Technical Porn: Ducati Hypermono by Chris Cosentino
If you are a As a student of Ducati racing history, you’ll know Supermono — one of the most exciting singles of all time. In the mid-’90s, only 65 of the lightweight and compact racing cars were built, made of carbon fiber and dressed in elegant bodywork designed by Pierre Terblanche.
We often wonder what a modern day Supermono would look like, and that question was just answered by Chris Cosentino of New Jersey. It’s called Hypermono, and it’s a remarkable feat of engineering.
Not many workshops might list projects for NASA and Victoria’s Secret on their CVs, but Cosentino Engineering is one of them. Chris has been machining, welding, and fabricating fixtures for more than three decades, and now leads a team of like-minded people in a 4,000-square-foot facility filled with old and new technology.
Hypermono is the culmination of 25 years of racing research and development, with the goal of creating the lightest and most powerful single-cylinder racing bike possible. It’s a near-finished build, with a custom frame, engine, and suspension setup — plus a 3D-printed bodywork.
Chris told us: “A list of mods answered by ‘almost everything’. “The project began as an exploration of an alternative front suspension — inspired by Britten and informed by the work of Tony Foale.”
Chris has a lot of experience in this field. In the early 2000s, he raced a Honda RS125, built a bike with a ‘Funny Front End’ frame and fitted a Ducati 999R cylinder head onto a Rotax crankcase. But the 2008 recession killed the market for expensive custom racing bikes and put Cosentino Engineering in a life-support role.
Ten years later, after recovering from business and abstinence on the racing front, Chris had a racing itch again. And he noticed that Kramer was selling race singles with some success.
With a little help from the famous petrol head Jamie WatersChris kicked off the Hypermono project by designing a new lower end to accommodate the Ducati Panigale 1199 cylinder head. Machined from billet 4340 is a counter-rotating crankshaft and counterweight shaft, encased inside the cylinders. billet aluminum cartridge. The capacity is 600 cc and includes an electric starter.
The side covers and oil reservoir are sand-cast magnesium and the 62 mm exhaust manifold has been printed with advanced direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) equipment.
The electronics are equally sophisticated, built around the Marelli REX-140 ECU/data logger — the official engine control unit for the 2019-2021 Moto2 Championship. There’s also a combined GPS/inertial measurement unit (IMU) and Chris describes the setup as “rider-assisted MotoGP-grade software”.
The power supply is fed into a frame welded from 4130 steel pipe, with investment lugs cast from around 3D printed.
Tony Foale’s influence is especially evident at the front end. It’s a link suspension with finely designed vertical bars, swingarms and custom direct-acting Öhlins TTX shock absorbers. The idea may be a bit old fashioned, but the execution is completely modern.
The main rear end is a solid magnesium swingarm, cast in sand by Yankee Casting. “The mold used for printing is 3D printed directly on the sand by HumtownChris said. An adjustable chain cooler makes it possible for you to dial out of the engine squatting on the throttle, and the damping is handled by another custom Öhlins TTX shock.
To reduce weight, the rims are five-spoke carbon fiber from BST. Braking is handled by billet Brembo brake calipers with a custom Braketech cast iron rotor.
Chris said: “I am about to finish this work now. “It combines everything I’ve learned from racing over the past 25 years into a new, clean and elegant design. I’m lucky enough to have Nick Graveley’s ClayMoto suggest custom body design, looks absolutely amazing. “
Chris is currently 3D printing a prototype of that bodywork — on a 3D printer he built himself for the task. And once the shapes are optimized, complete with cooling ducts and aerodynamic wings, he will use a printer to create parts that will be used as templates for the carbon fiber layer.
That’s the curated part of the race, but there’s another development that we’re even more intrigued by: Chris has also built a bobber version of this bike and is considering a production run. short output.
“I recently displayed the unfinished bike at the One Moto show and it was well received in its naked form. That led me to research the possibility of offering them for street use, and I am currently a registered vehicle manufacturer affiliated with Cosentino Motor Company, LLC,” he said.
“So peddling is a real possibility. That should create a wave of excitement to go before my next project is complete: a battery-powered version of the same rolling chassis, aiming to sell in larger numbers on the street. . “
Given Cosentino’s reputation for top drawer engineering, that really sounds like a very tempting prospect.
Cosentino technique | Photo of Michael Lichter Photography