James Parker

JAMES PARKER

CYCLE WORLD INTERVIEW

THE SELLING OF A SUSPENSION

WHEN YOU THINK OF THE DEvelopment of fresh suspension designs, the image of Japanese engineers hovering over CAD/CAM screens comes to mind, not that of an unassuming 46-year-old ex-road-racer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. But that latter description paints an accurate portrait of inventor James Parker, president of Rationally Advanced Design Development (RADD) and the man directly responsible for the innovative front suspension on Yamaha's new GTS1000.

With five patents and another two pending, the Stanford Univer sity graduate has a lot to say about the future of motorcycle-suspen sion design. Prior to the introduc tion of the GTS, we sat down with him to find out more about his ex periences, and what the future of motorcvclin~ may hold. -Matthew Miles

CYCLE WORLD: How did the RADD front-end design come about? PARKER: During the late `70s, I saw some of the European frontend designs, like the center-hubsteered Elf X. I thought those ideas were great, but when they didn't succeed, I wondered why. So I an alyzed them to see what their prob lems might be. In the process, I put together my own ideas. In 1983, I applied for a patent and completed the first prototype in 1984. Funda mentally, the suspension has not changed since I conceived it. t'Vt'I C AVflDI fl .-...,-.

CYCLE WORLD: What are the theoretical benefits of this design over a conventional fork assembly? PARKER: The major benefit is in creased strength. Conventional forks act as a lever on the frame, multiplying the loads involved. My system acts directly on the frame and therefore does not multiply the loads. There are also potential side benefits, some of which won't even be explored until engines are made specifically for this suspen sion. Steered mass is reduced con siderably, so steering can be more precise. Secondly, since this is a pivoting system and not a sliding system, the ride should be better. r aia~rii . T1

CYCLE WURLU: Why did you choose to work with Yamaha? PARKER: Of all the manufacturers, they showed the most interest. I came across some people at U.S. Yamaha who were enthusiastic and willing to approach people at Yama ha Japan. It wasn't so much that the other companies said no, but noth ing moved forward. This kind of thing takes an enormous amount of energy, and in the case of Yamaha I had some help. Working with them was a wonderful experience. The technical guys, especially, are very sharp. They're not just guys in busi ness suits divorced from the realities of motorcycling.

CYCLE `WORLD: In selling the concept to Yamaha, what was the greatest hurdle you had to overcome? PARKER: The toughest thing was getting through to a big business from the outside. It doesn't happen very often, and the guys within a big company, like Yamaha, aren't used to it. They have to create their own pathways for this new knowl edge to enter and it takes a long time. It's a very long process.

CYCLE WORLD: Is the GTS's front end a faithful reproduction of your design?

PARKER: Absolutely. Yamaha made some developmental progress in terms of details, but it's definitely the RADD system.

CYCLE WORLD: Then why isn't RADD stamned on the front end?

PARKER: In general, the Japanese don't give credit for individuals in volved in projects. When our licensing contract was negotiated, this subject came up. Yamaha felt that it should be their decision on how to market the bike. I agreed with that. It's their bike and I respect their decision.

C Y C L E WO RID: Were you hoping for more of a sport-oriented applica tion? Would a racebike benefit from this design?

PARKE~{: I really wanted to leave that open to Yamaha. But I believe they were wise in staying away from racing with the GTS. Racing is driv en, more now than ever before, by a need for immediate results. Several years ago, I spoke with Kenny Roberts, and he said, "Keep that thing out of grand prix." What he meant was that they are not develop ment people. What they need are a few clearly defined performance pa rameters. They need to know they can adjust their front suspension with preload, ride height, spring rate, cer tain damping changes and, to a cer tain degree, geometry changes. Even with so few parameters available, there are still so many combina tions. The development of this sus pension, even though it's extremely well done, is still in its infancy. At this point, introducing my suspen sion to racing would make things even more difficult.

cv~ii tiiui~ UIIIILUIL. CYCLE WORLD: How deeply were you involved in the develop ment process? Did you have to travel to Japan often?

PARKER:More than anything, it was like a college situation, where the engineers would listen to me speak, then they would build a pro totype, and we would critique it. They didn't hire me to do the work, they hired me to give them the information. In the R&D part of it, I was involved helping them build prototypes. But in the pro duction phase, my involvement pretty much ceased. I would go to Japan for a few intensive days, but I wasn't living there by any means. I think the most I went over in one year was three times.

CYCLE WORLD: What else do you have in the works?

PARKER: I've patented a singlesided, shaft-driven, torque-com pensating rear suspension. It's different than BMW's system, which isn't 100 percent self torque-compensating. I also have a two-wheel drive system that uses the RADD front suspension, and an active-suspension system de signed specifically for motorcy cles. I think that is a really workable idea, but it will require a completely developed swingarm front suspension. In the Yamaha GTS, there may be a base for that.

CYCLE WORLD: From RADD in ception to production motorcycle has taken more than 10 years. If you had to do this all over again, would you? Would you do any thing differently?

P A K K E K: I would do many things differently. Not so much from a technological standpoint, but I would know so much more about the business end. Many things, I think, would be easier. Having a representative in Tokyo would have helped in many ways. That's just one of many things that I didn't have in the past. But looking back on it, this project has been driven by the technology, and I firmly believe that it demands con tinued development.