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/127838
time. New cylinders, didn't get them. New pistons, didn't get them. Little Kenny's bike is running the same pis-. tons, cylinders, and crankshafts that he I had in Malaysia." The engines which were used on the Asian swing will likely never be used again, at least not as is. The new crankshafts will be assembled differently, hopefully to cure the reliability problems. There will be new cylinders and pistons in Jerez. And it won't stop there. Roberts has said all along that one of the I main attractions to building his own r machine was that he could react quickly to change. The Hondas have a new firing order, Suzuki is known to be experimenting with several new firing orders, now Roberts says that he, too, will have different crankshaft timing very shortly. "We'll be experimenting with that stuff tremendously," Roberts said "The engine we're using now may not be the one we're using six or seven months from now. If we decide it needs another design, we'll put that in. The changed firing order will be in within.a month. We're going to offset it a little bit. Offset the two cylinders that fire together." New, more efficient bodywork is also being developed after the team spent a day wind-tunnel testing in England. "When we got in the wind tunnel we were surprised," Roberts admitted. , What they discovered is that "it's not as good as we hoped it would be." The new bodywork won't be ready for Jerez on May 4, but should be soon after. "It's expensive, but we'll have a dif~ ferent shape real soon," Roberts said. "And have one after that." So that the machine that finishes the season may not resemble all that closely the maChine which begins the season, unlike the rival Japanese factories. Right now, though, they're still playing catch-up for having missed the winter testing season. "The biggest problem is that the riders haven't had enough time to get the machine to go around corners faster," Roberts said of what should be one of the team's main advantages. Instead the riders have some of the same complaints they had with last year's Yamahas. "That's what I'm not happy about. It's no one's fault. We're a sponsored team, not a manufacturer's team." Now that the crush of the Asian leg of the tour is over, the team returns to their home base in England where they enjoy a greater sense of stability. Roberts hopes to begin an extensive test program as soon as possible. "We need a test bike, maybe two. We need time to develop the test bike." Though they're not as far off as many people had thought. "We're 10 K's (6.2 I mph) down, but only on the four-<:yliilder Yamahas. For the first time out that's kind of hard to believe. The firing order, pistons, with all that stuff we'll be able to see more clearly where we are." It has been less than a year since work began in earnest on the project and each milestone gains the team greater credibility, though Roberts admits he's heard from the detractors. "You've got jealous people who don't have a clue what it is to build a motorcycle," he says, adding that their motives may be personal. "Experts said it couldn't be done. It caught a lot of people by surprise. Quality people were I surprised it's going to be competitive." r "We can make a Honda with our eyes shut. Anybody can do that. I could make a Yamaha tonight. I don't want to be just as good. I want to go in my own direction and be better." 0\' Book &Dndas take lonopah 300 Best In The Desert-Silver State Series-Rd. #1 Tonopah, Nevada • March 29 Donnie ·Book and Dave Ondas, riding their Maxima lubricated Team Green Kawasaki, topped the field in the Tonopah 300, proving that for performance, protection and reliability-nothing outlasts SuperM 2-cycle oil!