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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127754
project. One thing I'd noticed was that the Honda's pickup out of a tum seemed even more smooth but no less vivid than in previous years. The throttle response was SO delicate and precise, it could lead you to believe your were riding a fuelinjected bike - and I wasn't. How come? "The changes we made to the 1995 model NSR500 were aimed at improving the bike's power delivery and usability, according to Doohan-san's wishes," said Hattori. "We also tried to improve the balance of the bike, and the feel the chassis gives back to·the rider." To do this, Honda made a surprising change to the NSRSOO frame package. Rigidity is everything on a GP race chassis, right? Wrong. The new swingarm introduced for '95 was designed to be less stiff in a lateral direction than its predecessor, while more stiff torsionally - as well as up and down. The aim, says Hattori, was to get an im proved contact patch for the rear tire as well as extra feel for the rider under hard acceleration, in search of the improved balance factor. "Ten years ago, we always sought more power from the engine, but now it is the way the rider can use that power which' is more important," he says. "It's the same with the chassis: We kept making Eddie Lawson's NSR500 stiffer and stiffer the year he won the World Championship for Honda in 1989, but still it wouldn't handle properly. So now HRC engineers understand that balance is most important, and if that means the chassis must actually be made less stiff, we must do that." In other respects, the '95 NSR500 chassis was essentially the same as the (Lett) The swlngarm was sp!cially designed to flex m~re In the lateral direction than In the past for better compliance when heeled over. (Above) Though HRC claims to be In search of quality power, rather than quantity, the NSRSOO stili pumps out nearly 200 horsepower. '94, in keeping with Doohan's desire for evolution, not revolution. But the emphasis on high comer speeds that Doohan's riding style dictates led HRC to try to improve front-end grip, with completely new internals for the 43mm Showa forks, as well as a meatier lower triple clamp that extends down the fork leg - like Antonio Cobas made for Alberto Puig's Team Pons NSR last year - to make·the front end stiffer. I got a surprise when I came to ride the bike, which was the very same one that Doohan had ridden to fourth place the day before, with red numbers, whereas the other one with a set of blue number ones was in fact Criville's race winner fitted with Doohan body work. Doohan has a quite distinctive riding position, close-coupled with the bars quite steeply angled, which allows him to throw a fair bit of body weight on to the front wheel by crouching over the tank in turns. Previous NSR500s I've ridden while he's been on the team had a flatter handlebar location making for a more upright stance - maybe Itoh's bikes wearing the clothes off Doohan-san's NSR? Doohan also uses notably soft suspension settings, as part of his aim to get the bike handling in a smooth and balanced fashion into turns. You can feel the front tire's behavior better than on any 500cc GP bike I've ever ridden, and that includes other Hondas, with every ripple in the track surlace transmitted to the rider back through the bars. Uncanny. On one lap I got too deep into the tum at the end of the short back straight, and as I was forced to start working the front tire more to pull the bike back on line, I could honestly feel the way it started to squirm and protest a little as I explored the outer limits of the envelope of grip. This was a compliment to MiChelin and Showa as well as to crew ·chief Jerry Burgess, the man who translates Mick's wishes and feedback into the right setup. Phew! I was glad I got away with that ohe, though: Imagine being the one to deck an NSR500 with a handful of hacks standing hungrily in the pits waiting to devour the guy who deprived them of their ride. Doohan's search for a relatively softly damped, balanced chassis package has rubbed off on other Honda riders, if only for the reason that HRC's development of the NSRSOO has naturally been targeted at satisfying their top rider's wishes. It makes sense for the others to follow the same setup, even if it means altering their own riding style to suit. Criville is the best example of this. "Two years ago when I started to ride the 500 Honda, I liked a stiff suspension setup to make the bike feel more like the 125 and 250cc GP bikes I was used to racing," said a watching Criville at the Catalunya test day. "1 also had the back end set quite high for the same reason, and to try to imp~ove front-end grip when I braked deep into the apex of a turn. But then I came to realize that Mick's way of riding the bike is much better - he doesn't brake so hard or so late as other riders, but he has the suspension set up quite soft and with the bike balanced (that word again) at both ends. That way he can carry a lot of corner speed into the turns, and make the suspension work to iron out any bumps smoothly. I try to do the same now, but the only difference is the way we each use the rear thumb brake - I have one fitted to my bike, too. Mick uses it entering the turn, to get the bike set up right on the way in and adjust his comer speed, whereas I use it in the middle of the corner, just to pull the bike upright a little and use the fat part of the tire for a good, hard drive out of the turn." So what began as an emergency measure to allow Doohan to use the rear brake he relies on more heavily than most other riders, in spite of his damaged right leg, 'has now become a standard fitting for works Honda riders. Tadayuki Okada even uses one on the NSR250. I can't truthfully say that I came to terms with using it in the approved Doohan manner during my meager five laps, though I did try following the Criville course and it works - especially cranked over in a right-hander where you'd have a job to use a foot pedal for the rear brake (the dual setup was specially fitted by Honda for the test day: Mick and Alex normally don't have a foot brake) to pull the bike upright for an early drive out of the tum. With more practice, I'm sure it would become an asset. You don't need more practice to appreciate how good the latest spec Brembo carbon brakes are on the NSR500. It's just a case of them being fantastic. Once warmed up (best done by dragging the brake down the front straight as you exit the pits), they deliver much more sensitivity than any other "black" brakes I've tried before. But they still provide the same anchors-out stopping power at minimal lever effort, allied with reduced gyroscopic effect to' make the bike steer and change direction more easily. For a 500cc GP bike capable of harnessing almost 200 bhp, the Honda is almost nimble, it handles so well. If I went into a turn With a little too much speed, a light touch on the lever was all it needed to slow the bike down and get back on line to the point that 1 forgot I was riding with carbon brakes, which aren't usually so sensitive. The secret is in the new rna teriaL Brernbo sourced this year from Mitsubishi in Japan, says Jerry Burgess. "Mick's not a hard braker, but even so, the fact we got through the whole season with just two disc changes is pretty remarkable," he says. "The new material operates at much lower temperature than before - 230 degrees rather than 280 degrees - so that accounts for the same feeling as a metal brake, while delivering the extra stopping power. We-don't ever use disc -covers any more to keep up operating heat, and pads last much longer as well, though we do take care to clean the dust away very thoroughly after every outing. But the Mitsubishi material makes carbon brakes an option for any level of racing - even Superbikes!" Grand Prix constructor and team owner Steve Harris listened in amazement: "We spend 1400 pounds every three to four races on a new set of discs," he says, "and 400 pounds every race on pads. This stuff is a great cost saving once it becomes readily available next season." The improved brakes are an example of the many detail refinements that Honda wrought on the NSR last season, while at the same time discarding some of its more-creative high-tech developments, like the PGM F1 fuel injection Itoh raced with throughout 1993 and early in '94; the water injection to vary exhaust