READY TO WIN!
CYCLE WORLD EXCLUSIVE: RIDING HARLEY-DAVIDSON'S 1000 SUPERBIKE
DAMN THE SKEPTICS; FULL SPEED AHEAD
DON CANET
TENSION HUNG IN THE AIR THICKER THAN SPORTSTER crankcase oil on a Milwaukee winter morning. I stood leaning against the workbench of garage 14 in the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course paddock. Before me, sitting on its rear stand, was the VR1000, America’s first Superbike. Within the hour, I’d be riding the orange-and-black symbol of Harley-Davidson’s return to roadracing. I’d be leaning it over farther and spinning its engine to revs well beyond that of any Harley I’d ever ridden before.
Twenty feet away, in the far corner of the garage, Harley-Davidson Race Manager Steve Scheibe was engaged in a quiet yet earnest conversation with Art Gompper, promotion manager for the team and the guy who tentatively punched my ticket to ride the VR. Had they decided against entrusting me with their baby? After all, I have gone on record stating that “road-going Harleys are not my cup of tea.”
It had been a momentous weekend for the Harley-Davidson factory race team. For the first time since its racing debut in Daytona last March, the VR1000 had shown signs of hope even the most pigheaded of pessimists couldn’t deny. Miguel Duhamel silenced a few doubters by qualifying the VR on the front row, fourth-fastest in the 34-bike field, then proved it was no fluke in Sunday’s Superbike final by slipping underneath the Ferracci Ducati of Pascal Picotte to take the lead on the first lap. It was history in the making and the partisan Midwestern crowd sensed it. The grassy slopes surrounding the course echoed with a wave of excitement that kept pace with Duhamel’s progress around the 2.25-mile, 16-tum circuit.
Over the following four laps, a battle of the Twins headed the field, Picotte’s 955cc Duck outsprinting the Hog down the top-gear chute on the backside of the course, only to be repassed by a heroic, hard-charging Duhamel, whose determination on the brakes and bravado through the esses was a sight to behold. But could Duhamel maintain this pace, pushing harder in the corners than the competition in an effort to make up for the VR’s top-speed deficit? We’ll never know, for Duhamel’s luck ran out on the 13th lap. A bolt on the shift linkage backed out, forcing the Canadian to make a pit stop for repairs, and costing him a shot at the podium as the lead pack pulled away. Duhamel rejoined the fray, but finished the race in 14th place.
It has been a long hard road getting to this point. Development of the VR engine started more than five years ago, with maddening fits and starts along the way, but the bike is now a contender. As detailed in Cycle World’s exclusive behind-the scenes look at the VR program (see “America’s Superbike,” CW, March ’94), the VR1000 is a whole new breed of motorcycle for HarleyDavidson, a “clean-sheet” design applying the latest technologies toward bringing the AMA Superbike crown home to Milwaukee. The VR’s 996cc, liquid-cooled, 60degree V-Twin makes use of chain-driven dohc, fourvalve heads and Weber electronic fuel injection. Also unique among current Harley mills is the VR’s geared primary drive. Power is transmitted to the five-speed gearbox via dry clutch.
Smoothing the bugs out of the new motor and electrical system has been all-consuming; fortunately the chassis has been sound all season. Aside from switching over to an Öhlins fork after early testing with a Penske front end, the chassis has required very little attention. In their first attempt, Scheibe and crew seem to have hit on a very workable combination. The VR’s aluminum, twin-beam, perimeter frame has an adjustable swingarm pivot, yet according to Scheibe they have postponed experimenting with this and other chassis-tuning parameters such as steering head offset until they’ve dealt with more immediate issues pertaining to the engine.
With less than two weeks to prepare for the upcoming round of the Superbike championship at Brainerd, Minnesota, granting some journalist a joy ride was no small matter. Aside from Duhamel and teammate Fritz Kling, the only other people to have logged saddle time aboard the VR racer were early development rider Scott Zampach and Scheibe himself.
Unable to secure exclusive track time, I’d be riding in the “Hot Shoe” session with several street riders on hand for a rider’s school hosted by Hind Motorsports of Cleveland and the Ducati Owners’ Club of Canada. The thought of having the VR cast into a playground full of adrenaline-charged amateurs concerned Scheibe and Gompper. An announcement blared over Mid-Ohio’s P.A. system didn’t help. “Attention in the paddock, under no circumstances are you to ride counter-course!” Concern turned to disbelief. What had Harley gotten itself into?
I slip into my Team Cycle World leathers. “Who picked these colors?” asks Gompper. Apparently my choice in riding gear clashes with the standard H-D motif. Once out on pit road, Duhamel gives me a last-minute word of advice and reminds me to have fun. Still on its stand, the bike is clicked into top gear and the starter, an 8-hp Briggs & Stratton with a wheelbarrow tire attached to its output shaft is run up against the VR’s rear tire. The drive chain begins to whine as wheel speed increases, my cue to drop the clutch. The VR1000 roars to life.
Settling into a 2300-rpm idle, the slow, uneven lope of a Big Twin is replaced by a menacing, throaty crackle unlike any Harley exhaust note I’ve heard before. Blipping the throttle gives instant response and quick revs. Pulling away from a standstill is no more difficult than what you would expect from any good streetbike and the clutch lever requires light effort to pull. Heading onto the track, I short-shift into second gear. The bike lunges forward in very Harley-like fashion, each piston’s power stroke clearly felt. That’s the last reminder of the bike’s heritage. As the revs climb, the VR delivers all the sense and feel of a ’90s Superbike.
I half-expected the VR to the have the excessive drive lash and sloppy gearbox of many under-development racebikes. In fact, it has perhaps the most sound drivetrain of
any bike I’ve ridden. Gear changes require minimal lever travel and are very slick in feel and sound. Neutral is transparent when shifting between first and second. The tautness of the drivetrain combined with the engine’s crisp throttle response add up to a supremely slop-free ride. Duhamel and Kling put such precision to good use.
The riding position is well-suited to the job at hand without being too cramped. The seat is well-padded-“the most comfortable on the grid,” according to Kling. The tallish windscreen routes turbulent air up and over my head as I tuck in and run the VR up through the gears down the fast back straight. The deep drone of the 2-into-1 exhaust rises in
pitch yet remains in the bass section as the tach needle nears its 10,200-rpm redline.
A mild, two-finger squeeze on the brake lever yields all the stopping power the front Dunlop radial can absorb as I slow for the 90-degree right at the end of the straight. The U.S.made Wilwood six-piston calipers and cast-iron rotors offer simply superb power and feel. This was the scene where Duhamel reclaimed the lead 24 hours earlier, the image still fresh in my mind. Down three gears as I approach the turn-in point, and the rear wheel chatters under engine braking without the aid of a Sprague clutch basket, which would allow some slip. I make a mental note to delay my downshifts until I’ve slowed the bike more and be more assertive in blipping the throttle to match revs on downshifts.
The VR’s broad spread of power allows me to thread through the twisting, rolling six-turn series on the back side of the course without ever shifting. The engine revs fall to 5500 rpm at the apex of the slowest turns, yet the bike drives out with all the tractable power I could ask for. The chassis responds wonderfully to my input, offering light and neutral steering feel. Any and all bumps are soaked up by the suspension without upsetting the bike, and the only time I encounter a hint of headshake is wheelying out of Turn 12, a crested right-hander. Even here, I get only the occasional sharp twitch as the front touches down while still leaned over a bit.
All in all, the VR1000 is a delightful surprise.
Although still a little down on peak power, the foundation feels very sound and I, for one, won’t be too surprised the day HarleyDavidson claims its first Superbike victory.
Now, if the boys in Milwaukee could possibly build an affordable VR sportbike without losing too many of the racebike’s assets...my tea cup is waiting.
