Cycle News

R O T T W E I L E R P E R F O R M A N C E K T M 7 9 0 A D V E N T U R E R R I D E R E V I E W P44 note from the full Arrow system. It's loud and buxom like a Metal- lica gig, making even a hot 450 motor sound wheezy in com- parison. Once you get moving, the immediate difference in the motor is not just the sound but how much freer it feels with the exhaust emissions stuff ripped off. Get the motor spinning and it pulls like a train—up and down the rev range everything feels less restricted, with the throttle response absolutely immediate compared to the slight delay you get with a standard motor. The Rottweiler racer delivers speed not with subtlety but with sheer force. Point it in your cho- sen direction, get in the attack ride position, light the fuse and hang on! It devours the desert like dessert, hurtling you over shrubs and small bushes like they weren't even there as you click up the smooth quickshifter- equipped gearbox. Keeping this T H E P I L O T We sit down for a quick chat with the man who made this bike famous, Mr. Vannieuwenhuise What were your experiences like from racing this bike? I have a decent amount of experi- ence racing and riding those adven- ture bikes. The way this one is set up is by far the best I've ever ridden, prob- ably the best set-up bike in general I've ever ridden or raced, from the front to the back. It makes it a lot easier to race at those speeds having some- thing like that to ride on, for sure. Did you get to do any testing on the bike before you raced it? We did one race, the Parker 250, on that bike before. We did one test day, just mostly for suspension stuff before the Parker 250. That was pretty much our only testing on that bike and the only experience I have on a 790. Then I talked Chris into do- ing this race, so that was pretty cool. The Parker 250 was a good experience. I learned a lot about bike setup and what we need to fix to make it last a whole week of racing. How was it over a whole Sonora Rally week? I was probably the most sore and spent I've ever been. It was definitely a lot of work every day getting that bike to the finish. It is way heavier than everything else. So, it just takes more physical effort. But overall, it was great. It's a blast to ride. What were some of the bike's strong points? The power delivery—just get on it, and that bike is a rocket. It takes off. You're already into the next corner or next section before you know it. The second thing is the suspension. If it wasn't for how Konflict suspen- sion set up the bike with the WP Pro Components, it wouldn't have been possible for me to even get close to the podium, for sure. I noticed when I was riding it you kind of had to pick your line and stick with it and plow through it. Yeah, for sure. Some instances you're sliding into a corner and you're committed to whatever you're doing. So, you're either going over the corner or you're going to make it. It can be a little scary sometimes, but, overall, it's really good. What did the other guys think of it in the race? Were they pretty blown away? Yeah. Everybody is astonished what that bike is capable of, espe- cially lasting the whole week. Nobody thought that was going to happen, so that's pretty cool. Then every day somebody sees me pulling a wheelie, doing 100 miles an hour or some- thing! Are you going to do more racing on it? That's the plan. We'll see what opens back up here in the next couple months and go from there. Our next one was supposed to be the Silver State 300, but that got pushed back to I don't know when. Then we want to do the Vegas to Reno on it, or Reno to Vegas, so we'll see if that's going to happen still. That would be our next big one if that happens.

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