Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.~'" RII)ING 'IMPRESSION: ~ ' Bimota YB9SRI and without any st raight-line wobbles over rough surfaces as bikes with radical race-read y geometry have been known to have. It also doesn't tuck the front wheel under on light mountain turns, even trail-braking into the apex. A key factor in this fine response is the surprising quality of the Paioli forks. Let's face it, until very recently, Paioli suspensi on was budget-class secondbest you only used if price was a factor. Now they' ve moved their de velopment and manufacturing quality up sev eral gears, and Bimo ta customers are the immediate beneficiaries. The 43mm fork s on th e YB9SRI ar e set up pretty then Bimota's biggest supersport rivals just 60 miles up the road in Bolo gn a pinched the YB9's trademark yellow liv t ery for the, 748 desmo. Mayb e th ey're just repaying the compliment! The finish is very good, as you have a right to expect at Bimota p rice lev els, but the fact that ,the custom instrumen t dash is offset to the left (pres umably to mak e the all-important tachometer more visible) looks plain tacky, wo rthy of a special builder, and should be redressed p ronto. I'd also expect to see a d igital temperature gauge on a bike like this, and a little more padding on that racer seat would be welcome - though maybe its board-like quality is all part of th e Ma x factor. Footpeg po sit ion is great, (Above) Exce llent 320mm steel Brembos are used at the fronL (Left) Low bars and a high rear-suspensio n setting made longer st ints In the sadd le an exercise In endurance. (Below) Paloll supplied bo th the fo rk and rear shock. Ad justments at the rear Inclu de rebound and compression damp ing , as well as spring preload and ride height. stiff, so th er e' s not a lot of front-end d ive und er th e h ard b rakin g those Bremb os are capable of. The su rprising thing is that they didn't chatter the front wheel even in the cool winter sunshine, and handled th e broken asp ha lt of the Marche road really well. Ride quality is truly excep tional for a short-wheelbase spo rtbike we ighin g just 385 pounds dry . Th e fo rk s co me only with reb ound ad justm ent as standa rd : compression is available as an option. The P ai ol i rear s h oc k - fully adjustable for preload, comp ression and rebound - also coped well with changes in r oad s urface , and handled with apl omb a series of high-speed whoopd e-doos that have upset the chassis of othe r bikes I've ridden over them. You ca n actu all y feel the progressi ve response of the Bimota linkage at work as you ri se a n d fall ove r a series of bumps that any Irish road race would be proud of . But th e same shock setting combines with the fatter ISO /55 rear tire to give excellen t drive out of turns, at the expense of only a little extra understeer compared to the narrower 160/55 tire us ed on th e carbureted YB9. And the bigger tire definitely d idn 't affect the steering - it still flip-flops effortlessly throu gh a series of curves like a fighter pla ne on autopilot, with embarrassingly little rider effort to make it switch direction. This is a really well-bala nced, nimbl e four -cy li n der fo ur-s t roke, with po ised yet responsive ha ndli ng th e equal of ihe V-twin Ducati 748 - an d I know of no better compli men t in street bike terms. In inezione elettronica guise, th e YB9SRI will be available mai nly in the red of the test bike (yellow continues as an option). That it's the exact sa m e shad e of Italian racing red as a Ducati 916 superbike is a bit of an irony - but and th e gearbox ou tstanding, smooth and sli ck w ith clutchl ess up shifts a cinch. One downside to the EFI was that it didn't seem to have a choke program in it, so that firing up the Bimot a after a ph oto session on Riccione Promenade in barely double-digit winter weathe r left it constantly stalling until the temperatu re needle crep t ou t of the blu e. Solutio n: Pretend yo u're Fas t Fred Bayens and blip the thr ottle to warm the motor up in best paddock-posing mod e. Still, in the natural ab sence of an y choke knob such as the carbure ted YS9 has in the middle o f the fork stem, th e EFI need s to be reprogrammed to compensate. Once you do get the Bimota's ThundeICat engine warmed up, it' ll convince yo u of th e benefit of EFI: a sea m less s p read of power d eli vered in hyper s m oo th manner . The YB9SRI pulls cleanly from just 2000 rpm. Even if you ga s i t wide o pen this low d own, it doesn't splutter or snatch, it just builds rev s - slow ly at first , then with noti ceably fa ster pickup fr om 5300 rpm upward. Then at 7500 rpm, engine sp eed really quickens, with a rush of power up to the 13,000 rpm red -line that isn' t fierce enough to unhook the back w heel, even cranked over on coolish tires. The YB9SRI really motors up high, bu t it cranks out the power smoothly as well as smartly. The EFI deliver s the instant response of a set of flat-slide carbs, without their abruptness. The best of both worlds, really, and well worth the en trance fee to the Bimota owners' club. But it's not just in comparison to its carburet ed counterparts in th e super sport paddock that the new Bimota has an ed g e. It is well -made, wit h no squeaks or rattles from th e three-pi ece bodywork even on this hard-used development bike, and is definitely a more sophisticated a nd well-rounded bike than the first YB9 I rod e two years ago. The im p rove d chassis s peci fica tio n delivers better braking, more tire and uprated sus pensio n. Taut and tight-feeling. the YB9SRI has the responsiveness of a su perbike coupled with the nimbleness of a GP rac er, pack ag ed for th e stree t w ith th e allure th at only Bimot a can d eliver to the four-cylinder sportbike scene. It pr ovid es the new standard for others to aim at in the supersport 600 class, on road and track alike. n Bimota YB9SRI SpecificaIions En9ine .. , , ,. , ., Bore " stroke DispI.ce_ . _ eom",e •• lan I'IItIo ..... _po..er/torq_ F-'/lgnltIon (clelmed) ~ Geartoo" .. , , Chess R /trBlI W _ hilt height S"'pIOn.ion Front R_r , , Uquid-cooled . DO HC . in~ine four-cylinder four-stroke with four valves per cylinder _ 62 x 49 .6mm 599cc , 12.0:1 106@ 12.500 rpm/47 Ib.·ft.@ 10.000 rpm 8ectronic fuel injectio n with four 44mm throttle bodies and integrated ignition .Stx-speed wI multiplate wet clutch _ Twin-spar aluminum 24°/95mm , 55 .1 in. 31.9 in. .43mm conventional Paioli adjusta ble for rebo und damping . 4 .7·in. travel , .single Paioli shock adjustable for spring preload. length rebound and compress ion damping.,5. t -fn. tr avel Brakes Front R_r .. _ Wheel./ti . Front R_r . __ Fuel ca""city Dry weight , Dual 320mm steel Brembo discs with four-piston calipers Single 230mm Brembo disc wit h tw o-piston caliper 120170Z R17 TX11 TL Mi chelin on 3.5-in.-wide Antera cast -aluminum wheel _ 180/ 55ZR 17 TX23 TL M ichelin on 5.5-in.-wide Antera cast -aluminum wheel _ _ _ __ 5.3 gal. _ __ _. . _ _ 385 Ibs.

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