Michelin Designs Nissan ZEOD RC’s Tires for Le Mans / Serge Grisin : « La Nissan ZEOD RC est importante pour Michelin. »

par Laurent Mercier (Endurance-Info)

Nissan ZEOD RC’s invitation to participate at Le Mans next year from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest is a tremendous technological development opportunity for the automaker, but also a ready laboratory for next-generation tires, says Michelin Director Serge Grisin. Michelin makes more than half the tires for vehicles competing at Le Mans, but the Garage 56 status, reserved for cars with new technology, has special allure. Grisin, speaking with the Global Media Center during the running of the World Endurance Championship at Fuji Speedway, said working with Nissan on the ZEOD project will help the tire maker in developing electric vehicle products and in bringing even better tires to consumers.

Après une grosse implication dans le projet DeltaWing, Michelin est maintenant partenaire du 56^ème Garage des 24 Heures du Mans 2014 en développant les pneus de la Nissan ZEOD RC. Le pneumaticien français équipe déjà plus de la moitié des équipes de la classique mancelle mais ce projet ZEOD RC est un nouveau challenge comme l’explique Serge Grisin, directeur de la compétition automobile chez Bibendum : « Le fait que la Nissan ZEOD RC participe l’année prochaine aux 24 Heures du Mans suite à l’invitation de l’ACO est une formidable opportunité de développement technologique pour le constructeur automobile, mais aussi un laboratoire bien préparé pour les pneus de nouvelle génération. »

Serge Grisin, Director 4 Wheels Racing Division, Michelin : “For Michelin this project is really important. We’re a technical leader in the tire industry. Garage 56 is a good way for Michelin to learn more about the way to design tires for electric vehicles, and then we can imagine new technologies for the next generation of tires that will have better performance and efficiency. This is a really specific tire, generally for LMP car the front tire is 20 cm, and with this tire it’s 10 cm. That means that with a tire that’s two times smaller we’ll have to develop the same road-car performance in terms of grip, in terms of longevity, and also the tire will be lighter. That means two times lighter than the standard LMP car tire, so by this way we’ll have a tire that will be smaller and lighter, that will allow the same car performance. It’s a way to improve the efficiency of the tire. So for the rear tire, based on the weight distribution of the car we have developed a specific tire that is more conventional, closer to standard LMP tires. It’s 40-cm width, a 15-inch tire. What is important is to adjust the tire size to the car geometry, weight distribution and aerodynamic distribution, and also to have the best possible balance for the car. It’s a fact we want to have the same longevity, to increase the longevity compared to standard racing tires, so we will develop specific compounds. The geometry of the car forces us to develop a front tire that is very narrow. But even with this narrow tire, we target to have a very high longevity. Competition is the laboratory for the street tire, and by the way of the project we are sure that we will have a lot of data from the run of the car that we will be able to use to develop the next generation of tire, and specifically for the electric cars.

 We talk about the future, but we are only at the beginning of the project. We can use a lot of simulation tools, because we want to be ready for Le Mans and we need to think about a lot of things regarding tire design. Before the car starts to run, we will start to give them the tire with the help of simulation tools that do analysis, and (make) a more efficient way to design the tire for the future.”

La Nissan ZEOD RC a fait ses premiers tours de piste devant un fort public sur le Fuji Speedway où Michael Krumm a électrifié la ligne droite des stands du tracé japonais. Serge Grisin revient sur l’importance de ce projet :« Pour Michelin, ce programme est vraiment important. Nous sommes leaders sur le plan technique dans l’industrie pneumatique. Le Garage 56 est un bon moyen pour Michelin d’en apprendre davantage sur la façon de concevoir des pneumatiques pour les véhicules électriques et nous allons pouvoir imaginer de nouvelles technologies pour la prochaine génération de pneus qui seront encore plus performants et efficaces. »

Comme sa devancière DeltaWing, la Nissan ZEOD RC est équipée de pneumatiques de petite taille à l’avant : « C’est un pneu vraiment spécifique. Généralement, le pneu d’une LMP est de 20 cm alors qu’avec la ZEOD RC nous sommes à 10 cm. Cela signifie que nous allons développer un pneu deux fois plus petit pour les mêmes performances qu’une voiture de route en termes d’adhérence, de longévité, sachant que le pneu sera plus léger. Ce pneu est deux fois plus léger que la voiture LMP standard, ce qui permet d’avoir un pneu plus petit, plus léger, mais pour des performances identiques. C’est une façon d’améliorer l’efficacité du pneu. »Michelin ne se contente pas de développer des gommes pour l’avant de la ZEOD RC car l’arrière est aussi pris en compte : « En fonction de la répartition du poids de la voiture, nous avons développé un pneu spécifique qui est plus classique, plus proche des pneus LMP que l’on connaît avec 40 cm de largeur et une taille de 15 pouces. Ce qui est important, c’est d’ajuster la taille des pneus à la géométrie de la voiture, la répartition du poids et la distribution aérodynamique, mais aussi d’avoir le meilleur équilibre possible pour la voiture. Nous voulons avoir la même longévité afin de l’augmenter par rapport aux pneus standards. Nous allons donc développer des composants spécifiques. La géométrie de la voiture nous oblige à développer un pneu avant très étroit. Mais, même avec ce pneu étroit, notre cible est d’avoir une grande longévité.

 « La compétition est le laboratoire pour les pneus des voitures de série et avec ce projet, nous sommes sûrs que nous allons recueillir beaucoup de données pour la prochaine génération de pneus, et plus particulièrement pour les voitures électriques. Nous parlons de l’avenir mais nous ne sommes qu’au début du projet. Nous pouvons utiliser beaucoup d’outils de simulation parce que nous voulons être prêts pour Le Mans et il faut penser à beaucoup de choses concernant la conception du pneu. Avant que la voiture ne commence à rouler, nous allons déjà leur donner une aide avec des outils de simulation, ce qui reste un moyen plus efficace de concevoir le pneu de l’avenir. »

Vida Kyrillos from BroopTV

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1972 BMW R75/5: A ‘TRADITIONAL CUSTOM’

There’s something magical about a classic 70s BMW airhead: Slightly oddball lines, that remarkable engine, and the promise of fine German engineering. An off-kilter charm, if you like.

This BMW R75/5, however, is not quite what it seems. It’s a subtly modified 1972 model that has been customized during a ground-up rebuild. And it looks as fresh as the day it rolled out of the BMW Motorrad Werk factory in Berlin.

The craftsman responsible for this ‘traditional custom’ is Brandon Mungai, who restores old BMWs out of a garage in Costa Mesa, California. Since 2011, he’s been chronicling these builds on the Bavarian Cafe website, and this R75/5 is his latest creation.

Brandon came across the /5 a few weeks after he survived a near-fatal crash on a similar bike. While taking time to recover, he felt that a new project would help his rehabilitation—and before he knew it, he was tearing the bike down, bolt by bolt.

It was an all-original 54,000-mile machine that had been parked under an awning since 1981. Brandon is a purist at heart, but also has a strong affection for cafe racers, so he decided to add a few period-correct mods and keep the rest of the bike original. If ever the day came when he wanted to convert it back to stock, a short time in the garage would be all that was needed to do the trick.

The build was unusually thorough: “The crank journals have been re-polished, the cylinders re-honed and the valve seats and guides resurfaced by John Edwards at Costa Mesa R&D,” Brandon reports. New Karcoma petcocks deliver fuel to the rebuilt Bing carburetors, and Brandon secured a stainless steel exhaust and Hoske Silencers from the specialist S. Meyer in Germany.

“I also located a five-speed gearbox from a 1977 R60/7, and replaced all the bearings, shifting cam springs, gaskets and seals. A 32/10 final drive was re-splined by Hansen’s BMW up in Oregon. The shocks are /5 replicas from Bob’s BMW.” Stainless steel spokes interlace the highly-polished Wiemann rims, and Brandon installed a reproduction SWB seat—complete with seat lock—plus a tool-kit, an air pump and a chrome headlight ring protector.

A new Brown-style sidestand and vintage Albert bar-end mirrors were supplied by Bench Marks Works in Mississippi. The ‘toaster’ panels were re-chromed and the speedometer was rebuilt. Tommaselli adjustable Clubman Bars were imported in from Italy to guide the controls, and a ton of OEM parts were located and delivered by the crew at Irv Seaver BMW in Orange, CA.

The end result is a siren of a bike: The red paint and chrome meet perfectly under the sun. Brandon’s called this R75/5 Freiin (“Free Lady”), a title of nobility often translated as ‘Baroness.’

A suitability classy name for a grand—and slightly racy—old lady.

See more of Brandon’s work on the Bavarian Cafe website. Photography and story by Shaik Ridzwan from The Mighty Motor.

via BIKEEXIF

Baugrud Roadrunner xs650

Steve Baugrad comes from just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a city full of Harley’s. Which was all the motivation Steve needed to build this stunning XS650 special. When the world zigs, zag.

Steve’s day job is in healthcare and he builds his bikes (this is the fourth) in what little spare time he has. He brought the 1981 XS for $150 on Craigslist and went about tearing everything down, before building it back up again just the way he wanted it. Like a lot of us in The Shed, everything Steve did on this bike was self taught, learned by hanging around in, and asking the right questions on forums.

After vapour blasting the engine and rebuilding the top end, the engine covers were powder coated using iron glimmer. The frame was modified by removing all unnecessary tabs, along with the rear pegs, exhaust mounts and everything behind the rear shock. He then welded (again, self taught) a new rear hoop, and fabbed up an electronics tray so everything could be hidden neatly away underneath the seat hump.

Sticking to his, ‘doing something a bit different to everyone else’ philosophy, Steve decided to keep the original mag wheels instead of swapping out to spoked rims, and went for Avon Speedmaster MKII’s instead of Firestones. The forks were rebuilt, shaved of the extra caliper mounts and powder coated to match the frame. The triple trees were also powder coated and a new dash panel was made to hold the kill switch, start button and neutral light. The brakes were rebuilt using braided lines and a mini speedo and headlight finish off the front end nicely.

The tank was sourced from an XS750 which was modified to fit the frame. The seat was made by Ian at Twinline Customs/ House on Fire Industries and houses a neatly concealed half moon billet L.E.D. Upholstery on the seat pan is genuine leather and was made by the talented Ginger at New Church Moto.

The high pipes, made by Scott at Gordon Scott Engineering, really caught our eye on this build. We’re told they were extremely labor intensive, so much so that Scott says he probably won’t make any more (note the word ‘probably’ – sounds persuadable to us!). The equally eye catching paintwork was done by Todd Carlson using a silver base, silver HOK mini metalflake, HOK lime gold Kandy with black stripes and several coats of fuel proof automotive clear. According to Steve she’ll nearly blind you in the sun.
Steve tells us that from day one he set out to make this one a keeper, hence no corners cut and the meticulous attention to detail.
via The Bike Shed