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/128322
~~/'ve never deviated from any of my commitments or the mental side of it, or what I had to do." that. It's still there to a certain extent because it's only been a short amount of time . It seems like the new engine and the new type of engine th at we 're getting - the theory is to make it as naturally good and try to use less electronics. And that seems to ------Kenn Roberts Jr. and some guys guys do it the wrong way and succeed, be w hat we're do ing." When th ings w er e bad , it was har d to push 100 perce nt . Roberts knew he co uld push harde r, but the risk and reward weren't adding up. Does it make any sense to cra sh and get hurt and set the w hol program bac k w hen you're fighting for 16th? " I've gotten a lot more regre ssive towards situations that aren 't rig t to w here I'll say, 'I'll ride 100 pe rcen t, but I'm not going to risk this versus that.' Right now I'm not pushing 100 percent. I'm riding the bike to its level, but I don 't have to push 100 percent to go around the track fast . Valentino's [Rossi) doing the same thing . He's pushing it, but he's r, t rowing it down the roa 'every 10 minutes and running off the track constantly. There are exceptions, but there's a right way to do it and a wrong way. So m e do it the wrong way and fail." There's been no change in the riding style. He still pushes the front and slides the rear, but there's a reward in lap times that was absent last year. "Suzuki sees now that if they can make this like this , then Kenny can do that with the bike," he says in the third person . "Not that they didn't know that last year, but it's very easy to go certain ways in development, and the way that they went last year for the moment in time wasn 't the right way." The fly-by-wire throttle was problematic in 2003 . This year the throttle response is smooth, though he claims not to know if it's using fly-by-wire or not. "I honestly haven't asked," he says. The throttle response is better, as is engine braking, though there's more to be done. The Suzuki has more engine braking than most, and it upsets the GSV-R on entry, which affects midcorner, which affects exit, which affects lap times, which affects results . "You go into the corner, and there's less friction in the eng ine , so then you can have a little bit less computer stuff helpi ng yo u not skid the back tire, " he said. " But we still have problems with it pushing too much . So if you're do ing a 2:00 lap time , we 're doing a 1:59 now. And we're still having the same issues , but it's at a better lap t ime. And then the initial shock, because you have less friction, is naturally less. That's the whole key. So as soo n as you touch the throttle, it doesn't w ant to highside , and then it gives the rider more confidence to open the throttle ." How, then , is engine friction reduced? Roberts doesn't claim to know. In the past , he could have detailed the changes to the millimeter. This year he 's taken a step back , giving input but not getting involved in th e minutiae . "It's probably the least amount I've ever been involved in," he says. " I don 't want to pressure them and know all the answ er s and know everything. I feel fine letting them do ... I mean they kno w what they need to fix. On e of the reasons we are where we are now is simply because of the stuff that we talked about last year. They know what th ey need to fix." The crew was one thing they needed to fix. Rob Toomey, Kenny's crew chief last yea r, left , and the job as vacant. There was on ly one choice, Robe rts said, he pursued it doggedly. I basically said if we don' t get Erv [Kanem ot o) it doesn't really matter who you guys give me . is who I wa nt, and this is wh o I t hink will help the situation." Erv Kane moto had been with Hond a since 1982 when he joined force s wit h Fredd ie Spencer to con quer the world . He left its employ during t he salad days of Roth man to bacco spon sorshi p but was always a member of the family, a contractor w ith close ties who needed help fro m time to time when the sponsorship mon ey dried up . Honda was always there . For rv to lea ve was as big a step as he's ever taken , and e didn't want to offend th e peo ple who'd been so CYCLE NEWS . MAY 5, 2004 33