VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P 7 3
The GP2 890 RR takes the les-
sons learned from competition
in the admittedly odd-named
GP2 category of the British
Supersport Championship,
where this machine is eligible to
compete, and comments from
owners across the globe. Let's
check out what's been done.
E L E C T R O N I C S +
The big change comes with the
addition of the Mectronik MKE7
ECU, equipped with a six-axis
Inertial Measurement Unit. This
has allowed for lean-angle
sensitive, nine-level plus "off"
traction and five-stage plus "off"
wheelie control, launch control,
and a pit lane speed limiter, as
well as a much deeper dive into
the various data points that al-
low finer setup changes.
"Everybody talks about
wheelie and traction control, but
what we wanted to focus on is
the quality of the full experience
of the bike," says Krämer USA's
Joe Karvonen. "That was one of
the biggest complaints we had
on the previous gen of the 890.
This is true to some other 890s
is that the quickshifter func
-
tion isn't always the best. So,
with this Mectronic ECU we're
allowed to do a lot broader pa
-
rameter changes. It really, really
helped to make it work better."
E N G I N E +
The GP2 890 RR comes with
titanium conrods, titanium inlet
and exhaust valves, higher lift
and longer duration camshafts
on the intake and exhaust sides,
CNC ported cylinder-head, higher
compression forged Pankl pis
-
tons, and larger Dell'Orto 48mm
throttle bodies. Compression has
been raised from 13.5:1 to 14.1:1.
The crankshaft is the same as a
base 890 Duke, as is the gearbox.
However, you can opt for a Nova
close ratio gearbox used in flat
track and various sidecar racing
outfits in Europe. Thankfully, the
dreaded quickshifter that was
on the 890 R that would kill the
ignition if you breathed on it has
been swapped out for a more
robust race version.
"Yeah, much improved. We're
very excited about that part!" Kar
-
vonen says of the quickshifter.
"It's one of the biggest things we
wanted to achieve with the differ
-
ent electronics package."
M A I N C H A S S I S +
The chromoly steel-trellis chas-
sis, powder coated in a rather
fetching red, is one of the few
things left untouched from the
890 R. "The one thing I think that
gets overlooked is the GP2 chas
-
sis (R and RR-spec) does have
adjustable rake, so it goes stan-
dard, zero, or you can do +/- half
or +/- one degree of rake angle
by changing the insert in the top
of the frame," Karvonen says. "It's
not a quick change but you can
