Ducati Desmosedici病症大剖析(文字帖,需耐心看)

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Valentino Rossi's move to Ducati was a match made in marketing heaven, the combined selling power of the world's most famous motorcycle racer and the world's most iconic motorcycle brand would surely prove to be a veritable sales steamroller. Casey Stoner had already proven that the bike was capable of winning races - though it clearly had a problem with the front end - and with a seven-time MotoGP champion and the crew that helped him win those titles, success would be quick to come.
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Rossi與Ducati的結合對市場行銷來說是天造一對, 全世界最知名的摩托車手與製造商聯手起來的銷售實力將被證明無可匹敵. 即便很明顯的車輛在前端有問題, 但Stoner已經證明這是輛可以贏得比賽的戰駒, 更別遑論一位七屆MotoGP世界冠軍與團隊的加入, 成功應該是指日可待.

If sales of merchandise are anything to go by, then the move was definitely a success, MotoGP circuits coloring red as Rossi fans stocked up on Ducati gear, the red still tinged with Rossi's traditional yellow. But a look at the results sheets tells a different story altogether. Though the Italian is 5th in the championship standings (and just 2 points off 4th), Rossi has consistently crossed the finish line between 25 and 30 seconds after the winner took the checkered flag. So far, Rossi has taken just a single podium - arguably gifted to him, with Dani Pedrosa being taken out by Marco Simoncelli, and then Simoncelli being punished with a ride-through - and has found himself in the battle for 5th or 6th. By any measure, Rossi's move to Ducati must be counted a disaster, the combination a massive disappointment to fans, followers and even fellow riders.
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如果只考慮商品銷售, 賽場上滿是紅色帶點Rossi黃的Ducati行頭的車迷說明了在這方面是個成功的結合; 但回頭再看看比賽成績時卻又是另一回事. 雖然目前Rossi在積分榜上排名第五只落後第四名兩分, 但這是因為他穩定的以落後頭車25到30秒的時間場場完賽的結果. 截至目前為止他只上過一次頒獎台(註: 利曼第三名), 而且還是因為Dani被Simo搞摔車而Simo自已也被判罰得來速自爆只能爭奪五六名的關係. 從任何角度來看, Rossi的跳槽被認為是一次災難性的失敗, 對車迷, 對追隨者, 甚至是場上的競爭對手.

Unsurprisingly, there has been fevered speculation about the cause of the problems, and whether it is down to the rider, the bike, or the combination of the two. Rossi fans point to his record, and the fact that he won a race in October of 2010, even while suffering with a damaged shoulder, only fixed after the end of the season. Yet Ducati fans, along with a contingent of Stoner fans, point out that Stoner was able to win on the previous incarnation of the machine (the GP10 the Australian raced last season was very similar, with one or two exceptions, to the GP11 which Rossi started the season off on), and so there can't have been that much wrong with the machine. Others postulate that it is not so much a single factor, but rather that the combination of Rossi's high-corner-speed style and the Ducati's flaky front end that is to blame, the Italian unable - or unwilling - to adopt Stoner's excessively aggressive corner entry style which allowed him to tame the Desmosedici.
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不意外的, 大家都在狂熱臆測著到底問題何在, 是人? 是車? 還是兩者都是? Rossi的粉絲會說看看去年在經歷了整年肩傷的困擾而且到了賽季結束後才真正的手術康復, 他還是在十月的時候拿下了場單站冠軍(註: 雪邦). 而Ducati的粉絲 - 這包含了Stoner的粉絲 - 會說,  Stoner騎著GP10(和今年Rossi賽季開始所騎乘的GP11並沒有太多區別, 頂多一兩個地方略有不同)還不是照樣可以拿下勝利, 所以車輛上不可能有太大的缺陷. 有人則認為這並不是單一一個車手或車輛的因素可以解釋, 而是Rossi的講求高過彎速度的騎乘風格與Ducati的詭異前端綜合的結果. Rossi無法或是不願意去採用Stoner那種極端激進的過彎風格去馴服這輛戰駒.

So where does the truth lie? What is really wrong with the Ducati-Rossi combo? Is Rossi over the hill, or did Stoner make the Ducati look good, or is Rossi just not capable of adapting his style to the tricky Desmosedici? And if it is the bike, can Rossi's wily veteran crew chief Jeremy Burgess cure what ails the Ducati? We will go through the possible causes of the problem one factor at a time, but first, it may be helpful to identify exactly where the problem lies.
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事實到底如何? Ducati與Rossi的結合哪裡出了問題? 是Rossi在走下坡, 還是Stoner的天分讓Ducati看來是輛好車, 亦或Rossi無法調整他的風格去適應這輛特性有點奇特的戰駒? 而問題如果是在車輛上, 那Rossi的鬼才技師長Burgess有沒有辦法解決它? 底下將會就所有可能原因進行討論, 但首先先來了解一下問題何在.

The Symptoms
Why is that neither Valentino Rossi nor Nicky Hayden have been able to get the Desmosedici to work? It all comes down to one thing: front-end feel. "The problem is in braking and entry," Rossi said at Mugello. "I don't have enough feeling from the front for corner entry like I want." The Ducati simply is not returning enough feedback from the front tire to the rider, nor providing enough grip from the front Bridgestone tire. "We have a lot of problems to put enough temperature into the tires," was Rossi's verdict at Assen, where very cool temperatures prevailed. At both Assen and Silverstone, Rossi had been forced to use the softer compound tire during practice, which helped by coming up to temperature a little more quickly, but as the soft front was only good for a few laps, it was never going to be an option for the race. The hotter temperatures at Mugello helped a bit, giving more feedback from the front, but still Rossi remained eight tenths of a second slower than the leading group. Summarizing both Rossi's and Hayden's descriptions of the problem over the first half of the season, the front end of the Ducati feels vague and does not provide sufficient feedback, leaving both Marlboro Ducati riders with a lack of confidence in the front end. And the underlying cause of the lack of feel is the difficulty of getting the ultra-stiff Bridgestone tires up to temperature.
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症狀
為什麼Rossi和Hayden兩人都無法在Desmosedici上有好表現? 主要的癥結在對於前端的感覺. Rossi在義大利站時表示, "問題在於煞車與入彎時, 我沒有辦法從前端獲得足夠的反饋好讓我以想要的方式騎乘, 同時也無法讓前輪發揮足夠的抓地力." "我們遇到了許多的問題在有效提升胎溫上," 亞森時的低溫就是一個例子. 在亞森與銀石站Rossi被迫於練習時使用軟胎因為能較快達到工作溫度, 但畢竟軟胎消耗較快無法維持好速度撐完整場. 在義大利時的高溫多少幫助解決了些胎溫的問題讓前端有較好的回饋, 但Rossi的單圈與前面集團相比依舊慢了點八秒. 綜合Rossi與Hayden在賽季前半所描述的問題情況, Ducati的前端路感模糊無法提供足夠反饋使得兩人沒有信心, 而癥結所在是無法讓輪胎達到工作溫度.

Is It The Rider?
The biggest variable which has changed between 2010 and 2011 is the departure of Casey Stoner and the arrival of Valentino Rossi. Though Rossi is now riding a heavily modified machine (the GP11.1, as it has been dubbed, is a destroked version of the 2012 Desmosedici, its capacity reduced to 800cc to make it legal for 2011), the bike he rode until Assen was not much changed from the bike Stoner left ehind at Valencia in 2010. The bike had a modified triple clamp, a slightly different swingarm, and a slightly revised front chassis. The biggest changes have been in the field of electronics, Rossi and his crew helping to provide a much more user-friendly engine response package, introduced after Estoril.
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是車手的問題嗎?
2010年與2011年最大的變動是Stoner的離隊與Rossi的到來. 雖然目前Rossi所騎乘的是大改過後的車子(GP11.1是閹割後的GP12, 引擎cc數由1000cc降至800cc以符合2011規範), 但直到亞森站前實際上和Stoner在去年瓦倫西亞所騎乘的沒有太大的不同. GP11.1些微修改了龍頭, 後搖臂, 與前車架; 而最大的改變在於電控系統. 在葡萄牙站(註: 第三站)後Rossi的團隊開發使用了更友善於車手的引擎反應套件.

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So if Stoner made the Ducati work, then surely the problem must be with Rossi, right? Though that might appear to be the logical conclusion, that grossly oversimplifies a complicated situation. Just 9 months ago, with a weakened shoulder that left him struggling, Rossi was still capable of winning races and scoring regular podiums. He was poetry to watch, flowing over the Yamaha M1 and able to put it just about where he wanted. In the 11 races after returning from the leg he broke at Mugello, and still struggling with the shoulder injury he picked up in a training crash in April, Rossi was on the podium 7 times, including 1 win. Riders simply do not lose that kind of speed over the winter break, not unless they suffer a career-threatening injury.
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既然Stoner能騎的這麼好, 那問題就是出在Rossi身上了對吧? 雖然聽起來很合邏輯, 但其實是太過簡化了一個複雜的問題. 九個月前即使還被肩傷所苦,但他依舊能拿下勝利並且經常地上頒獎台, 他在M1上還是能隨心所欲人車合一. 在義大利站摔斷腿以及四月練習時弄傷的肩傷困擾下, 之後復出的十一場賽事裡他上了七次獎台拿下了一勝. 通常車手不太可能僅是過了一個冬季休息後就忘了怎麼騎車, 當然除非是受了嚴重到可能終結賽車生涯的傷.

From the moment he swung his leg over the Ducati, Rossi was immediately miles off the pace. He ended the two-day test 1.7 seconds off the pace of the fastest man, Jorge Lorenzo. Three days earlier, in the race, Rossi's fastest lap had been just a few hundredths slower than Lorenzo's. Worse still, Rossi looked nothing like himself on the bike. Several observers commented that it was if someone had sneaked into Rossi's motorhome, stolen his leathers and helmet, walked in through the back of the pits and onto the Ducati without anyone noticing he was not Rossi. At that first test in Valencia, Rossi looked like a journalist riding the bike, someone far less comfortable or able easing his way around the track.
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從Rossi跨上Ducati的那一刻起他的速度一落千丈. 在賽季結束後緊接著兩天的亞倫西亞測試中, 他的單圈比最速男Lorenzo還慢了1.7秒, 而在三天前的正賽中他只不過比Lorenzo慢了點幾秒而已. 更糟的是Rossi在Ducati上看起來一點都不像我們認識的他. 有人說這好比是某個人偷穿了Rossi的皮衣帽子, 走進pit裡騎上車子而沒有人注意到這人根本不是他. 瓦倫西亞的第一次測試成績看起來就像是個某某專欄記者騎著車在賽道上逛大街一樣, 沒法也騎不快.

Rossi was not the only rider to undergo an overnight transformation. Loris Capirossi jumped off the Rizla Suzuki and onto the Pramac Ducati and went nowhere, while Randy de Puniet has been transformed from the man who regularly scored top 6 results on the LCR Honda to a rider who can barely make it into the top 10 on the Pramac Desmosedici. With the Ducati's history of destroying riders' reputations - along with their self-confidence - Rossi is just another casualty in the long list that started with Marco Melandri.
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Rossi並不是唯一一個經歷這慘淡景況的人. Capi也從Rizla Suzuki跳槽到了Pramac Ducati並且跑的很糟. De Puniet也從一位在LCR Honda時能經常上六甲的人慘到現在要進前十都很困難. 從Ducati惡名昭彰的車手終結者歷史來看, Rossi目前也是從Melandri開頭的名單中其中一位受害者.

The startling difference between Rossi's times from this year and those from last year are one clue that the problem is not with the rider. At Laguna Seca, where comparable temperatures prevailed between the 2010 and 2011 events, Rossi was 14 seconds slower this year than on the Yamaha. At the 2010 event, Rossi was still using crutches, the US round being only his second race since returning after breaking his leg at Mugello, some 8 weeks' beforehand. But the key piece of evidence that the problem is the bike and not the rider is the times of Nicky Hayden: the American was also 14 seconds slower at Laguna in 2011 than he was in 2010.
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Rossi去年和今年相比這令人無法置信的速度差異說明了問題並不在車手. 2010年和2011年的Laguna Seca在賽道溫度相差不多可以比較的情況下, Rossi全場的時間比起去年在M1上整整慢了十四秒, 而且當時他還需要拄著拐杖又是在Mugello斷腿八周後回來的第二場比賽而已. 更重要能證明這是車輛而非車手的問題的, 就是Hayden同樣也比去年慢了十四秒鐘.

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The Bike
So it appears we can safely rule out the problem being the rider. And if it isn't the rider, the problem must lie in the bike. Indeed, speculation and conjecture about where the problem lies has been more intense than ever this season, with everyone and their mother-in-law apparently having an opinion. The ideas around the Ducati's shortcomings seem to fall into three schools of thought, two centering around the chassis and another focusing on the engine, with the theories about the chassis being by far the most popular.
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戰駒
上述看來我們可以把車手的問題排除, 那既然不是車手就是車輛問題了. 的確每個人- 甚至連他們的岳母- 對於Ducati今年到底出了甚麼問題都非常有興趣. 大致上的猜測主要是三個方面, 兩個是關於車架, 另一個則是引擎. 目前車架問題是比較多人認同的.

The favorite culprit is the use of carbon fiber to build a frame, the properties of the material being blamed for the lack of feel in the front end. The layout of the chassis is the next favorite among the pundits, the short subframe which joins the steering head to the engine being fingered as too small to provide sufficient flex for the front. And the third, but far less favored option is the layout of the engine, the characteristic L-shaped 90° V4 forcing too much weight towards the rear. Let's go through these options one-by-one, and examine how much blame should be attributed to each.
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第一基於材質特性, 使用碳纖來製作車架是被最多人認為造成前端路感模糊的主因. 第二是車架的設計, 過短的副車架連結了龍頭與引擎本體無法提供前端足夠的彈性. 第三則是V型四缸L90度角引擎的特性被認為重心過於偏後. 底下會就這三個方面一一分析並找出誰才是主要癥結所在.

A Brief History Of Motorcycle Chassis Design
Before we look at carbon fiber, a quick word on motorcycle chassis. Once upon a time, a frame was just some tubing that held the engine in place and connected the steering head to the swingarm. As tires improved and engine outputs increased, the forces involved in braking and accelerating started to overwhelm the tubular steel chassis, and frame builders started to make their frames stiffer. In the 1990s, chassis builders started to encounter the opposite problem: as their frames got stiffer and stiffer, the bike started chattering and vibrating, making handling terrible, especially when leaned over, when the suspension of a bike ceases to work, being in the wrong plane. And so the concept of flex was introduced, adding sufficient flexibility to allow the bike to absorb some of the bumps while leaned over, but still stiff enough to keep the chassis stable in a straight line and under braking. Since the late 1990s, and especially since the four-stroke era began, a huge amount of work has gone into engineering in exactly enough flexibility in specific areas, while retaining the stiffness in the planes where it is needed.
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車架設計歷史回顧
在我們分析碳纖材質前, 先看看過往的車架設計理念. 早先所謂的車架只是簡單為了將引擎固定並連結龍頭與後搖臂. 當輪胎效能與引擎馬力越來越大, 這些管狀車架無法負荷在重煞車或加速時的力道, 所以工程師開始強化車架的剛性. 在1990年代設計者遇到了相反的問題, 他們發現當剛性越來越加強, 結果車輛卻開始抖動導致難以操控尤其是在側身過彎時, 然後懸吊軟腳而人倒在不該在的草地上, 也因此韌性的概念才開始被導入. 讓車架更有彈性以吸收過彎時遇到的顛頗, 同時保有足夠的剛性維持車輛在直路與煞車時的穩定. 從90年後期特別是四行程開始, 大量的資源投入在研發如何在車架特定區域擁有足夠的韌性同時也讓其他區域維持應有的剛性.

As tuneable flexibility has become increasingly important, the attractiveness of alternatives to aluminium has also grown. Traditional aluminium has the benefit of being light and easy to work with, but as MotoGP chassis designers push the limits, they also run into a few limitations. Engineering in flex is a matter of designing chassis elements with a specific thickness and shape, but the underlying properties of aluminium mean that at some point, achieving the precise amount of flexibility required means sacrifices strength. The way to get around this problem is to by making elements longer, allowing a mass (usually, the mass of the engine) to use the greater leverage provided by a longer element (such as an engine spar connecting the engine to the main chassis beam) to provide the flexibility without sacrificing rigidity.
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可調整韌性的設計越來越重要, 替代鋁合金的新材質也是. 傳統的鋁合金有質輕好加工的特性, 但隨著MotoGP車架設計者不斷追求極致效能, 一些瓶頸也開始出現. 韌性工程主要是在設計車架各部份的粗細和形狀, 但鋁合金本身的特性在設計達到要求的韌性同時也意味著需要犧牲掉一部分的強度. 一種解決的辦法是讓部件的長度長一些好讓大質量的物件(通常是引擎本體)利用長部件(例如我們所看到的車輛兩側粗壯的主樑架)所提供的槓桿原理來達到要求的彈性又不失剛性.

When the rest of the world switched from perimeter steel tube frames to aluminium twin spar frames, Ducati took a different but still ingenious approach. Instead of wrapping the engine in aluminium box section, Ducati welded up short sections of light steel tubing to create a trellis frame. The advantages were that the chassis was relatively easy to tune, by changing the diameter and position of the individual tubing sections and redistributing the load and the flexibility, and Ducati persevered with the design for six years until they dropped it in favor of carbon fiber.
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當趨勢潮流都放棄傳統鋼管(perimeter steel tube)往鋁合金雙臂(aluminium twin spar)車架發展時, Ducati選擇了不同但也聰明的方式. 一般是將引擎包覆在鋁合金車架中, 但Ducati則是使用短管焊接的方式組成了著名的格狀車架(trellis frame). 這樣設計的好處是只要稍稍修改每根鋼管的管徑或位置就可以輕易的做微調重新分配重心和彈性. Ducati使用了這種設計六年後現在開始改用碳纖材質.

The downside to the trellis frame is that the trellis - a series of joined triangles - limited the amount of space available for the airbox. All those short, straight tubes meant the airbox had to be shoehorned in, restricting the airbox in both size and shape. Furthermore, the disadvantage of having the frame constructed from twenty or so short sections of steel tubing is that those twenty tubes require forty welds to join them all. Getting weld strength to a precise tolerance is a very tricky art at best, and the more there are, the more chance of ariation. While still at Ducati, Casey Stoner said that even when he had identical setups on his two Desmosedicis, they would never feel exactly the same. Paddock rumor suggests that variation in stiffness between two supposedly identical steel trellis chassis could be large - as much as 15% - due in part to the problems of reproducing so many welds and so many parts to completely identical specifications.
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格狀車架的缺點在於以一根根鋼管接合而成的車架限制了進氣室的空間. 進氣室必須配合短直鋼管所組成的三角空間設計剛好的大小與形狀. 另一方面, 使用二十或更多的鋼管組成一系列的三角形代表有四十個以上的焊點. 要讓每點焊接的強度都達到一致標準是件不容易的事情, 更別提當焊點數更多時變異會更大. 當Stoner還在Ducati時表示過即使每台Desmosedici的設定都一樣,但騎上去的感覺就是不同. 圍場上的猜測是兩個理應完全相同的格狀車架在剛性上的差異可能達到15%那麼多, 而原因就在於每個鋼管每個焊點都要達到一致的規格是非常困難的.

Carbon Fiber - Too Stiff For Racing Motorcycles?
Hence Ducati's decision to go for carbon fiber (CF). The advantages over steel trellis are manifold: as CF is a composite, it can be easily molded to create whatever shape is required; its flexibility and stiffness can be almost infinitely tuned using a combination of fiber direction and thickness; it is incredibly light, with much greater strength than metals; and the stiffness and strength can be tuned to respond differently in different axes and directions, a more difficult trick with metals. Ducati's main reasons for choosing CF was the combination of stiffness, low weight and the ability to form the material into the shape required.
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碳纖維 - 對摩托車來說太硬了嗎?
因此Ducati決定了使用碳纖維. 比起格狀車架的好處是, 第一, 碳纖是複合材質可以輕易的製成想要的形狀; 第二, 透過不同的編織方向與厚度可以無盡的微調它的韌性和剛性; 第三, 它非常的輕且強度比起金屬要來的高, 並且不同角度方向的剛性強度可以做到不同, 這在金屬材質上是很難達到的. Ducati選擇碳纖的原因就是基於上述三點.

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The Desmosedici's forward chassis section functions as a combined airbox and subframe: the subframe is required to be light and strong, while the airbox needs to be large enough to feed the Ducati's bellowing intakes as its 800cc motor spins at 20,000 rpm. By carefully calculating the desired stiffness in the different planes and axes - stiff enough to remain stable under hard braking, supple enough to flex from side to side to provide some suspension over bumps at full lean, all the while resisting torsion, or the urge to twist - the required combination of the number of layers of carbon fiber weave and the direction in which they are laid can be worked out. Once assembled, the subframe can be cured in an autoclave and sent to the team. Data returned from testing can then be integrated into the models used to create the existing subframe design, and a new iteration produced in the same way.
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Desmosedici的車架前部主要是結合了進氣室與副車架, 副車架要求質輕且強度夠, 而進氣室則是要空間夠大以提供足夠的進氣給兩萬轉的引擎. 經過仔細的計算在不同平面與空間軸上所需的剛性後 - 夠硬到可以維持重煞時的穩定性, 同時也有足夠韌性在側掛過彎時可以吸收顛頗, 還有抵抗左右變換時的扭力 - 就可以知道該使用多少層的碳纖布以及編織方向. 編織好後的副車架會送進高溫壓力室硬化成型然後送抵車隊手上. 經測試後回饋的數據將用來計算修正製作設計, 不斷重複直到達到要求.

The claims by many that carbon fiber is too stiff to use in a motorcycle chassis can be put down to a common misunderstanding. CF can be made as stiff or as flexible as the designers want it to be, by varying the thickness and direction of the fibers in the weave. Its use is common in fishing rods, and for a demonstration of just how flexible CF can be, check out this video of a CF fishing rod being tested to breaking point.
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許多人說碳纖太死硬不適合用來製作摩托車架其實是有些基本誤解. 碳纖可以依據厚度與編織方向被做成想要的強度或韌性, 這完全取決於設計者的需求. 在釣竿上這是很普遍使用的一種材質, 而且各位可以看看這段影片所展示的碳纖韌性有多強.

The problem is not that CF is too stiff, but that the feedback it provides differs so completely from conventional aluminium. The property most often quoted is hysteresis, which in this instance, refers to the rate at which absorbed energy is returned. One of the benefits of CF is the fact that it can be made to damp vibration, its hysteresis meaning that the energy absorbed from an input (such as striking a bump) is released in a much more controlled fashion. Tap an aluminium tube and it rings like a bell; tap a CF tube and it emits a dull thud.
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問題並不在於碳纖太過死硬, 而是它所反饋的路感和常用的鋁合金車架不同. 碳纖最常被提到的是反饋的遲滯性, 也就是對於所吸收的能量在釋放時的程度. 碳纖的一個優點是可以吸震, 它的反饋遲滯性表示吸收的能量(例如遇到的顛頗)能以更可控制的型態釋放. 輕敲一個鋁合金管會聽到輕脆的響聲, 而碳纖管的話則是低沉聲響.

This is a property that Ducati had hoped would help them solve the problem of chatter (or extreme vibration over bumps) but it had an unintended side effect. Just as with the original attempts at using carbon fiber for chassis, starting with the Cagiva back in 1990, the damping also removes some of the feel from the front end. When used to build swingarms - as Aprilia had been doing for their 250cc racers for several years - this damping helps remove unwanted vibration, but at the front of the bike, that vibration also contains valuable information. As Guy Coulon once explained to me on the subject of unconventional front suspension systems, what is required of a racing motorcycle is that the information from the tarmac should pass directly into the rider's brain with as little interference or loss of data as possible. Any system which removes or alters that information means that the rider has to learn to interpret the feedback almost from scratch. All of the experience gained in his many years of racing is of little value in interpreting what he is feeling.
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這個吸震特性是Ducait原本期望能幫助他們解決頭痛的抖動問題, 但卻意外的產生了副作用. 就像Cagiva在1990年時使用碳纖車架的初衷一樣, 這個吸震的特性同時也改變了前端所回饋的路感. Aprilia在250cc時曾使用過碳纖後搖臂, 當使用在這上面時吸震的特性是加分的因為可以避掉多餘的抖動. 但對於車輛前端來說, 抖動也提供了關鍵有用的資訊. 之前Coulon曾在討論非傳統的前懸吊系統時跟我說過, 摩托車賽中一個重要的東西就是從路面回饋的路感應該要盡量能保持完整原樣不經修改的傳遞到車手的腦中. 任何可能的原路感訊息改變都代表車手必須去重新學習解析. 所有之前在鋁合金車架上熟悉的經驗到了碳纖車架上都變得沒甚麼用處.

This is what caused the Cagiva to fail back in the early 1990s. The riders, brought up on a generation of steel and aluminium chassis, simply could not understand the feedback they were receiving from the machine. And this seems to be at least one part of the problem with the Ducati Desmosedici: the carbon fiber subframe connecting the front forks to the front of the engine may be damping the vibrations too much, reducing the amount of information traveling from the front tire up into the rider's brain. Alternatively, it may be returning too much information, providing more feedback than most riders are used to receiving. Filtering out this new (and not necessarily useful) information may be what is confusing the riders about the feel.
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這也是讓Cagiva在90年代挫敗的原因. 騎慣了傳統鋁合金車架的車手無法理解碳纖車架所反饋的路感資訊. 這看起來也是目前Ducati遇到的問題, 連接著前叉與前半部引擎的碳纖副車架可能吸收了過多的震動讓回饋到車手的路感不足. 另一方面來說也有可能是回饋的太多超過車手以往所熟悉的, 要把這些過多且可能是無用的資訊過濾掉讓車手混淆了.

As we said earlier, the underlying problem of the Ducati is the difficulty the riders have in getting it up to temperature. The stiffness of the CF chassis may not be the problem here, but the feedback from the chassis could make it harder for the riders to push the tire hard enough to start working. So is the choice of carbon fiber the main cause of Ducati's problems? Looking at the theoretical benefits of the material it is hard to say that it is. There could be an issue where the feel of a CF chassis is sufficiently different to traditional aluminium that it is hard for riders with many years' experience of metal frames to interpret and understand. But with Rossi known more for his adaptability than for his rigid adherence to a single style, this does not seem like an insurmountable candidate. So let us examine the next candidate.
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我們早先提過Ducati的本質問題在於無法讓胎溫達到工作溫度. 碳纖車架的偏硬特性或許並不是最大問題所在, 但前輪回饋的迥異路感可能也是造成車手無法使勁衝刺讓胎溫上升的原因. 所以使用碳纖車架是造成Ducati目前窘境的原因嗎? 從理論上來看選用碳纖的好處似乎多過壞處所以這很難回答說是或不是, 但這確實可能是個問題因為前端路感與車手習慣的鋁合金車架確實不同. 不過以大家所知道的Rossi對騎乘不同特性車輛的調適性很好, 這應該並不是主要原因. 所以我們接著分析下一個方面.

da-vinci

The Mini-Frame - Less Flex Than A Twin Spar
If it's not the material, perhaps it is the amount of material being used. The major difference between the Desmosedici and the Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki is not so much the use of carbon fiber, but rather the use of the engine as a stressed member of the chassis. Where the Japanese machines have long aluminium beams joining the headstock to the swingarm, the Ducati has a short, boxy section bolted on to the cylinder heads of the two banks of cylinders that comprise Ducati's 90° V4. The mounting is as direct as possible, with the ounting points placed near to the headstock.
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Mini-Frame - 韌性不比Twin Spar
如果問題不在於所使用的材質, 那也許是在使用的比例上. Desmosedici所使用的碳纖量比起Yamaha, Honda, 或Suzuki的車輛來說其實差別不太, 主要是Ducati將引擎本體直接當作是車架的一部分. 日本車廠是利用鋁合金側樑來連結龍頭與後搖臂, 而Ducati則是使用了罩在90° V4引擎本體上且安裝位置很接近龍頭的箱狀部件.

The advantage of this construction is that it uses the stiffness of the engine casings to be used as an integral part of the chassis, and it allows the chassis to be made much lighter. With both the front subframe and rear swingarm attaching directly to the engine, there is little superfluous material around. This makes it possible to keep the bike very narrow (there is no perimeter frame snaking around the engine), as well as using the stiffness of the engine to maintain stability under braking. Again, by integrating the airbox into the subframe, another extraneous part can be discarded and the weight of the bike kept down.
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這種設計好處是直接把堅硬的引擎當成是車架的一部分來提升剛性同時減少車架材料的用量進一步減輕重量, 因為已直接將前車架與後搖臂連接到引擎本體上省卻了車側的樑架. 這樣使得車輛腰身能更纖細, 且利用引擎本身的剛性保有煞車時的穩定度. 另外藉由將進氣室整合到副車架內又更進一步的達到了輕量化.

Criticism of the design focuses on the shortness of the parts involved, and the complications that adds in obtaining the desired degree of flexibility. The words of Masao Furusawa, the design genius behind Yamaha's M1, are often cited, about the need for the chassis to bend like a tree. Longer chassis sections create a longer lever, and allow flexibility to be created much more precisely. To illustrate the argument, take a long, thin object - such as a cane, or a wooden ruler - and try to bend by pushing down at both ends. The object should bend like a reed. Now put your hands just a couple of inches apart and try to bend the object again: it's almost impossible, at least not without snapping the object. The long engine mounting spars on Yamaha's M1 are a case in point, their length aimed at absorbing bumps while the bike is leaned over.
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有批評認為太過精簡了車架讓調教車輛的韌性難度更高. M1之父Masao Furusawa常提到如何讓車架能像樹枝一樣的彎折有彈性, 較長的車架擁有較大的力矩而使得彈性的微調可以更精確. 試著拿把藤條或木尺然後從兩端去彎折它, 你會發覺輕鬆愜意且容易控制彎折的量; 但一但往中間移動個幾吋你會發覺難上許多. M1連接固定引擎的車側橫樑就是一個例子, 它的長度主要原因即在提供良好的彈性以吸收側傾時的顛頗.

The counter-argument to this criticism is that the use of carbon fiber makes using longer chassis elements unnecessary. The very programmable nature of CF - the mixture of layers, direction, resin and curing - means that it should be possible to exactly replicate the effect of a long aluminium chassis spar merely by varying the nature of the carbon fiber used. Long sections may make things easier when building frames in aluminium, but carbon fiber dispenses with all that.
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但另一方面的論點認為上述的批評並不成立, 因為碳纖材質本身的特性使得車架並不需要像鋁合金車架般長就能提供相同的韌性. 碳纖的高可塑性意味著藉由改變編制方向與層數它可以精確的複製出鋁合金車架的效果. 也許使用鋁材時較長的部件可以更輕易的調整韌性, 但在碳纖上這並不需要.

Though CF is undeniably an incredibly versatile material, there may still be some merit in the criticism. Having such a short subframe also means that the engine has to transmit a lot of the load. The engine is significantly stiffer than the chassis - it has, after all, to contain and dissipate 230-odd horsepower and deliver it to the back wheel without shaking itself apart. What this means is that the entire chassis assembly consists of two separate parts of completely different stiffness. The more flexible front subframe - complete with engineered flex to aid in absorbing bumps at extreme lean angles - is connected to a rigid engine with almost no flex at all. The central part of the Desmosedici has no flex, while the front subframe and the rear swingarm do.
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不可否認的碳纖是種非常廣泛用途的材質, 但前述關於Ducati碳纖車架的批評也非無可取之處. 設計成過短的副車架表示引擎本身必須承受大量的負載, 而比起車架來說引擎要來的堅硬的多, 試想它蘊藏的230匹狂暴馬力輸出到後輪的同時還得不讓自己散掉. 這種設計造成了車架整體是由兩種不同剛性的部件組成, 較有彈性的前車架用以吸收過彎時的震動, 連結到了幾乎可說完全沒韌性的引擎. 這讓Desmosedici的中間部位不具任何彈性, 而前車架與後搖臂則有.

On a more traditional twin spar chassis, the loads are carried from the front of the bike to the rear through aluminium beams connecting the headstock to the swingarm. The CF subframe may be engineered to provide the same amount of flex as a traditional twin spar, but the two ally beams on the twin spar flex much closer to the center of the bike. Instead of having a rigid center and a more flexible front, a twin spar chassis has a long section which can flex in the center of the bike. Added to the different forces created by attaching the engine using long front engine mounts, the feel of the Ducati will be completely different to a Japanese machine.
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在傳統的鋁合金雙翼車架上, 負載是從前輪經由連結龍頭與後搖臂的側樑傳遞到後輪. Ducati的碳纖前車架也許可以設計成與鋁合金車架有相同的彈性, 但鋁合金側樑所提供的彈性比較接近車輛的中心. 相較Ducati的車架韌性分配不平均, 鋁合金雙翼車架的側樑使的車輛中心也有韌性. 加諸使用較長的引擎固定座所產生的不同力量, 因此騎乘Ducati的感覺與日本廠大不相同.

There have been a host of clues recently that Ducati are already working on an aluminium twin spar chassis for the GP11 - or possibly the GP11.1 - after a lot of pressure from Rossi and his crew chief Jeremy Burgess. A twin spar chassis could make its debut as early as Brno (though it is more probable to make its first public appearance at Valencia) with signs coming from several sources that big things are afoot at Ducati.
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最近一堆的消息傳出由於來自Rossi與Burges的要求, Ducati正在進行鋁合金車架的研究, 從多方面的跡象與消息來源顯示也許我們能在Brno看到新車架(但更有可能應該是在瓦倫西亞).

But the twin spar may not be the panacea that Rossi (and his legion of fans) are hoping for. As team manager and test rider Vito Guareschi pointed out to a gaggle of Italian journalists and myself, building a twin spar frame means fighting the Japanese on their own territory. Both Yamaha and Honda have nearly thirty years of experience of building these frames; Ducati has absolutely none. Though a lot of the knowledge is already available, the devil - and the potential for victory - is in the detail, the final refinements giving the last couple of tenths that make the difference between being competitive and running around in 7th. Ultimately, Ducati - with a lot of pressure from Rossi and from main sponsor Marlboro - may feel they have nothing to lose, and gamble it all on an aluminium twin spar chassis.
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但鋁合金車架可能並不會是目前Rossi以及他的車迷們所期待的萬靈丹. 根據車隊經理兼測試車手Vito Guareschi對一群義大利記者與我的表示, 使用鋁合金車架就像在日本廠掌控的地盤上跟他們打架. Yamaha和Honda在鋁材車架上已經有了快三十年的研發經驗, 而Ducati則是等於從零開始. 雖然一堆的技術資訊都已經不是秘密,  但魔鬼(勝利的潛能)總是藏在細節裡; 最終的細節調教決定了是獲勝或只能拿到第七名所需的那點幾秒鐘. 不過Ducati受到來自Rossi與贊助商Marlboro的壓力, 他們可能覺得也沒甚麼好輸的了所以會願意把機會賭在鋁合金車架上.

Will it help, though? Using a traditional twin spar chassis may provide more feel at the front, and it may make the riders feel a lot more comfortable on the bike. What it won't necessarily do is generate a lot of heat in the front end, which brings us to the next subject: Ducati's sacred L4 configuration.
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改用鋁合金車架會有幫助嗎? 雖然這確實可能讓前端路感更好讓車手們回到熟悉的感覺, 但這並不一定能改善前輪胎溫無法有效提升的問題. 這讓我們繼續下一個討論: Ducati特有的L4引擎設計.

da-vinci

The L4 - Bad Packaging And Poor Weight Transfer
Ask anyone with even a passing interest in motorcycling what engine a Ducati uses and they will tell you without hesitation that it is a 90° V twin, also called an L twin, because the right angle between the two cylinders makes the configuration look like the letter L. The Bologna factory has been building engines in this configuration for 40 years now, since switching from smaller capacity singles to V twins at the start of the 1970s.
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L4引擎 - 不良的整體組合與重量轉移
問問任何一位對摩托賽車運動有興趣的人Ducati使用的是甚麼形式的引擎, 他們會不假思索的告訴你是90° V twin, 或稱L twin, 這是因為前後兩門汽缸的夾角形成像是英文字母L的90°角. 自從Ducati在1970年代由小排氣量單缸引擎轉換到V twin後這樣的設計已經沿用了四十年.

So when Ducati decided to enter MotoGP, they naturally attempted to retain the iconic engine design which has been a key selling point for so many years. Filippo Preziosi was quick to understand that a twin would never be able to produce the horsepower needed to compete in the series, and so concentrated instead on building a four-cylinder engine, built to resemble the 90° L twin as closely as possible. Almost as an act of penance for the extra set of cylinders, the initial plan was for the Desmosedici to use a "twin pulse" or big bang firing order, with the cylinders in each bank of cylinders firing simultaneously, to make the bike sound (and behave) more like a twin. Problems handling the power such a configuration produced meant that Ducati had to switch to a "four pulse" or screamer firing order, each cylinder firing separately, but since then, the factory has oscillated between the two firing orders.
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當Ducati決定進軍MotoGP時, 他們自然想保有這傳統經典且是多年來銷售特點的設計. 然而Filippo Preziosi很快的了解到雙缸無法提供足夠的馬力在這種等級的賽事中競逐, 因此改採了四缸的設計但非常類似90° L twin的配置. 原先的計畫是採用twin pulse或所謂的big bang點火時序, 意即前兩缸和後兩缸的汽缸是同時運作讓引擎運轉起來類似雙缸的感覺; 但為了要能有效使用四缸引擎所產生的馬力又代表Ducati必須採用four pulse, 即screamer, 點火時序讓每缸依序運作; 自此開始Ducati便在這兩種設定間搖擺不定.

The major benefit of a 90° angle between the cylinders is primary balance, where the motion of each piston in the V is balanced against the other piston. As one piston reaches top dead center, the other is in the middle of its stroke, maintaining its momentum and damping the change in kinetic energy as the first piston switches from upwards to downwards motion. The mechanical balance of the L configuration means that it does not require a large balance shaft to damp the vibrations of the engine, saving power. Balance shafts cost power to drive.
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90° L twin的最大好處是平衡性, 汽缸內的活塞彼此互相平衡運作. 當一邊的活塞運作到上死點時, 另一邊則到了行程的一半, 這樣維持了動量同時亦吸收了第一個活塞由上至下的慣性. L型配置在機械上的平衡性表示它並不需要平衡桿來吸收引擎的震動, 因此可以減少因為平衡桿設計所造成的動力損失.

But the biggest problem of the L4 configuration is its size and layout. In the modern era of MotoGP, much of the focus has been on keeping the mass of the bike as centralized as possible. The benefit of centralizing mass is that changing the setup of the bike - its weight distribution, rider position, suspension changes - can be more refined and more predictable. Knowing where all of the mass is makes it easier to calculate how to move it around to achieve the desired effect at a particular track.
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但L4設計最大的問題在於引擎大小與形式. 現代的MotoGP一個重要的設計概念是讓整體重量愈集中越好. 這樣的好處使得調整重量分配, 騎乘位置, 與懸吊時可以更精確並可預期結果; 了解整體重量的分布可以更輕鬆的計算如何配重以在不同的賽道上達到最佳的設定.

The main thrust of mass centralization has been in engine layouts: Suzuki's GSV-R uses a 65° V4 engine, Honda's RC212V uses a 72° V4, and Yamaha's M1 uses an inline 4 to make the engine even more compact, sacrificing a little bit of width for more centralization of mass. Behind the crankshaft, gearboxes are stacked, the rows of gears transferring power from the crankshaft to the rear wheel folded up into a V to shorten the length of the gearbox and keep the mass even closer to the engine's overall center of mass.
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要做到重量集中第一步是從引擎形式下手. Suzuki GSV-R使用的是65° V4, Honda RC212V是72° V4, 而Yamaha M1則是直列四缸, 雖然較寬但更進一步的緊緻了引擎本體讓重量更集中; 另外在曲軸後方設計成與之呈V型的變速箱也讓重量更接近引擎質心.

The compact engine layouts have a secondary benefit as well: with the engine taking up less space, fuel tanks have migrated to be located underneath the rider's seat, placing that mass (which disappears as the fuel is burned off during the race) close to the center as well. A compact engine gives designers the freedom to place other heavy objects - including the rider - in a range of locations around the bike, to help them achieve whatever goals they may have set themselves.
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縮小引擎體積的另一個好處是油箱因此可以置放在座墊下方, 隨著賽事的進行燃料減少讓重心更接近中心. 小號的引擎讓設計者有更多的空間來配置較重的組件(包含了車手本身)幫助他們更容易做到原本想達到的設定.

da-vinci

And here's where Ducati's L4 falls down. The angle between the two cylinder banks makes the engine much longer than its rivals, leaving a large space between the cylinder banks which is filled only with the throttle bodies and airbox/subframe. While the front cylinder bank protrudes through a cutout in the radiators to almost touch the front wheel, the rear cylinder bank slopes back and sits right where Yamaha has its fuel tank.
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而體積正是Ducati的L4引擎劣勢的地方, 90°角的設計使得引擎本體相較對手來說要來的長, 夾角內大部分的空間只能用來放置節氣閥和進氣室. 前半部的兩缸過於突出必須將散熱排挖出空間容納且幾乎快碰觸到前輪, 而後半部的兩缸佔掉的空間幾乎是Yamaha用來放油箱的位置.

The 90° angle between the cylinders forces the front cylinders to angled forward much more than the narrower angle Honda. Visual estimates (the exact data involved is highly sensitive and impossible to obtain) suggest that the front cylinder bank of the Ducati is at 70° from the vertical, while Honda's RC212V is at just 45°. This means that the Honda engine can be moved much further forward and closer to the front wheel than the Ducati, allowing the Honda's chassis designers more freedom in placing the engine. The 18° difference in V angle between the Ducati and the Honda also equates to cylinder banks that are roughly 15% further apart, making the engine correspondingly longer. Move the Desmosedici engine further forward, and you foul the front wheel; move it further back and you drastically shorten the swingarm.
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90°角的設計迫使引擎前半部比起Honda 72°角設計必須更往前傾斜. 從外觀上來看(正確的數據因為牽扯到技術機密不可能取得), Ducati的前傾角約72°而Honda只有45°. 這表示Honda的引擎較Ducati可以更往前挪移而不用擔心碰觸到前輪; 這樣的自由度讓車架設計者可以有更大的發揮空間. 另外兩者18°角的差異代表前後汽缸間距約有15%的差別使得Ducati的引擎相對來說更長些. 當你想將引擎位置往前挪動將會碰到前輪, 往後則會大幅的縮短後搖臂的長度(在維持前後輪軸距不變的前提下, 因為Ducati的引擎與後搖臂是連結在一起的).

The physical size of the Desmosedici engine - or rather, it's rather rangy layout - means that much of the mass of the bike is further back than its rivals, with less freedom for changing weight distribution, especially at the design stage. This difficulty in moving weight distribution is one of the prime candidates for the difficulty the riders have for getting the Desmosedici's front tire up to temperature. While the bike may feel fine and the weight distribution look good on paper, the way the weight transfers under braking and acceleration is different, and this could be what is preventing the riders from getting heat into the tire.
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Ducati引擎本體大小的劣勢表示比起對手他們的重心更往後偏, 這讓在設計階段時的重心配置限制重重, 也是造成車手無法有效提升前輪胎溫的主要癥結之一. 在紙上設計之初可能車輛感覺重心分配等一切看來都不錯, 但實際到賽道後在煞車與加速時的重量轉移卻是截然不同; 這很可能就是之所以無法讓車手提升前輪胎溫的原因.

There are several major clues that this is exactly what the problem is with the Desmosedici. Throughout their struggles with the Ducati, Rossi and his vastly experienced - and multiple world championship winning - crew have experimented with some fairly drastic changes to the weight distribution. At Mugello, they raised the center of gravity by 20mm, a vast amount in a world where normally parameters are changed a millimeter at a time. At Laguna Seca, they tried another change, shifting the weight further back and leaving Rossi's bike looking more like a chopper than a racing motorcycle.
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有幾個重要的線索可以說明這正是Desmosedici的問題所在. Rossi與他經驗老到的技師群們在這段飽受掙扎的期間內已經嘗試了幾次重大的改變以修正重量配置. 一是在Mugello時他們將車輛重心整整提高了20公釐, 這在每次的微調都是以公釐計的賽車上來說是個很大幅度的調整. 二在Laguna Seca時, 他們將重心更往後移, 這讓Rossi的車看起來比較像是嬉皮車而非賽車.

Indeed, the main rationale behind the switch from the GP11 originally fielded for the 2011 season and the heavily revised GP11.1 is that they could raise the center of mass much more without making the rear pump, a problem which the original design with the top-brace swingarm suffered from, and familiar to anyone who watched Casey Stoner coming out of corners on the GP9 and GP10 in previous years.
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的確, 從GP11轉換到大幅修改的GP11.1的背後主要原因是為了讓他們能將車輛重心往上提升的同時避免因為原始後搖臂設計造成後輪不穩抖動的問題重現; 大家應該很容易可以從Stoner前幾年騎乘GP9與GP10在出彎時發現這個情況.

da-vinci

What Works In WSBK Won't Work In MotoGP
But if the L configuration is the problem, how come it works in World Superbikes? Ducati has dominated the WSBK championship over the years, and Carlos Checa is well on his way to wrapping up another title for Ducati aboard the 1198R, fitted with a 90° L-twin engine. So how can a design that is ripping up WSBK suddenly be such a disadvantage in MotoGP?
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WSBK可以,MotoGP不行
如果問題是90° L twin, 那為何同樣的配置在WSBK卻如此成功? 今年為止Ducati 1198R稱霸了WSBK賽事, 年度總冠軍幾乎已是Checa的囊中之物. 如果同樣的設計在WSBK行得通, 那怎麼到了MotoGP卻這麼糟糕?

The answer to that question is to be found in the underlying cause of the MotoGP machine's problems: the tires. The World Superbike series use Pirellis as the spec tire, and the Pirellis are a completely different beast. The construction of the Pirellis is much less stiff, making generating heat in the tires a much simpler task. With a front that sticks and provides feedback, the 1198 responds perfectly, and the L twin engine is much kinder to the rear tire than the four cylinders, allowing Ducati's WSBK machine to be competitive.
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問題的解答在於MotoGP所使用的輪胎. WSBK使用的倍耐力特性與石橋不同, 相較起來倍耐力較軟因而容易提升胎溫, 加諸L twin雙缸引擎比起四缸對於後輪的胎耗較溫和, 因此1198才會表現得如此之佳.

The Bridgestones, on the other hand, have an incredibly stiff carcass, built to handle the stresses created by Grand Prix machinery, from the powerful engines, stiff chassis and carbon brakes. Once the tires are up to temperature, they offer astounding levels of grip and feedback, allowing unbelievable performance. Outside of their optimal temperature range, they are much less forgiving, giving little feedback and making the amount of grip available difficult to judge. The L4 being used by Ducati is a prime candidate for the Desmosedici's inability to get the front Bridgestone tires up to temperature.
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而石橋則是不可思議的硬以應付這些GP戰駒的強力引擎,堅硬車架,與碳纖煞車所產生的力道. 一但石橋的胎到達了工作溫度它將能提供超強的的抓地與路感回饋; 但在這之前它所能提供的卻非常有限以致很難判斷目前的抓地能力. Ducati所使用的L4配置是導致車輛無法有效提升前輪胎溫的主因.

The irony is that Ducati's early adoption of the Bridgestone tires created a highly-productive collaboration between the two parties. With a lot of input into the development direction, Bridgestone created tires that worked well with the Desmosedici. But as other teams and factories started to switch to the Bridgestones, Ducati's influence became less important, and once the spec tire was introduced, the input from Ducati became just one of the many data sources that Bridgestone used to develop the tires. With data from three Japanese factories using a conventional aluminium chassis and an engine sitting taller and further forward in the frame than the Ducati, the Desmosedici's unconventional design has become less suited to the Bridgestones.
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諷刺的是早期Ducati首先與石橋合作時卻是相當的成功. 石橋藉由Ducati所回饋的大量資訊製造了非常適合他們車輛的輪胎. 但到了後期陸續其他車廠也加入石橋的行列後, Ducati對石橋在研發方向的影響力就越來越小. 尤其是在單一輪胎制後, Ducati成了只是眾多回饋資訊給石橋的廠家之一而已. 使用傳統鋁鑄車架且引擎位置較高較前的日系三大車廠所回饋的研發資訊, 使得採用非傳統車架設計的Desmosedici與石橋輪胎越來越不麻吉.

This also underlines exactly how important tires have become since the introduction of the single tire rule. By limiting the design and construction of the available tires to just two compounds (soon to be three compounds, but still), the room to modify the behavior of the bikes using the tires has completely disappeared. Right now, the key to building a competitive MotoGP machine is to understand the characteristics of the spec Bridgestone tires, and designing a motorcycle to suit them, exploiting their strengths and circumventing their weakness. This is a process that Yamaha and Honda appear to have adapted to much more quickly than Ducati has.
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在採用單一輪胎制後這也正好說明了輪胎的重要性. 制度限制了輪胎製造只能使用兩種材質(很快將會有第三種材質可用,但比起以往仍相對算少)而杜絕了隔夜特製胎這種情況. 現在想要設計出一輛夠競爭力的好車是要從搭配石橋胎的特性著手, 善用胎的強項且駕馭它的弱點; 在這方面顯然Yamaha與Honda比起Ducati要適應的更快更好.

da-vinci

What About The GP12?
When Filippo Preziosi suggested to Valentino Rossi that he could modify the GP12 to make it legal under this year's rules, Rossi jumped at the chance. When testing the GP12, Rossi felt the bike responded much better, and he had fewer problems with the front than he had with the 800. However, once the GP11.1 (the GP12 destroked and made legal for 2011) was introduced at Assen, the old problems returned, Rossi still left complaining of a lack of feel in the front end.
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那麼GP12如何?
當Filippo Preziosi告知Rossi他可以修改GP12讓它合於今年的法規上陣時, Rossi接受了這項提議. 當他第一次騎上GP12時發覺車輛的回饋更佳, 前端路感不好的問題比起GP11要輕微. 但當GP11.1在Assen第一次出賽時, 前端的老問題又再次發作.

How can this be? How can two identical bikes, identical except for the length of the connecting rods, the position of the crank pins and the swept volume of the engines, behave so differently? The answer lies in the different ways in which the 800 and the 1000 (or whatever capacity the GP12 happens to be) need to be ridden. The 800cc MotoGP machines all need to carry as much corner speed as possible, which means the bike is spending a lot of time at or near maximum lean. This is exactly the point where feedback from the front end is crucial, the ability to feel what the front tire is doing. The GP12, both Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden have said, can be ridden using the torque more; corner entry is less crucial, and the available torque means gives the rider more options coming out of the corner. The bike is spending less time on its ear, in that critical zone where front end feel is so crucial.
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這是怎麼回事? 為什麼兩輛相同的車(除了引擎的曲軸連桿長度, 曲軸插鞘位置, 與cc數不同外)特性卻不相同? 這原因在於800cc與1000cc車輛的騎乘方式. 800cc賽車需要盡可能的維持高過彎速度, 這代表車輛在彎中必須長時間保持大傾角; 這也是為何車輛前端的反饋以了解前輪的動態會如此重要. 根據Rossi與Hayden的說法, GP12因為擁有較大的扭力所以彎道速度不再是重點, 額外的扭力讓車手進出彎的路線選擇更多樣化; Ducati在彎中的窘境因此稍稍獲得了舒緩.

If the good news is that the 1000 will be spending less time in its weakest area, the bad news is that the problem is still there. The GP12 suffers from a lack of front end feel as much as the GP11 or GP11.1, it's just that it will be easier to ride around it. The new chassis, the bigger engine, will not magically cure the Ducati's ills. The GP12 may not suffer as badly as the GP11, but it will still have problems contending with the Honda and the Yamaha.
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即使如此但問題還是依舊存在. GP12的前端路感比起GP11與GP11.1並沒有改善太多, 只是比較容易駕馭而已. 新的車架與更大cc數的引擎並無法奇蹟似的治好Ducati的宿疾. GP12雖不會像GP11這般掙扎, 但比起Honda和Yamaha仍是落後一截.

da-vinci

Fixing The Ducati
While the whole world and their cousin-in-law concentrate on the Ducati's use of carbon fiber and their minimalistic subframe which functions as a chassis, the problem may lie elsewhere. If the rumors are true, an aluminium twin spar frame could soon be on its way to the Ducati garage, possibly as early as Brno. All of Bologna, all of Tavullia, all of the Valentino Rossi - and indeed, Nicky Hayden - fans around the world will be praying that this is the solution, and Rossi can start to compete once again. If it doesn't, then Ducati is in an even bigger hole than they are now.
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醫治Ducati
當所有人都將元兇直指碳纖材料與過度精簡的車架上時, 問題其實可能另在別處. 如果傳言屬實, 最早我們將可以在Brno看到Ducati的鋁鑄車架. 所有Ducati, Rossi和Hayden的車迷都殷切期盼這就是解藥, 這樣一來Rossi就能重回外星人之列; 但如果不是的話, 那Ducati就準備剉咧旦了.

From all that I have learned in speaking to engineers - or rather, listening, and then shamelessly stealing their ideas, for which they have my eternal gratitude - Ducati's problems are not fundamentally down to their minimalistic chassis design, and probably only partially due to their use of carbon fiber. The concept of combining the two - a small subframe made of carbon fiber, tuned to provided optimum flex - is basically sound, though it clearly has a few problems. The biggest being the feedback provided by carbon fiber, is fundamentally and confusingly different from that provided by an aluminium twin spar design. If riders can learn to understand the information being returned from the carbon fiber chassis, and the engineers can design the CF to produce the desired feedback, then this avenue could provide options well worth exploring. It may also offer Ducati's best hope of competing, as any move to use a twin spar chassis leaves them short of the twenty-odd years of experience the Japanese manufacturers already have.
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我由工程師那討論聽來並厚臉皮的轉述他們的觀點, 他們認為Ducati的問題和所採用的精簡車架設計或碳纖材質沒有太大本質上的關聯. 這兩種概念的結合基本上是ok的, 雖然確實有些問題存在. 其一也是最大的問題是前述提過碳纖材質的反饋特性不同於鋁材. 如果車手能學會了解碳纖車架且工程師也能設計打造需要的回饋特性, 那麼這兩者的結合確實有許多值得探索的潛力也給予Ducati能夠重返競爭行列的希望, 畢竟想要使用鋁鑄雙翼車架在經驗上比起日本車廠就落後了二十幾年.

The much bigger problem, in my view, is the layout of the engine. It is physically large, the 90° L4 layout making the engine long, and placing the cylinder banks in awkward locations when packaging a racing motorcycle. The size and shape of the engine makes compromises on layout inevitable, and precisely these compromises are what are preventing the Ducati from generating the necessary load in the ultra-stiff front Bridgestone tire, and leaving the front end of the bike feeling vague. With no confidence in the front end, neither Valentino Rossi nor Nicky Hayden - nor indeed any of the satellite Ducati riders - can push the bike to the extent needed to be competitive. Abandoning the L would be the biggest step Ducati could make towards becoming competitive again. It would open up avenues which the current layout make it impossible to explore. The weight distribution would be much more flexible, giving Rossi, Burgess and co. more options to explore. A more compact V or even an inline 4 layout could turn around Ducati's prospects.
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就我來看更大的問題則是在引擎的型式. 90° L4先天過大的體積使得整體較長, 因而在置入車輛時前半的汽缸位置顯得非常尷尬. 引擎的大小與形狀使得Ducati在設計車架時必須做出一些妥協, 而這些犧牲掉的部分正是他們無法讓石橋的超硬前輪足夠荷重以達到工作溫度, 也因此造成路感模糊. 在對前端沒有信心的情況下無論是Rossi, Hayden或任何一位Ducati衛星車隊的車手都無法大膽的操車以追上前面集團. 放棄 L4的設計是Ducati能重新回到前頭的重要一步, 也才能有機會柳暗花明又一村. 如此一來重量重分配才能更有選擇性以讓Rossi, Burgess和一干人等能有更多的測試機會. 更緊緻的V型引擎或甚至直四的設計才可能是Ducati未來前景的一線契機.