Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

&M Yamaha RFl-SP cata pulted tow a rds yo ur dest inati on wi th a velocity that a mu ch heav ier 'Busa or ZX-12 will have a job to match. Just ma ke sure you hold on tight when it takes off - and get ready to wo rk out . your shoulders muscling th e fron t wheel groundward as it does so! 'Cou rse, wh en yo u co me to a turn , then the liter-plus speed k ings get left for dead, bec aus e th e RF1 -SP's han dling has b een refin ed beyond th e stock R1's al ready ben chmar k beh av ior fo r th e ultrasports catego ry . The ra ised rear rid e height and dropped forks make it steer with a little more agility into turns th an the- stock bike, while the extra trail gi ves added stability aro und fas t , bu m py swee pe rs includ ing the 100 m ph fifth -gear one near my hou se wh ic h has seen more tha n one allegedly rac e-b red sportb ike t ie i t s e l f in kn o t s ov er t he u n ev en t er r ain . S o rt ed. It 's a bi t heavy stee ring when yo u hav e to lift it up and o ve r f ro m si de to sid e in a seri es of cu rves, th ough , but probably th i s i s du e t o th e a lte red stee ring geometry, and an accepta ble payoff for th e we lcome extra st ab ili t y . A nd DJ's much more effective 10M w ind protector and fly swatter on his racer, you do get bu ff eted around qu ite a bit at the so rt of speeds it becomes sec ond nature to trave l at a bo a rd th e RF1-SP. T hat 's wh en you are actually seat ed on th e bike, of course - rather th an standing on th e footrests despera tely trying to forc e the front wh eel back to the ground w ithout ad m itti ng defeat and shutting back on the th rottle an y wh er e in th e pow e r b and b etw een 5000 and the 1 1,800 rp m rev -li m iter , in al most any gear except t he t o p two ! Yup - just like the rac er it's so closely de rived fro m , the V[,M RF 1SP is a serio us wh eelie-h ound, especi ally if you crack the t hrottle wide o pe n u n d er acc e l e rat ion , and fi n d yo urse lf running over ridge s or dips in t h e roa d su rfa ce w hich ac t as a lau nch r a mp for the fro nt whee l. T h ank s to t he Ak rap ov ic race ex ha ust an d the c onsequent absence of th e stock EX UP syst em , it' s pr etty p ea k y l o w down , a n d co u g hs a n d sp utte rs if you try to acc el erate hard without dialing up at least 5000 rev s first - it won 't take full th rottle below 4000 rpm , and for ser iou s st reet use th e le ss c ostl y RF 1 pa ckag e , w h ic h retai ns th e stoc k EXUP exha ust with j ust a Vance [, Hin es end c an , wo ul d a lmost ce rta in ly be p ref er ab l e. B ut get the 2 0-valve slant -block motor revv in g , esp eci all y abo ve 8000 rpm whe n t he re 's a dose of extra pu nch , and th e waves of power and especial ly torq ue pro vid e pe rformance to get high on , as the rear Pirelli digs in . The Penske shock irons out any inconvenient ro ad rash wi th ease, and you 're 22 ne1N M AY 31, 2000' cue • e (Top) Though it's based on a bike that dominated a race circuit (hence the LSL steering damper), the Y&M Yamaha features standard street instrumentation. (Above) This shot shows the Gennan LSL rear-set footrests and Goodridge braided brake lines. OS To put th e seal on its crus hing cl ean swee p of ro ad circ ui t results , V&M is building a limited -editio n custo mer street version of the J efferies RI ra cer, whi ch has just entered prod uction and is being sold th rough Yama ha UK dealers, or direct from V&M (Fax: 011 /44 (0)161 / 654-0 022 or http :/ /www. vandm raci ng .com) for customers outs ide Britain . Fo r a cost of around $21 ,54 0 (including I 7 .5% tax ), including a one-ye ar warranty, Stevie Streetracer can get his hand s on a bike th at threat ens to go Hayabusa-hunting in a st raight line - yet will co mfort ably out -hand le Suzuk i' s porky spee d king in tums . Th e V&M King of t he Streets is also avail able in a m axed -out RFI -SP vers ion costi ng $2 7 ,480 including tax. which is th e cl osest thing possibl e to DJ 's racer fitted with lig hts, co m plete with all th e fancy hardware tha t m ade the TT-w inni ng bike th e ultimate Rl. V& M will build a m axi m um of 50 RF1s , each individuall y numbered and persona ll y signed by David J efferi es on th e nose of th e carbon fairin g. Th e Man chester -based tuning hou se will also upgrade a customer's stock RI to RFI spec , on the basis of a sho pp ing list ava ilable via th e com pany 's websit e. . Th e base-model RF I is tun ed by V& M's Ste ve Mell or to deliver 155 hor sep ow er at th e rear wheel at 10,80 0 rpm, on th e same dyn o on wh ich a stock Rl fresh out of th e crat e puts out 133 horsepower, and th e team 's TT-winning race bikes pro duced 174 hors ep ower. Tha t's with a stoc k bottom end, pi ston s and co nnecting ro ds, and the stock headers, com plete with EXUP system , fitted with a Van ce & Hin es t ita ni um sile nce r. But it 's also with a port ed, gas-fio wed cy linder head fitt ed w ith V&M's own performan ce ca ms hafts, and th e same ram -air indu ct ion system as the race r (incl udi ng its large 16 -q uart QB Car bon pr essuri zed airb ox ), with ca rburetion on the standard 40mm Mi kuni CVs modified to suit. The ignition curve has also been repro gram m ed. Cha ssis-wise, much of Yamaha 's stock RI kit is retained, just as on th e racer, but with a fully -adjustable Pensk e race shock offe ring 25mm extra ride height at the rear to make the bik e steer a little qu ick er. Th e 4 I mm inv ert ed Showa fork fitted to th e stock RI has been revalv ed and fitted with stiffer springs, and it's also dropped lOmm throu gh th e triple clamps to effectively reduce the head angle and sharpen th e steering. A Germ an-m ade LSL steering damper and rear sets, Goodridge brai ded steel brake lin es (but still th e standard RI brakes), a rear seat co wl and specia l-edition pa int j ob cl osely based on the Je fferie s bike's race liv ery, com plete the base-level RFI packag e. But for an extra $5940 in tot al, you ca n add the works and go for broke in terms of hard ware and performance, with th e RF I -SP. This has th e same lightweig ht Dymag wh eels as t he RI racer, sho d with Pirell i Dr ag on Evo Corsa rubber and fitted with th e same ligh t but eff ect ive 320mm PFM cast- iron brak es as th e Jefferies bike. These are t hree -piece sto ppe rs with th e narrow floating discs att ac hed to th e lightweight carriers with a sing le huge circl ip , and gripped by th e British co m pany's own six-p iston calipers, with a Br embo m aster cylinder. Mind you, since th e fini shed bi k e now weig hs j ust 372 pou nds half -dry co m p lete wit h lights and a licenc e plat e, there's that m uch less to stop. A nd th e stock for k s now hav e the racer's adj ustable ProMa ch tripl e cl am ps whi ch , as de livered by V&M , offe r 4mm less offset th an stock at 3 1m m rath er th an 35m m , in o rder to incr ease trail and provide extra sta bility, j ust as on t he racebik e. Engine-wise, t he sam e level of tun in g is m aintain ed, but wit h a n Akr ap o vi c full - r a c e ex h aus t sy st em th at does away wi t h t he E XU P an d d e l iv e r s an ex t ra fi ve horsepower at t he top end. Th at makes for an out put of 16 0 ho rsep owe r, oniy 14 brake less than the racer, wit h 84 ft/lb of torqu e at 8600 r pm. Seri o u s ly pukka. . Y&M RF 1s ca n be ordered directly fro m Engla nd .

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