Ecosse Spirit: Frameless Motorcycle |
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File under Special-Bikes
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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Riding around on a motorcycle without a frame sounds like I'm true to my Dutch roots - I must have been smoking something potent! But nothing can be further from the truth (the frameless motorcycle part... ).
Ecosse Spirit  have other ideas to revolutionize motorcycles. The company was founded by two Formula One engineers wanting to design a F1 car on 2 wheels.
The "from-the-ground" up design of their ES1 took away all traditional design parameters, such as a frame, and tried something totally new.
The ES1 is all about low weight, low drag and superb handling. The ES1 has a frameless chassis with unique suspension design at both ends of the bike. The front and rear suspension use torsion springs fitted on the swingarm pivots and F1 spec dampers mounted directly between swingarm and engine.
Front suspension is a common double wishbone arrangement. However, for ES1, the lower wishbone is a composite single-sided swingarm. The unique aspect of our design is the way they mount the handlebars from the fork rather than from the frame – providing a very direct connection between handlebars and front wheel for front tire feel.
At the rear the carbon fiber swingarm has a slender section between the gearbox and the rear wheel to create the narrow position they need for ES1’s aerodynamic and ergonomic concepts.
The ES1 is made for a very low aerodynamic drag. Latter day sports motorcycles have an aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.65. According to Ecosse Spirit, that is the drag coefficient of a truck, almost twice that of a sports car. The reason that conventional bikes have high drag coefficients is that although the fairing gives a streamlined shape to the front of the bike, the back of the bike has very poor aerodynamics which leads to a wide and turbulent wake.
The fundamental problem is the conventional riding position — where the width of the rider’s legs far back on the bike — which creates the opposite of the teardrop shape we ideally want for good aerodynamic performance.
They reduced the foot & leg position of the rider, fully enclosing the rear wheel.
The ES1 has a 20% reduction of aerodynamic drag in the front, with a drag coefficient of 0.4. It's not that of a sports car, but a 40% improvement of a superbike. This translates to a 50% reduction in CdA (total drag) which equates to a 26% increase in top speed!
The engine is a 1000cc IL4 race engine, with 200 bhp. The dry weight is 265 pounds (120 kgs), with a top speed of around 230 mph (370 kph).
Ecosse Spirit are planning to produce 10 ES1 prototypes for anyone who wants to buy one. Each motorcycle will be tailored to the buyer's specifications.
No price has been published, but if you've got to ask, you can't afford it....
Is this the future of supersports motorcycles? Time will tell....
Click here to access their web site (Thanks Mike Wood)
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