Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News BOOcc Sportbike Shoot out 2000 Pau l's Picks: 1. Yam aha YZF-R6 . 2. Honda CBR600F4 3, Kaw asak i ZX -6 R 4 . Duc at i 748 5 . Suzu k i GSX -R600 6. TriumphlT600 . J ef f' s Picks: 1. Honda CBR600F4 2. Ka wasak i ZX -6R 3 . Yamaha YZF -R6 4 . Suzu k i GSX -R600 5 . Ducati 748 6. T ri umph lT600 Chris ' Pic k s: 1. Kaw asaki ZX -6 R 2. Yam ah a YZF-R6 3 . Suzuki GSX -Ro OO 4 . T riumph lT600 5 . Hond a CBR600F4 6. Duc at i 748 Sc ot t ' s Picks: 1. Ka wasaki ZX-6R 2. Yama ha YZF -R6 3 . Duc at i 748 4 . Suzuk i GSX -R600 5 . Triumph lT600 6 . Honda CBR 600F4 Haney 's Hot Laps 1. Yamaha YZFR -6 - 1:50.10 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. c o m pete in th e W orld Sup er sp o rt cl ass - j ust li k e th e AMA shoul d!) is sure to fo llow. A nd will we ever get an hon est -t o -God Honda CB R60 0 RR? B ut w e 're g etting a hea d o f o urselves . I n t he mea n t i me w e w er e mo re th an hap p y t o bu st out of o ur offices and size up the current crop of m iddl ew e igh t m on st ers. We ca lled Bob G ra h a m a t B r id g est o n e T ires , wh o set us up with six sets of BT58R race radia ls. Then we burned them up on the tra c k at th e 2 .5 -mile Sp ring Mounta in Sp e edwa y in Pahru mp , Nevada , hom e o f th e B ragg -Sm ith Advanc ed D ri v ing School. W e once aga in had former fac to ry Honda d irttrac k er/roa d racer and curren t Fred d ie Sp en c er ri d ing school in struc tor J eff Han ey at our dispo sal , a nd we turned him loo se in front of ou r stopwa t c h e s at t he tr a c k . T h en w e m oto re d o ur te st units a ro u nd the freeways, t oll ways and surfa ce streets that surro und o ur South ern Cali fo rni a h e adqu a r t ers f or a coupl e we ek s . F in all y, we se nt th em o ff t o Ga r y J on es at Wh it e Brothers R&D a nd had him flog th em on th e dyno . Wh en all w as sai d and do ne , w e came u p w ith o ne w inner , no losers and a n hon ora bl e men t i on f o r a n incr ed ibl y co m p e t e n t fir st - y e ar des ign. eN 36 J ULY 5 , 2000 ' cue I e Honda CBR 60 0 F4 - 1:50 . 15 Suzuk i GSX - R6 0 0 - 1:50. 9 3 Kawasaki ZX -6R - 1:5 1.5 1 Ducati 748 - 1:52.9 3 T riumph lT600 - 1:53.76 Room to Bragg It m ight loo k li k e an un exp lainabl e, frea k pav ing accident as yo u dr iv e past it on the wa y t o Las Veg as o r Death Va lley, but Sp ring Mountain Sp eedway is actually a 2 .5 · m ile trac k j ust out side of Pahrump , Nevada , th at was the site of th is yea r's 60 0c c su persport shootout. T he tra ck is ac t ua ll y home o f th e Br agg -Sm ith A d vanced Dr iv ing Sch oo l, a Ch evrolet fa ctory -b ack ed high-p erform anc e driving academ y whose namesak e, Rup ert Brag g -Sm ith is also th e owner of th e track. A Can -A m driv er during that ser ies' he yd ay in the '7 0 s, Smith m ov ed t o N eva da and o pe ne d t h e sch ool a few years ago , ov erseei ng th e co m ple tio n of the facility himself. As a Che vrolet -ba c k ed d r i v in g sch oo l, Bragg -Sm ith ut ili zes Corvettes and Cam ara SS m od els excl usively fo r instruction purposes. After ou r tes ti ng was co mplete d , I beg ged for a ride in one of B rag g' s Vettes, and he ha p pily obliged, strapping m e in and tak ing m e f o r a n ex h il a r ati n g r i d e arou n d th e same co u rse that w e had j ust ridd en , th rowing the vehicle into severa l four w hee l d rifts. T oo much fun . " One of our m ethods is t o teach our stu de nts interactively: Smith said wh il e driving me arou nd th e track . To th at end , each of the student vehicles ca rri es a two -w ay radio so that Sm ith can ta lk to a stude nt in o ne vehicle, wh ile show ing them prop er tec hn ique another. It is a fo r. m at th at has wor ked well , he says. Th e Br agg -Smith Ad van ced Dr ivin g Scho o l is run during th e week , and after taking a ride with th e man himself, we 'd heartil y reco mmend it for any m ot orc ycli st s o ut th ere wh o m ig ht bejnterest ed in try ing fou r wh eels. F or more info rm ation, ca ll th e Bragg -Smith A dvanc ed Driv in g School, 7 75 /7 2 7 -6363 , or ch eck them out on th e World Wid e W eb at http:/ / www.bragg -smith .com . Scott Rousseau n e _ so

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