ROBERT S FAMILY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BIKES
R I D E R E V I E W
P66
Better Brakes
Going back to the braking, although the aluminum
brake calipers each only have two pistons, the slot-
ted Yamaha stainless steel discs solidly mounted to
their meaty aluminum carriers, they surprised me
both by their effectiveness, as well as their initial
response when you just touch them lightly to scrub
off a bit of excess speed in a turn—though Kenny
Roberts' insistence on maxing out front disc sizes
surely helps here.
Plus, it was noticeable when braking hard from
high speed for the Assen chicane, and again for
the National circuit's tight Turn 1 hairpin, that the
brake-operated hydraulic anti-dive on the Kayaba
forks really minimizes weight transfer, by using
caliper reaction to close a valve and increase com-
pression damping, thus slowing front-end dive.
Though KR Sr. wasn't a big fan of the system,
frequently opting for non-anti-dive forks with adjust-
able damping obtained by changing externally
accessible jets, I found it added to the feeling of
stability delivered by the accomplished Yamaha
chassis, without at the same time resulting in that
dead feeling you get from most other anti-dive
The King throws it up for the fans during the 1980 Dutch TT at Assen.
