Product Description

MotoGP is the premier class in motorcycle racing and it is there that the most sophisticated and alluring technology is found. For years Grand Prix motorcycle racing had featured prototype 500cc two-strokes, but the need for manufacturers to develop four-stroke technology led to the creation of the new championship formula in 2002, based on fire-breathing, 260bhp 990cc four-strokes. Competition is keen and factory teams guard their mechanical secrets and working practices very carefully. For these reasons it has been nearly impossible to closely examine bikes without bodywork or understand exactly how they are engineered and developed. Until this book. Author Neil Spalding's ability to spot subtle detail changes and incremental developments from the restricted confines of pit lane, and then to correctly determine how these modifictions affect performance earned him the grudging respect of top teams. Eventually, Neil was admintted into the inner sanctum of the elite racing departments and give unparalleled access to explore and photograph race bikes to prepare this book. The only restriction: he couldn't make public his information until the end of the 2006 season, the last year of the 990cc formula. This is the exciting story, told from the inside, of the most electrifying form of two-wheeled compeition and of the highly motivated designers, engineers, and mechanics who create these remarkable motorcycles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193582 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-01
• Released on: 2006-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Former team owner Neil Spalding, who raced motorcycles for over 25 years, runs Sigma Performance, a specialist Ducati workshop and website. He writes regularly for Motor Cycle News and MCN Sport, specialising in technical subjects.

Customer Reviews

The complexity of the motorcycle revealed
One of the most fascinating things about motorcycles is how they manage to work. Two wheeled dynamics, steering left to turn right, reciprocating mass, inertia and how body position can have dramatic effects on the stability of a motorcycle. MotoGP technology explains it all in an arena where things are pushed farther and harder and with more financial backing than previous history, and shows that there is still a lot to learn about how this innocuously simple vehicle, the motorcycle, really works.

The information contained in this book will change the way you look at motorcycles, and particularly motorcycle racing. The technology, the money spent and the energy invested into this motor sport is captivating. The biggest flaw of the book is that it appears Spalding was under a great deal of pressure to get the book out quickly and there are quite a few errors in the text that were distracting. The brilliant photos and exceptional quality of the book more than make up for it. Spalding even goes into great detail explaining physics of motorcycle dynamics that changed the way I ride my motorcycle.

This book should be on the shelf of every sport motorcycle enthusiast, and every engineer-geek who loves to know more about how things work.

Excellent book but......
This is a must-read book for MotoGP fan. Although it's said to be a book about the evolution of 990cc MotoGP racers, it also shows to the fans the challenges the teams and the riders have to deal with. After reading it I have even more respect for the riders.
However, it seems to me the publisher rushed to have this book published for time-to-market reason. The editing effort is not enough. For example, in addition to numerous typos, the paragraph is abruptly cut off and some texts are missing in the Honda RCV section on page 46. Besides, in the part talking about Hayden's RCV Evo bike, it seems to me that the writing is done before the season ends. Although I understand there may not be much left to cover in 900cc racers' final moment, I still think there are more that can be talked about/digged out regarding to the RCV Evo bike.
Althought there are a lot of pictures, I feel some of them are not that clear in showing what the author tries to point out, or can have even more coverage, like from different angles. For example, for the frame comparisons between RCV Evo and RCV 06 on page 161, I would like to see it being shot from different angles. It's not really I can see anything out of it, but just given the resource they have they can do a better job in the presentation. Besides, when explaining the difference between the evolution of each year's bike, the author often points the readers to photos that show in other pages. Why can't they put the extra effort in having a side-by-side photos for better illustration?
Despite what has been said, I like the book because of the authour's effort in trying to present the problem-solution-effect process of the engineering part of MotoGP. I just would not recommend it to those who intend to buy it for collection. If the publisher can polish things up in the 2nd print I will give a five-star rating without hesitation.

A MotoGP fan's dream come true
As soon as I read about this book on WebBikeWorld, I knew I had to have it. I ordered from Amazon UK, and had it in about a week. Anyway, if you've ever wondered what goes into the hand-built bikes of MotoGP racing, this book will quench your thirst. It had far more information than I expected- far more, in fact, than I had figured manufacturers were willing to let out. It basically starts at the inception of MotoGP (when the change to 990cc 4-stroke engines was made) and ends with the 2006 season (which is also the end of the 990cc era). Not much on the 2-strokers is covered, if you're wondering. The book can be divided into two basic parts: teams, and bike components. The first half of the book gives an in-depth look at each team's bikes over the years, and the second half covers specific parts of the bike, like valve technologies, suspension, etc.

There is just such an insane amount of information in here. Minute technical aspects, like the changes each team did year-to-year are covered, as well as some theorizing about how those changes may have been responsible for the bikes blowing up during races. You get a feeling for how far ahead Honda was at the inception of the 4-strokes, to how much teams like Kawasaki have had to catch up over the years. The technical section on components does a good job of outlining basic operation and highlighting MotoGP technology without being long-winded and overly verbose. Both sections have lots of pictures and diagrams to accompany the text, although the bulk of the content is in the words, not the pictures.

At times though, the material can be a little dry and difficult to parse, but I attribute this to the already high level of refinement in racing rather than the author. Some of the diagrams take a while to understand as well. I'm still not sure the crank diagrams highlighting the difference between "Big Bang" firing pattern and others is correct either, which is frustrating seeing as the Big Bang firing pattern is one of the major themes throughout the book.

Anyway, I liked the book so much that I still read it cover-to-cover. I don't know of any other source, print or on-line, that has this amount of information for these hand-built racing monsters.