Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Harley-Davidson VR1000 - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - (Right) Naked Hog: The twin-s par aluminum frame is American built, like the bulk of the VR1 000's components . (Below) Velocity stacks for the WeberMarelli fuel injec1ion are nestled tightly betwee n the 60degree V-twin's dohc cylinder heads. . (Bottom) Originally used as a cost-sa ving measure, the Wilwood steel discs and six-piston calipers offer nearly equal stopping power and better feel than the outlawed-for-'95 carbon brakes. spee d gearbox to replace the sweet-shiftin g five -speeder the VR1000 cu rre ntly em ploys, so be it. Scheibe is right to ask, "Why six?" at this stage of the eng ine's develop ment, and it's certa inly tru e that on so me tracks Du cat i ride rs ha ve the lu xury of bein g able to gea r their bikes to use five or even on ly four of the avai lable six ratios. The VR's evenly space d gear ratios are idea l for such a torquey, forgiving mot or which invites yo u to short-shift whe re appropriate (especially if yo u have tr oubl e h itti ng th e lever cra n ke d ove r aro u nd left-h and e r s th anks to the low buil d), but I reserv e judgem ent on whethe r a six -s peeder migh t not be approp riate once they get the engine leve l wit h Duca ti's desm oderived power ou tp u t in the 155-bhpplu s are na . As it is right now , you have to force yo u rself not to cha nge gear as often as with a peakier, less pu nchy bike and to hold a sing le gear through a seq uence of turns, maxing out th e benefits o f th at hyper-friendly, yet potent, pow er del ivery . Maybe the fact you need to chan ge gea r much less often than other super- bikes is the reason the VRI000 doesn' t ye t h ave a sp eed s hifte r fitted , b u t it really wo uld benefi t fro m it, es pecially wit h the ext ra engine inertia com pa red to a Du ca ti or a Jap ane se four. A nd they've all go t them . No matt er tha t the H arl ey ' s s hift action is so cr is p a nd cle an, a llowing p e rfe ct clu tchl es s ch a nges u p w ard s. The fac t th a t you ha ve to back on and off th e th rot tle, even for a moment, to do so, is a def inite han d icap on such a lusty mot or, and I reckon there's up to 0.5 sec. in lap .time b ein g sacrificed h ere . Get w ith i t, Ha rley, you' ll get a surprise whe n yo u fit one for the team guys to use. H arl ey-D a v id son ' s ac hiev me n t in producing such an ind ividu al ye t effective bik e an d ge tting it right on the pace in its first yea r of competit ion can' t be oversta ted . Wi th a na rro we r cy lin d e r a ng le th an th e 90-de g ree s of Du ca ti /Guzzi twins, the VRI0 00 feels like a Harl ey to ride, because nothing else in the per formance streetbike world has such a close-together firin g order. Okay - no shake, ra ttle and ro ll like from a 45-d egree V-twin Iron Ma id en H-D , nor even the more comfo rting vibes of an alloy Evo motor . But throw a leg over the YR, sit tight while the starting att end ant s ta rts an B-h p Briggs & Stra tton mot or d riving a wheelbarrow tire, and yo u'll kn ow its a Harley when it bursts to life. The skinny fairing's tall, cu rve d screen is extremely aerod yn amic, allow ing you to tu ck yo ur helmet beh ind it d o wn th e s tra ig h t, wh e re a 916 /95 5 Du cat i' s cu rva ceous fairi ng ex poses yo ur head and shoulders to a good blas t of air, an d is less effective . The ch unky h andl eb ar rubbers a re trad em ark H-D (only not smooth ), one of man y minor details that remi nd yo u this is no t an Italian V-twin. But the 50 street- legal VRI000 road b ikes, fitt ed wit h lights, elec tric sta rte r, lower-co rnp ress ion 10.7:1 p is ton s, a n alloy fuel tank instead of a carb on -fiber one, but othe rw ise the exact sam e mech an ica l speci fications as the racer, that are being com pleted before the end of this year for custo mer sale, will ho pefu lly be just the fir s t batch H arl ey need s to build to hom ol o ga te th e VRI000 for World Superbike competition. By 1996, the earliest they can be ready, the VR's re al promise co u ld turn into World -level success . Wait and see. l~ Harley-Davidson VR1000 ~ _'o_ns 18 Bu t in spite of the Austrian-mad e Pankl titan iu m conrods and the pairs of very large 39m m inlet valves and 33mm exha us ts, all titan ium as we ll (by compa rison , the 96mm -bo re 955 Du cati has on ly 37m m inlets ), there seems to be more in ertia in th e VR engine th an in the Italian desmo, so that it doesn' t pick up revs quite as quickly, nor deliver the kind of top- end powe r that ri sks unhookin g the bac k wheel if yo u p ress the trigger too hard, too soo n. An d neither d oes th e Harley h ave the Worl d Champion Ducat i' s lO,OOO- rp m-plu s s uper- pow e rband , whi ch fr an k ly is wha t allows it to wipe the floor wi th 160 bhp Japanese fou rs. I'd say the Harle y's crankshaf t could do with being ligh ter, so as to accelera te the eng ine more qu ickly, and they need more radica l cam profiles to go hunting fo r m o re top-end p ow er, a nd to u se more revs. The 98 x 66mm engine is safe to 10,800 rp m at least, says Schei be, so let's use it, especially as Du cati's 96mmbo re 955 has the same stroke bu t revs to 12,000 rpm whe n fitt ed wit h tita ni u m va lves . And if that means fitt in g a six- ~~-,-:-:-:- -=-..,.----:-:--:-:-,-,---:-;---:::-:--:----:--::-:-;-- Water-cooled dohc 6O-degree V-twinfour-stroke w~h chaincamshaft drive andfour valves percylinder (39mm inlet/33mm eXhaust) Dimensions . . , : .98 x 66mm capacity 996cc Output 142bhp at l 0,250 rpm (at gearboX) Compression ratio 12.0:1 WeberlMarelii electronicfuel injecti n with one 54mm throttle body and o Fuelsuppiy(l!Inltion one injector percylinder, and integrated engine-management system Gearbox 5-speed with gear primary Clutch Multiplate dry(8 fiberl9 melal) Chassis Fabricated aluminum twin-spar Front: 46mm Ohlins inverted telescopic forks Suspension Rear: Fabricated aluminum swingann with single Penskeshock 2:1-ratio rising-rate linkage Headangle 24 degrees Trail 9Omm (3.54in.) 141Ornm (55.5 in.) Wheelbase Weight d1atrtbut1on . . , .53147 % Weight 361 pounds BnIIIes . . , , Front 2 x 310rnm Wliwood metal discs w~ six-piston WIIwood calipers Rear: 210rnm steeldisc with two-piston Har1ey-Davidson caliper WheeIsIlIres Front: 125170-17 Dunlop KR106 radial on 3.50-11. Marchesini wheel Rear. 190155-17 Dunlop KRl08 radial on 6.25-10. Marchesini wheel Top speed 166mph (BraineId) V.... of manufIctIn , .. 1994 Owner , , .~ Inc Milwaukee, WISCOIlSil ., Engine

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