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/128230
(=\ u o S e b a s~ i e n Harley -Davidson has released inform ation on its 2004 models, and an all -new Sportster family is the big news as the Milwaukee-ba sed Moto r Company rides into its second century , Dropped from seven models to four, the new Sportste r family boasts an all -n ew engine and a new rubber-mounted chassis, While still retain ing the XL moniker, the Sportster engine shares many technological improvements th at first appeared on t he Bu ell XB9 en gi ne in 20 0 3 , Th ese include better cooling tha nks t o larg er cooling fins on the cylinders and an oil jet system that shoots oil at the bottom of the pistons to further reduce the temp eratures, Other int ernal changes incl ude new fl y wheels, and lightweight pistons and connecting rods, As their name implies, the base XL883 Sportster 883 and the XL883C Sportster 883 Custom retain their 883cc displacement, but both make more power, with Harl ey -David son cl aiming a crank shaft rating of 53 horsepower at 6000 rpm and a peak torque figure of 51 foot-po unds of torque at 4300 rpm . The 1200cc engine is claimed to produce 70 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 79 foot-pounds of torque at 3500 rpm , All 2004 Sportsters utilize a n ew ex ha us t sy st em that h id es th e crossover pipe, Th e n ew 1200 Sp ortst er s, wh i ch include the flagship XLl200R Sportst er 1200 Roadster (p ictured) and XLl 200C Sportster 1200 Custom , receive the same engine technologies as well as the new chassis, which rubber mounts the engine and yet gives up no rigidity over previous models, In fact, Harley-Davidson claims that the new chassis is some 26-percent stiffer than the old solid-mount unit, This new rigi dity is due in part to a new stamped seatpan and also due to the strategic placement of three stabilizer links or "dogbo nes," which allow the engine to move in a radial motion but limit lateral flex during hard cornering, In the styling department, the new Custom models feature a new 4.5 -gallo n tank that retains the classic "peanut" profile of the 3.3-gallon version found on the Sportster 883 and the Roadster, but it is slightly longer, Scott Rousseau Sc a r n a to . Se raf i no Fot i and D av id C h e c a rode thei r Team GMT94 Yamaha R1 t o vi ctory in the Oschersleben 24 Hour round of the FIM W orld Endurance Championship on August 24 . G MT 94 we re Involved in the second-lap incident tha t claimed several of t he top teams . but quic k pit wo rk got t hem back out on th e t rack and racing again. By the co mpletion of the 24-hour o C r u n rac e " G MT94 had completed 896 laps f iv e more t han th e Suzuk i GB Phas e O ne t eam o f Jason P r idmor e . James Elliso n and Josh Hayes. in r~ ~_ I""" his int ernat ional racing debu t. The Yamaha Endu rance M oto 38 t eam fi nis hed third . With t heir second-place finish and the nonfinish of the Zo ngshen 1 team , Phase On e GBR Suz uki now leads th e W orld Ch ampi on sh ip p oi nt stan dings '" w it h 139 point s to Zongshe n' s 116. .. ..J ~J Shane "S hakey " Byrne ( D ue ) c li nc hed h i s fi r st Brit i sh S u p erb ik e J C hampio nship on M onday , A ugu st 25. wi th a fir st-leg victory at Caldw ell Park in Li ncol ns hi re . England . Byrne hel d o ff ., John Reynolds (Suz) t o take the victory , w ith Michael Rutter (D uc) finishing thir d. " It' s fantastic ," By rne said in a M on st erMob D ucat i team press release . " If I had won it w it h tw o fifth place s, I t hink I wo uld have gon e ho me sulking ! It's not been for a lack of trying to win race s - I've just been st ruggling latel y. I n CJ o CJ J International Raceway this weekend (August 30-3 0 w it h Au stra lian M at Ml adin holding a 33 -point lead in the t itle c hase wi t h t w o rou nds (fo u r ra c e s ) remainin g in thi s yea r 's c hampio ns hip. M lad in w ill be lo ok ing t o e nd a w i n dro ught at V IR, the Au ssie havinq never hope he gets we ll so o n. " said By rn e. Kagayama crashed in the morn ing wa rmup, suffering a bro ken pelvis in his co llisio n w ith C hri s Heath , who end ed up J J J rl w ith a broken ankle. In t he second race, Steve Plater (Hon) took the w in. fo l- t ir e s during a sw elt e ring two da y s at Da y to na Int ern ati on al Speedway . w it h Yo shimura Suzuki ' s Mat Mladin th e The fina l ride r at the test was Yos himur Su zuki' s Aaron Yates , th e Ge orgia giving a Sup erst ock -sp ec Su zuki G S R 1000 a very s uc c es sf ul maiden vo w on at the fac ility. "It do es pre sen t a bit of a c hallenge for us not havinq won a ra c e th ere before , " sa id Ml a din in a o o o o just tried as hard as I po ssibly co uld and ju st manag ed to hold t hem off . I'm sorry about Yuki o' s [Kagayamal crash, and I The Au gu st Dunlop Daytona tire test finished up a day early on A ugust faste st of the elite group of riders . "W e got a goo d dire ct ion to go in." Dun lop' s age. Yates was able to run in th e 1:5 1 an d h i s S uzu k i G S X- R 10 0 0 h it 18 road race manager Jim All en said of th e te st. w hic h se rves as a p relude to the t hrou gh the speed trap s, a speed t ha w a s not mu ch b elow the be st f ro M ladin' s S up erb ik e. It w as origin all thought that t he Superstock class wo ul be run on t readed DOT t ires - D unlo tested purpose-built Dayt ona DOTs - bu the A MA re cent ly decided the c las w ould run on slicks , though on standar 17-inch rims , Yates, however, may no be allowed to run in the class . Ac cordin to the recently released AMA rules , rid ers wh o are paid by a factory team can ' 20. bo th Dun lo p and the t eam s hav inq run through t he fu ll complement of test p res s re le ase iss ue d by hi s publ ic ist. " It' s at t he time of th e season where I sti ll wa nt to w in race s, but it' s gett ing to th e point w here w e are sta rting to th ink The Fay Myer s Su zuki Supermoto C lassic was a roa ring tw o days of success as part of th e Suzuki Cy cle Fest in Cop - mor e incl us ive De c embe r t e st at the Sp eedway. There w ere six new rear tire compou nds. fo ur diff erent co nstructions abo ut t he c hamp io nship a litt le bit. W e have to take th ing s how they come and lowed by Reynold s and Byrne. and two different sizes. along w ith four new fronts . The data co llec ted by Al len and th e c rew, includi ng Dave W atkin s see w hat happens w hen it' s race ti me . For sure I wo uld st ill like to win ther e. ,-I per M ountai n, Color ado , A ugust 23-24 . o An d no one was mo re successf ul than Suzu ki' s Kevin Schwantz, the Texan J b ut o n t he o t he r h and , I w ill not be and M ar k Sear s, from th e fir m' s headquarters in Birmi ngham. England , will be coming away from th e two race s as the Big Kahuna - the titl e given to the overall winner, Held in th e C opp er M ountain ski putt ing my self into any unnecessary sit uat ion s ei ther. " Two weeks ago , M ladin and his Yo sh imura Suzuk i GS X-R1 00 0 analyzed and new tires bui lt in tim e for t he Dece mb er t e st . " There 's mo re t o d o , We ce rt ainly lea rne d a lo t. " O nly were the fastes t combination in a th ree- four riders took part , and one st ood out . Yo s h imura Suzuki ' s M lad in . A s he ' s o o o o Q o resort fo r th e first time. the even t featur ed the biggest U .S . Su permot o pur se t o date at $20 .000. On Sat urday , Troy L ee Hond a' s Jeff Ward ca me f rom day te st co nduc te d at VI R leaving the champio nship poi nts leader in a po sitive fr am e of min d f o r t h is wee ken d ' s up c omin g d o ubleheade r ro u nd. " Th e f iv e -w e e k b re ak in th e c hamp io ns hi p before V irgin ia gave us a littl e bit of tim e fo urth place to take the victory over his te ammate Jeremy McGrath. Former (', U 'I w r--'\ ....J J J The AMAI Chevy Truc ks U .S. Superbik e Cham p ion s h ip he ad s t o Virginia o eye I e t he 1:4 8. 3 7 6 th at A me rica n Hon da' s B en Bo st ro m t u rne d to take t he pole c las s, a ss um ing t hey d on 't ent er t h Sup erbike cla ss , w hic h t hey've sho no sig ns of doing. It also presen ts so mf t hing of a gray area fo r riders like Atta~ Su z uki' s J a s o n Pri dm o r e a nd Eri o" Honda' s Roger Lee Hayden, w ho c1ea rl enjoy support f rom the fact ory , ev en i po siti on fo r t he M arc h r unning of t he t hey're not dir ect ly paid by t hem . Th Barber M oto rsport s Park and Dayt ona, eac h of w hich were good. Not only have we learne d more abou t t he bike for t he rema ining races, we are already planning for next year. It' s a fairly importa nt t ime for us." win. 2003' w as fast est from st art to finish. turn ing in lap times in th e 1:48s and 1:49 s, we ll te st . at VIR. alo ng w it h o t he r t e st s at c rashed out of Sunday' s final. Schw ant z pick ed up $ 5000 for taking th e ove rall SEPTEMBER 3 , don e all year, th e AMA /Ch evy Tru ck s U .S . S uper bike Cha mp ionsh ip lea de r p artici pa te . Th at p ut s Y o s h in a b ind s ince durin g rec en t co ntra ct ne g oti tl ons th ey 'd as ke d Yat es to take part even thou gh he was opposed to it. An Yamaha now has riders under cont rac w ho can only tak e part in th e Sup erspoi t o ge t so me th i ng s so rte d an d also allowed us tim e to do a bit of testing . wh ich has proven to be very valuable fo r us." M ladin said. " We had a th re e-day W orld and AMA Su perb ik e Ch ampion Scott Russell wa s fourt h. On Sunday , S chwant z wo n a w ild main event , t opping A ussie Mark Avard and his Coro na Extra S uzuk i. w it h Mark B urhart fini shing th ird . Bot h W ard and M cG rath 2 ide as of st uff we w ant to test again, Dun lop' s Al len said. 200 . In ad dit io n to Ml adin . A merica n t hinking behind the A ugus t test is that i mo re close ly approx imat es the con di tions in Ma rch than the December te st. T r a ck t e m p e r ature s we re u p t o 6 degrees C elsius . " I don't t hink I've eve seen t hat in the race, " Al len said. n e vv s und er t he 2003 race pac e . His singl e be st hand-timed lap of 1:48. 2 aro und the 3 .56 -m ile roa d co urse w as just un der j Ho n d a ' s B e n B o s tro m and M i g u e l D uH a m el r ode th ei r Hon d a RC -51 S up e rbik es . w it h both d o in g 18 -la p endurance runs. All Bo strom ' s laps were in t he 1:50 -1:51 range. "W e got so me