Sw ing with Skoal
Alt ho ug h Yam ah a stole th e limelight a t Silv erstone during practice,
the British Skoa l Bandi t Su zuk i team
con tin ued their steady development
with a honeycomb-com posite rear
swingarm. The frame is mad e from
ca rbo n fiber but the fir st prot ot ype
swing arm is in a lu mi ni u m with a
sla b for eac h arm. In th e arms the
honevcomb holes run across in the
sa medirec rio n as th e wh eel spindle.
Wh ere th e two arms, th e swinga rm
sp ind le and low er suspe ns io n mounting a re boxed together th e honeycom b is verti cal. A magnesium top
hat bonded into th e honeycomb takes
th e sus pe ns io n point loadings.
Th e swinga rm is certa in ly stiff.
The British team has previousl y used
streng thened versions of th e Suzuki
box-secti on swing arms which they
modified to mak e th em 116%stro nger
th an wh en th ey left J apan. The late st
offering is 25% better aga in and
though it is a fra cti on heavier, a
ca rbo n-fiber version whi ch will follow will be just as stro ng yet lighter.
l.!')
00
Q')
......
Honda Tu rbo
Yamaha's 250cc T-twin uses two crankshafts; note massive aluminum frame.
GPNotes:
Yamaha's new
250cc V-twin
By Peter Clifford
Carlos Lavado rode the new 250cc V-twin
Yamaha for the first time at the Silverstone
British Grand Prix and h e was immediatel y
fastest qualifier in th e first timed session.
Two bikes were flown in from
J apan in an attempt to salvage
.
f
some lh ~n g f
