Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Corona Suz uki technician Ats ushi Nonaka di sc usses suspens ion settings w ith Sprenkel. (Ri ght) Team M anager Sylva in Geboers (left) an d Pichon mechanic Fr a nk Shroyen pose w it h the bike in front of th e Corona Suz uk i race shop. • Sand -ca st engi ne cases th ing a bo u t th e sh op is in t e n d e d to encou ra ge rac e -winn in g m o torc y cles , everyth ing ab out th e m o t orc y cl e is inten d ed t o fa c ili t at e wi n n i ng races . W e we re a ffo rded th e o p p o rt u n ity to to ur the forme r and try out th e latt er at th e c o nc lusio n of the b ik e 's first fu ll rac ing se ason . ••• • • • ••••••••••••••••••••••• A lth ough t he L ommel are a (home of Coron a S u zuk i) is best known fo r its n umero u s sand t racks ( in c lu d ing t he famous GP ci rcuit that our tester c am e across o n hi s m orn in g j o g fro m o u r h ot e l ) , w e o p te d to p ut t he bi k e through it s p a c es at Ya ma ha Land, a h a rd er -pac k ed t rack offeri ng fa r less dra m at i c co n d it io ns t h a n th e d e ep s a n d m ore t ypi ca l of Be lgi um . Th e reaso n in g , explai ne d p atiently to o u r p ro t e stin g tes te r (w ho had re tu rn ed fr o m hi s aforementio ned j og bl ath ering exc itedly about the epi c soil) , was sim ple: Yamaha Land · while less appropriate fo r the Su zu k i in a no rn i n al se nse - was more r ep resen t ati ve of t he con ditions fo u nd o n th e two th ird s of the GP tour that ta k es p la c e o u tsid e th e B en el u x region. Th e t este r r eferred to a bove was Ch ris Sp renk e l , a Sou th ern C a li forn ia p ro w ho sp en t th e 200 0 season ha ng in g o u t w it h Ry a n H ug h es b e f o r e si g n ing a dea l h imself to contest the ' 0 1 125c c GP s for D o m esto Honda a n I t a l i an s h o p tea m . Sprenk e l , w hose o p i n ions were b a ck ed u p b y t h e V e t In t e r m e d i at e aut hor , h a s ga i ne d a d e s erv ed re p u ta tio n as a c lyn ica l , meticu lous an d d em and ing t est ri der an d a veriti ble sc ie ntist of m otocro ss rid in g . eN Thoug h the team used factory Showa suspension in '99 , th e team util ized factory Kayaba co m ponents th rou ghout 2000 (th e KYB race shop's location next door to Geboer's faci lity co uldn't have hurt ). Being the detail -obsessed rider that he is, Pichon is fanatic al with suspension testing, and techn ici ans' jo bs are mad e even mo re difficult by the fact that the Frenchma n desires a setup with two details that generally go tog ether like oil and wat er · relatively soft fork springs and an ext remely stro ng fro nt brak e. To keep th e front end from div ing like Greg Louga ni s into comers, Kayaba had to work endlessly with valv ing, and pro per adjustment of the ultra -sensitiv e dam ping cli ck ers is vital. Mak ing these adju stm ents was a bit weird for us at first, as Kayaba's facto ry fork has the compression adjuster at th e top and the rebound at the bott om . exact ly the opp osite of its prod uct ion unit. When we first rode the bike, we were surprised at how harsh-feeling the suspension felt, deflect ing off of brak ing bump s and j arring the rider. At first we suspected that the spring rates were too stiff, but we eventually determ ined that the fork was dropp ing quick Iy through the top part of the stroke and hitt ing the stiff po rtio n (in the m iddle) too hard and too early . We immedia tely went to the clickers in an att empt to adjust out the harshness but , since a cl ick of a fact ory -suspensio n adj uster mak es m uch more of a change tha n with O.E.M. components . it didn't take long until we had m ade a mess of things, The Kay aba technician cam e to the rescue, dialing in Pichon's settings and dro ppi ng the fo rk to th e sta nda rd posit ion (5mm protrud ing above th e tri pl e cla mp) . Wit h stiffer co m p res sio n dam ping , th e bike began riding higher in th e stro ke, and performance was much im proved. Still , we never arri ved at that super- plush feeling we had anti cipa ted fro m fac tory suspension, and to say we were com pletely satisfied would be less than hon est. Ob vious ly , with such a resp ected team and rid er, these suspensio n units haven 't been sett led upon by acci dent . One hypothesis is th at Pichon is suc h a smooth rider that he may not di ve th roug h the upp er tr avel nearly as quickly, and having the in iti al soft ness cou ld allow the fo rk to soak up small undul ations and ripples . At any rate, the Am erican Chevy Tru cks Kawasak i team has run suspensio n quite sim ilar to this , about which team technicans rave with near-religious zeal. We were ama zed and impressed at how both t he sho ck and fork hand led ju m p l and in gs , whether they be smoo th downsiders or harsh flat grounders, and at how ju st a few cl icks of a damp ing adjuster (under th e watchful eye of a factory tec h) c an dial th e bik e in for a variety of tra ck This photo shows the external t ypes. Th e front and rear felt well balan ced, and gas reservoirs of the factory the bik e had a solid , stab le sensation to it,' Kayaba fork. • Factory Suzuki cylinder/po wer valve • Stock 2001 Suzuk i Kieh in carburetor with TPS • Hinson cl utch basket , inner hub, pressure plate (dis cs are stock 2001) F actory Su zuk i ex h aust p i p e (d iffe ren t p ip es av ai l able dep en d i ng upo n rider/tr ack cond itio ns) • Factory Suzuki carbo n-flbe r silencer • Stock Suzuki 2001 airbox w/ lid tap ed on to dir ect air flow • Stoc k Suzuki 200 1 radiators • Custom rear-suspension link ages · can be changed for different conditio ns • Works 48mm Kay aba fork w/ compression adj uster on to p, reboun d on botto m , like Showa. Extemal gas reservoirs for increased adju stabili ty (stoc k 2001 has 46mm w/ adj usters on opposite ends) • Work s Kayaba shock • Stock 2001 Suzuki fram e • Factory tita nium footp egs Works alum inum triple clam ps w/ handlebar moun ts adjustable in 3m m inc rements • Renthal 997 Carrnlchael-bend Twin Wall hand lebar • Renthal pre-production dual -com poun d hand grip s • Qu ick·adjust cl utc h perch • Magnesium rear hub • Stand ard -diameter axles • Work s Nissin front brake (master cyli nder available w/ di fferent-diameter pistons , depend ing upo n track cond itio ns) • Floating 270 m m front brake rotor (25 0m m is standard) Pirelli tir es (ve rsatile MT32 sand tir e used in a variety of cond itio ns) • Pirelli foam tire inserts (availa ble in different hardnesses, depending upon track co nditio ns) • Suzuk i J apan aluminum tank w/ petcock guard (2.7 · to 3.5·gall on vo lum es avail able, depending upo n tra ck cond itio ns) • Standa rd-shaped seat with stiffer foam • Norm al Suzuki yello w plasti c (not lim e yellow of stock 200 1 model) • DSP carbon-fiber guards (ignitio n cover, clutch cover, chain guide, cl utch -cover prot ector, rear disc brak e guard. for k covers) Like the stock 200 1 RM250 which it preceeded (it shares the same frame), the Corona Suzuki is a tiq ht- handling bike th at steers quick ly and goes wherever you want. Pichon's bike holds a line ext remely well , but the rider can also switch lines mid-tum , hop ping out of a rut to avoid acceleration bumps, for exam ple . This razor -handling m akes the Suzuk i less stabl e down straights tha n a Honda or Kawasak i, m ight be, but it doesn't shake its head or feel at all nervous. In fact, the overall feel is top- notc h, with a roomy feel th anks in part to a ta ll hand lebar. Even six-foot -th ree Sprenke l was on his tip- toes when pract icin g starts , but since the high seat eased th e transition between sitting and stand ing, he wouldn't have wanted a lower seat. The layout is also flat , m ak ing it simple to slide up on the tank to make the front end bite in tums, or to move back to carry the front ov er bum ps. This is a very comfortable, neutr al-feeling motorcycl e that handles superbly , and since Pichon and Coppins like an identi cal bike setup (ba r positi on, peg position, seat height · everything ), Geboers knows that changes made elsewhere on the bike will have consistent affects. Consistent is how th e Corona Suzuk i feels in the air, through which it flies controllably and smoothly . It feels light and maneuverable, and although it never kicks wi ldly off of ju mp takeoffs, it reacts readily to body -position input while airbo rne. One of th e most impressive features on Pichon 's bike is the factory Nissin fro nt brak e, which has an oversized rotor and the option of m aster cy linder s with var ying pist on dia m eters, Simply put , th is is the stro ngest brake we have ever felt that is still co nt roll able, like so me thi ng off of Pie r- Fran c esco Chili's superbike. Brak ing hard eno ugh into co mers to lift the rear end is easil y acc omplished, but the smoothand-co ntrollable binder never had that grabb y, stick -inthe-s po kes sensati on. U.S. rider s generall y co nsider foam tire inserts to be for the realm of off -road, and upon his '99 midseason arr iv al o n the team fo llo wi ng several years i n th e States, Pichon didn't li ke th e Pirelli inserts utilized by Corona Suzuki. The Italian tire manufactu rer co ntinued to improve the puncture-proo f donuts , however (vary ing densit ies are offered to mi m ic different t ire pressures), and now th e Frenchma n uses the inserts with out complaint. After ridin g the bike for th e better part of a day, we have to co ncu r. Speaki ng of Pirelli , Coro na Suzuki utilizes that corn pa rty's MT3 2 (ostensibly a sand tir e) for a wid e variety of tra ck conditions, and it has pro ven to be remarka bly versatil e. It even work ed adm irably on the fairly hard- Though it's a factory bike, pack ed Yamaha Land circuit where our test took place. Pichon's Suzuki utilizes a bone-stock (2001) frame. cue' e n e vu s N O V EMB ER 1 5 , 2000 13

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