VOLUME 57 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 10, 2020 P81
suppliers (KTM for the motor, WP for the fork and
shock, Dymag wheels, Brembo brakes, etc.), but
the center piece is the stunning tubular steel chassis
created by Markus Kramer and his team about an
hour's drive east from Munich in Germany.
"We build our own chassis and swingarm,
that's always been a trademark of the brand," says
Karvonen. "Compared to the chassis on the single-
cylinder EVO2, the GP2 gets an adjustable frame
rake, which allows us to give the rider plus or minus
one degree of rake angle, or stem angle, in half a
degree increments. This combines with the adjust-
able offset triple clamps to give us lots of options
when setting up the motorcycle for different riders."
All Kramer motorcycles come standard with WP
suspension and the 890 is no exception. Up front
is WP Apex Super Competition close-cartridge
forks, and an apex Super Competition shock out
back, both fully adjustable, of course.
"We worked with a great partner, XTrig [affiliated
with WP], to build the adjustable offset clamps,"
says Karvonen. "We pair that up with a set of WP
Apex forks—a pressurized, closed-chamber fork.
It's what we started using last year with the 690. It's
a little bit different calibration for the 890 over the
690, but that fork is a huge upgrade."
Braking comes care of twin 290mm fully floating
discs mated to twin four-piston Brembo Stylema
(Right) 2-1 RP race
exhaust comes
straight out of
Quebec, Canada,
and sounds
amazing. (Below)
Attention to detail
is excellent on the
GP2. (Below right)
Brembo RCs master-
cylinder offers
excellent feel at
the lever.
