IOM Thread

[roma258]

Place to discuss Victory's IOM TT effort. First practice session is in the books, looks like the average speed was 105 mph, which is a little disappointing tbh.
https://twitter.com/VictoryEMEA_PR/status/606926526962102272

[kingcharles]

I think it is a really good result for a bike that is limited in power and battery capacity.

I was following the live timing and I noticed Dunlop slowing down more in the last sections than Johnston.
Dunlop was a bit faster in the first sections.
My personal idea is that this was to discover what strategy would work best with regards to battery use.
Maybe @BrammoBrian can comment?

I also want to point out that both bikes finished their lap and only one other bike managed to do that.

[Ted Dillard]

Just got the press release and put a post together...  They supplied some great photos.  I'm not sure when it's going live, but I'll update with the link. 

They released "technical details", which really didn't say more than what we already know, but did mention that Brian was the Team Manager for Victory, in addition to his role at Brammo. 

[protomech]

CycleWorld has the day four press release.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/06/05/iomtt-day-four-tt-final-qualifying-report/

At the end of the evening a few of the [­TT] Zero machines also had their first outing ahead of Wednesday’s SES TT Zero with lap record holder John McGuinness showing the form that saw him triumph in last year’s race with a lap of 113mph although his Mugen Shinden teammate Bruce Anstey broke down.  The Victory Racing pair of William Dunlop and Lee Johnston both posted hugely impressive debut laps of 105.185 and 104.185 respectively.

[roma258]

Having had some time to think about it, I feel better about the result. My guess is it's all about battery management, so the fact that they were able to finish the lap and record how much juice they had left, what strategy worked in what sections, etc. is positive. My initial comment was after seeing the lightweight bike (mostly Kawi 650s) record lap averages in the 115 mph range. Good stuff either way, looking forward to the race.

[Ted Dillard]

The post with photos went live just now:
http://insideevs.com/victory-makes-first-ever-iom-tt-zero-lap-tops-100mph-average/

[roma258]

William Dunlop out (injury) Guy Martin in!
https://twitter.com/VictoryBikes/status/607926052002742272

[Chocula]

I am sad to hear that William Dunlop was injured.  From http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/northern-ireland/33054140. 

His Tyco BMW team have confirmed he is "a bit banged up" but did not suffer any fractures in the crash.

I am excited to see Guy Martin race the Victory bike.  It would be nice for him to get some more saddle time on the bike, but hopefully he will have a good race anyway.  His personality should provide great publicity for Victory and electric bikes in general.  Even if he hates be bike, it will get people talking about it.

[kingcharles]

Here is a good report of yesterday's action!

http://longtailpipe.com/2015/06/08/mcguinness-breaks-tt-zero-lap-record-with-118-mileshr-speed-in-qualifying/

[kingcharles]

I think that if the Victory bikes could carry more battery that they could be a lot closer to the Mugen bikes!
Just look at the top speed.

[Richard230]

Here is another report from the IOM. It looks like Mugen may have the "inside track" at the IOM right now. Apparently they are about 10 mph faster than Victory in qualifying: 

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/08/mcguinness-breaks-tt-zero-record-qualifying/

[kingcharles]

Did Johnston just do a 110mph lap?

[roma258]

Did Johnston just do a 110mph lap?

Sounds like it! Looks like Victory/Brammo is starting to dial in their battery management...
https://twitter.com/VictoryBikes/status/608311141249519616

[Gavin]

http://www.iomtt.com/~/media/Files/2015/Race-results/SES-TT-Zero/Zero%20resulT.pdf

The Mugen bikes where very similar at 118-119.

The Victory were also very similar around 110.

I wonder if Victory will race again next year? Would be fun if both companies (and perhaps another one or two) can try and break 120 in a years time.

Great show by Mugen, excellent show for Victory on their first time out (though Brammo has been racing for a while now).

So....the question....if Victory brings out a commercial sports bike somewhat based on this bike, will Honda feel it is time to bring out a competitor based on the Mugen?

That would be cool to have them both come out over the next year.

G

[roma258]

So....the question....if Victory brings out a commercial sports bike somewhat based on this bike, will Honda feel it is time to bring out a competitor based on the Mugen?

That would be cool to have them both come out over the next year.

G

I think there are two big questions coming out of TT Zero. This one, and does Victory come back for more next year? They have some good data and they've shown that their race team can adjust on the fly (picking up 8 mph in the course of a weak is no small feat). Oh to be a fly on the wall in Polaris product planning meetings.