Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 01 11

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - racing division - yet the performance of the equally new RC45 Superbike in U.s. co m p etitio n this past season was eq u alled , if not overshadowed, by the VRI 000 Harley. Even Ducati, on a more limited bud get, d oesn ' t do things by hal ves - as witness, the bevy of red-jacketed "ingegnerl" in a ttenda nce at any h om e ro u nd of the World Superbike Cha mpionship they've just won for the fo u r th time . But it took Duca ti four years from the time the "otto va lvole" first ran in public to tum it into a World Champion - ye t here Harley has the YR1000 right on the pace in its first season of racing: an y bike that can come from seventh to first aga inst a field of wo rks superbikes, as DuHamel d id at Braina rd this year, before he ran off the track and wound up fourth, is competitive. Ridin g the VR at Blackh awk, I found ou t wh y. I've been lucky enoug h to ride every label of works superbike racer in th e past h a lf -d o ze n yea rs , an d t he Harley is unquestionably the bes t ha ndling of all of them. For a start, it's been buil t to size: the 6O-degree motor allows a mo re compact pac kage tha n a 90 degree Ducati, for examp le, but th at' s not a ll. Un like Ca rl Foga rty's worldtitle-winni ng 916, which is much s lim mer and dainti er than its four-cylinder competition, the Ha rley is low as well as narrow. Straddling it feels like hopping on an over sized 250cc GP bike - a 350, maybe - without e ve n th e broad but shallow fuel-cell sectio n of the one-piece carbon-fiber sea t/ tank unit givi ng any im pression of bul k. The VR's wei ght feels contained, and carri ed low down, 'which in tu m makes it easy to flick from side to side in a chican e, w hile also inc reasing stability in fas t turns - hit a bum p cranked over at speed, and the VR just sh rugs it off. It s tee rs beautifully , with ve ry' n eu t ral geomet ry, so that on the brakes it neither tip s too su dden ly int o a tu rn, nor has to be wrestled onto its side. Whil e und e r power o n th e w ay out, it goes wh ere yo u point it and doesn 't u ndersteer at all. The rear sus pe nsion design puts the power down really we ll ou t of turns, eno ugh to thrash the rea r tire in an afternoon's rid in g, while the round profil e of the front Dunlop fitte d is surely a factor in the neu tral steering. And with twins n ow requir ed to scale th e same as fou rs in Ll.S, Superbike racin g after the AM A mov ed th e goal pos ts h alfw ay through the 1994 season. th e Harley is he avy eno ug h at one p ound ov er th e 360 -pou nd lim it to ride o ut Blackh awk's many bumps witho u t ge tting ou t of shape. The Penske s hoc k a nd la te -mode l 46mm Ohlins fork (wh ich' replaced the origina l Penskes until the Ind ycar tea m ha s mo re time to wo rk on the m) h ad idea l settings, thou gh I would have p referred a little more ri de heigh t at th e rear to give my feet and legs more room to o pe ra te in w hen the VR's cranked hard over, so long as it wo uldn't u p set the s teer ing geo me try too m uch . DuH am el is ab ou t six inches shorter than me, and while I could fit su rprisingl y well on the well-pad d ed , comfy seat, I also know th e reason the VR' s bodywork with its split-perso nality, an d w eird -H a rol d pa int sc h e me, only .extends halfway down the flanks of the bik e: if it were a ny lo nge r, you ' d be scraping the fairing in turns, with such a low, ni mb le-h and ling bike. It's the first time I've ridden a bike where I need ed shin-sliders on my leathers... Then, to put the finishing touches to this. outs tand ing handling package frankly, more GP-inspired than superbik e - there are th e b rakes. Phew. I'll (Right) At speed in Wis consin. Purposebuilt eng ine and com pact construction provide a low center of gravity that makes for quick handling. (Below) Distinctly American styling looks like noth ing else on the Superbike circu it. The fairing lacks a lower section for increased ground clearance . ad mi t I never heard of Wilwood before Ha rley go t them to make st oppers for the YR, but with carbon br akes banned at both World and AMA Superbike leve ls next season, I'll bet H-D won't be alone in using their products in 1995. Scheibe made a policy decision fro m the outset n o t to u se carb on brakes - too costly, for minimal performance gain and this has proven to be a smart move, if only b e ca u se of the yards that Du Ham el coul d still make under brak- ing all season long - and not jus t against novice black-brakers like I was in racin g term s at Daytona. . T h e si x-pi sto n calipers Wilwood developed for the bike have tremendous feel , so yo u can just s troke the b rake lever with a finger to scru b off a little unwanted spee d in a turn, yet when you s qu eez e hard at the end o f th e main s tra igh t, y ou ' ll have the back wheel w aving in the air very quickly. There isn't quite the b it e of a carbon setup once they 're warmed up, but the advantage of the 310mm metal Wilwood discs is tha t they wo rk instan tly and a re almost as effective. Just don't be tem pted to use too much engine braking, and do n't ever use the rear brake, else yo u' ll have the back wheel hopping into turns w hile you try to rem ind yo urse lf that (a) th is is not a desmo , so wa tch the rev s, a n d (b) it doesn't h a ve a sp rag- ty pe ' cl u tc h, w hi ch I m ust say I th ink it s ho uld . Ducati eventually fo ll owed Honda in adopting such a clutch design, and their riders' lap times dropped dramatically when they did. I bet the Harley riders' times would, too . But it was impossible to criticize the Harley's chassis package, a fact I was relieved to learn DuHamel agrees w ith: they haven 't to uched th e geometry or suspension settings since the begi nning of the seaso n, becau se it w orks jus t so, . the way it is. Okay, so it handles ideally, and stops very well: wh y hasn 't the VRI0 00 won any ra ces yet? Answer: the missin g 15 horsepow er yo u feel the bike lacks compa red to its rivals wh en you rid e it. Do n ' t ge t m e wrong: this is no s lo wcoach su pertwin - Brainerd proved that - on ly that there isn't th e zap yo u get fro m a 955 Ducati when yo u twist the w rist, an d even the customer 926 Du ke feels more potent tha n the Harley in its p resen t guise. The VR right now feels m o re li ke a su per-streetbike th an a . Su p e rbike : it ' s extre mely tr acta b le, pulling cleanly from righ t off the tacho 400 0 rpm or so u p th en comin g on strong fro m 6000 rp m o n. Th e powe r and torqu e curves are inc re d ib ly fla t, with max torque of 79 ft.-Ibs . delivered at 8000 rpm, and peak power of 142 bh p delivered at the clutch shaft a t 10,250 r p m , resulting in a n engin e t hat is torquey and forgiving, rather than rad ically po tent, as a bik e must now be to aim for top honors in the four-stroke GP class tha t Superbike ra cing has now become. The Harley is p leasan t and smooth to rid e - th e 1.75-p ou nd co u n terbalan cer fitted to th e 60-degree V-tw in motor more than ea rns its keep, eliminating unwan ted vibration whi ch would otherwise dictate thicker, heav ier engine cast in g s: wo nd er h ow John Britten ge ts awa v without a balance shaft on his 60deg;ee V-twin racer? - and has the sharp pick-up and responsive throttle action of any bike fitted with Weber /Marelli fuel inject ion (thou gh unlike a -Du ca ti, the VR only has a sing le, bigger injector per cylinder, rather than two smaller ones). 17

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