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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127756
·RACERJESl. Doug Chandler's Harley-Davidson VR1000 IJ.fJerIJjlie By Alan Cathcart Photos by Kel Edge he 1995 racing season wasn't an easy one for America's Superbike team. The works Harley-Davidson VRIOOO squad, led by development engineer Steve Scheibe, suffered several blows after the promise of their debut season in AMA Superbike racing in '94. The foremost of these was losing Miguel DuHamel to Honda - with results that have ensured the French-Canadian's place in U.s. road racing history - after he showed that the Milwaukee-built fuel-injected 60-degree V-twin could run at the front of the pack Replacing him with former U.S. Superb ike champion Doug Chandler, back home after three seasons in 500cc GPs with Suzuki and Cagiva, and expanding the team to include a second rider in the shape of dirt track star and rookie road racer Chris Carr, augured well - especially as hard work by Scheibe's small but dedicated five-man team, now housed in a new race shop some 20 miles away from Harley's Milwaukee factory, had refined and expanded the VR1000's performance envelope. But Harley's '95 Superbike racing prospects failed to deliver. Chandler got injured in someone else's crash in his debut ride for the team at Daytona, sat out the next two races, then struggled to get the VR set up to his liking. By season's end, some observers concluded Chandler had lost interest in the Harley project and was just serving out his time. before jumping ship. Carr applied himself with typical grit to the task of acquiring tarmac skills to match those he already displayed on the dirt, but while Carr had the beating of Chandler down by the end of a season which saw him ride a steep learning curve with honor, this didn't happen overnight. And while Scheibe's team had indeed extracted mOre power from the bike and started paying detailed attention to refining it, rather than worrying about proving the worth of fundamental design parameters as they'd needed to do in their debut season with Miguel, their rivals hadn't stayed still while they did so. With the AMA Superbike series now re-established as the world's premier T G ~ . L!') 0\ 0\ ,.....; N~ N aJ ~ I:< OJ :> o Z 8 (Left) Street and track. On the left is one of the 50 VR1000's manufactured for AMA homologation, on the right is Doug Chandler's race version. (Below) No wallowing here. The Mike Eatoughdesigned aluminum chassis Is as good as ever. (Bottom) Among other changes to the now-quickerrevving powerplant, altered cylinder heads raised output over the '94 version from 142 to 148 horsepower. Cases are said to last a' whole season. National-level four-stroke championship, with a level of competi tion among the four Japanese factories, Ducati and Harley that isn't so far off World Superbike, Harley had a steep hill to climb. With a best race result of seventh (for Chandler at St. Louis), and final 1995 championship placings of 12th for Carr and 15th for Chandler, you might conclude that Harley's efforts to get on terms with Japan Inc. and the Italian Mob in Superbike racing are stalled. You might conclude that - but you'd be wrong. At least, that's my opinion after returning to Harley's local Blackhawk Farms test circuit in rural Wisconsin to ride Chandler's bike; almost ·one ""rJ"·DI~I"NIII'OOO SpecificaIiorIS Engine .. Water-cooled, DOHC 6O-degree V-twin four-stroke with chain camshaft drive and four vaJves per cylinder (39mm inletl33mm eXhaust) Bore x stroke '" 98 x 66mm C8pIcIty 996cc OUlpUt 148 bhp at 10,250 rpm (at gearboX) Compo I'lItIo 12.0:1 Fuel supptyllgnlllon WeberlMarelii electronic fuel injection with one 54mm throttle body and one injector percylinder, and integrated engine-management system GeIrbox 5-speed with gear primary Clutch ..............•.•........... Multiplate dry (8 flber/9 metal) Ch888ls Fabricated atuminum twin-spar SuspensIon Front : 46mm Ohlins inverted telescopic forks ReBr Fabricated aluminum swingann with single Penske shock; 2:1 ratio rising-rate linkage Raker'lrlll 24'l9Omm Wheelb8se 55.5 in. WeIght distribution (front/rW) .....•.........•.•.......53/47% Dry weight 360.8100. BraIclIs Front ..Dual 310rnm WiIwood metal discs with six-piston Wilwoo!l calipers ReBr . .single 210mm steel elise with two-piston Harley-Davidson caliper ._Ion Wheel8IlInls Front 125170-17 Dunlop KR1 06 radial on 3.5O-in. Marchesini wheel Rear 190155-17 Dunlop KR1 08 radial on 6.25-in. Marchesini wheel Top speed , 166 mph (Brainerd) Veer of manulaclure 1994 ·Owner ..........•.....Harley-Davidson Inc" Milwaukee, Wisconsin.