Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127788
rid er, though I suppose wrestling a Yoshimura Suzuki one-liter superbike round short circuits as he did last time the famous skele ton leathers were seen in the Trans-Atlantic a decade and a h alf ago does make anything else seem tame. N ot su re wh ere he got the techni que of changing gear by jumping on the shift . lever from about a foot in the air off the seat , though - even if it turned out to be the approved method for dealing with an in creasingly s tiff Triumph ge a rbox. I nearl y rammed him in race one the first time that happened to him coming out of McLeans, bu t then exactly the same thing happe ned to m e a n d h e got p a st m e aga i n. We both beat Hanrahan, but White was just in front, and Kirk had gotten away. Okay - next time. . I made my best start of the da y in race two , bu t wo uldn't you believe there was a multip le pileup at the chicane and they red -flagged the race wi th me leading our group ? Who said racing wa s fair? I tried to do the same at the restart, but this time the others we re wise to me sneaking up the insid e at the firs t turn and I got shut out. Still, I made a comeba ck and pic ked up some pl aces, only Fitzpatrick ran too deep into the chican e and nearly took me out when he rejoined th e t rack. Lost three pla ce s when I backed off to avoid him - Triumph racing is that close . This left me duking it out with Aldana again, both of us grappling with increasingly balk y gearshifts. Some great side-by-side braking battles with "Big A" leave me best off at the flag aftes , Battling fo r top Journali st honors were Alan Cathca rt (99) and Dave Aldana . he drops back in the final two laps: age before beauty. Oka y, one ra ce ea ch . N ow fo r th e decider. Great - this time I elbow my way to th e front of ou r bunch, ah ead too of Shawn Conrad an d British teamsters Francis Williamson and Danny Imberg. I'm getting used to th e Triumph, and learning to tru st the front end enough to keep m y speed up in the turns, even when I·go int o the tum sideways af ter somebody's hit my exh aust pipe an d left rubber all over it, as happened at the chicane on e lap . Thrill s, but fortunately no s p ills. Then the gearbox re all y s ta rts playing up. I come out of the chicane in third, try for fourth gear, and it refuses to shift. The bike will not change gear: no way . Six bikes pass me - count 'em: six! "I could see yo u jumping up an d down on that gearshift, and I knew jus t how you felt," Aldana said . "You need ed a pep-off valv e to rele ase helmet pressure!" Okay, calm down, get a gear, and let' s try to catch them again. Only, now it's hitting a false neutral going into turns, with that horrific chattering soun d as the gears that should be meshing kiss each other and don 't. The last time that happened to ' me on a Triumph, I ended up in the Austrian gravel. So after the third time in one lap of Donington I think better of trying to catch my playmate s again and head for the pits. Pity. Never mind - Trixie Yamaha gave me a conso lation victory in the following Sound of Thunder race, b ut Aldana still won the Battle of the Scribes. Okay, Dave - but I'll get you next time. Bruno Tagliaferri did no t overstate the case: The Triumph Tra ns-Atlantic Challenge was fun, the bikes are fast and handl e w ell , and the rac es were a crowdpleasing spectacle. Build on it for nex t yea r, Triumph. Like John Bloor's bornagain motorcycle company, it's yesterday once more for the Trans-Atlantic Match n Races. The top 13 Superbik~ finishers at Homestead were on Ohlins suspension. Ohlins makes the finest shock absorbers in the world. Pettersson Pro Suspension is the exclusive importer of Ohlins motorcycle suspension components in the United States. We have a huge inventory of the new 1996 models in stock as well as the full line of genuine Ohlins replacement parts, assemblies and springs available for immediate delivery. PPS is a full-service suspension center. With fifteen years of suspension experience we provide uncompromising professional service for nearly every make and model shock and fork on the market. Brand names you can trust, professional technicians and outstanding customer service makes PPS the winner's choice for any suspension needs . . Install Ohlins on your bike and ride with thewinners! P ETTERSSON PRO SUSPENSION 4065 E. La Palma, Unit G Anaheim, California 92807 714-630-4PPS (4777) - -- - - - - .... 25