range of no-compromise sportbikes but this time with winning on the
racetrack in mind, rather than in. the
showroom. Just 500 versions of
Yamaha's YZF-R7 OW02 were ever
constructed, the minimum needed to
homologate the bike for Superbike
racing, and with its arrival in the
arena in 1999, it was apparent that
the Japanese company had finally
decided to get serious about World
Superbike racing. Well, for a couple
of years, at least. Now, they're pulling
out of World Superbike to follow
the dream of four-stroke GP.
Instead, the R7 bearing the
'Nori' windscreen stickers, incorporating a speeding bullet and the
name Kenisuke beneath - belonging
to Haga's older brother, who was
sadly paralyzed in a race crash at
Sugo four years ago - deserves to be
out there fighting for Superbike success once again this year, with the
Sultan of Slide at the helm of what is
undoubtedly now a very impressive
package, with the power delivery
problems and instability under braking I'd identified on the prototype kitbike R7 almost two years ago now
resolved.
I'd never ridden a Haga bike before
throwing a leg over his R7 at Jerez
this time around, and his choice of
chassis setup is very distinctive - so
much so that it goes some wa-.J
toward accounting for the lurid and \' ..
spectacular riding style that h s v
made him such a folk h
n b h
sides of the A
. and 0
nder
as well as
c
e in 1~~~~1~
static ride height on the
ends is pre
phasiz~~~~:.JI..·
thick se
p
'f:~~~
ot
·~~~~!J;j.e=",~".
IS Yam
,atna
mg countless changes to f
tune the handling.
"Nori-chan is very sensitive t any
alteration we make on the bike,"
says, "and he likes to experiment a
lot with steering geometry and suspension setup. He Itrrows what"'he's~
looking for - and then when he finds
n
__
s
