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/128615
Man TT, with a super - t une d st r e et bike that's embarassingly similar to w hat Yam a h a 's t en s o f thou sand s of R 1 c u s to mers aro u n d t h e gl o b e a ll ha v e in their garag es. E xcept fo r one all- im portant thing : power! Oh - and t orqu e , t oo. W ith 20 p e r c ent m o r e horsepower than the stock R 1 - itself not exactly a shrinki ng v io let alo ng Racer Road or the Dow ntown Dragstrip - the V&M bike delivers serious p erfo rm an c e at the tw ist of a wri st , a n d t h e fact that Mellor h as re t ai ned t he CV ca rb s on th e bike, rather than doi ng w h a t some m igh t th i n k w ould b e o bvio us an d fi tt i n g f1 atsl id es, m e an s you can access this a dd i ctiv e h it o f h o r sep o w er m uch mo re e asily , and controlla bly, than you might ex pect. Well - so long as you ' re careful about m ak in g sure you have the bike r e a so n a b l y upright Manchester-based Vf,M Racing 's proprietors Jac k Valentine and Steve Mellor are the exact British equiva lents of Am eric a's famed Vance f, Hines tunin g duo - and not just because Vf,M are by no coi nci dence Vf,H's British distributors. Uke Byron Hines, Mellor is an engine wizard adept at extracting unlikely amounts of horsepower from normally aspirated (non- turbo, unsupercherqed ) four-str oke engines. Thi s skill found due reward with the three European drag raci ng ti tles and several Briti sh crowns his partner Valentine won aboard Vf, M bikes during num erous years in the Euro drag leagues, ju st as Terry Vance was doing Stateside . After founding Vf,M back in 1983, the two have since carved an enviable reputation as Britai n's top performance shop, tuning street bikes for Joe Public as well as race engines for the likes of the UK Kaw asaki and Yamaha im porter teams. This was before going road racing themselves and linking with Honda, to win countless 10MIT races and a quartet of British Supersport crowns during th e past decade, before a disag reem ent with Honda Br itain midway through the 1998 season put an end to that marriage. But even by their own already illustrious standa rds , nothing the two partners have ever raced before has eamed the "Vf,M for Victory" tag quite so emp hatica lly as the Yamah a R1 Jefferies won so many races wi th last season - and wit h which he threatens to repeat the same do m inance in this year's new-m ill en nium IT 200 0 progra m . Steve MellDr (Ieftl and Jack Valentine, the M and V In V&M, pose by David Jefferies' race bike. when you dial i n so me revs on a damp road at anywhere above 4500 rpm , t hat is : T h e reason is not the sa me lig htning-switch pick u p you m ig ht have gotten with f1 atslides, but th e fac t tha t t here 's j u s t so m uch torq ue a n d s uc h a s trong s ho ve , especially above 6000 rpm . that you really need the rear Pirelli to hook up extra well, otherwise - whoaaaa l! Oops!! Stock i n s t r u m e n t s are retained . by the wa y . complete with d ig ital speedo for you to fr ig hte n yourse lf w ith still further w hen you sudde nly realize you' re goin g a go o d 30 m ph fa st er th an you th ought you were, thanks to th e effo rt le ss p erform ance d el ivered courtesy o f the V&M ra m-air system which. t o get her w it h the cams and p ipe. is th e rea l reason for that extra dose of power - t houg h with the stock R 1 screen rath er than ENGINE: Watercoo led DOHC 20 -valve transverse in-line four-cylinder four-stroke with offset chai n chamshaft drive BORE x STROKE: 74 x 58mm DISPLACEMENT: 998cc OUTPUT : 160 hp at 10,800 rpm (at rear wheel) COMPRESSION RATIO: 12.5:1 MAX TORQUE: 82 .6 ft/ lb at 7750 rpm CARBURETlON: (4) 40mm BDSR Mikuni IGNITION : : Digital electron ic COl modified by Vf,M GEARBOX: . _. .. . . • . . . . . .. _ _ _. .. . .• _ 6-speed CLUTCH : Multiple oil- bath CHASSIS : Aluminum twin-spar SUSPENS IO N FRONT: .41mm Showa inverted telescop ic fork modi fied by Vf,M REAR: Aluminum swingarrn with Penske shoeck and rising-rate link RAK E(TRAIL: 24°/96mm WHEELBASE: _. .55 .6 in . WEIGHT: 372 pounds dry WEIGHT DIS TRIBUTION : .54 /46% BRAKES FRONT: (2) 320 mm cast -iron discs with six-piston PFM calipers REAR: ( 1) 245mm Yam aha steel disc wit h two-piston Sumi tomo cali per WHEELSrrlRES FRONT: 120/70 -17 Pirelli Dragon Evo Corsa on 3.50·inch Dymag wheel REAR : 180/55·17 Pirelli Dragon Evo Corsa on 6.00 -inch Dymag wheel TOP SPEED: 189 mph PRICE: £ 18,500, including tax ($27,480) BQlLDER: Vf,M Racing. Manchester. Great Brita in, www.vandmracing.com cue I e n EO _ S • MAV 31, 2 0 0 0 21