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/127134
The fue l tank says it all. Cliff Carr's Harley-Davidson of Santa Barbara and Cycle News have joined forces to create the ultimate Clubman Racer. Beautifully crafted rear-sets f rom Storz Performance keep the rider's feet off t he tarmac. Unfortunately, the left side shift lever either dragged on the ground or scraped the clutch cover, depending on its position. Supertrapp exhaust increases already abundant midrange power; number of diffuser discs can be varied to alter flow characteristics. Works Peiiormance shocks and Dunlop K591 tires put the power to the ground. 26 at Mick and he just chuckled. It seem s that Cliff had lost it at La Carrera. " Be a man," joked Cliff, until I showed him the rivets on the palm of my glove; there was no way I could hold on to a b a r e metal ba r. T houghtfully, Drew wrapped it wi th tape u ntil he could replace the gr ip during a b rea k between p ractice sessions. : Since L a Ca r rer a , Car r had installed th e Works P erform a nce suspe nsion , plus a Supertrapp exhaust system and Dunlop K59l tires . My first impression of the bike was of the mo tor; it reminded me o f a Du ca ti th a t wouldn' t rev. Unfortuna tely, it was still geared for La Carrera and wo ul d barely pull the 6000 rp m redl ine in third, rendering fourth gear u tterl y useless. Cl iff had forgo tten to bring the stock sprocket, so a typical la p co ns isted of a downshift (or was it u p?) for turn three, and an u p sh ift (or down?) for turn six. From there, it was third gear all the way around to turn three again. At leas t the few shifts required kept me fro m being confused by the uno rthodox pa tte rn . And it had plen ty of tor que. ' T he riding posi tion is perfect, at . least for race track riding. Alt hough the stock seat looks fun ky, it's surprisingly comfortable and 'p rovides an adequate p latform for . racing heroics such as hanging off; I managed to drag' my knee at th e apex of turn fou r and the exit of turn two every lap. T he clip-oris are in the right place to keep the rider out of the windblast, bu t their short length doesn't provide enough leverage. This is ·especially no ticeable due to the weig ht of the front wheel; an above average amoun t of pressure is required on the bars to counterstee effectively. T hough the bike is slim, it 's heavy. Fortunately, most of the weight is down low. T he brakes d idn ' t work at all. In fact, whi le riding a Suzuki GSXR 750 that morning, I was using a later bra king point for turn one than on the Harley, in spite of the fact that I was probably going 40 mph faster! The long reach to the front brake lever, spongy feel and extra effort required to squeeze th e lever di d nothing to instill co nfidence. The front forks ' worked well, though there was too much preload and no provision (yet) for adjusting it. The 39m m tubes seemed flex-free, but we 'll have to see h o w they perform after the brakes are improved before passing fina l j udgemen t. Though da ted in comparison to today's bo x- sect io n al uminum peri meter-style chassis, the frame doesn't £lex a t all. There .was some tw itchi ness in h igh speed (100 m p h ) turn eight, but a twist on the Zaccaria steering da mper solved that. The exhaust dragged in turn four, but not enough to cause worries. ' I rode ca utious ly, turning ju st 10 laps and clocki ng a best time of 1:53.85. Cooley had been riding a Suzuki 600 Kata na a ll day wh ile teaching his classes (our test was held in conj un ction with the Wes Cooley Rider Association), but since he 'd broken a bone in h is hand the previous weeke nd a t an .endu rance race in Geor gi a, he ' was no t really up to the task of ridi ng the Clubman. Even so, he went out for four laps, turning a fast time of 1:55. "I love riding this th ing; I can see why chicks get horny on H arl eys," co mmented Wes; But today Mick went fastes t, and he'll be the yardstick for the next stage of the project. Conclusion For a first effort, the Cl ubman Racer is good. Sure, some th ings need to be improved, and they wi ll be before the next time we ven ture to Willow Springs. But a ll the essentia l ingred ien ts are there - th e bike is sta ble at high speeds, handli ng is confidence-inspiring, and it's just plain fun to ridel In the next stage, Carr p lans to mount a Rob North sea t and ta nk (with larger fuel .capacity), Magura levers, Grimeca master cyli nders a nd calipers (incl udi ng a change to dual discs), a nd possibly some di fferen t wheels. All street-going elec trics will be removed, an d a bat tery eli minating tra ns istor ignition is also being consi dered. Cliff is toyi ng with the idea of entering the Club man Racer in a six hour endura nce race at the end of May - we'll let you know how we do... • Wes Cooley guides the Hog through turn three at Willow Springs. Brit Mick Crick recorded the fastest lap - a 1:4 7. 5 5 at over 80 mph average.