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
... • .... ... ._ ...... : -1.RI~ ~. '--- - Happenings In M otorcycling Athletes and m embers of the m edia were invite d by Red Bu ll to atte nd a day of fun , driving 125cc, Rota x-p owered shifter carts at Irwindale Speedway in Southem California , on Wedn esday , A ug ust 13, A m on g th e Red Bull a t h le tes in a t te n da nce was freestyle MX ride r Tomm y Cl ower s (pictured). Al so in atte ndance were Red Bull pers onal wat ercraft race r Vict or She ldo n, Re d B u ll s kyd ive r Jon D ev ore , Cy cle News ' ed itor Paul Carruthers, and our for mer m anagin g ed it o r, and to t al tra itor, Road Racer X's Chr is Jonnum. T he m o rn ing was spent burning pr ac tice laps in preparation for th e aft ernoon's Superpole event . T he dr ivers wer e sp li t into f ive groups based o n th eir m o rn in g warm -up times and then went out in th e Superpole session to see who cou ld walk t he walk . In t he end , it was Roa dracing World 's Steve Atl as who burn ed the qu ick est tim e of th e day with a 26.758· seco nd tim e. Atl as was also the fast est qualifie r in the moming session. Foll ow ing A tlas were Larry Maso n (26.779), Sheldon (26.87 5 ), Clo wers (2 6.999) and o ur own Carruthers rou ndin g out th e top five wit h a 27.376. B y A L AN CATH C AR T • • More on The Class of 1000 For stacking aga inst th e new Hond a in th e on e-liter ultrasport s class will be tw o m ore new '04 Sup erbike contenders from Kaw asaki and Yamah a. each also close ly related to its resp ective current 600 Supersport kid sister. Judging by th e spy photos alread y in c irculati on of th e Kawa saki ZX-I OR bein g ridden on th e str eet wi th a German license plate, this is a very compact · small, even - m otorcycle clos ely based on the new-for -'03 ZX· 6R from both styling and technical stand points, wit h a distin cti ve "face" th at incorporates the centra l ai r int ake duc t, which is li k ely to use the very meaty fram e spars as a m eans of feedin g the airbox. Th e ZXlOR 's swi ngarm is very long, perh aps ind icating th at Kawa saki has taken a leaf from Yerna ha 's double-stack gearbox layout in sho rtening th e engine to maximize tr action and optim ize weight distribution - but wha t' s apparent is th at th e Zee-Ex Ten 's upside-down forks are fitt ed with radial brakes lik e on th e ZX·6R, but with th e four-pot cal ipe rs g ripp ing a pair of th e petal styl e "wave " dis cs now de r igu eur in Wor ld Supersport raci ng, in what is a fi rst appl ica tion of th is Br aking -deriv ed t ech nol og y by a m aj or m an ufact ur er. Wi th a rep orted 1: 1 pow er t o weigh t rati o of 168 bh p for just und er 37 0 pounds, th e new Ka wasaki look s set to be a serious co ntender on road and track , if the bike set to be launch ed at Milan ends up loo kin g anything like the one in the spy shots. Yamaha, too, has an all new R J com ing , in keeping with its tw o-year makeover cycl e for its best-selling sportbik e. th is ti m e eq uipped with the ram-air ind uc ti on that th e curren t m odel decl ined to ado pt when lau nched tw o yea rs ago. Radi cal new sty ling whi le sti ll retaining th e distincti ve looks of Yamaha's R·family is exp ected , whil e rumors insi st that th e new bike will adopt seve ral technical feat ures fro m the M 1 MotoGP racer, including a tr ick slipper clu tc h th at ' s electro n ically contro lled , as well as an eng ine m anagement sy ste m bas ed o n the racer's. Com e Septem ber, we'll find out. Th e wish -list of one-l iter won ders isn't con fin ed to J apane se m od els, for the new A prilia RSVIOOOR will in fact be th e first major new model to reach th e stores, with fir st sh ipme nts to th e USA alrea dy on th e hi gh seas, and Euro pean deli veries planned for Septem ber. With 139 bhp on tap in a sm all er, svelter, lo wer chassis, aga in with distinctive sty ling built around a central airduct and four -headla mp face, the new ApriJi a was alread y launch ed to the wo rld's press at Mugello at th e end of July and is set to be a potent challenger not only to Du cati 's controversial (but still nascent Wo rld Superbike champion! ) 999 - which remains essentially unchanged for 2004 - for o utright hon ors in the tw in -cylinde r sector , but equa lly for ove rall sportbik e supremacy agai nst th e best the fo ur J apanese co m pa nies can prod uc e. But even in th e four-cy linder Jooocc ul tra sports category, the J apanese are set to face a Latin chall enger th at will ha ve th e added benefit of being bea utiful as well as brawny - the MV Agu sta F4 Mill e (fo rm erly known as th e F5 ), wh ich, whil e reta ining th e sam e overall sty ling as the peerl ess 750 cc F4 , has been refreshened in terms of look s by that m otorcy cling Mi che langelo, Massim o Ta mburi ni. It 's in tribute to his artistry in cre at ing the new bi ke that th e first 3 00 custome r bikes entering pro duct ion in Nov em ber wi ll be CRC Speci ale versions called the F4 Mille Tamburin i, each loaded wit h high -quality hard ware and the m aestro's autog raph on th e fu el tank . After that, th e F4 Mille S volume produ cti on mod els are scheduled to com m enc e m anufacture early in 2004, and as far as aesth etics are concerned, th e styling will rem ain essentiall y unch anged , beca use MV Agu sta boss Claudio Casti gli oni believes th is is a t im eless wor k of art which will be as desirable ten years from now as it was the day it was laun ch ed. Castiglioni is already on rec ord as promising that the F4 Mille he'll sell to th e pu bli c: will deliver 180 bhp in str eet -lega l form . "That 's not a fig ure plucked out of th e air, but real horsepo wer - you r readers can hold m e to it!", he told m e whe n I intervi ewed him earlier this year. Th e pr ot ot yp e street bike has already lap ped Na rdo at m ore th an 186 m ph , th anks to th e radial-valve techn ology MV Ag usta employs in th e engi ne , which g ives a signifi cant top- end adva nta ge betw een 10 ,000 rp m and J3 ,9 00 rpm. where MV will place th e li miter on t he streetbi ke, altho ugh on the engine dyno it's apparentl y proved safe to rev it consistently to 14,700 rp m . Th e engi ne has also already twice finished in th e top six of a Wo rld-class 24 Hour endurance rac e, so it seems it sho uld be reli able, too . Two more one -liter Itali an Superbik e contenders are co m ing to Milan. both twins, th ou gh one is strictly the born -ag ain variety, represented by the 50-o dd exam ples of t he Bimot a SB8 K Gobert Replica that the revived Rimini-based co mpany is p roducing to clea r outstanding sto cks of its TLI OOOR Suzuki -engined modeis, closely based on th e factory Superbike that An th ony Gobe rt took to a shoc k vic tory agai nst th e od ds - Phillip Island in 2000. Maybe at the currentl y unemployed Go-Show mi gh t even be persuaded to go rac ing with it aga in next season! Or th en agai n, maybe not. A m o re li kely Superbike co nten der is the po wer-up 140 bhp Evo version of th e Mon dial Piega which will be launch ed at Milan, powered by a t uned -up Honda SP-2 V-twin eng ine rath er th an the SP- J m ot or the Piega has em ploye d to date. Next week , it's on to th e middleweights! To cas t your v ote, log on to http://www.cyclenew s.co m. RyBn CIBrk . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . •2 5.B5% l .Bn· S. bB. tl.n Roy 19.9 4% K.ith R. loh ns on 15 .2 1% Bob b y Bon d• . . . . . , .. • •..•• . • •. • • . ••. •. . 14 .6 6 % stev e Mer te ns •••••• •• • • • • • ••• • • .• • • • • • • .6 .q 6% Ric hiE OWEns • . • • • . •• • . • • • . • • ••• .•• • • • • • •5 .52% The i!OOq model yea r is upon us. Do you plan to purchase a new •..;;,; ,;" ;,;i' _ motorcycle in the foll owing y e 8 1 A. Yes, a new i!OOq motoc ross bike B. Yes, a new i!OOq stree tb ike;;;:;.;:;:;;::;== = :.:::= :..:::=::: c. Yes, a used bike , or a leftov er i!003 D. No, I do n't have pl an s to buy a new bik e th i s ye ar 8 S EPTEMB ER 3 , 2003' e ye I e n e vu s JamES Polvo lny .• • .. •• . •• • ••• • • • • • • • •• ••.41.4 1% KEv in Johns on . • •. . • • . .• •• . • • •• • . .•• • . • . .ii!.92% J." ~ ib so n •. . ... . . .• . . ... .•. . ••. • • •• ••..2.B4% Tim W.ig Bnd 2.21 % 1i!6 9