Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

for 100 yards or so , the bik e was in su rpris ing ly good sha pe, unlike th e rid er, wh o got to spend a week in Salzburg hospita l w hi le h is a n k le was reco nstructed, T h e extra strength ride through the rev ran ge is o wed to a co llec tio n of a ltera tio ns to th e 900 R-based power plan t. Wh ereas yo u or I wou ld have che a ted by sim p ly a ttac kin g th e barrels with a bo rin g bar to up th e cu bes, Kaw asak i cha nged th e stroke as well - mean in g th ey had to co m p lete ly revise th e bott o m end . N ow mea suring i4 x 58m m, the n ew cy linde r dimen sions are bo lstered bv n ew Ilat topped pi stons which , sa ys Kawa saki , g ive a nothe r horsepower o r so in th eir o wn righ t. The ring design h as a lso been cha nged, a lo ng with th e wrist pins, an d bi gg er bolts h old the big ends together. Th e cra n kshaft is new bu t o f th e sa me plain-bearing desi gn as the 900. Breat h ing-wise, the 1000 has gained a massive seven -li ter a irbox with th e intakes brought forward to the steer ing h ead so's onl y coo l a ir is su ck ed i n. Alo ng with new 36m m car bs, 2.0mm bigger than th e 900 's , o the r mods to th e top end m el ude cha n ges to the va lve liming, bigger valves, - and a sta in less steel head gasket. Th ere 's a co m p letely-new exha ust desi gn , refi ned from the 900 co rnponents to drag a co up le more horses OUI whi le CU lli ng the no ise do wn . T h ere have a lso been cha nges to th e o il a nd wa ter coo li ng systems. wh ile the sta rte r mo ta 's been beefed up a lo ng with th e clu tch . Intern al gearbox ratios a re ide nrica l to the 900·s. but the fin a l drive ra tio is a bit tall er. A stra nge yellow orb known as th e su n made an appearance for th e fol lo wi ng day 's session, so lap times dropped dramati call y as we all roared arou nd on 900s 10 sha rpen o urselves up. U n for tu na tely, I a lso dropped dra m a tica ll y on my first lap on the 1000 whil e a ttempting 10 negotiat e a n ice banked co rne r a t th e sa me rat e I' d been tak i ng it on th e 900. A co ld rear ti re was proba bly to blame but I prefer 10 th in k th e m uffler gro unde d a nd lifted i t off th e deck . Wh a tever, th e bike was sur prisingly lightly da m aged , desp ite co llect ing so me stra teg ica lly p laced haybal es. Ma in ly su perficia l stu ff, with th e to ugh ABS fair in g in fai rly good co ndition savin g th e engine a nd fra me fro m an y damage. Kawasak i likes the Salzb urgring because iI'Sso fast , h en ce th ev choose it to int rodu ce bik es wi th ai l accent on o u t-a n -o u t speed . It's po ssible to redline a bike in top gear h ere. o r a t leas t it is for so me o f us. T he straights a re n ' t s traig ht; th e uph ill secti on ' espe cia lly is a series of flat -ou t kinks lined with Arm co , wh ich looks ver y hard indeed atl 50mph , which is all I saw o n th e speedo o f either bik e. Th e boy -racer typ es were claiming to have seen 1600n the goo-style speedo, whi ch is eruirelv unbelievable if not too sensibl e. At speeds a bo ve 120 th ere was a hint o f vaguen ess a bo ut th e steering a n d sus pe nsion wh ich . a lth o ugh no t srricrlv worrying, made me just a teen y-little-bit nerv ous. The new rea r su spensio n. wit h li n kages acti ng on bot h ends o f th e shock like Suzu ki's fu ll floater system. wasn ' t sel la th e sti ffes t specs possible a nd th e KHI types weren ' t keen on lett ing us cra n k th em up. T he front sus pe n sio n felt o kay, with its new 40m m fo r k legs a nd AVDS setup. but even in the slo wer co rners th e 1000 felt nowhere near as taut as th e 900, wh ich was, fo r us mere mortal s. a lo t m ore co n fide nce-i nspi ring 10 ride . Those more accusto med 10 wr est ling grea t bi g fo ur -st rok es arou nd race track s were able 10 ig nore the feel of th e 1000 mo vin g a bout un derneath Poop (Co n ti n ued from pag« 2) Australian Wayne Gardner (Hon) won the second leg of the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, September 15 to defeat Yamaha 's Eddie Lawson . Lawson won Saturday's first leg by five seconds, but Gardner rode the Freddie Spencer V -four to a 13-second w in on Sun day to take the overall win . Third place went t o Suz uki 's M iz utani of Japan; Spencer did n ot compete because of injuri es suffered d uring a test session in J apan p rior to the Japanese Grand Prix. District 3i ha s a n nou nced that th e Adolph Coors Company a lo ng with \V.A. Thompson Distributing in Ba rstow, Ca lifornia hav e become the m ajor s p o n so r s o f th is year 's Barsto w-to-Vegas desert ra ce; th e race is now being billed as th e 1985 Coors Barsto w-to-Vegas H are a nd Hound. Cycle World magazine staffers and contributors set a new FIM-sanctioned world record for miles covered on a motorcycle in 24 hours, riding a Suzuki GSXR750 on a five-mile paved oval test track in Texas on September 4-5. The team, which included racer Doug Toland, covered 3075 miles at an average speed of 128 mph and also set new mileage records for several shorter time periods. The GPz1 OOOXR draws mixed reviews; Americans riding it on the street preferred it to the GPz900R ; European journalists on the race track liked the GPz900R 's vaster reserve of stability; the GPz1 OOORX can be twitchy when thrown around a race track. The 1000's hefty full-cradle steel frame is rigid but weighty. Donn ie H a n sen is relocating h is motocross academy to Sa n Ant on io. Texas in O cto ber. H ansen will h old two-day m ot ocross ca m ps tw ice a m onth during the school year an d four-da y ca m ps d u ri ng th e su m me r, at Good Times Racewa y. H ansen also p lans to still h old motocross sch ools o u t o f sta te. In fo rm a tio n is avai la ble from Hansen at I 1318 O lney Dr.• San Antonio, T X i 8218. Australian Wayne Gardner (Ho n ) won the Japanese Grand Prix at Sugo on September 8; Gardner beat Yamaha's Tadahiko Taira, but Ta ira's second place finish was enough to earn him the Japanese Championship. Ed H ertfcl der o f Dirt Ri der Maga zine wi ll be th e Master o f Ceremonies a t th is year 's Ba rsto w -to -Vega s Du al P ur pose Poker R ide. Th e 7th A n nua l Superb ikers co m petition return s to Ca lifo rn ia ' s Carlsbad Rac ewa y on Su nd ay , Oc t o ber 27. The f ield of 27 rider s from dirt track, m otoc ross and ro ad racing has not been finali zed. th em, but I found it inti m ida ti ng. A co u p le o f tim es I wa s pa ssed by g uys o n 1000s co mi ng up to co rners. an d usu all y ca me ou t hard o n th eir back wheel s whil e wat ch in g th eir hikes ge n tly ya wi ng a bo u t un dern eath th em. At full stre tch a lo ng the fro nt stra ig h t, the 900 coped wi th a la rge bump on a HO mph kin k with scarcely a sh ru g wh ile th e 1000 wall owed noticeab ly for a sp lit second before a llowing both o f us to regain o ur co m posu re . Wh ile the 900 gives great feedback fro m the road, the 1000 felt so me how rem a ll' a nd detach ed . H arder sus pe ns io n se tt i ngs a n d possi bly a cha nge i n tir es wi ll p ro ba bly mak e a big d iffere nce h ere. fo r it' s hard 10 bel ieve th ere's a ny flex i n th at so lid fram e. T he steering head a ngle is one degree steeper. wh ich mi ght accoun t fo r somet hing. T h e amou nt of stick a bik e recei vI'S o n a race tra ck is a whole lo t g rea ter tha n the poor wee rhi ng 'd be a sked to ta ke o n th e roa d , so don ' t get th e impressi o n tha t t he G Pz lOO OR handles badl y. It 's j ust th at I think the 900 handl es be tter. It 's certai n ly easier 10 rid e q uick ly , and so sa id most o f us. At 526 p ounds d ry, th e 1000R a i n 't a no re xi c. but i tTl s ti ll bl ow th e m ir ro rs o ff practicall y a nythi ng on t he roa d . We'll have to wail until th e full road tes t to find a lit exactlv how qu ick it is. but ta ke it from m e, th ere.:s not a lot o f d ifferen ce between 150 mph a nd 160-odd mph . blood y Iast a nd very bl oody fa st. Ka wasaki U.K. inten ds to mark et the 1000 R a t aro u n d $5040, $630 mo re than th e 900R. It 's certa in ly a beau tiful lo okin g m a c hin e. it 's sm oo th a nd civilized , vet Ia ster th an a ny th ing else so far. Ma ybe. if I gal to rid e it arou nd on the roads for a few weeks, I' d even p refer it to th e 900R. On th e basi s of two days a t th e Sa lzbu rgring, I' d ta ke the 900. And th a t's wh at I sa id to the swee t yo u ng th in g from Ka wasa ki Germa n y . . . .• "T h is yea r is scra p pe d as far as get ting ba ck racin g goes." sa id Jay Pa rnell. " b u t I pl an to be racin g a S uperbik e next yea r. I' ve gal a fu ll ra nge of mo tio n o n th e righ t sid e o f m y body. but my muscles a re ver y wea k a nd I'll be a long tim e in th era p y ge ll ing m y strength back. " Parn ell cras he d in a J u ly 12 practi ce session a t La guna Seca and sustained venebrae da mage. H e returned to hi s pa rent 's S u m ter, SOU lh Carolina. hom e Augu st 15 a fter a tw o- mo n th h osp ital sta y. The Second Annual Iron Butt Rally, ' an l1 -day, 8000-plus-mile run around the contiguous United States, was won by George Egloff (Suz). Rounding out the top five were Gary Moore (Hon), Rob Ellersten (Hon), Jim Newberry (Hon) and Suzie Mann (BMW) . [Co n tin ued to page 30) 17

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