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/128373
IIl1llre nlne-tum infield seaion of tbe VaIenda GP circuit in - . ...... 1lIl£I8IIl for brielly lJ1IbbInI fourth (okay • third, In my ca.) alongwhat I * - for tbe bIIck scrai&f1t. Then, where tbe j-bikss both asked you to shirt bIIck and font! ' * - - . l and fOl6th for the _ sequence of bends Mlning down to the Ilna! tum, tbe Ducatl would do the whole thing in third, aJttlng out timewasting gear changes In favor of surfing that huge _ of torque and power en route to the 16,000 rpm I'8\f limiter imposed for our - . The ¥OfOW'" Desmosedlci's normaJ hmlt Is 17,500 rpm, according to an authoritative Inside SOUI"al, and "Troy Bayliss would use - r nNOIution - e un ooimclle!" (Said with great affection, and - . . . ) However, Bayliss surely qualifies "animaJe" description by the way changes gear, sill(ll IlISt as 911 his m: he..,.t...·~llJtSL1 \IIMIf It 1D .~ qllnder" traction ClIlIllrOI sysBn InIroduced mklseason at Catakmya. Once tbe ItlII1dard MIchelin ,.,. tire prcwtded for mere journalists to ride on tbe GP4 started to ~ and lose grip as 1 got to feel more confident on the bike, tbe ,.,. tire would readily unhook (for _pie, exiting tum six onto the back straight) and start to spin up without any sign of the machine-gun rattle from the "dead" cyllnder I'd heard the bikes making the previous weekend. Pity. It would have been nice to compare it with Kawasaki's rather brutal system of traction control, --. if it plays no part in the fantastic starts that both Ducatl riders, and especially Bayliss, have always managed to deliver. "The traction control doesn't work in gear, so it's down to us what hapstart," Bayliss said diffidently. - just gas 'er up and go!" ici system of launch Rlllftit dOwn ~ - and no more excusat getting outdragged die simple II r clutch ended a mcnor tted i aI el wind accelera . tially, this is Though Duca bhp at 16,500 rpm" f for real upward of 250 bhp a though the adoption of tbe lWln Pulse motor may perhaps have knocked off a litde power owing to the revised firing order. However, there's also definitely more vibration than on the 2003 bike Four Pulse V-four - presumably a function of the offbeat phasing of the crank, especially since unlike on the Yamaha, there's no room to fit a balance shaft to counter this. The Ducati also feels harsher and more raw than the Japanese InUne fours: Think Dodge Viper, rather than Lamborghini Murcielago, musclesports rather than ultrasports. But the acceleration is phenomenal, even by 44 IllldoulJt.= eJamtr~and 9 F04 '"perbike I f months ~Ier, the as a huge sItead of afs delivered in sUch a. II, if not exactly forgiving, certainly in an accessible way, th8t it's seemingly content to work with practically any gear you care to throw at it via the racepattern gear change. Don't believe me? Then look at the track map showing Bayliss' ideal lap en route to his third-place finish two days earlier, which told me I was correct in eventually figuring out that you can do the APRIL 13, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS "_II'ftI1l, not a hint of chatter as it did so. But definitely absent from the Capirossi bike when I rode it was the electronic Twin 'ng a bike that is already very n a straight line a little more agile in changing direction, will make what is now again a very good motorcycle into a GP winner once more. Should be fun watching that happen. It'll give Yamaha and Honda some MotoGP Euro-competition once again! CIII