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/128085
e dged re vs fro m a ro un d 10,000 rpm up w ard , i t does h a v e a re latively smooth transition in to the powerba nd, which ma kes it less fraught to rid e reasonably har d , while driving well ou t of o ne of the Je rez hai rpins from an improbably low 7000 rpm. Willing says Ken n y even runs the engine as low as 6000 rp m with no fuss . Bu t to begin w ith, I made the mistake of exiting the tight last tum onto the pit straight in too Iow a gea r, so that just as I straigh tened up, the eng ine would hit peak tor qu e at aro un d 11,800 rpm, and the fron t w heel would reach for the sky in the bottom th ree gea rs as I gra ppled in vain to pers ua de it g ro u n dwa rd . Short-shifti ng only made it wo rse, as well - and sta nding on the footres ts a nd trying to load up the fron t wh eel with my bod yw eight only helped a little. "Very spec tacu lar, but also a wa ste of ti m e!" s a id Wa r re n W ill in g w h en I sto p pe d fo r ad vice on how to combat this. "In fact, yo u' re u nder-revving it, so yo u' re riding the fat part of the torqu e cu rv e and s hifting u p a t peak p ow er, which only mak es the same thing happen ag ain. Th at' s why the overrev we go t fro m Bm o onwards was su ch a key ingredient. You need to us e that to fall off the torque cu rve, and kee p shiftin g gears a t high rpm, which will give you better drive and make the fro n t wheel stay on the grou nd." And - kn ow what? He's righ t! Screaming the semi-big-bang eng ine to around 13,500 rpm gave better d rive a s well as more co nt ro l - well, every thi ng' s rel ative w he n yo u d on't ra ce a modem Gr an d Pri x for a living, so le t' s ju s t say I felt less threat ened wi th th e cha nce of loopi ng th e loop. Worth noting, too, Ken ny u ses the particul ar sea tpad he uses to help pu sh his w ei g ht forw ard und e r accele ration , with out crea ting any extra ins tab ility by usin g th e han dl eb ars to lever himself forw ard . Still gets pretty frisky when you twis t that wris t, thou gh - and I can und erst and w hy Warren Willin g says the rider' s positi on on the sea t is so critical - Aoki sits just 30m m fu rt her back than Kenn y, and appa ren tly requires a completely d ifferent setu p as a result. Once I'd go tten over that little learn ing cu rve, only one real weak ness in the Suz uki's handli ng package re mained its performan ce u nder br aking . lt sto ps fi ne, wit h th e Brem b o carbon discs d oing a good job o f ha uling it d o wn from high speed - but the way the bike moves abo ut as it d oes, with the back wheel wa ving aro und in the air even in spite of my extra kilos com pared to KR, is d istinctly u nnerving. In spite of the balanced feel to the bike's setup, there was a lo t more weig ht tra ns fer th an I was expecting, and this made it hard to pick a line for the tum you were braking into. While I suppose you eventually get used to the feeling that you'll no t get it slowed down enough to stop in time, I did n' t get a lot of confidence b rakin g hard aboard the Suzuki during my 20 laps on the bike - even if I used the back bra ke firs t to try to minimize this (and Rober ts uses a co nventiona l foot lever for this, not a thumb brake) by loading up the rear a little before squeezing hard up fro nt. So it's slightly less than per fect, bu t that jus t mak es Rob erts' results all the more im p ressive. An d Suz u ki ad d ressing the small glitches off-season assures an even s tro nger rival for Criville and th e NS R500. Th oug h Max Biag gi and Yam aha w ill su re ly have othe r pl ans, the first 500cc World Champion ship of the new cen tury looks set to be an even more fascinating confro ntation betw een th es e tw o bi ke s, a nd rid ers, th an in 1999.. ClII Pro Circuit Riders Feast on the Competition Our riders once again ate up the competition over theThanksgiving Holiday at t~ e 28th Annual Winter National Olympics. 28th Annual Winter ational Olympics CLASS RNISHING POsmON CLASS RIDERS 1st 1 st 3 rd 3rd 3 rd 1 st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 5th 4th 1st 4th 1 st 4th 2nd 5th 5th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th t st 2nd 1 st Pee W ee (4-6) 65 CC (7 -9) 65CC (7 -9) 65CC (10 -11) JrWomen S r Wom en S r W omen 85 CC (12-13) 85CC (12 -1 3) 85C C (14 -15 ) Super M in i Su per Mi ni 125 Youth 125 A 125 A 250 A 250 A 125 B 125 B 250 B Plus 25 Plus 25 Plus 30 Plus 35 Plus 40 Pl us 40 Plus 5 0 Z eb S m ith Z a ch Osborne S e an Hackley Dennis Jonon April Hodges J essica Patt erson Jacki H ud son James Stewart S ha ne Lu sk Dyla n Lo rd James Stewa rt S hane Lusk M ichael B lose B rett Ra ci ne And re w S hort B re tt Raci ne And rew S hort M ic ha el Blose Jam es Marshall Jo e Bailey III Ma rcus Pedero Eddie Ray Marcus Pedero J im Fa ulke nberg J im Faulkenberg B arry Mayo Barry Mayo Pro C ircuit congratulates Brett Racine the recipient ofthe Dunlop Silver Tire Award forthe top overall pro of the week and Dean Patterson the recipient of the Mechanix Wear Mechanic ofthe Week Award. ;.,.....-.,8 (909)738-8050 Fax (909)738-8065 2771 WardloN AJad, Corona . Calibmia 92882 www.procircuit.com