Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126639
rearview mirrors duri n g a blast down a particularly curvy str etch o f asp halt . Ditto for th e rider o f a lo w-barr ed , co llecto r-pi pe d Suzu ki 1000, wh o d id a classic double-take as the H arley sl id alo ngs ide afte r nipping at his tail for a few frustrating miles. Not that Ken ny Ro berts is tossing in hi s sleep wi th visions of X R 1000s p assing his O W6 1 in Daytona 's infield section, yo u understand. T o move the H arley a lo n g a t a fast pace takes a fair am o u n t of effo rt o n th e rider's part, bu t it can be done. And what 's more, it's a lo t o f fun. Leave yo u r kneedraggin g theatrics behind, though . Th e XR works best when you sit i n the m iddle of th e bi ke, us e its exc ellent brakes hard going in , lea n over until the pegs start to drag, roll on the throttle a nd power yo ur way through th e turn. Once yo u get used to not hanging off and using only the top two gears, the XR will sur p rise yo u. It's no fl uke that Harley-Davidson is winning road races wi th these bi kes. , T he on ly th in g intruding on the XR's back road prowess i n the H er culea n effort needed to operate th e co n trol s on the righ t end o f the ha ndl e~aJS ' Both th e twi st gri p and the fro nt bra ke lever require more la bo r than they shou ld . Aft er about 10 miles of ch arg ing down back roads , worki ng th e throttle and brakes h ard, th e rider's wrist feels lik e it 's had a good workout at the loca l Nautilus center. O ne long-time H arley affi ciando, on tour with his wife from Arizona, co u ld n' t believe the a mo u nt of muscl e needed to operate th e XR 's throttle. " Good thing it's got a set scr ew:' he said; sh aking h is wrist. "Su re is a ni ce lookin' bike, though." Indeed it is. It seems th at HarleyDavidson, out from under the corpora te auspices of AFM, has finall y got its quality-control act together. T he p aint on our XR was flawless, highlig h ted by real -paint (can you believe it?) pinstripes. There are no plastic fenders, fake-chrome turn sig na ls or video arcade idiot lig h ts on th is bike. No t even a neu tra l light. In the 1000 . mi les we had the XR, we on ly had one problem. That was when it go t ornery and refused to start for about a n hou r, de spite the bes t efforts of many . We never d id find th e reason fo r th e relu cta nce to start, an d i t never ha p pe ned again, so we quit worrying a bo u t it. Nothing crac ked , split or ~' i b ra ted off and th e bike didn't develop a ny o il lea ks. In fa ct, as far as ~'e ca n tell , th e en gine used ab so lutely no oi l during our test period. • After we'd all ridden it, we ha shed i t o u t. NOlle o f th e editors would hav e an XR as hi s so le m otorcycle, but o ne edito r preferred it to th e Interceptor sim p ly for th e " feel." Our riding impression foll ow ed weeks o f list ening to th e management of H arley-D avidson say h ow m uch th eir product has improved, an d tha t th ey don't " ne ed any technolo gical h elp from th e J apanese." Ever ything on th e XR is finished beautifull y, so th e manageme.nt is truth fu l about the quality co ntrol. . But about th e tech no lo gy, we're n ot sure yet. Har ley-Davidson has go tte n good horsepower o u t of a n a ged desi gn , and if yo u don ' t think . bout th e vibration too much , yo u don't noti ce much . The single rearview m irror provides a vibration-free imag e a t a n y en g ine speed below idl e. We ' ve h eard r u m bl in gs a bo u t an " evo lu tio na ry engine" from thcfolks at Mi lwaukee, p lus th e long-aw aited water-coo led V-4, so we' ll wait a nd sec. As far as th e pri ce ta g - 6995 goes , it is o ur o pi n io n th at it 's too much for two wh eels, a fram e, engi ne, gas lank, so lo sca t a nd co ntro ls. But w ho kn ow s? As th e soci al ph en om cnori we mentioned ear lier, it mav • be a barga in. ~'l . ~ 00 ...... o .. COli" dS CO • cia' P':air oU;'aY Zo cou"t1 tlig , £,nioY" .~ e fridaY e and 0111 .r I r--------------------------------------------~ $1.00 ~ $1 .00 SAVE A DOLLAR On Speedway Admission Courtesy of Cycle News. Good only May 20th. Present at ticket w indow. SAVE A DOLLAR . $1.00 W. T ~ $1.00 L SAVE A DOLLAR On Swap Meet Admission ~ Courtesy of Cycle News. ~ Good only May 20th. Present at ticket window. SAVE A DOLLAR $1 ,00 $1 .00 ~ _ ---------------------------------------------~ This week see: NEWSHOWI •• I • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • MOTORCYCLES ON TELEVISIONI .......................................................... S~p~~k '. PRESENTS * Exciting race footage from the Budweiser Superbike Cup at Riverside International Raceway * Interview with Bruce Hammer and Team Honda's Formula One Road Racing Champion Mike Baldwin * CifN1'}I ~ motorcycle impression of the week: Honda V-4Slnterceptor * Vintage motorcycle of the week * The Phantom Motorcyclist "Capture the spirit of the two wheeled world" Sunday Night, May 1Sth at 6 p.m, i~@~iifor~~ & Every Sunday NightI Check yo ur local cable list ings in TV Gu ide S ee us no w on Saturday night at 7 p.m. on KDOC TV56. For more informatio n contact: Supermouth Productions Inc. P.O . Box 3279 ' $en Clemente, CA 92672' (714) 661 -1962 '1' KUSI-TV 17