Renard GT – a Moto Guzzi Wrapped in Carbon Fiber

The world of motorcycling esoteric seems to know no crisis, as proposed by several parties arrived refined and exclusive. The latest, in order of time is the Grand Tourer Renard, just presented no less than in Estonia. I will argue that the usual Criticón Renard GT Recalls Confederate WraithDue to the presence of a front suspension HossackBut on closer inspection, the bike Estonia has little in common with the American Special.

The Renard Cycles has its origins in 1938, when it was founded as a manufacturer of motorized bicycles, by J. Laan. The company opened its doors in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, and had as its logo a picture of the head of a fox (French for “Renard”). Renard was the first bicycle frame steel tube equipped with a motor By Sachs 98 cc. The factory was completely destroyed by bombing in March 1944, which ended the dream of the motorcycle industry in Estonia. In 2008 a group of young Estonian entrepreneurs, along with some designers and engineers decided to revive the brand Renard, and in April 2010 at the technology fair in Hanover has been presented the prototype of the Renard Grand Tourer you see in these pages.

The Renard Grand Tourer is built around an interesting monocoque chassis carbon fiber within which is housed a twin all Italian: Moto Guzzi V8 which pushes the Griso. The frame weighs only 11 kg and is reinforced with Kevlar, to achieve the proper impact resistance and vibration, and also integrates itself into the tank airbox in a single structure. The front suspension is also made of carbon, is parallelogram better known as a suspension Norman Hossack, Taken some years ago by BMW with the Duolever. Everything is made in carbon, is made of full AluAfter being designed and modeled in 3D.

For the suspensions were chosen course Öhlins shock absorbers is that the front and the rear axle as frenasterzo, and the brakes were adopted esoteric billet calipers with six pistons ISR. The same Swedish company has also supplied pumps to handle light-alloy leverage ratio variable brake and clutch. The choice fell on the engine for Moto Guzzi and its excellent quality, both for its unique design, but also, probably, because in Estonia were looking for an alternative to the usual crate engines American mimicking the V2 Harley Davidson. With the hope of seeing a live Renard Grand Tourer, we refer to future investigations, as soon as they are provided by the House of Tallinn.