A good read, Firko, and a project that could have been an eye-opener if thought through by anyone except the management of a British motorcycle company. I've been fortunate enough to talk the tale of the Titanium Beeza through at considerable length with Jeff Smith, and the help of a few scotch-and-coke cans, and he still feels that it may well have been ok if they hadn't shagged around before going ahead. As indicated in the article, the build time was scheduled for three months, but delays in ordering, and the problems with manufacture and assembly of this largely-untried medium, quickly absorbed all this time and more. Yes, it was unreliable, but Smithy pointed out that it was never a repeat problem that sidelined the bike, and there were problems with bike prep as well, with niggling things like the timing slipping due to sloppy spannerwork. In the long term, it'll be viewed as something of a white elephant, but there was still a thrill associated with the quixotic nature of this championship defence, in the last dying embers of the British motorcycle industry's long-held and futile wish for a world-beater.
