Australian tech company Motorcycle Innovation has received further financial assistance, giving the firm the resources to not only send its innovative Motoinno TS3 Shockwave machine into limited production, but to also forge ahead with the planned build of its TS3 Moto2 racebike.
Buoyed by a recent $250,000 cash injection from private Australian angel investor ACAC Innovation, Motorcycle Innovation has now received confirmation of a matching $250,000 manufacturing grant from the Queensland Government through its Ignite Ideas Fund.
Both machines employ the patented TS3 Triangulated Steering and Suspension System chassis technology which, according to the firm’s Colin Oddy, creates a bike with superior inline stability that can brake later and harder into corners, and turn tighter but with less lean angle than a conventional machine, giving the rider the ability to get on the gas far earlier on corner exit.
These characteristics combine to make a competitively handling motorcycle on the racetrack – and that’s exactly where the Aussie firm plans on taking it.
“We have already sourced a Moto2 600cc engine and are in the process of redesigning the TS3 front end and chassis technology to embrace this,” Oddy says. “We have contracted with a race team and an Australian Moto2 rider ready to do testing, and then go racing. Following initial track testing in Australia planned for late 2017, the Moto2 test prototype will be transported to Spain for continued development by competing in the 2018 European CEV championship.”
The roadbike’s proof of concept used a 900cc Ducati engine (see feature in Vol 65 No 09), however, the production machine is set to employ the Italian marque’s 1198cc Testastretta unit.
“This high-end luxury streetfighter will be built for customers on a bespoke basis, using the liquid-cooled 1198cc Testastretta 11º engine,” Oddy confirmed. “Even though this is down on horsepower compared to the Ducati Superbike engines, the TS3’s great power-to-weight ratio will address this.”
By Alan Cathcart
