2012 KTM Superduke 990R - it takes me back...

Somewhere, we've gone full circle.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised; fashions come and go, beards are back, and sports bikes one day turn into tourers the next. We've been coddled with some of the best handling bikes ever built over the last few years, but maybe, just maybe they left us feeling a little empty. 

Why? They're quick as you like, turn fast and make knee-down on the way to the shops normal, almost boring. So what the f*#k happened? 

Growing up on Brit-twins and eighties Jap fours was different. The power was saner, blended with a nice flexible frame that let you know when you were going a little too fast (believe me, they let you know). And although you could make alterations, and improve things with aftermarket accessories, you knew death was just an extra few mph away. You respected the bike, and the sweat pouring from the workout it gave you was achieved at a slightly safer speed. On a modern thou, to get off feeling like that, you're either trying to hang onto Michael Dunlop, or just bastard quick (read talented)!

But then came the in-betweeners.
Bigger and heavier than a supermoto, but not quite retro, cafe-racer, tourer or sports bike. It's a bit of a do everything type bike, but all-rounder doesn't do it justice. It'll come to me in a minute.

It certainly looks the dogs, and comes with all the niceties you can think of including WP suspension, Brembo brakes, Marchesini wheels and Magura clutch. High spec indeed.

So, first go on the Katoom and initial impression was lots of suspension, with me sat very high. Like being on a chunkier supermoto. Never a big fan of V-twins, I took off on my favourite road. It's ok, got good low down power, but never life threatening. I want to feel power so savage the bike'll pull a wheelie and try and stab me in the face with a rogue handlebar. It's what I love about big fours, the power just climbs up, up and up some more! 

But wait... I've followed lots of V-twins, big Ducatis, TL's, VTR's and Tuono's and they've been incredibly quick in the right hands. What am I missing?

As the pace increases, it does become more fun though feels vibey through the pegs no matter what I do. Bugger it, time to crack on and see what it'll do while I hang off round a few bends. 

Strewth! Mistake number one. As the big KTM tried to pitch me off (both ends are bouncing up and down uncontrollably) I decide it's time for suspension adjustments. Maybe it's my lack of style, but it seems to work better just sitting in the middle rather than me moving my arse all over the shop. I could've been back on dad's '76 Trident for a moment!

I turn around and return to the garage, which is when I notice the next quirk. This baby runs hot! Fans are blasting as soon as I stop at the lights, but then it has got the biggest cat/silencer you've ever seen under the rear. Dave, the owner of this scorch-framed satsuma, already has Akrapovic cans coming. Once fitted, suspension will be dialled in for him and a tail tidy slotted in. Then we can have another go. It'll be run-in then so I won't mind giving it some proper stick.

A few weeks pass.
I love riding different bikes, but I must admit I wasn't that bothered about getting back on the KTM, although it sounds a hell of a lot better now and looks sharper with the Akro's onboard. I'm just not convinced it's going to handle that much better. Still, tally ho.

Horsing into the first few bends it's feeling good. The suspension is stiffer and, with massive 48mm WP forks, you'd expect them to handle road riding with ease. I'm starting to like this thing, so it's time to hang off again (purely for aesthetic reasons you realise), but as I try to get my knee-down, the bike drops into a small pothole, gets a weave on and I end up grounding my boot out. Oops, horse it again, hope no one was watching and all is well!

From now on I'm keeping my arse right in the middle of the comfy seat - that's it. It ain't no Gixer, lets just try and get the best out of it. I'm not saying it won't do it, it's just tall and it feels slightly alien to me. Enough drivel already, back to the road and more bends, leaning over further then winding it on hard in second - and it all came good.

YEE-bastard-HAA!!!

This is proper old school - it's shaking all over the shop from the bars, frame and swingarm flexing as it propels itself on up the hill regardless of whether I'm still on it or no. This is fun. Brakes on hard, but not much finesse from me as I battle around the next bend. I'm smiling, with two fights on my hand; one with the bike, and one with Dave when i've got to hand it back over.

And so it goes for the next few miles. The bike is making me work hard for it now, but my face says it all. Fun fun fun. A look in the mirrors confirms the others have been left behind for a bit. It can't be too bad. Top speed doesn't matter a bit with a bike like this; there's too much fun to be had everywhere else and, once you're giving it stick, you don't really notice the vibes.

It's probably what most of us need in the real world. No safe, wrapped in cotton wool, aluminium beam frame to keep you cocooned from the shagged road conditions. Getting out of shape momentarily, then dragging itself back inline before your brain's even realised you're out of control. The Superduke is the modern version of the bikes we grew up on (or should've). Bring it on!

Specs: 

Engine

Engine Typetwo cylinder, 4-stroke, V75

Displacement999 cc

Bore / Stroke101 x 62.4 mm

Performance92 kW (123 hp)

Starter / Batteryelectric start

Transmission6 speed, claw shifted

Fuel ManagementEFI

Lubricationdry sump lubrication with 2 rotor pumps

Primary Ratio35:67

Final Drive16:38

Coolingliquid cooled

Clutchwet multi disc clutch operated hydraulically

Ignitioncontactless, controlled, fully electronic ignition system with 

Chassis

Frametubular space frame made from chrome molybdenum steel

Sub-Framealuminium

Handlebartapered

Front SuspensionWP USD 48 mm

Rear SuspensionWP mono shock

Suspension Travel - Front / Rear135/150 mm

Front / Rear Brakestwin 320 mm floating disc brake with radially mounted brake calipers front / single 240 mm disc brake rear

Front / Rear Rims3.50 x 17" x 5.50 x 17"

Front / Rear Tyres120/70 ZR 17" ; 180/55 ZR 17"

ChainX-ring 5/8 x 5/16"

Silencertwin stainless steel

Steering Head Angle67.3

Wheel Base1450 +15 mm

Ground Clearance150 mm

Seat Height850 mm

Tank Capacity approx.18.5 L

Weight Without Fuel approx.186 kg

Akrapovic slip-ons

What are they like to ride?

If you're used to a four, a V-twin can tend to feel boring. They make strong power right from idle, but it runs out quite fast. I always feel like i'm short-shifting. That's not to say they're slow, just different. The big Katoom produces good torque (100Nm at 7,000 rpm) which is great for doing wheel nuts up, but on the road means you'll be able to overtake the odd car without dropping two cogs first. Happy days. 

On this gearing, fifth and sixth seem almost redundant, and years ago it would have been offered with a five-speed box only. With a larger rear sprocket fitted, this thing will rock.

The brakes are typical sports bike - bloody brilliant. Anyone who moans about modern bike brakes should go and do a few weeks on a drum-braked Beesa. The suspension, once set-up accordingly, feels good and only really gets out of shape when you start demanding too much. By that I mean moving out about too much and hanging on too tightly when you're caning it. A few more rides on it would probably sort out any issues. 

So, in short, I like it. It's a modern RD350. Pair of ripped jeans, scuffed Doc Martens and you're back to your youth.

HOOLIGAN! That's the word I wanted - ride it and you'll know why.

Airbox Design - A Black Art?

K&N's, Pod Filters, Bellmouths...

This was the first mod on everyone's list years ago. Freer-flowing filters, bigger jets, coupled with a nice loud exhaust and suddenly you were pushing out 110 on the dyno (in the pub at least).

The reason was simple. The airboxes fitted to the average bike from way back when were usually too small, too restrictive and, in terms of power, bloody useless. Yes, they might have stopped the odd house brick from being sucked through the engine, and probably quietened it down a fair bit too, but in terms of helping the engine do its thing - hopeless.

But... today it's a different matter. Lift the tank on your average race rep now and you'll see a small suitcase mounted below. It'll be fitted with a nice big filter and the bellmouths on the carbs, or injector bodies, will have easy access to fresh, filtered air. The suitcase itself is probably fed cool air from the front of the bike through a couple of sizeable plastic tubes. The manufacturers cottoned on, and now know how to make an engine breathe!

The '83 GSX750

It boasts Twin Swirl Combustion Chambers, but struggles to get a smooth, cool, filtered supply of air into them. Not a wonder with this stuck in the way!

Initial glance and you might not see a problem, but looking at it from above you can see that carbs two and three have an open supply of air, whereas one and four are pointing straight at the back of the airbox - basically restricted.

So junk the airbox, fit four separate filters and everything's fixed... or is it? Well it brings with it a new set of problems. CV carbs are often hard to set up when used with pod filters. After a re-jet you might get them to fuel nicely at idle, but then suffer somewhere else in the range. Some bikes just aren't suited to them at all, and will never run right.

Then you need to think about what's happening at higher RPM and higher vehicle speed. Sat in the garage, idling nicely, you blip the throttle and it sounds great. Out on the road, cracking on a pace, and now it has to suck turbulent air travelling past at high speed, already warmed by a hot engine. Not ideal conditions, and leading to an air-starved engine.

What kind of air does the engine want?

1) Cool

2) Filtered

3) Smooth-flowing

4) Unrestricted

5) And a large supply of it

(Is this a beer ad?)

But all this is a big ask on an older bike. Why? There's no bloody room, the carbs are already wider than that frame gap! Two cylinders would be so much easier.

The frame tubes dictate how big, and what shape, it can be and it's in two pieces because it's so difficult to fit! To improve on the original is going to be hard, but impossible? Maybe, maybe not.

Amazingly, the inlet tube on top is standard. It doesn't attach to anything and just sucks air from under the seat! Times have definitely changed.

Is there a plan?

Hopefully. Time to start designing a new box from aluminium. The original box no longer seals properly when pushed together anyway (from years of abuse); so whether I use K&N's, or make a new box, the old one has to go.

How big?

If I remember correctly, I once read an article by John Robinson, from Performance Bikes, stating that the airbox should be ten times the capacity of the engine to ensure a ready supply of filtered air. That leaves me with the challenge of fitting a 7.5L container somewhere between frame, engine, carbs and suspension. Happy days!

Who's got a number for K&N?

The $20 Performance Boost For Your Bike!

A quiet word from the fairer sex...

And he finally did it. 

A conversation with a couple of super-quick, R1-riding ladies the other weekend, both ex-CBR600 riders, convinced Bry that a couple more teeth on the rear sprocket was the way to go. Now the CBR6 is no slouch as it is, but that didn't matter, his mind was already ticking over the pros and cons of this cheap performance trick.

Hmm, more acceleration... just what I need to beat Dave's R6...

He checked the gearing on his bike to find out he was already down one tooth on the rear sprocket to start with. Strewth, slower than standard!

Straight to the computer to peruse eBay, and a 520 DID X-ring chain, 15 tooth front sprocket (one down from standard) and an aluminium 44 tooth rear sprocket (one up from standard) was ordered without delay. 

Then I was sworn to secrecy - until now.

Oil Coolers, Radiators, and Fins.

Cooling... Uber Important!
Having already struggled to clean out the engine cooling fins, today I decided to take a look at the oil cooler. Cosmetically rough, but no leaks, it has a lot of damage to the tiny fins between the oil tubes. Can we fix it? (Bob the Builder could.)

So how does it work?

It's Bucking Fuckled!

Wheel Balancing on the Cheap!

With new tyres fitted, I'm left somewhat skeptical as to whether the bike shop actually balanced them! I purposely removed the old weights and cleaned the rims before taking the bike down there because they often balance them with the old weights still attached. But now I have a bike with no weights on either wheel. Sometimes you can be lucky enough to get a wheel balance perfectly without weights, but two on the same bike? Hmm.

Enough is enough, it was time to make a static wheel balancer out of the scrap steel and wood hanging around the garage. The only cost to me was the bearings (608Z) which were $9.00 delivered for ten of them! Sorted. 

Now I'll be able to fit my own tyres and balance them for a lot less cost.

Make your own wheel balancer.