Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·R C RTE A E sr Aaron Slight's Honda RC45 6 All of which might explain the su rp rising revelation that after countless expe rim ents with altered cha ssis geometry, the team reverted to the standard RC45 se tti n gs on Aaron's bike at th e start of the seaso n, and haven't chan ged an ything sin ce. Tha t' s right - no boredou t headstock, 3Omm-longe r swingann, lifted- u p rear rid e height or radical offsets - especially not after Mis ano when he w as fin all y persuaded to try so me new Showa stu ff, and fou nd th e bi ke u nridable. Instead, it' s ba sically now a rac erized ro ad bike, an d that's ho w it feels to sit on, complete with rational riding position tha t's quite spacious and off er s very balanced feel, without too much weight on you r arms. Rear ride height is noticeabl y low by racing stand ards , which Slight prefers becau se h e' s su ch a hard, lat e b raker. ."Losing th e carbon brakes was a real setba ck ," say s Slight, "because yo u co u ld co n tro l eve ry th in g better and ther e was more in reserve for emer gen-' cies. But in some places I realized it was better to brake earlie r an d carry more co r ne r s peed in to th e tu rn , so I've cha nged m y style enou gh to where the metal br akes are n't so much of a problem. " Of co urse, by m y sta n dards those cast-iron Brembo d iscs are not only the ideal wet-weather brakes, they also give great feel and goo d respo nse when you squeeze h ard in the dry, as I could in the la st of m y three sessio ns o n a tra ck which now had enough dried-out .lines in it to get a good idea of how the bike wou ld handle. With the front p art of the chassis still heavily br aced to stop flex, it is extrem ely stable under hard br aking, . th an ks partly also to Aa ro n' s balanced setup. Even so, I cou ld n' t really tell if the RC45's biggest handicap in '94 had been cured - its ride qu ality over bumps, where it liked to try to tu ck th e fro n t end under. But within the limitations of the tra ck condi tions, it steered and han d led rea lly well, with pinpoint steeri ng d ow n th e fa st sweepers of C r a n er Cu rves, where understeer wou ld ha ve be en a p r ob lem b e fore. Dire ct ion al chan ges in the chican e were particularl y easy on th e Honda, wh ere th e m ore co m p a ct ma s s o f th e V-fo u r engine, compared to an in-line four you have to work harder, must pa y off. Get hard on the gas wh en you see a dry line exiting Red gate an d - its tru e! - the understeer I complained of befor e is gone. I must h ave been sitting on the bik e in Pol en pose before, not following the Slight system ... (Above) In their pointed search for midrange power, the team adopted a twin-silencer exhaust with good results - and the added benefit of passing the noise test more easily. (Right) The all-new 37mm Showa forks are 4mm larger than last year 's and played a big role in the overa ll handling Improvmenl (Below) The brains of the outfit reside under the seal The four controls for the ER are found here, thoug h the team rarely needs to alter the settings anymore. The im provements th at HRC' s 18man RC45 developmen t team, under the watchful eye of chief engineer Tamotsu Yarnanashi , ha ve wrou ght on the works Superbike th is season will certain ly have satisfied the new boss of Honda's ra cing d ivisi on, HRC v ice pre sident Suguru Kanazawa - for the simp le reaso n that he was the chief designer of the bike in the first place! But he' s not completel y s atis fie d . " Finishing in se co n d p lace is n ot Honda' s aim, Alan- san, " said Kanazaw a when 1 com p lim ented him on Cra far 's so lid second in th e first race at Assen. "We must keep tr ying h ard er to give our rid ers th e best equipment, so th ey can help us ach ieve our tru e aim of winning the Wor ld Ch ampion ship." Know what? In '96, wi th Sligh t joined by Fogarty to m ake Superbike racin g's dream team, they just migh t. f~ A b ig facto r in thi s handling improvement w as the com pletely new, 4mm-fatter, 37m m forks which Showa p rod uced for 1995. These not only offer re duced sti ction, but a lso track much better and hold the line properly over bumpy surfaces, says chassis specialist Tony Ma xwell - who, like Benson an d Aaron's chief en gin eer Adrian Gorst, is a member of th e "krazy Kiw is" New Zealander m echanic m afia th at Tuxworth can nily recruited to look after his pair of Kiwi rid ers . Th e all- new Showa rear shock was also up to scratch, says Maxw ell, thou gh the rid e-height se tting for the .RC45 is critical. Just a one-millimeter differ en ce in ride heigh t ha s a maj or effect on traction . "We we nt testing here at Don ington in midseason and got an improved rea r shock that worked reall y w ell on bumpy comers, giv ing im proved traction. We also reva lved th e forks, a nd Michelin starte d to come u p w ith th e righ t tires for ou r bi ke, so it all came togeth er at last. Look how well the bikes h andled a t Phillip Isl and, w hich is a re all y fast but quite bump y ci rc uit wh ere high -speed and low-s peed dam ping are critical. " Honda RC45 Specifications Engine _ _ liquid-cooled. DOHC . go-degree V -four four -stroke with gear camshaft dnve and four valves per cylinder Bo.. x stroke 72 x 46mm Diepte_ _nt 74 8 cc Output _ _ 160 bhp at 14.750 rpm F sy_ Honda-PGM FL electronic fuel injection wtth (4) 46mm throttle bodies Ignition _. .N ippondenso digital electronic COl Gearbox 6-speed with HRC speed-shifter and gear primary drive Clutch _ 9-p late Oil-bath spraq-type Chassis Extruded aluminum twin -spar Frame with cast steering head and swingarm piv ot Suspension Front Rear Head ang le Trail Wheelbase : Weight Weight distribution, front/rear Brakes Front Rear Wheels/tires Front Reer Top speed Owner . _ .47mm Showa invert ed tele scopi c forks Cast-aluminum Pro-Arm single-sided swi ngarm with ProUnk nsinq-rate linkage and sing le Sh owa shoc k 22 .5 " Not available 56 .3 in. (as test ed) 356.4 lbs . w ith oil/w ater, no fuel _ 54 /46 % Dual 320mm Brembo cast -iron discs with Brembo four-piston caliper Single 1gOmm Honda steel disc with tw o-pi ston Bremb o caliper 12/60-17 Michelin radial on 3.75- in. Marchesini wheel 18/67-17 Michelin radial on 6.00-in . Marchesini wheel 184 mph (Hockenheim) Honda Racing Corporation. Saitarna. Japan

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