Saturday May 22, 2004

Scalextric MOTO GP!

This release by Scalextric is one that certainly is in a class by itself. Ever since the first news of these motorcycles hit the streets, these machines have been talked about and anticipated by many in our hobby and now they have finally arrived.

One fact that I feel is very important is that we even have these new bikes in the first place. Our hobby is growing faster than many might have you believe, and a release of this nature proves it. But did Scalextric get it right? I certainly am not an expert on this series, but from the images I have found across the internet it seems Scalextric has reproduced it well for our hobby.

Details here should be enough to please any enthusiasts of the series. The photo-etched full brake rotors and rear drive chain were some of the first things we noticed. Scalextric has been known in the last few years to accomplish excellent paint and Tampo-stampings on their cars, and such is the case here. All markings were crisp and opaque with no signs of fading and all of it is sealed with a durable, dirt-free clear coat.

The driver figure is a 2 piece hollow plastic design and is also well done with full uniform and helmet markings. The figure simply snaps in place with the feet firmly on the pegs and is aided by a magnet underneath the seat. Removal of the figure is very easy if you want to display just the bike and Scalextric even includes a display stand inside the box for just this purpose.

Both the front and rear wheels and tires are as round as you could ask for and the rubber seems to be of a medium-to-soft compound. Tampo markings on the tires were a nice touch as well and gives the bike a more finished look.

I can safely advise you that taking this bike apart will take you some time. There are 9 total screws in 2 different lengths that hold this machine together, plus the 2 wheel axles. I also want to stress that unless you really feel you have to, avoid the process. The parts are however durable enough to withstand assembly and all of them were a clean fit.

Inside we see that Scalextric has fitted this bike with a new, smaller can motor equipped with a 9 tooth pinion that turns the 44 tooth rear wheel. I don't have any RPM ratings on this motor, but testing has shown that it is more than enough to handle the task. Pinion to wheel gear mesh was smoother and cleaner than I expected and produced very quiet operation.

However the heart of this system in my eyes is the guide and guide bracket that keep this bike on the track. The bracket is connected to the guide as shown in the photos and simply slides on the surface of the track. So far it accomplishes its mission of keeping the bike upright, but it is the guide that has shown itself to be an issue.

First of all I want the reader to know that my findings are vastly different than other reports I have heard on the performance of this bike. Our testing has shown that the front guide blade is simply too shallow to allow this machine to perform to its maximum capability. I touched on the subject of this shallow guide when it first appeared on the TVR and I must echo them here.

This is evident when you accelerate quickly and the front seems to slightly lift due to the torque of the rear wheel, (almost as if it wants to do a "wheelie"). When this happens, the guide is raised up even more and of course leads to the bike de-slotting. This happens more when you try punching it out of the corners than in the straights, but it does happen more than I would like. To be fair, Scalextric has informed me that on the new banked curve system this bike handles much better and when they arrive we will perform another test. Some enthusiasts have commented on the fact that the bike doesn't lean over like the prototype does in the corners, but this really doesn't bother me at all. I would rather have Scalextric work on bringing us a deeper guide for this bike to allow it to perform to its full potential than worrying about making it lean.

We tried adjusting the guide bracket by flexing it up to see if this would help, but doing so introduces to much side to side leaning. The best way we found to get this bike to operate was to start acceleration SLOWLY and not try and "punch" the throttle full blast. When you try to attempt this, it again can come out of the slot. The speed in the corners and down the straights isn't as fast as some of you might be used to, but we have to remember that this is a whole new series and in fairness cannot begin to compare it with our other models.

Although I think it needs improvements to make it better, Scalextric still deserves credit for even bringing this series to enthusiasts. In my personal opinion, Scalextric has proven itself over the last few years that they are committed to bringing us high quality slot cars, and that they do not simply rest on one design. The latest Lister Storm proves that they are constantly looking for new and better designs and I think they will eventually accomplish the same thing with these bikes.

Check out more information on these bikes at the new Scalextric Moto GP Website

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!

Thanks go to Scalextric-USA for providing us with this new release.