I'd be prepared to buy a bike that used a "Hossack" style front end mated to a V twin, this radical bike is interesting and i hope people buy them. Alternative front ends will probably only catch on when the smaller specialists have proved the market and Honda get interested. If we dont buy them then at least the market is proved in the negative. Roll on a Hossack TT2 Pantah !
How do these center-hubbed bikes do on the track? I personally have never seen them perform in anger.
Call me a luddite, but what is really the point of insisting on hub-centred steering? How many of us can't abide good old telescopic forks? If hub-centre really was the way forward, why don't GP bikes have it?
We're told it's technically far superior to tele forks. But if no-one's got the knowledge to either set them up properly or interpret the feel from them, it's all a bit wasted really. Some of 'em look way cool, though
I think it's crap. It looks like the forward landing gear has fallen from an F18, collected part of an air conditioning unit on the way down and landed on a motorbike. Best thing about it is the paddock-stand.
And I've just noticed it's only got one eye. Are they going to name it the Abu Hamza Replica as a tribute to the other crazy one-eyed radical?
There was quite a good write up in MCN last week about just this subject. A guy, whose name escapes me, rode a Yamaha with hub centre steering (HCS) in the TT and swore by it. The article basically said that motorcyclists, and especially the racing world, are very conservative. Until racing starts using them they won't catch on. Apparently, while they function in a far superior way, separating suspension and steering, they feel very different to telescopic forks that we are all used to. Personally, I find them asthetically unappealing, but it would be interesting to ride a bike fitted with it. I really can believe that a lot of it is fashion. You only have to look at what some people will wear, JUST because it's the latest thing. The article stated that a Japanese firm, I believe Yahama, did bring out a bike with HCS but it was VERY expensive and there were some other issues with it as well. I have to say, as soon as I saw this bike I wanted to get on and have a ride. Not a bad quality for a bike to have! For me, it's what Ducati seem to have bottled.
