Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

... 38.. rea ll y m y id eal ra cing m otorcycl e, I began to as k mys elf . . .? T he sculptured a lloy fu el ta n k sit s in sid e th e spacefra me , a llowi n g yo u to tu ck yo u r kn ees aro u n d it: C uss igh is o n lv tw o in ch es shorter than m e, so I fo u~d the r idi ng posi tio n a lmos t ide a l, if a li ttl e cra m ped. T he ultraslim fai ring a llows th e bike to presen t a very narrow pro file , undoubted lya factor in its amazing stra ig h tline speed, b u t you mu st be carefu l tf) squeeze th os e knees tight into th e ta n k o n th e stra ig h ts, else precio us mph are lost in increased d rag. It 's no t a ta ll person 's bik e a ny m ore th an a TZ is, but vo u ca n m ak e do. I did ! Fame fired' up th e 90° V-twin engi ne usin g th e self-s tarter with the ai d o f a sla ve battery: th e It alian TT Fo rmula rul e th at you have to ha ve th e ori gi nal m ean s of self-st a rt in g fitt ed as o n th e road bik e o n w h ic h the bike is .based is a good o ne, sin ce it rules o u t th e u se o f raci ng engines suc h as TZ Yamahas a nd Aerm acchis. On th e o the r hand, th ere's n o ca r bureto r rule, so " m y" bik e was fitted with 40mm Dell 'O rtos as co m pared to th e 36mm un i ts Tony Rutter has to use. Aft er wa rmin g the en g ine u p fo r just two to th ree mi nutes o n suc h a hot da y, Fam e gave me th e a ll -clear after testin g th e o il temperature with a ha nd o n th e o il coo ler m ounted in th e nose o f th e fai ri ng . I n o tch ed first gea r o n th e sta ndard ro ad gear bo x, a nd set o ff. Accelera ting o u t o f pit lane I n oted a t o nce the wide p ower band a n d precise gearchang e: yo u must co u n t th e gears sin ce on ce in top gea r lever does n' t g o flopp y to let yo u kn ow yo u' re th er e, a nd a co u p le of tim es to sta rt with I found my self sta bbing for a n on-existent sixth g ea r. Th e e ngine is a m azing: it pulls clea n ly from zero revs, with n o h int o f m egaphonit is from th e two-intoo ne open p ipe. By th e time th e whitefaced Vegl ia revcounter hits 6,000 rpm th e ca ms a re beg inning to d o th eir stuff, a n d th ere's good stro ng pow er a ll th e wa y up to peak revs o f 11,000. Maximum torque is produ ced a t 7,500 rpm , a nd pe a k pow er o f 78 bhp a t th e rea r wheel at 10,500. It ' s tru ly a nd exce p tio na lly ea sy bik e to ride, th ough it was noti ceable th at o nce I got th e en g ine buzz ing a t a ro u nd 9,000 it was a lmos t like stic kin g it in o ver dr ive - th er e seemed to be an ex tra doll op o f p ower a t th e top en d o f th e rev range. Th ese cha racteristic s make th e 600 TT2 Du cati a bike for all ci rcu i ts. On a road co u rse like the 10M o r th e V is' ter yo u ca n use th e en g ine' s flexibility a nd drive through sect io ns in th e sa me gea r, co ncen tra tin g o n the co rners a nd giving th e m ot or a n eas ier time o ver th e bum ps. But co me to a purpose-built track lik e Misano, a nd yo u ca n g ea r it like a stro ke r to keep th e en gi ne buzzing a t or near pea k revs for m aximum performance, as I'd observed C uss ig h d oing th e day befor e in winning his race com fort a bly. At frst I tr ied to rid e th e Ducati th e same wa y, but co u ld o n ly p u ll 9,500 rpm dow n th e m ain stra ig h t, whi ch is o ne reason h e's a TT2 cha m p io n , and I'm not! Th en I rea lized th at a ll th e gear-cha ngi ng I was ind u lg ing in was p robabl y unn ecessary, a nd started using th e torqu e a nd wide p ow erband o f the Bol o gna twin to full ad va n tage . R edu cing th e number o f gear cha n ges a n d sq u irt ing the bike between co rn ers not a n iy m ade fo r easier riding but a lso cu t down m y lap times, As Norton 's J oe Craig o nce sa id: " All the tim e yo u 're cha n g ing g ear, yo u ' re not going a n ywh er e." T he 600 TT2 prov ed him right, but it req u ir ed m enta l effo rt to keep remindin g my self not to chan ge gear, and let the engine do the work between corners. The multi-tube fra m e compl emen ted the en g ine perfectly, provid- in g safe , sure handling through Mis a na's twists a nd turns. The monoshock rear suspens io n wasn ' t rea lly tested exce p t o ver th e j oints o f th e resurfaced sec tio ns , but must have bee n a j o y to ri de ov er th e Isle o f Man b u mps with . Braking was su per b, the twin 280 m m flo ating front Brembo di scs hauling th e bi ke d own fro m 9,500 in top down th e back stra ig h taro u n d 135 mph -fro m within th e 200 m et er boar d for th e seco nd gear left hander a t th e end. I d id find it di fficult to use th e rea r brake, though , for th e si mp le reas on that the lever wa s tuc ked in to o close to th e fram e o n the r ig h t side for easy access by m y size 9 bo ot. T he o n ly rea IIy neg ative factor su rro u n ded th e use o f the 16" front w heel. G oin g i nto a co rner a fra ction to o fast, I gra b bed th e front brake to kn o ck o ff so me m ore speed, and had th e bik e sit up o n m e a n d understeer stra igh t o n . H av ing so rted out the ens u i ng mom ent, I deliberately did th e sa me thin g th e next la p . with simila r results. H aving been designed for an 18" fro nt wheel , the frame doesn't take kindly to use of the sma ller di am eter rim , and th e works bikes h ave since been co n vert ed back to the origi na l spec. With suc h good weight d istributi on, th e bike d oesn't need th e sma ller wheel to stop the front from becoming unglued in corners. Oth erwi se, th e 600 TT2's hand ling wa s p retty impeccabl e; co min g o u t of th e slo w ch ica ne before the pits it 'd sha ke its head briefl y as full pow er wa s a pplie d a nd th e fron t wh eel got light. But a co m bi n ation o f th e frame characteris tics a nd adj us ta ble P aoli steer in g damper tu ck ed close into th e tank soon so rted o u t the wiggl e. And ru shing int o th e next ri ght hand sweeper a fte r th e p it stra ig h t, th e Duke p owered it s way round h ard o n in fourth ge a r without th e tra ce o f a wobbl e, in co ntra st to th e big TT FI multi s the dav bef ore whi ch had ti ed th emselv es in' knots o n this d emand -rng cu rve. Aft er 20 laps o r so a board th e 600 TT2, I'd co me to respect it for wh at it is: a lm ost certa in lv th e best a ll- ro u nd racing motorcyclein th e wor ld today. A languidl y-waved checkered flag from Franco Fam e signa ll ed th e en d of m y test session, but as I trun dl ed gently into pit lane after a slowing down lap, th e place was deserted. Resi st ing th e temptation to ride o ff into th e sunset so as to h ang on to the bike p erm anently , I went looking for peop le. Just then there was a n uproar from th e tr ackside o ffice ; p eering in side I found a fli ckering TV set and a doz en ecstati c It ali ans em bracin g each o ther. You gu essed it: It aly 3, Brazil 21 . In ad d itio n to th e five drv- clutch works specia ls, th e Du cari has 'released 20 wet -clut ch repli ca s o f th e TT2 to various a p proved d eal ers around th e world. A furth er bat ch o f 20 600s a nd 20 750cc version s (for th e new TT Form u la I reg u la tio ns with red uced upper ca paci ty limit ) are a lso in th e pipelin e, but in th e m eantime Engla n d 's St eve Wynn e plans a batch o f 10 'rep lica repl icas' with fram es m ad e by Harri s En g ineer ing and standard Pantah en g ine s modified to works spec. Wh at ever , it looks as if th e burgeo n in g T T F2 cl ass will co n ti n ue to be a Du cat i benefit for th e co nceiva ble future, si n ce as Broccoli 's Mugell o ex p lo its showed , even sleevin g the en g ine down to 500cc as will be required in 1984 d oesn ' t kn ock much off the p erformance. Who knows we might even see a n Italian rival to the NR500 Honda for leading four- c. stroke in the 500 cc GPs! And a ll this ach ie ved with a basica lly standard road engine with a few ver y cl ever m odifica tions. No wonder Dr. T. is a legend in his own lifeti m e, . •

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