Manawan Reserve ride: part 2

See Part 1

The Dakar ended a couple of weeks ago: congratulations to the winners and to all participants!  Now there are no more excuses to delay my ride report heading to Manawan, and hopefully I will be able to complete it before the Montreal Moto Show… many new adv bikes this year!

But one word about the Rally: it is fascinating to see the sand dunes and fantastic landscapes of South America that we discover through the Dakar- definitely something to add to my bucket list.

On the down side however, none of the Canadian TV networks – even sports channels – made any coverage of the Dakar. In MHO, such an event should show up at least on evening news, right?!

Right…back to the main program…Manawan…Dorwin falls…yeah, those falls were an unexpected discovery worth seeing!  I spent too much time there taking shots and videos.  When I left and realized how long I had been there, I took the resolution to stop stopping every ten minutes for a bloody picture!

I stopped at least 10 more times after taking that resolution...  I saw this windmill along the road and I was curious to know what it was used for.  No luck, the area was deserted and there was a for sale sign.

As one distraction led to another, I saw an advertisement along the road for a free visit day at “La Terre des Bisons (The Buffalos Land)”…

It was not easy to ignore this sign but I succeeded!  However, I turned around 1 mile further.  Well, Buffalos are not part of Quebec wildlife – I don’t remember having seen a Buffalo crossing sign in my whole life! – that’s my excuse for this other shot!

So in Rawdon, Qc there is a buffalo farm called: “La terre des bisons” and it seems well established.  I passed pretty quickly and I did not dare to visit inside the installation, but back home, I took a look at their web site and found all the information I needed to know: http://www.terredesbisons.com/

I’ll probably go back with my kids – they are eager to see this – and buy some goods: since my visit I can’t stop thinking about buffalo steak on the charcoal…

 

From a motorcycle adventure perspective, the ride to get to the farm is not bad.  I took this shot on the Parkinson road.

9:20 am.  Waterdome at Lake Cloutier.  I continued riding north and I crossed this Waterdome on the “Riviere Blanche” road (White River road).

***
So this was a brief outlook of the “La Pocatière” area in Quebec near Rawdon city.  I just scratched the surface of it but it was very nice to discover with many interesting roads.  An area that has many hidden treasures and deserves more attention.

I got back on track for a moment and followed my GPS to reach the 131 north which leads to St-Michel-des-Saints - and the Manawan road - through St-Zenon village.

10:23 a.m.   This picture shows a trail that I saw from the 131 road in St-Zenon. 

I went to see where it led, and I met a resident who was taking a walk.

He told me that he just saw a couple of bears in the area.  I had mixed emotions about that  – it would be nice to take a picture of a bear, but at the same time they have unpredictable behaviour.  Apparently they are easily spooked – so am I.

 

Next part – the untamed Manawan road.

Ciao!
DSAQ

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90 Years of BMW Motorrad - The R 37 – BMW goes racing…

The immediate success of the original R 32 established BMW as a serious player in the motorcycle industry some five years before the company even started the development of cars. Furthermore, this iconic motorcycle also paved the way for a sports model that took the brand into racing at the highest level. Enter the R 37…

With 494cc, 8.5 hp and a top speed of over 90 km/h, the original 120 kg R 32 had quickly earned a good reputation as a safe, well-handling motorcycle, with its easy maintenance and well-known reliability. Having achieved these important objectives, the talented engineers in the BMW factory were soon thinking about ‘tweaking’ the engine and chassis so they could go racing competitively on it.

Undoubtedly convincing his colleagues that ‘racing improves the breed’, a young engineer – and active motorcycle racer – Rudolf Schleicher, was put in charge of the project, despite the fact that he has only been with BMW since 1923. This gifted engine designer, still only in his Twenties, developed the first light-alloy cylinder head for the R 37 in 1924. The brand’s long experience and unsurpassed expertise in the field of light alloys is the key to the success of this – and the single-cylinder R 39 engine that follows – the first standard-production engines with aluminium cylinder heads.

Of course, there is a big difference between road riding and the exciting world of motorsport, and this is what spurs BMW engineers on to further develop the high-quality Boxer concept, using knowledge gained from aircraft engine manufacture, but adapted for motorcycle production and professional racing – which always places the highest demands on materials and technology. The R 32’s standard output of 8 bhp is considerably enhanced with the R 37 competition version – in fact, it achieves twice the power of its predecessor with 500cc and 16 bhp.

More than just a ‘tuned’ R 32, the R 37 featured a more efficient overhead valve system that was both oil- and dust-proof, which was a big improvement over the exposed systems that could be vulnerable to the weather. The cylinder heads were made from lightweight aluminium and the lights were removed to underline the sporting character of this machine.

The R 37 was a little heavier than its predecessor, but the increased horsepower propelled it to a more than respectable 115 km/h (70 mph). Fuel economy suffered slightly (4 litres/100 km) but the excellent performance made up for this. With a sales price of 2,900 Reichsmarks the R 37 was the most expensive motorcycle in the German market. As a result, it was not a sales success (only 152 were produced in its 1925-1926 lifespan) but this racing derivative of the R 32 took the brand into all sorts of motorsport competitions across the world, helping establish BMW’s reputation as a premium manufacturer.

Success in motorsport was very important at the time to prove not just reliability and endurance qualities, but also performance in all conditions. For the R 37, success was immediate, and long lasting. BMW test rider Franz Bieber won the 1924 German 500cc championship, with Rudolf Reich winning it in 1925 on the R 37. Although new to the world of racing, BMW enjoyed a wave of success: 91 wins in 1925, 105 in 1926, and 171 in 1927. In Germany, BMW won every single title in all classes up to 500cc between 1924 and 1929.

But it was abroad where the biggest headline came, when none other than Rudolf Schleicher won BMW’s first major international trophy – a gold medal in the International Six Days Trial in Great Britain in 1926 – the toughest cross-country event in the world at that time. As it was the first time that a German rider had won the event, this helped bring the BMW brand to the attention of the world and prove it meant business. In reality, it was just the start of a long relationship with performance, speed and competition that continues to this day.

Schleicher would later assume responsibility within BMW for the development of engines for standard-production cars and racing models, but thanks to his love of engineering, his passion for motorsport and his belief in personally using these products to prove their worth – both on and off-road – the seeds had been sown for many more exciting models on which to satisfy a rider’s thirst for competition and adventure.

[SRC: BMW]

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KTM owner buys Husqvarna motorcycle brand from BMW

(Reuters) - The owner of offroad motorbike maker KTM (KTMP.VI) acquired rival brand Husqvarna from Germany's BMW (BMWG.DE) on Thursday in a consolidation move that helps shave costs as the industry copes with a slump in Europe.

Entrepreneur Stefan Pierer, who owns a majority stake in KTM, told Reuters he was taking a page out of Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) book by buying the Italian-based company, whose one-cylinder enduros and motocross bikes are dubbed "Huskies" by their fans.
"Almost ten years ago we started a small platform strategy just like what Volkswagen does on a far larger level," he said in a telephone interview after the deal, declining to provide financial details.

"Even though this is a niche business, you have the same problem as in the car industry. Development costs for modern, sporty motorcycles are so high - especially for engines - that a small brand (like Husqvarna) can no longer shoulder them on its own."

Pierer's KTM also owns the Husaberg, a Swedish brand founded by two engineers in 1988 after Husqvarna motorcycle moved its operations toItaly from its Scandinavian home.

"I want to see Husqvarna sales double in five years time to 20,000 motorbikes," he said, adding that his immediate focus would be on rejuvenating the ageing line-up of offroad models.

Instead of fully integrating both companies, Husqvarna and KTM will be managed separately, while reaping the benefits of using common components.

"This way we can use common engineering platforms to develop a variety of models that have completely different characteristics for each brand," Pierer said.

Husqvarna generated roughly 65 million euros selling roughly 10,000 bikes, he said, while KTM sold 107,000 motorcycles with revenue of 612 million euros.

In a rare acquisition, BMW scooped up Husqvarna at the peak of the market in 2007 to improve its position in the field of light, sporty motorbikes and extend the range to include younger customer groups as well as the entire off-road and supermoto sector.

The market in Europe, however, has shrunk almost by half since the deal, and BMW never attained sustained growth of the business in the face of such harsh headwinds.

BMW said it was selling the brand as part of a strategic realignment of its motorcycle business to focus on urban and electric mobility "in the context of changing motorcycle markets, demographic trends and increasing environmental demands."

KTM by comparison has a strong position in the segment in which Husqvarna competes, with roughly 30 percent of the global market share in motocross and 50 percent in enduro, according to Pierer.

When asked whether he was concerned the two brands might cannibalize each other's sales, he admitted there would be a slight effect.

Overall, however, the Husqvarna brand would help it take share away from Honda (7267.T), Yamaha (7272.T), Kawasaki (7012.T) and Suzuki (7269.T).

"It's never 1 plus 1 equals 3, but it's certainly 2.7, and there are still four Japanese brands from which there's plenty to grab."

(Reporting By Christiaan Hetzner; editing by Andrew Hay)

[SRC: REUTERS]

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90 Years of BMW Motorrad – Max Friz

The aircraft engine manufacturer BMW unveiled its first motorcycle in late 1923, and it was a passionate aircraft engine designer – Max Friz – who was behind its creation. Forever credited as the father of the first BMW bike – the R 32 – Friz’s story leading up to this groundbreaking motorcycle is as interesting as it is varied.

Born nearly 130 years ago on 1 October 1883 in Urach, Max Friz started his apprenticeship with the Kuhn steam engine company in Cannstatt at the age of 15 – an incredibly exciting time to be involved with engineering development of any kind. From 1902 to 1904 he attended the Royal Building Trade School in Stuttgart-Esslingen before moving in 1906 to work in the design office of the Daimler company.

There, he started to make a name for himself in motorsport, where he made a major contribution to the design of the racing engine for the 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car that won the French Grand Prix of the same year. However, it is in aviation where Friz’ passion truly could be found. After all, he would have been an impressionable 20-year-old when the first powered flight by the Wright brothers made headlines around the world in 1903 – and no doubt inspired countless young men to become engineers.

Although the aviation industry had by many scarcely been considered worthy of attention in its infancy, the outbreak of war in 1914 changed everything and offered great opportunities for companies such as Rapp Motorenwerke – a predecessor of BMW.

At the end of 1916, having become frustrated with his suggestions for engine development being ignored by the chief engineer at the Daimler engine company, Friz applied for a position with Rapp.

At this time, war was being waged in the air for the first time, and the aerial battles demanded continuous improvements in aircraft and aero engines. A significant challenge for the engineers was the constantly increasing average altitude at which the fighting was taking place. Basically, the higher you were able to fly, the better the strategic advantage, as long as your engine didn’t lose too much power, or worse, stall in the decreased atmospheric pressure.

At Daimler, Friz had tried in vain to develop an oversized high compression engine that would not lose as much power at altitude as other engines, but it wasn’t until he moved to Rapp Motorenwerke in Munich in 1917 that he was able to put his own idea for a high altitude engine into practice.

In spring 1917, a commission from the Reichswehr were inspecting the Rapp engine plant to decide which engines – Daimler or Benz – would be produced under licence at the Rapp engine plant. General Manager Franz Josef Popp seized the opportunity to present Friz new concept to the commission of experts – even though it only existed in his design drawings, with no prototype to show.

However, the commission were suitably impressed with the potential of this high altitude aero engine with its innovative carburettor and many other technical details. The Reichswehr placed an order for 600 units – even before a single working prototype had been produced – turning Rapp Motorenwerke into an essential contributor to the war effort virtually overnight. Orders flowed in from the military and by the end of the war, more than 3,100 IIIa aero engines had been commissioned – and Rapp had become BMW.

Friz’ BMW IIIa aero engine was in fact far superior to any other German aero engine of that period and no doubt saved the Rapp company of the time, which would almost certainly have disappeared without the effort and talent of this excellent designer.

But after the conflict ended in November 1918, the impact on the entire German aircraft industry was huge – especially for BMW, which had been building nothing else but Friz’s IIIa engine in 1918. The Treaty of Versailles then forbade BMW to build aero engines at all, but before the ban came into effect, Friz had already designed the successor to the IIIa – known simply as the BMW IV.

This Treaty would in fact ban the production of aircraft in Germany for many years, but just before the ban came into effect, a test pilot, Franz Zeno Diemer, took off in a DFW 37/III from Oberwiesenfeld airfield next to the BMW plant. His plane was powered by BMW IV six-cylinder engines and reaches the previously unattained altitude of 9,760 metres during an 87-minute flight. This world record is to be the first of many for BMW, although post-WWI Germany is not allowed to join the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, so the record is not officially recognised.

Not only had the Allies banned Germany from building aircraft and aero engines, they had in addition demanded that all aviation assets manufactured up to that point be handed over or destroyed. As a consequence, BMW Managing Director Franz-Josef Popp began looking for alternatives to keep the employees working, so tasked Friz and his design department with making new products to sell to the peacetime market.

Engines were designed for boats, cars, trucks and motorcycles. One of these engines was the M2B15 ‘boxer’ that was developed by Martin Stolle and supplied to quite a number of other motorcycle manufacturers to power their machines. However, the management felt that BMW could do better than just supplying the engines and should build its own complete motorcycle.

Friz was asked to come up with a suitable package. The result was the R 32 of 1923 (see separate story) and the rest, as they say, is history.

[SRC: BMW]

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90 Years of BMW Motorrad – where it all started

 

With more than 106,000 motorcycles and maxi-scooters sold to customers worldwide in 2012, BMW Motorrad celebrated yet another all-time sales high, making it the perfect way to start its 90th anniversary celebrations. This sales record was set in difficult economic conditions too, but the company has had more than its fair share of challenges to overcome ever since its origins more than nine decades ago. A look back through history reveals a story of restriction, adaption, intense competition and constant innovation – all of which have helped shape the brand we know and admire today…

Chapter one: the years leading up to the first BMW motorcycle – the R 32
BMW is set up in Munich during World War One as the successor to Rapp Motoren-Werke, an aircraft engine plant founded in 1913. Its first product is the IIIa aircraft engine, containing legendary engine designer Max Friz's altitude carburettor, which, in comparison to rival products, greatly decreases loss of performance at high altitude.

On 21st July 1917, Rapp-Motorenwerke is renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH. The ongoing war means that the small company grows quickly. With expansion in mind, the firm builds a spacious plant right next to the Oberwiesenfeld airfield in Munich and continues to build engines for army planes until 1918.

The war ends in 1918 and the production of aircraft engines is banned in Germany under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This Treaty would in fact ban the production of aircraft in Germany for many years, but just before the ban comes into effect, a test pilot, Franz Zeno Diemer, takes off in a DFW 37/III from Oberwiesenfeld airfield next to the BMW plant. His plane is powered by BMW IV six-cylinder engines and reaches the previously unattained altitude of 9,760 metres during an 87-minute flight. This world record is to be the first of many for BMW, although post-WWI Germany is not allowed to join the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, so the record is not officially recognised.

With a need to survive and diversify, large six-cylinder aero engines displacing 19 litres and developing a maximum output of 226 bhp are replaced in 1920 by 500cc power units developing just 6.5 bhp (BMW had also built four-cylinder series engines for lorries and boats, but with limited success). The outlook for the fledgling company brightens up with the development of the two-cylinder M 2 B 15 engine – which is also supplied to several motorcycle manufacturers. In consideration of the two cylinders arranged opposite to one another, as well as the pistons operating in the opposite direction, these power units are referred to as ‘Boxers’.
This engine found its main use in Nuremberg-based Victoria motorcycles, helping them to outstanding success in 1921. The neighbouring aircraft manufacturer, Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke, also fitted the BMW engine into their Helios model, together with a transmission likewise supplied by BMW.
In 1922 it sells its engine production and the name BMW to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works) and moves into their factory. The aircraft-maker's founding date, 7 March 1916, thus becomes the new founding date of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

With Victoria now developing their own models and with the Helios motorcycle suffering from technical problems, BMW’s General Manager Franz-Josef Popp and his engineering colleagues decide to make a big move, realising that the best way to support BMW’s good reputation as an engine manufacturer is for the company to build its own modern motorcycle, rather than being a sub-contractor.

The engineer given the task of building BMW’s first motorcycle is none other than Max Friz, who had made a great name for himself as an outstanding engineer even before World War I. After working on a sensational Grand Prix winner in 1914 (the four-valve ohc Mercedes) Max Friz had joined BMW in 1917 and designed the Type IIIa aircraft engine, the most progressive power unit of its day.

And while the aforementioned small M 2 B 15 motorcycle engine developed by his colleague Martin Stolle is no particular challenge to Friz, the job of building an entirely new motorcycle around the Boxer configuration certainly aroused the ambition of this successful engineer.
Developed on the drawing board in 1922, the first BMW motorcycle – known as the R 32 – would cause a sensation when it was unveiled at the Berlin Exhibition in 1923…

[SRC: BMW]

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