in the towel. That is in fact why every revolutionary idea is met with skepticism, and a series of revolutionary ideas is almost immediately discounted. In fact, when a new idea does get introduced it has usually been in development for a long enough time, and is trickled in at a slow enough pace that by the time it ends up on your bike you have already been reading about it for years.

Now, if you could develop an idea at a perfect linear pace that you would not need any big breakthroughs (and thus why motor sports companies spend so much money often pursuing parallel development programs), if one fails to deliver hopefully the other will and on trajectory the company will stay, but of course this comes at a price.

On the other side, if you are a small start up with an exceedingly small budget and an equally small team, you know that all the individual ideas have to be working at near 100% effectiveness before the sum total of your big idea can even work at 50%. You have unfortunately really set yourself up to need one of those highly rare and elusive breakthrough moments. Not only do you need everything every other team needs but you need the equivalent of the R&D power ball.

Though I do not play lottery I guess I do gamble – in Las Vegas last Wednesday the team and I hit a Royal Flush.

At our latest and ultimately most successful test to date, the MotoCzysz C1 lapped LVMS at a blistering pace. If we were just there to focus on nothing but pushing the bike I think we could have achieved lap record times, but we were there as part of a normal test.

We had spent the last several months waiting for new castings which have been the bain of our existence and have really slowed the development of our motorcycle. While the parts were being cast and machined we executed a series of improvements to increase combustion efficiency and decrease friction. The combustion involved a new piston crown and combustion chamber design to aid in a more turbulent and quicker burn along with a very comprehensive series of tests to improve something I do not want to disclose. We also worked on bearings and oiling – both volume and quality. The result looked encouraging and our expectations were high but we have become a little jaded to the process so we remained cautiously optimistic.

On Monday, the bike felt strong and accelerated considerably faster than it ever has. We were expecting this, as a result had already been pre-qualified on the dyno. Cooling worked better, throttle bodies and throttle control was improved, and the latest front end felt awesome. The test was progressing nicely – at a normal rate. However, we cannot afford to develop at a normal rate; we need to catch up with the competition, we need to develop at a much faster rate – we need a breakthrough!

Tuesday night I told the engineers, I want to do something very different, I want to feel a big change tomorrow, and after reviewing the data from the previous day I asked the engineers to completely abandon the strategy we had employed to control the fly by wire throttles or in other words – half the torque the engine made. The idea is that the riders are the best ECU you can install in the bike but that the bikes have become so powerful and things are happening so fast that they could use some assistance – assistance and not interference.

Though our original system did help the overall ability of the motorcycle to circulate faster, it was too evasive. It interfered with the rider and was hard to trust. At one speed or throttle angle it may have just the correct amount of engine braking, then at a different speed or throttle angle it may have too much engine braking or none at all, worse yet, it may actually accelerate the bike – yes, a little too evasive.

That night the engineers wrote several new 3D algorithms that would calculate thousands, if not millions, of values based on the engines RPM, throttle angle, and gear ratio in the effort to really interpret what the rider wanted from the bike. Then, the ECU could add or subtract torque accordingly and ideally enter and exit the strategy seamlessly. I estimated approximately 100 different values were modified in order to get us started and we anxiously awaited sun break.
By only the third adjustment to our new strategy it happened – most of the parts were operating at near 100% and we had our BIG breakthrough!

Finally, the C1, with all its newness came together. The C1 circulated the track like a motorcycle that could have been engineered in Japan, like a motorcycle that could have been designed in Italy – but sounded like a motorcycle that could have only been made in America.

America may finally have a real Contender.

-MC

Click here to watch a lap on the C1 – from MotoCzysz testing at LVMS this week.

Wintertime in Portland, Oregon is filled with rainy, cloudy, foggy, chilly, drizzly, short days and worst of all – no track time. Portland International Raceway shuts down for the winter break in October and doesn’t reopen until March. Stand next to the front straight at PIR in November and you’ll hear nothing but the sound of raindrops hitting empty bleachers. But if you happen to find yourself 10 miles South of PIR, within a few blocks of 915 NE Davis, you might hear a racing engine somewhere in the mist. The C1 isn’t on the track turning laps; it’s in the test cell, turning the dyno. Recently we reviewed the dyno instrumentation and found the dyno absorber had turned over 4 million cycles and since the dyno is turned through the C1 gearbox, that’s 8.84 million crankshaft revolutions.

A typical dyno test lasts only about a day. The engine will start and run for several minutes at about 4000rpm until it reaches temperature, and then it will make between 50 and 100 full-throttle power ramps to its peak engine speed. Each power ramp will take approximately 20 seconds to complete. To date, we’ve built and sent across the dyno 34 C1 engines, burned 250 gallons of Elf racing fuel and used 200 liters of Elf synthetic oil. Do we really need to count the rolls of blue paper shops towels and pairs of disposable gloves? The tally of all these supplies is interesting, surprising perhaps, but ultimately trivial. It’s the human effort of a dyno run that is the single most significant number.

Roughly 80 hours of effort are required to assemble an engine. An inlet port reconfiguration requires 80 hours of machine time. Do you want to change the compression ratio? You’ll need about 20 hours of engineering time, and 20 hours to machine new piston crown details. Reconfigure the combustion chamber in the block? That’s right “ 20 hours to engineer the changes and 40 hours to machine them.”

This is development and we’re in the development cycle now; that is, no two C1 engine assemblies are the same. They vary in compression ratio, combustion chamber shape, cam timing, valve lift. We iterate on injector position, injector angle, inlet port configuration, firing order, oil system configuration. Everything about the engine is subject to change. Nothing is constant. What does this imply? It implies that these engines all go together differently. It implies that the builders can’t take a set of parts and throw them together with the conviction that the resulting assembly will be identical to the previous build. It implies that the engineering staff must continually research, test, design, and release the different engine specifications. It implies that the machinists must rework each engine monoblock to the latest specification. We don’t have the luxury of operating on autopilot here; because each of our engines is different, each requires the active involvement of the entire staff, engineering, machining, build, dyno. To date, the average C1 development engine has required about 550 man-hours of effort before it was finally bolted onto the dyno.

550 man-hours per engine. 34 engines. 250 gallons of fuel. Almost 9 million crankshaft revolutions. It’s been a long winter. But right now, the sun is shining through the MotoCzysz R&D facility and last weekend, PIR opened. We’re ready to park the dyno and go turn some wheels. See you at the track.

David Sprinkle
Chief Engineer, Electrical
Director, C-1 Prototype Development

David Sprinkle is one of the very dedicated and talented engineers on the MotoCzysz team.  One of Dave’s tasks is overseeing the very complex electrical system in the C-1; he is also known as Dyno Dave.