Church of MO: Assault Suzuki GSX-R1000

Torrance, California, October 4, 2002 — Extensive-open throttle is one other of these areas I at all times considered a black or white problem which, it seems, actually isn’t. You both have the factor pinned otherwise you don’t, proper? Now I’m not sure. If you happen to give your spouse’s good friend a hug/kiss which by accident evolves right into a lusty grope, with out malice aforethought, have you ever dedicated adultery? Is Dr. Kevorkian a assassin? Is stealing bread against the law if you happen to’re ravenous? ‘Trigger I can get the throttle on the Method Xtreme champion Assault Suzuki open sufficient on the straights to expertise the sort of pace that makes that scorching sound, which segues into the sleek rush airplanes get simply after they cross by Mach 1–however largely you are feeling like if you happen to open the throttle only one extra nth of a level of rotation, that

further little twist to the cease–you would possibly run into an issue with physics you by no means knew existed. I’ve new respect for Chuck Yeager. I imply, I’ve highsided in a straight line on an XR100 within the mud; certainly that may’t occur on dry pavement? Hearken to me, simply put the footage of Jason Pridmore highsiding himself off this bike up the hill at Street Atlanta final season out of thoughts, and go forward and roll it to the cease.  I, I can’t. I’m afraid….

Assault primary man Richard Stanboli is aware of why: “Yeah, there’s about 20 extra horsepower between 90 and 100% open. The throttle butterflies disrupt the airflow till they’re all the way in which open.”

Feels extra like 50 extra to me. Seems like any person simply connected an enormous bungee wire to the nosecone…. then once more, why open the throttle all the way in which when nearly-all-the-way is sufficient to suck up and blow previous stunned Hayabusas on California Speedway’s banking (and each different bike on the Fastrackriders day)? Oi, it’s enjoyable to trip on the observe, and it’s much more enjoyable while you blow everyone’s doorways off–one thing I’ve by no means skilled earlier than. I at all times thought it was extra rider talent than bike. On this case, ain’t no grey space; it’s the bike. Interval. As we speak, barely detuned to maintain me from injuring myself, Stanboli says we’re making 190 horsepower and we weigh 372 kilos. With me on it, that’s a horse for each 2.8 kilos–versus about 4 kilos on a inventory GSX-R1000, and a inventory GSX-R doesn’t loiter. It’s an alarming distinction.   In truth, Pridmore’s Suzuki was normally the second or third-fastest factor by the timing lights at AMA occasions all season lengthy–usually a mph or two slower than Nick Hayden’s RC51 Honda, however nonetheless banging on the door of 190 at quick tracks like Brainerd.

In response to Stanboli–who’s been identified up to now to weld Yamaha combustion chambers closed as a way to transfer them to a unique place completely–the GSX-R1000 is a straightforward beast from which to extract 200 dependable horsepower. All that’s in there, he says, are 2mm oversize pistons, a pleasant roadracing head therapeutic massage, titanium rods, a balanced crank, and the usual charging system. Modified customary throttle our bodies management the consumption combination–which Richard says he retains “docile” to maintain the temperature down. What’s completely different is the bike’s Motec engine management electronics–$22,000 price–like those utilized in F1 vehicles–with extra enter and output channels than the Pet Psychic. As for manufacturing facility exotica, most groups declare there isn’t a lot of that going round in Method Xtreme (however we don’t consider the Honda guys once they say it). All Assault received all season from Hamamatsu, Stanboli says, was a close-ratio six-speed transmission. Okay, two of them; one for Jason’s bike and one for Ben Spies’s.  Which actually simply makes the FX championship that a lot sweeter.

“Let’s put it this fashion,” Stanboli says, “we’re the one staff competing for the championship with no tractor trailer. Our inhouse personnel is comparatively small, our finances might be 1 / 4 of what they (Erion and EMGO Valvoline and Graves Yamaha, we predict he means) have, if even that. We do have a extremely proficient rider and now we have an excellent engineering functionality. What we lack in funds or help we make up for in expertise.

“Yeah it feels good. We beat two full Honda efforts–Erion and Bruce Transportation are HRC efforts, and a full manufacturing facility Yamaha effort–full R7 works chassis and elements, works swingarms… I’m very conversant in Yamahas and I do know precisely what these guys have been utilizing–principally left- over Superbike stuff from the earlier yr, when Gobert was doing actually good on the factor.” Stanboli would know. His R1-engined R7 was outlawed method again throughout the 2000 season, lengthy earlier than the AMA went forward and let manufacturing facility Yamaha use the R7 body for the primary half of 2002 (possibly they thought no person would discover?).

Method Xtreme’s few-rules format was made for guys like Stanboli: Superbikes are too costly and company, and you may’t actually do something to Supersport bikes. In FX, although, if you wish to chop up the body and enhance upon what Suzuki constructed, have at it. The Assault Suzuki’s body appears to have undergone radical surgical procedure within the swingarm pivot space.

 What have you ever achieved Richard?

“After Fontana we received an opportunity to view the bike and suspension knowledge, after which once more at Sears Level, it was much more prevalent, that there was an issue with the facility supply, and the suspension with the ability to deal with all of the torque, so after Sears Level we made the body change… so we moved the swingarm pivot. I can’t let you know the place we moved it to, however we moved it so we’d have the ability to make the most of the horsepower of the motorbike. Now it’s adjustable, 6mm up and down, 3mm ahead and again… it took us a pair rounds to get it proper. We received to Colorado and it was a chunk of cake. We received that one. Street America we had another points with suspension however dialled that out and received that one too.”

At Street America, too, Pridmore received the break he wanted when Damon Buckmaster tried to mate his Yamaha with Jake Zemke’s Honda in an unnatural vogue — and each received no factors. Earlier than you bounce in with the opinion that Pridmore “inherited” the championship, properly, don’t bounce in with that.’Tis a much better factor to dwell to battle one other day, than to throw it down the highway for my part. And that was in reality the plan of Assault for 2002.

“Proper, we had Jason again once more,” says Stanboli,”unhurt, and we took an entire completely different method to the season. We mentioned let’s not attempt to win ’em all like in 2001; let’s simply go on the market and simply place, and win once we can with out taking any actual possibilities. Jason rode round, I wouldn’t

say he was using 110 % all yr. He did what he needed to do to win the championship. We had a pair glitches identical to the opposite groups, however I feel we made much less errors than the opposite groups — as seen within the final race — and so wound up successful the championship. And that’s what it takes; you gotta be there and win some too.”
Simply so.

The swingarm is what Stanboli calls “fabbed,” from package items mendacity around the store. In truth they give the impression of being suspiciously like Yamaha elements. Combine and match. Stanboli redid all kinds of items and linkage and Bob’s your uncle. Then he modified the bike’s steering offset and path with billet triple clamps constructed by Assault.

And I don’t assume Stanboli would’ve spent $22K for the Motec engine administration/data-logger system except he thought it was price it. What I gathered from the dialog between Hackfu and Richard is {that a} inventive tuner with a Motec system can do quite a lot of issues. One occasion Stanboli talked about is, “What if you happen to don’t need the bike to wheelie? All you do is plug the entrance wheel journey sensor into the pc, and program it in order that when the fork enters an space of unfavorable journey, let’s retard ignition timing 10 levels… simple to do.”

“You are able to do dynamic path measurement. You’ll be able to say, my entrance journey’s, this my rear journey’s that, offset’s this and my trip peak’s that–then you may examine all these on the fly, and growth, you recognize if there’s an excessive amount of squat leaving the nook, or possibly I’m loosing an excessive amount of path coming into the nook or possibly it’s extending the again and shoving the entrance on the exit… “Once more, one of these factor isn’t authorized in Superbike or Supersport.

Add all that brainpower up, each human and synthetic, and also you arrive at a motorbike that’s surprisingly simple to trip — identical to all of the cool racebikes I’ve had the possibility to trip over time. Guys like Pridmore are in a position to fly on them as a result of the bike wants so little consideration you get to pay full consideration to the race observe; all of the bike does is reply to instructions. Okay, properly — reply to instructions and produce 200 horsepower.

There’s Ohlins suspension at both finish, together with a GP fork in entrance. “That was silly,” Stanboli says, “we wound up having to utterly redo every thing in it.” Springs are fairly stiff, as a result of Jason’s nook pace is excessive (to go together with his excessive pace in all places else). The bike works superb at Burns-speed, too — agency however type. And even with Dunlop slicks left over from the ultimate spherical at VIR, it doesn’t take lengthy to turn out to be Invincible Man on this bike. Irrespective of how good road tires get, there’s nonetheless nothing like even worn slicks; even when your ear’s dragging, Jason’s bike simply yawns.

The close-ratio trans made an enormous distinction within the season too, permitting Jason to maintain the engine above the torque peak — making it more durable to spit out the rear tire and simpler to maintain the entrance one grounded. By Fontana’s slowest proper, I feel I’m utilizing second gear till I begin wanting on the Motec show and notice I’m in first, which have to be good up ’til 80 or so, looks like.

Even in low, the bike accelerates out of that nook with the teeniest opening-the-throttle lurch, and as soon as it’s on the meat of the tire you simply roll it open (okay not fairly all the way in which open), and get smoooooth acceleration–the entrance wheel solely turning into gently airborne because the revs rise up to 8000 or so — with not one of the wheelie-over-backward-instantly smack folks speak about.

Brakes are massive Brembos with a lot of controllable chunk, and helpful for lining up the little kink simply earlier than Fontana’s prolonged infield straight; that’s a great place to let the Assault Suzuki eat. Holy mom of pearl. Once more, every thing’s superb till that final little little bit of throttle, the place it feels just like the rear tire’s going to interrupt free although you’re already accelerating laborious by 100 mph. Issues that have been as soon as gradual undulations yards aside are actually bumps. I image Miss Budweiser abruptly going airborne off a lake. Guys on R1s you normally can’t sustain with are abruptly obstacles. Richard was proper: anytime the fuel is on laborious, you need to trip this bike on the balls of your ft, weight on the tank, free grip on the bars however not too free, after which we’re talkin’ flying off God’s personal Huge Bertha, par 5. Keep in mind there’s a powershifter and down is quicker — and you end up at prime pace, which is loads, in not a lot time in any respect. A Haybusa will go this quick, virtually, but it surely takes it possibly a mile to get there. Stanboli’s beast will get there in a pair hundred yards, looks like.

And it’s good, actually, when you alter. Cleaning even, a barely spiritual feeling of omnipotence, an out-of-body expertise. Hey, these final months haven’t been simple on me man… fired from my job (that was robust for like two hours), weaned from the Paxil, cleft from the one I like, taking physique blows from Shiite MO subscribers… sigh. Heroin is sweet, we hear. Yoga is meant to be therapeutic — however just a few laps on this factor appears to have realigned all kinds of crooked inside bits in me, like having your neck snapped by a extremely good chiropractor or being serviced by a extremely costly Vegas… scratch that half, we’re a FAMILY publication. Thanks for the recollections, Richard.

Assault Efficiency