Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Slight's and Carl Fogarty's Castrol Honda RC45 comparison Japanese rubber suits the Honda better than the French tires. Okay, time for a slight (ouch!) change of scenery, and a hop on to Aaron's championship runner-up. Right away you notice a difference in the riding position, which is more spacious and rational. There's lots of space to move around on the bike, pushing yourself back to keep the rear wheel on the ground under braking or for improved traction under accelera tion, or forward to weight the front end in the turns. You sit noticeably lower on the Slight Honda, as well, with more steeply dropped bars that allow you to hug the fuel tank with your upper body, feeling much more a part of the bike rather than perched on top of it like on Fogarty's. Basically, it's exactly the same difference as between Kocinski's and Corser's bikes, with Slight helping set the standard for the Australian school of setup; the whole bike feels better balanced. Suspension setup is the exact opposite of Foggy's bike, with a softer front but firmer rear. The back end is lower, 18 from the front tire, which felt pretty planted running into the corner on the brakes. One reason for this might be the extra front-end flex Goodison dialed in by switching to 47mm Showa forks with .thinner-wall stanchions, which give more feel because they deflect more, as well as by jettisoning the massive triplebolt lower triple clamp used last season in favor of a thinner, twin-bolt one that was on the bike when I rode it. Still, the overall effect of the setup wasn't very confidence-inspiring - but if that's how Carl likes it, who am I to argue? This bike won four World Superbike races this season, but the funny thing is ti)at Foggy never had his Ducati setup as extreme as this: It had a muchlower rear ride height and felt far betterbalanced in corners than the Honda. On the Fogarty RC45, there's quite strong initial bite from the Brembo brake package, explaining the stiff front . end to stop undue fork dive, at the expense of a fair bit of weight transfer getting the back end all light and squirrely when you first squeeze the lever hard. After that first bite, though, the brakes seem to fade. And until I worked out how to come to terms with this, I'll admit to a couple of anxious moments. Of course, this is just how Carl likes 'em. What I thought at first was a function of Brembo incredibly no longer making cast-iron discs, but instead fitting stainless-steel ones that don't bite as well, turns out to be a question of rider choice. Carl's emphasis on corner speed means he chooses pads that give a hard initial bite, then ease off, as he buzzes the motor to max out engine braking to drop off any extra speed, without worrying about getting the rear wheel hopping, thanks to tbe sprag clutch. The second of his pair of wins at Assen came after he hooked bottom gear in the three-bike last-corner dustup with Corser and Kocinski, got stopped and turned better than either of the Ducatis, then outaccelerated them to the line. What a star. That meant Foggy had good grip from his rear tire that day, and the 17inch Michelin fitted for our Phillip (Above) The RC45 began the season with the B-spec motor (good), but It was replaced mldseason with the so-called Fspec (phenomenal). (Right) Gettlng the rear end to hook up Is stili a small problem especially with the increased power though It has been much improved through concerted efforts from both Honda and Michelin. Island test worked okay out of slower turns· like MG or Siberia or Honda, at the expense of a couple of scary moments on my final two laps when I tried to max out corner speed and got it sliding when I got back on the gas again. I thought at first the tire might be shot, and though that was a possibility, it's more likely I'd had a firsthand experience of a pair of factors governing Honda handling in '96. One, increasing front-end weight bias with a jacked-up rear end like Fogarty did, invites traction problems, especially over bumps, and two, Michelin's 17-inch rear doesn't have such good side grip as its 16.5- incher both riders ended up predominan~y using for the corner-speed benefits it provided. The Dunlop 16.5 rear I was so enthralled with after riding the Edwards Yamaha has the complete opposite effect - it delivers improved drive on the angle exiting turhs. Interestingly, the Smokin' Joe's Honda that Miguel DuHamel used to win the Daytona 200 and almost took the AMA Superbike Championship with uses Dunlops - and Miguel rides the bike hard on the back wheel, to overcome its inherent frontend chassis problems (see technical sidebar): Perhaps the generally softer, more compliant construction of the Anglo- too, but in spite of using the same Cspec link from the HRC race kit - though stiffer settings are used on the rear Showa than on the Fogarty bike Aaron's RC45 rides bumps better hard on the gas. Overall, the rear end doesn't squat as much and is more compliant while maintaining a more controlled ride height, which also removed the understeer I'd experienced on Carl's bike. The softer fork settings also soak up the bumps better, without unsettling the bike so .much. It was just a much nicer ride all around. That applied in spades to the brakes. Now, I race in a class where corner speed is everything, and comparative

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