Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

supervise m y test session a n d fi ll me in on the ba ckground of the bike, a nd its heavil y o versq ua re 8 1 x 58 mm engine. " We us e sta n da rd 600 P aruah cases with a bolt -on mag nes iu m ca sing for a h ydrauli call y-oper ated d ry cl u tch ," Fame p o inted o u t to m e. " Insi de , th e engi ne is so close to th e stan da rd road bik e it 's unbel ievable. We o n ly p ort th e h eads. fit racin g ca ms ha fts , hi gh co m p res sio n piston s for 10.4: I co m pr ession ratio as co m p ared to th e 9.5: I of th e standa rd e ngin e, a n d o vers ize va lves: we use a 10.5 mm inlet (t he ro ad P anrah h as a 3i. 5 mm o ne) with 35 mm ex ha us t (33.5 mm ). Valve tim in g is 6i open / 90 close o n th e in le t, a nd 101158 ex h a ust." In cluded val ve a ngle is 60°, as sta ndard, co m pa red to th e n ° o n the o lde r 900 V-twins, w hich a lso h a ve ex pens ive a n d n oi sy bevel sha ft dri ve to th e SO HC d esrn odromic valve g ea r. That o n the P antah is by sil ent to othed belt, which o n th e TT2 is e xposed to th e elements, th e belt cov er havin g been jett ison ed to sav e weight. Igni tion on th e TT2 is by Bosch electronics, firing Champion L81 plugs which ar e u sed for both warm- ' in g-up and racing. The factory runs 32° o f ignition adva nce, a nd the whol e system u ses a quite h efty batter y m ounted in the sea t, a far from id eal lo ca ti on which raises the center of g ravi ty bu t is unfortuna tel y unavoida ble. La st yea r sa w th e use o f a sma ll dr y-cell battery which proved inadeq ua te even with a gen erator fitted ; th e so lu tio n was to fit a bigger wetcell unit wh ich co u ld n' t be sq uee zed anywhere in side th e ti ght-fittin g fram e. And it 's th e multi-tube chassis, made by Verl icchi in Bol ogna, whi ch is the h eart o f th e 600 TT2, H eav il y tri angul ated especia lly round th e stee ring head a nd bal ance p oint o f th e bik e just a bo ve the rear cy li nde r, th e ch romemoly un it weighs a sca nt 15 pou nds , incl ud i ng th e sin gle-shock ca nti lever sw ingi ng a rm . A Marze cch i rear un it was fitted to th e bik e I ro de, with m agnesium 35 mm fro nt for ks from th e sa me m anu facturer with magnesiu m sliders a nd Campagnol o wheels. C uss ich uses a 16" front wheel , with specia lly -wide forks yo kes to accom moda te th e wider tir e, wh er eas Rutter has always opted for th e larger 18" rim a nd narrower co ver as prov id in g bett er steeri ng on ro ad co u rses. Oth er differ en ces becam e a p pare nt when I ca me to tr y th e bi ke for size . I've ridden ra cing bikes wi th every co nceiva ble type o f gearc hange (even a hand sh ift!) ba r o ne: Walter C ussig h 's Ducati filled tha t gap, for he uses a left foo t chan ge with re verse pa tte rn o ne-u p, fo u r-do wn co nfig u ration . Even he co u ld n' t tell m e wh y: " I just like it like th at !" wa s the response wh en I quizzed him . G etting u sed to it proved a littl e tim e-consuming, but th at didn 't m atter , for there wer e o the r idiosyn cracies I need ed to co me , to term s with bef ore I co u ld begin to rid e th e 600 TT2 at even ei g h t-tenths of its p ot ent ia l. T he first th in g was it s size . H a vin g beco me accusto me d to th erang y (and th at 's the poli te word!) 6 1" wheelbase o f the big 900 Ducar is in the co urse o f m y Ba ttl e o f th e Tw i ns racin g o n Syd T u ns ralls'tbike in th e U .S., I co u ld hardl y believe h ow little th e 600 TT2 wa s. Out with th e tape m easure: 55" wh eelbase, a ridin g p osition like a T Z Yamaha , dry weight o f 282 pounds, in cluding the h eav y g en erator and ' electr ic sta rte r requ ir ed by Italian TT2 . regul at ion s (l o se 22 pounds stra ig h t o ff if yo u rem ov e th em ), a nd wh at do yo u hav e? A fo u r-s troke racing m o torcycl e with road-based 600cc engi ne with a si m ilar powe r-to -weig ht rati o to a T Z Yamaha or Arm strong , an d a 5, 000 r pm revband. Is th is not . l ·. . . . .... I 37

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