Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

thanks to a combination of a low compression ratio and the reduced crankshaft mass (Holweg says they can go as high as 13: I compression in street or Supermotard use, but have backed off it here for easier rideability and because of African fuel quality). There's no tachometer fitted to the bike, so I can't tell you how hard I was revving it, even though the riders have asked Holweg to give them a gear-ratio indicator. (The on-board telemetry consistently reveals them holding fourth or fifth gear for long periods of flat-out running, in the mistaken belief they were in top sixth - gear!) "No chance!" says Holweg. "This is not a BMW!" - but he might change his mind if the fuel consumption gets to be more of a problem than it presently is. It's an indication of the flexible nature of the engine that this should be so - no matter what gear you throw at it, there are acres of torque and a huge spread of linear power, so that it pulls strong and hard in muscular fashion, but still with that appetite for revs. The clutch can be a problem under abuse, says Holweg, so the riders do (Left) Fabrizio Meoni's Dakar Rallywinning KTM LCS 950 Rally stands tall and only weighs 422 pounds dry which doesn't mean as much once Its 15 gallons worth of fuel Is In place. (BelowlGiovanni Sala at speed on his LCS in the Arras-MadridDakar Rally. in that the KTM 950 Rally scales 422 pounds dry - but that's before taking into account even the fraction of the full 15-gallon fuel load spread between four fuel tanks, resulting in a gassed-up weight of around 506 pounds. And the excessive height of the bike does mean that, in deep sand, the rider must either be very tall, or adept at using the throttle adroitly, to be able to leg it out of there without falling - or getting stuck! Eventually, KTM's other V-twin maestro, six-time World Enduro champ Giovanni Sala, took pity on me and insisted that I clamber aboard the rear of his own 950 Rally for a IO-minute master class in how to ride the dunes (the single most frightening thing I've done on a motorcycle since passengering for World Sidecar Champion Alain Micheli). I started to get the hang of it after that - so much so that, in my second afternoon expedition (this time on Meoni's actual bike), I exceeded all my best hopes by not even crashing once! I even learned how to come to a stop more or less controllably aboard such a high motorcycle (39.8 in., to allow maximum vision and suspension travel). DIRT VB. STREET So what did I learn about the 75degree V-twin LC8 motor, which will make its customer debut this fall in the 950 Adventure replica of the Meoni works desert racer, before going into tarmac production next year in the V2 Duke? Well, after three months of grueling desert R&D in southern Tunisia, KTM has seemingly combined two diametrically opposed virtues in a single package, by matching an appetite for revs with readily available significant amounts of torque. The result is a refined and responsive motor that's so userfriendly, you'd swear it's fuel-injected - except it's not. The light-action throttle is extremely responsive, with crisp, controllable pickup that's enough to convince you there's a pair of f1atslide carbs at the end of the cables - except the bike comes fitted with a pair of CV-type 43mm Keihin carbs that are quite small for an engine of this capacity. Those mixers represent a key factor in the crisp pickup and good acceleration from low rpm, says Holweg. If engine response is this good already, imagine how much better it will be with fuel injection, as in the Duke streetrod entering production next year. One clue to how KTM has achieved this came not so much under acceleration, but when you back off the throttle and realize how relatively little inertia the Austrian V-twin has, as expressed through engine-braking, r----------------------------,~ :0 Z ~ en ii' J: (,) i\i ~ cue I e n e _ S • JULY 24, 2002 45

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