Cycle News

Cycle News 2014 Issue 15 April 15 2014

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 15 APRIL 15, 2014 P87 Briefly... time out. Dropped in contentious circumstances by his Suzuki team during the off-season, he was with- out a ride until the unfortunate car crash injury suffered by Sylvain Bar- rier in the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Evo team. Camier was fastest Evo rider of all after making it to Super- pole 2 alongside full Superbike rider Toni Elias (and then finished 11th on the grid on a bike with 20 or so less horses than all those in front of him). He won the first Evo battle on Sun- day. Both Hero EBR 1190 RX riders were present at Aragon for the second round and each had some new parts MV OF ALL? What makes the 2014 MV F4 RR tick? We asked MV technical chief Brian Gillen and it appears there is still a lot of change to come to a bike that is entered as a full Superbike, not an Evo machine. Given the long break be- tween P.I. and Aragon, the bike has even changed a lot from its virtual Superstock spec in Australia. "The bike is probably now about 70 percent of the way to being a full Superbike," Gillen said. "In Australia it was probably 60 percent, so there is a tremendous amount to come. A number of new parts are on the bike, but the engine we used at Aragon was the same as the one we used in Australia. The mechanical components were the same but what has changed is the chassis. "We have different suspension, new triple clamps, which are offset adjustable so we could test. We are using the new offset figures at Aragon. We have differ- ent rear links, we have different wheels; new Marchesini ones they made specifically for us. There is a big weight saving and big reduction in the moment of inertia with these. Turning the bike is quite a bit easier." Electronics are another jump forward, using well-known material. "From the electronics side we have had a huge step forward - with the definition of them. We are probably about 40 percent+ of the way there with the electronics. We use the Marvel 4 Magneti Marelli ECU." With a monstrously powerful street engine already inside its steel tube and alloy box section chassis, the MV Agusta had good power, on the showroom floor, but not much in the way of race engine development so far. "The engine we have now could be considered an Evo engine," said Gillen. "Everything inside is as it was in Australia because the engine was built in December and shipped straight to Australia, so it is basically Evo. We could have qualified it for the Evo class, no problem. We have 201 horsepower on the road-going F4 RR, with a catalytic convertor and headlights and turn signals. We are putting out over 225 hp now and full spec will be around 230 or 235, at the crankshaft. There is a lot of room where we can grow." The MV Agusta World Superbike (Above) Chaz Davies was fourth in race one but crashed out of race two. (Left) Georgian Aaron Yates ended the day with 17 th and 19 th place finishes. continued on next page

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