Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

World Championship Superbike Series C01lti 1lued f rom page 22 sa me as last yea r's longer -stroke motor gave in its evo lved version a t th e end o f la st season , with the d ifference that the new engine still has its de velo p me nt cycle a head o f it. Alrea dy, says Philli s, it comes o u t o f tu rns better th an th e o ld bik e, a nd the 39 mm Ila tslide Keih in s now fitted (a nd homologated as stock ) are m uch mor e respon sive th an the 38m m CVs used befo re. T he bike is very cri tica l o n jett in g , th ou gh , says mecha n ic ' Radar' Cu lle n : " We h ad a two -point cha nge bet ween morn in g and afternoon a t j arama, when th e a m bient tem pera ture went from 11° to 17° o n ly, " h e says. " Yo u ha ve to wat ch th e weather as much as w ith a two-st rok e." S i n ce Ka w a sa ki de sig ned th e ZX R750 R as a Su pe rb ike racer ca pab le o f bei ng road -reg istered , as the RC30 a nd awo l were befor e, an d off er a co m pre he n sive race ki t, th e P h illis b ike is rema rka b ly close to wh at the c u sto m er ca n bu y, em p loy i ng ki t p istons, va lves and suc h like, but fitted with a specia l works in let ca ms ha ft a nd va lve sp rings wh ich o ffer mo re li ft a nd co m bi ne with spec ia l head er pipes to im p ro ve midra nge - a n im po rta n t factor w ith a short -stro ke en g in e like th is. Ha vin g th e experience o f last yea r's p rototyp e exha u st to draw o n, the tea m a re ea ge r ly a wa iting th e arr iva l o f the la test versio n o f Ka wa sa ki 's a ns we r to Yam ah a ' s EXU P va ri ab le exh a ust sys tem, kn own as VEM S (Variab le Ex ha us t Managem ent Sys tem, in case yo u wo ndered! ), wh ich wi ll ha ve a fo ur-way sw itc h ena b ling th e rider to select a d iffere nt o pera ting curve via a m icroprocesso r built into th e system . Si nce th e VEMS o ffers The Honda RC30s will be ridden by Fred Merkel, Baldassarre Monti, Niall Mackenzie, an d Carl Fogarty. Merkel an d Monti on Pirellis, th e Brits on Michelins. fiercer acce leratio n - an area w here the Du cat i's ligh ter weig ht is cr uci a l - the Ka wasaki team regard it as their ace in the h o le. hav ing run so far th is season with j ust the non -VEMS k it p ipe fitte d . They a lso n eed to do so me work o n cooling th e engine, in sp ite o f the big radi a to r present ly fitt ed, so ur ced from the 1990 wo rk s '1'1" FI b ike. though running a t over 90° wat er tem p in a warm race Do wn Un der before th e sta rt o f the season d id n 't seem to af fect p ow er o u tpu t u nd u ly. T he eng ine is slotted into a co m p lete ly stock ZX R 750R frame a n d swi nga rrn, th o u gh th e la tter will be repl aced before the n ext race in th e US A. Un like on the cus to mer racers, wh ich u ses Kayaba forks just as P h illi s d id la st yea r, th is year's bik e is fitt ed wi th O h li n s sus pens io n fro nt a nd rea r, simp ly because of th e serv ice ba ck up at SBK ro u nds . cour tesy o f fo rmer rider An de rs Andersson, who head s u p the tea m of tech n icia n s loo kin g aft er no less th an 3 1 of th e 36 sta rters a t th e Spa n ish ro u nd , a ll u si ng the Swed ish co mpa ny 's pro d ucts . O n ly Pe te r Rubatto uses White Po wer fo rk s a nd shock, a n d th e wor ks Ru rni a n d S ilko lene Honda s S howas (a t present, a nyway! ). Phillis li ke the new chassis, which he says steers bett er tha n th e o ld one TECH AL NIC a nd hand les better ou t of fast turns an d slow ones a like. Steering a ng le has been reduced one deg ree to 24.5° with co m me ns urate less trai l, whi le th e wh eelbase is a lso shorter at H20 mrn , Sta ndard wheels are fitted at present (sh od wi th Michel ins ), bu t the team p la ns to tr y a set of th e new Ma rchesin i ca rbo n fiber wh eels, wh ich save 4.9 Ibs. in un spru n g weight jointly, and will enab le th em to sca le right on the 363 lbs. li m it - at pr esent the bike weig hs in a t 366 Ibs. wit h a lternator a nd starter motor fitt ed - but wi ll a lso speed u p th e st eer ing eve n m o re, than ks to the reduced gyroscopi c effect. 320 mm front d iscs a re fitt ed , mat ed with th e lat est vers io n o f Nissins sixp iston ca lipers , thoug h n ew ro to r mat er ia l was em p loyed a t j ara ma to co u nte r wa r p i ng prob lem s e x pe rien ced at Don ing to n. Ph illis u sed th e rea r 200 m m br a ke hea vil y, to kick o u t th e ba ck en d ex iting turn s: yu p , it 's good to wa tch, too . . . For su ch a comp letely n ew b ike, th e s h or r-s trok e Ka wa wo r ke d we l l stra igh t out of th e box - for me r Du cati test rid er Massimo Bro ccoli sco red p oints a t j a ra ma o n h is firs t ever rid e a board hi s kiued custo mer b ike, a fter event ua lly sorti ng out a tro u bleso me rear suspe ns io n problem wh ich see ms to be th e b iggest di fficu lty encou n tered b y mos t privat eer s in sell ing th ei r new ZXR 750Rs u p j ea n -Michel Mattio li a lso found th e sa me p ro blem . Bu t Ka wa saki loo ks to have deli vered the goods wi th the Rtype, a lso know n as th e j -mode l (o ff ic ia l Ia ctor y des ig na tio n is ZX750j I) - no jok es, pl ease. Onl y time , a nd th e Du ca tis, will determine if it ca n be a wi n ner at the top level. ONLY ONE MOTORCYCLE IN THE WORLD COMES WITH BUILT-IN INSURANCE.

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