Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

rysdale V-B Bruiser (21mm inlets/19mm exhausts) and all four camshafts, with cam drive taken directly off the crank, and a YZF750 six-speed gearbox ratios and wet clutch. Major changes on the 1000-Veight engine which will power all customer Bruisers, see it bored and stroked to 1000cc/62 x 41.4mm via an all-new cylinder block with a 3mm taller deck height but otherwise identical external appearance. This houses a new longstroke crankshaft fitted with Drysdale's own rods, and employing YZF600 Thundercat pistons and cylinder heads, which have engine mounts cast into them. Drysdale confirms that the bigger engine will be redlined at 14,000 rpm, rather than the 750's current 16,000 rpm, with a projected output of 140 hp at the rear wheel at 13,500 rpm though the smaller 750 motor currently fitted isn't exactly puny, producing a claimed 120 hp at 14,200 rpm in street-legal form, with the convoluted 8-4-2 stainless-steel exhaust system fabricated by Drysdale himself and made quieter by a pair of Megacycle silencers. But not too much - a fact you silently give thanks for, after thumbing the Bruiser's start button and asking the Kawasaki ZZ-R250 starter motor to go to work spinning twice as many cylinders as it's used to coping with normally, before the engine finally fires up and settles down to a trademark V-eight burble at low revs. But then, as you blip the throttle to make it sing, you realize this has a far lighter action with a more controllable response than the eight 32mm Keihin racing flatslides Ian had fitted on the 750-V-eight Superbike, last time I rode a Drysdale V-eight in a track test over two years ago. These had a very slow pickup, caused by the heavy springs needed to overcome the massive suction effect of those eight cylinders - there was no way around the fact that eight separate throttle slides had to be opened at once, and that took a lot of effort, making development of a compatible EFl package a priority for the V-eight streetbikes. The Bruiser is now fitted with a much more precise-feeling MoTeC fuel injection system developed by Drysdale in conjunction with Australia's world-class engine-management company, located just a long stone's throw from his Melbourne b~se, which thus also reduces emissions and improves fuel consumption, two critical factors on a bike with so many cylinders. The EFI package features a fully mapped MoTeC ECU matched to fuel hardware from a BMW Kl00 - well, in fact, two Flying Bricks, of course! - comprising eight 34mm BMW/Bing throttle bodJes, and a single Bosch injector per cylinder 38 APRIL 3, 2002' cue • _ This Is about as close as Ian Drysdale (lett) gets to smiling. He already has a waiting list for the machine. The V-eight engine (above) is a stressed member of the chassis, which helps keep the weight down. located beneath the throttle butterfly on each Bing, so resulting in a controlled pickup from a closed throttle. However, the EFJ's mapping hadn't yet been dialed in properly on the 750-V-8 Bruiser when I rode it, which being only a prototype was aimed primarily at chassis development, while engine R&D focuses on the 1000cc version. This meant that the bike was reluctant to pick up cleanly from down low, and needed coaxing into the powerband via a bit of clutch action with the left hand, just as I remember the 750-V-8 Superbike racer needed to be out of a slow turn, thanks to the lack of inertia from the milled-from-solid crankshaft weighing just 12.1 pounds, which started life as a solid billet of metal scaling a massive 97 pounds. However, once you get it revving above the 4000 rpm power threshold, the muscular, lumpy V-eight motor picks up revs effortlessly, before smoothing out at higher rpm to deliver its haunting, high-pitched, but in Bruiser guise, muted howl. Tapping the gearlever at 13,500 rpm to hit a higher ratio on the extractable, cassette-type, six-speed cluster leaves the engine still squarely in the meaty powerband and running as smooth as silk, yet strong as steel back to the redline. Though mine was just a short preliminary ride as a preview to a full-on test in 1000cc form, I reckon few motorcycles in the market will offer such a stirring combination of soul aDd sensitivity as the V -eight n __ s Bruiser in customer gulse, because you'll have even more muscle and more than adequate performance from the multi-cylinder, one-liter motor. In response to feedback from all those potential customers, the lowslung V-eight Bruiser has a quite different stance than the sportier Superbike, with a lower rear ride height and kicked out front end making ground clearance a serious issue when combined with the new 8-4-2 exhaust system, which sees the pipes running down along the side of the engine, rather than up high as on the racer, which was able to maintain more than respectable turn speed on slick tires, without anything touching down. The Bruiser is quite the opposite lean it over much more than 30 degrees from upright and get ready for the sound of scraping steel from the exhausts: this is mainly a pointand-squirt motorcycle, reflecting I suppose the likely Drysdale customer base. However, to suit their requirements also, the rational riding position is really excellent, thanks to the sensible decision to copy the Ducati Monster's proven dimensional layout, and even to fit the Bruiser with an M900 handlebar. This gives the Drysdale just the right semi-upright but still purposeful stance, and though you're conscious of the fact that you have a very wide engine between your legs, and all the 4.16-gallon fuel load beneath the seat rather than some there, some in the conventional position as on the 750-V-8 Superbike, the Bruiser still feels quite compact and allows you to feel a part of the bike, rather than perched atop the cam covers of a small-block V-eight motor. Feels nice. It also brakes and steers pretty well, too, within the context of the restricted ground clearance - you can feel Drysdale's got the chassis geometry right by the way the Bruiser holds a line well both on and off the power, and the multi-adjustable Penske shocks give surprisingly good ride quality for a twin-shock rear end, as well as putting the power delivery to the ground predictably. However, I can't help but think the way the bike handles will come a long way down the list of priorities for Bruiser owners, who'll be more seduced by the melodic music of that V-eight engine, by the fact that the MoTeC fuel injection makes the bike so much smoother and easier to ride than the carbureted version - and above all, let's face it, by the way it looks. Viewing the Drysdale V8 Bruiser from the left-rear-three-quarter angle, leaning at rest on its sidestand glinting in what little sunlight remained in a bush sunset, was to acquire a new understanding of the term 'musclebike.' If Ducati ever built, as now seems probable a few years down the line, a four-cylinder Monster street rod incorporating a production version of their forthcoming V-four GP engine, their target will be to make the result look at least half as powerpacked and purposeful as the Drysdale V-8 Bruiser. But the Down Under mega-Monster is here and now and waiting for customers, albeit those with platinum credit cards and lots of zeros on the end of their bank balances. Hope it finds them. l:1li

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