Club MotoAmerica

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.

“Hi Michael,

Your documentary just screened in New Zealand and, having worked for John Britten, I watched your journey with fascination.  Through your documentary I was vicariously experiencing all your highs and lows that we too went through when we built the Britten V1100 and V1000.  It was very familiar.  Given I’ve been where you’ve been, when I offer my sincerest commendation on your truly incredible project and my very very best wishes for your success, you’ll know exactly from where that comes. 

John, if he was alive, would be very, very impressed. 

Congratulations on your amazing vision and design. May 2008 exceed your hopes and dreams.

Best regards,

Hamish Lamont
ex-Britten Motorcycle Company, Christchurch, New Zealand“

Twenty-two months ago we started designing the MotoCzysz C1 990 Prototype, seven months later a running version was unveiled at the 06USGP.  Between the 06USGP and the 07USGP we addressed a long list of inevitable problems consistent with any clean sheet concept.  Now that we have a stable and reliable platform we move into the next phase – development.

Virtually every engine in production today is based on a predecessor.  Building your first engine is an order of magnitude more difficult than building your second.  It is the knowledge acquired from the current engine that usually drives the development program of the next, unfortunately, MotoCzysz had no current engine.

Designers and engineers of true clean sheet design can find little empirical data for their new creation primarily because by definition, it does not exist.  Though the general principals of mechanics and physics will not change, calculations are more easily believed when the majority of the equations are known factors.  When you have a formula with more variables than constants, even engineers a cubical away will often arrive with two different answers.  I face that scenario way more than I would have ever anticipated.

It is not that an internal combustion is so overly complicated, in fact is a rather crude concept – but it is just so developed, so refined and as a motorcycle engine, so efficient, it is nearly elegant.  Today’s motorcycle engines are true marvels of performance, reliability and value.  That is why it is a standard practice for most motorcycle startups and even most American motorcycles to shy away from designing their own engine.

Remove engine design and development from your business plan and remove 80% of the work and cost and 50% of the risk.

The development process for a very small company like MotoCzysz is slow.  We primarily alter specifications between two engines, testing one while rebuilding the other.  A more efficient way would be to be testing at least two engines on two cells while rebuilding 4 to 6 engines.  But that really isn’t the primary factor dictating the speed of our development, the largest factor is 3,499,200.  During the first phase of our engine development we tested:

2 firing orders
3 cam profiles
6 valve springs
2 piston designs
2 piston rings
5 fuel injectors
3 fuel injector heights
3 fuel injector angles
2 fuel pressures
3 primary exhaust pipe lengths
2 mid pipe designs
5 secondary exhaust pipe lengths
3 fuels
3 spark plugs

That is 3,499,200 potential different engine specification combinations.  Now, we do not necessarily have any more variables or combinations to test than any other company, in fact I am certain companies like Honda and Yamaha could easily have tens of millions of different combinations they could test for each new MotoGP engine.  So how do they do it?  They make it happen with hundreds of engineers, tens of millions of dollars and history.  The vast matrix of development is narrowed by huge hard disks of empirical data from current or past engines.  This is why the development efforts at the highest level often move very deliberately and carefully.  The pitfalls of rogue development have seen many teams go from world champions one year to also ran the following, seemingly lost in a dark technological labyrinth.  From my perspective, this is a big part of racing.  A decision guiding the development direction of a program, although typically made years before the race, may actually be one of the biggest factors in how successful a company may ultimately be in competition.  Fortunately, giants do stumble and small guys do win.  That is what makes racing great and that is why we race – to see who will win.

So how goes the MotoCzysz development?

Great – and the same time not so great.  We have achieved our design goal and currently make a calculated 220+ hp at the crank.  Yes – I thought when we hit that goal all in the world would be perfect, calmness would fall over us and a true feeling of accomplishment would follow.  I was picturing, even expecting, motorcycle nirvana.  What I got was “Houston, we have a problem.  There are very few normally aspirated engines in the world that achieve 200 hp per liter and none made in America (that I am aware of). This is a rather substantial benchmark only achieved by a small number of top engineering firms.  So in that respect – concept, design and development are going great.  Our intake ports uniquely located between the cams were independently tested and out flowed every head the analysis company had ever tested.  In turn, our engines volumetric efficiency is fantastic.  We have documented VE of over 122%, the best Japanese bike we have ever had tested topped out at 112% – so our pump works excellent.  Thermal efficiency is also good, so what is the problem?

Our combustion efficiency is not optimum.  We made a combustion design error and thus we have a slow combustion event that is requiring more timing to achieve peak cylinder pressure.  The good news is we have identified the rather obvious “squish” mistake and already have fix in hand.  Not only will this result in even higher performance but will also help solve the single biggest problem – excessive engine braking.

We feel most of the engine breaking is do to oil quality and oil quantity.  This is actually the adverse effect of over designing the oil system in an effort to reduce friction.  It is very difficult in the design phase to determine the exact oil requirements of all areas of the engine.  Under estimate and you could be facing a costly redesign, so we cautiously decided to error on the side of more oil and increased flow.  It is now time to refine.  Our current oil strategy sees our engine pumping half a liter per second of Elf’s finest (it really is INCREDIBLE oil) by the pressure pump and the exact amount again by the larger sump pump totaling one complete liter per second.  So the first MotoCzysz engine is 80% motorcycle power plant and 20% Jacuzzi pump.

The next series of test will focus primarily on optimizing the oil pumps, reducing the oil pressure, and balancing the flow of oil throughout the engine. If the results confirm our expectations then the development is going great, even awesome!  If the results fail to meet our expectations then “Houston we have a problem.”

Back to the dyno-
MC