Asphaltfighters Stormbringer: Autobahn Extraordinaire

ASPHALTFIGHTERS STORMBRINGER: Autobahn Extraordinaire

ROUNDUP

KEVIN CAMERON

THE WORLD NEEDS ANOTHER Open-class sportbike, right? Give it a catchy name—let’s say “Asphaltfighters Stormbringer.” Power it with a souped-up Kawasaki ZX-10R engine, then bill it as “world’s fastest streetbike” with a top speed of 200 mph, able to accelerate from 0-186 mph in 13.9 seconds. Should your velocity ambition not extend so far, this superlative machine also accelerates from 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds and to

124 mph in 6.5 seconds. The fuel-injected, dohc, 16-valve, lOOOcc inline-Four makes “only”

220 hp at 13,500 rpm, so it was boosted (a whiff of nitrous?) to 280 hp “for short periods of time only above 112 mph.” The computer is a “freely programmable” Bikerbox item, and the ZX-10R

engine is reworked with altered porting and combustion chambers, forged pistons, plus unnamed internal wizardry by German “engine guru” Sepp Buchner.

These small-production motorbikes are custom-fitted to their riders, who are then clothed in matching leathers and helmets. Style is central. The bike is black with orange trim, and that trim extends to things like the faceshield of the helmet, windscreen, protective sleeves on the “Melvin” braided stainless-steel brake hoses, side plates on the drive chain and tread grooves of the Bridgestone Battlax BT-016 radiais. Everything “goes,” as with a bedroom set.

These bespoke tailored missiles are the work of Warm Up Zweiradtechnik ( www. wcirm-up-zweimdtechnik.de) of Aalen, Germany. Since we know dies for engine castings and chassis beams are not economic for low production runs, it’s clear that what’s going on here is application of Europe’s finest accessories to a hotted-up production model, using advanced tuning techniques. Think of it as the two-wheel analogy to an AMG Mercedes. This is amply backed by T-shirts, logo caps and similar.

Stock suspension is tightened up with zero-clearance Emil Schwartz steering-head and swingarmpivot bearings. The actual maker of the suspension is not revealed, but it is “calibrated to each individual rider.” Most interesting to me are the Spiegler Bremsentechnik “Segmentbremsscheiben”—front brake rotors each made of 12 separate segments, making disc distortion quite impossible. Segmented rotors have been used on aircraft in the past.

Although the press release for this bike refers to an “explosive power curve,” the machine’s rideability is enhanced by a 10-level traction control, launch control and a button-actuated programmable speed limiter. Racing tech diffuses through the walls of the pit boxes into the wider world!

Oh, I almost forgot: A large-screen TV rear-view system is molded into the top of the gas tank. Your current speed is projected in large figures via WAECO heads-up display. What else would you expect for $86,250?

It had to happen someday, and that day is now: motorcycles sold as haberdashery—a Rolex on two wheels! □