Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TECHNICAL World~amp~ioo~ili~~~~~pe_~_~e_Se_~_s~~~~~~~~~~~~ no t so keen , beca u se o f hi s fast sta rts , but Fred wants to try o ne . We al so ha ve a new close-ra tio gea rbo x whi ch th e rid er s ha ve mixed views o n , with a closer first a nd seco nd rat ios: Monti likes it, bu t Fred 's no t so sur e. " T he bi g prob lem th e tea m ran into a t Oon in gt on was overh ea ti ng - o n a freel ing co ld Eng lis h spring day! exact ly th e sa me trouble th ey encou ntered a t th e sa me meetin g a yea r ag o ; th is tim e, Merkel had to retire from the first race wit h h is engin e boi ling like a kettle. "Gell ing the bikes so lat e mean t we had to run th em as received ," say s Nor ri s, "a nd to be honest th e quality co n tro l o n th e mach ining isn 't a ll it sho u ld be: th ere was a fault o n th e heads a nd cy li nder th a t we cu red fo r J ara ma - but it was a bit sur p ris ing , becau se it was th e sa me fault we had la st yea r! T hey sti ll run a bit hot , bu t the probl em isn 't th e wat er temper aline, it 's the oi l, whi ch was up to 1200 o n Mont i's bik e in Brit a in, a nd tha t obvio usly affects the wa ter too . We brought it down a lot for Spa in by reloca tin g th e o il cooler to th e nose o f the b ike a nd ducti ng it, bu t it still ma y be a problem for lat er in th e yea r once th e wea ther hears up." T he cha ssis is based o n la st yea r's bike in its evo lved form , with th e 15 In In shorter sw ingan n no w in r orp o ra ted wi thou t th e need to cu t and wel d it li ke befor e. H ow ever, th e maj or cha nge is th e filli ng o f Sho wa u p sidedow n fo rks sourced fro m th e '9 0 NSR500 G P bike. whi ch in fact g ive a IS m m longer wh eel base th an before, so restor e the sta tus quo , exce p t th at t he wei g ht h a s been mov ed eve n fu rt her back relat ive 10 the axles, as a result! Perh ap s beca use o f this. a nd Bimota's Tesi 10 is powered by a 964cc Ducati m otor for '91. The en gin e sits in th e bik e's unique ch assis and ha s been ridden by three different riders in '91. a lso beca u se o f th e prob lem s in sell ing up the n e w fo rk s. w hi ch a p pea r impervio us to sma ll adjustments o ne fu ll tu rn on co m p ress io n a p pa rent ly yields no n ot iceab le cha nge, accord ing to th e rid er s! - Foga rt y o p ted to u se hi s 1990 bike a t Doning ton , a nd th e R u m i T eam pla n to swa p to O h li ns fork s for the next race in Am erica. ma inl y because o f th e su pe rio r back-up service a vai la b le at the track (they a lready use O h lins rear s); th ere was no Showa rep in a ttenda nce a t eit her o f th e firs t tw o races. wh ich see ms rem a rkab le. Filled wi th th e Sho wa forks a nd Brem bo steel brak es, Merk el' s '91 RC30 sca les 365 lb. halfdry (aga ins t 159 kg . a t Doning ton for * Comprehensive,collision, and h is seco nd , 1990 machi ne, whi ch had to be balla sted to pa ss mu ster ). hu t o nce Brembo ca n ge t u p 10 speed o n ca rbo n manufacture, th e team pl an to test a h ybrid system as fill ed to th e wo rks Du cari s. Only two problems ; " We h ave 10 be verv ca refu l which side we fi t the steel dis~ to ," says Fa rr ow , " beca u se th e R C30 is basicall y u n ba la nced the center o f gr av ity i; not in th e cen ter line between th e wh eels - it's ac tua lly o ffset 15mm 10 th e left , beca use o f th e ig n ition a nd th e fact th e motor is mo ved o ver slight ly to get th e cha in lin e rig h t! So obvio us ly we ha ve to fit th e carbo n d isc to that side , whi ch will help even u p th e bal an ce of th e bike a n d sho u ld improv e th e ha n dl in g beyond wha t yo u' d expect a nyw a y with the reduced gyro scopi c effect !" H a vin g lost th eir Gi psy sponsorship for thi s season, a n indica tion of th e tight budget the Rumi tea m is o pera ting under th is seaso n was the co n spi cuous absence o f a ny tire wa rm ers in th ei r p it at eithe r race; a t SIOOO a set , th ese a re deemed 10 be a n expe n sive luxu ry th e tea m doesn 't reall y need a n ywa y, beca u se o f th e specia l pro perties o f th ei r P irelli tir es, wh ich warm up m uch qui cker th an o ther makes fro m co ld , due to the spe cia l g laze visib le o n the sh iny Italian rubber wh en new. " It 's a co m b ina tio n of a rel ease age n t to get th e tire o ut o f th e mold , and a so ft o u ter la yer wh ich scrubs o ff a nd exposes th e working surface mo re qu ickly th an o n o ther tires," sa ys Farrow. " P irelli sa ys we don ' t need tire warm er s, a nd since we're tight on b ud get, th at 's one way 10 save." Str ange, bu t tru e . . . H o nda ' s h ol d in g o p era t io n thi s sea so n whi le feverish wo rk on th e R C50 or wh a tever its designation is tak es p lace ma y n o t yield th e success th at th e Big H h as co me to expec t in four-strok e ra cin g ov er th e yea rs. Meantim e , th e q u es ti o n re mai ns unasked : co u ld Ho nda bu ild a Du r a ribeating , ro u nd- pi sto n twin ? RIMOTA: Rack in the Deep End fai by th est o ma ins cli first A fterbirgke tilintog bacnch ethenarrow Worldrf Super tle k in 1988 with thei fuel -inj ect ed , Ya mah a-based YB4EIR. Bimot a is back in SBK wit h a self sponsored wo rks team th is season , runn in g a sing leton T esi 10 with their liability coverage as required bystatelaw. Deductiblesapply to som ecoverages,Validdrive

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