TRX-tråden

[Anehall]

Har bara ett krav!
Det ska vara grymt i regn!

Då ska du leta efter så mjuka och mönstrade däck som möjligt = dålig livslängd.
Michelin Pilot Power fick bästa "blöta" betyg i Bikes senaste däcktest.
Köps med fördel här: http://www.reifenversand.com

 

[HansJ]

Jag gick i däcksköpartankar, och hade tänkt ge Pilot Power en chans, men det var innan min lilla incident på Gelleråsen, med "påtvingat" däcksbyte. Har kört med Sportec och varit nöjd, har dessvärre inte råkoll hur många mil de gått, men bakan har nog inte suttit på mer än ett år, och jag gissar på ca 500 mil? Jag har haft 120/70 och 180/55 på (fast med 5,5 tums fälgen bak då).

 

[one4fun]

Har bara ett krav!
Det ska vara grymt i regn!

Jag kör pilot power fram och road bak, mycket bra grepp på vått.

 

[Froven]

Första körningen med 180däck bak

Precis inkommen efter en kort provtur med mina nymonterade "30minuters" Metzler Racetech. Upplevde inget negativt alls med att ha 180däck bak. Den svänger nästan bättre än innan, och känns betydligt "stabilare" vid nerlägg.

Innan jag bytte satt det Metzler rennsport fram (120/70) och Dunlop D207GP (160/60) bak. Nu sitter det Racetech 120/70 fram och 180/55 bak.

Det riktiga svaret på körbarhet kommer väl på söndag på Anderstorp, men än så länge är jag väldigt nöjd. Priset var inget att klaga på, 1000 :- för ett set.

//Peter

 

[Ben Pool]

Första rundan efter vurpan idag
Fan vad nervigt det var att köra iväg från garaget. Dels för att man funderar lite på om man spännt alla skruvar och dels därför att det var just första gången på hoj sen marksyningen

Men det gick bra
(även om jag körde jävligt lugnt)


Har fortfarande en del att fixa med hojen, men nu är hon körbar iaf

 

[Anehall]

Första rundan efter vurpan idag
Fan vad nervigt det var att köra iväg från garaget. Dels för att man funderar lite på om man spännt alla skruvar och dels därför att det var just första gången på hoj sen marksyningen

Men det gick bra
(även om jag körde jävligt lugnt)


Har fortfarande en del att fixa med hojen, men nu är hon körbar iaf

Trevlig läsning

 

[Anehall]

Körde 3 pass på banan idag. Kändes lite stelt i början. Hade inte samma förtroende för däcken som innan klotningen. Men det släppte som tur var och tempot steg till gammla nivån.
Måste fixa fjädringen innan söndagen. Däcket smulas sönder.

 

[Ben Pool]

Fråga: Kan man ta skinnstället på hemförsäkringen? Ska ringa dem imorrgon och kolla.

Kollade du det egentligen?
I så fall, hur har det gått?

 

[Ben Pool]

Däcksfråga, ska jag välja Dunlop D208 eller Bridgestone 020 ?

Jag kör bara gata

Har kört på D207RR tidigare........bra grepp, men väldigt kort livslängd

 

[t-rex]

..

Innan jag bytte satt det Metzler rennsport fram (120/70) och Dunlop D207GP (160/60) bak. Nu sitter det Racetech 120/70 fram och 180/55 bak.

...

Och vobblingen?

 

[jpe70]

Däcksfråga, ska jag välja Dunlop D208 eller Bridgestone 020 ?

Jag kör bara gata

Har kört på D207RR tidigare........bra grepp, men väldigt kort livslängd

Däck med beteckningen RR är inte gjorda för gatåkning, allt räcker längre än dem

208rna passar dig säkert om du tycker om Dunlop, men 020 kommer nästan garanterat att räcka längre. De håller för måttlig bankörning de med så grepp är inget du behöver oroa dig för oavsett.

 

[Anehall]

Kollade du det egentligen?
I så fall, hur har det gått?

Jag är kroniskt lat, så nej. Har inte gjort det...än.

 

[HansJ]

Kul att se att alla verkar komma igång igen efter eskapaderna!

Själv besiktade jag idag. Glömde att sätta på stänkan med reflexen, men de var justa och sade att det är OK om jag satte på den när jag kom hem, såvida de inte hittade något annat. Och det gjorde de...

Tutan gav upp, typiskt, märkte det när jag var på väg hem från Anderstorp, då jag försökte tuta frenetsikt på de bägge bilisterna som försökte invalidisera mig. Fixade till det när jag kom hem, trodde jag, men nu funkade den inte. Villkors 2:a, så det var lugnt tyckte de, och reflexen hade han visst glömt. När jag startade för att åka därifrån så testade jag den igen och då funkade den... Typiskt!

Avgaset sade de ingenting om överhuvud taget. Tack Jocke!!! (Vågade inte fråga om de inte skulle mäta, för det hade varit intressant att veta. Den är tystare med db-killrarna i, men inte tyst...) BTW, fick du stålarna?

Såg f.ö. Robban, han som startade den svenska TRX gruppen på Yahoo idag. Han kom ut framför mig på väg till jobbet. Chansade på att det var han, eftersom han bor i mina krokar. Kom upp bredvid honom vid ett rödljus, och frågade hur tummen mådde . Vi hann inte byta många ord, men han hade visst bara kört 5 mil i år, men hoppades visst på att det skulle bli mer nu. Verkade vara en trevlig prick, precis som de andra TRXåkarna jag mött IRL!

 

[Anehall]

Avgaset sade de ingenting om överhuvud taget. Tack Jocke!!! (Vågade inte fråga om de inte skulle mäta, för det hade varit intressant att veta. Den är tystare med db-killrarna i, men inte tyst...) BTW, fick du stålarna?

Hade glömt att kolla, men jo det hade dem.
Tack för dricksen

 

[Anehall]

Kom på en sak.

Fick ju inte köra ut på banan i går först. Precis när alla skulle ut på 1'a passet sprang det runt en snubbe med Db-mätare 101 Db med orginalpiporna
Så i ren panik satte jag av hem, för att feppla dit insatser. Pedagogik: Ljuddämpare är ganska varma efter körning. Så det såg nog rätt kul ut när en stressad jocke jonglerade glödgade skruvar i fullt skinställ och svor som fan inne i hjälmen.
Hann tillbax, fick ny mätning och stack ut med 20 min kvar på 1'a passet.
Finns vissa fördelar att bo ett stenkast från banan.

 

[HansJ]

Hade glömt att kolla, men jo det hade dem.
Tack för dricksen

Ville ju inte riskera att bli kallad snål, av en smålänning...

Väl värda sin vikt i guld, om jag slipper montera originalsystem titt som tätt!

 

[jpe70]

Alan Cathcart & TRX, del 1

Om någon tvekar i sitt TRX-ägande, kan jag här nedan citera vad Alan Cathcart skrev i Cycle News i slutet av 90-talet om "Trixie"

Det är långt, men det är ganska smickrande läsning.

TRIXIE GOES NATIVE
By Alan Cathcart

Things aren't always the way they seem. Exactly 25 years ago, in the days when British parallel-twins like Norton and Triumph ruled the sportbike world, a trio of manufacturers launched their own debut twin-cylinder four-stroke designs, aimed at cutting themselves a slice of what was eventually known as the cafe racer market: Ducati and Moto Guzzi their 750cc 90-degree V-twins, and Yamaha its 650cc parallel-twin XS-1.

Norton of course is no longer with us for the time being, Triumph in born-again mode under John Bloor hasn't yet made anything with fewer than three cylinders - and Ducati and Guzzi have never since built anything other than twins. But Yamaha has also regaled us for the past quarter-century with an array of models that have aroused the interest of twin-cylinder enthusiasts around the world - bikes like the XS650 that was what a British twin should have become but never did, the XV920/TR-1 range of un-Italian V-motors, and most recently the Super Tenere and TDM850 slant-block, 10-valve parallel-twins. Yamaha is the Japanese company that, for all its two-stroke RD350LC heritage, has been most closely wedded to the twin-cylinder four-stroke theme - a policy whose latest manifestation is the TRX850 sports twin launched earlier this year in the Japanese home market. So now Trixie Yamaha has followed her ring-ding sister Elsie onto the two-wheeled design catwalk: Trixie, This Is Your Life.

Considering therefore that Yamaha helped create the modern Twin Supersports motorcycle, it seems a little churlish to accuse them now, as many have done, of jumping on a bandwagon supposedly the exclusive preserve of small-volume European manufacturers. It's equally unjust to infer that, in order to do so, Yamaha simply concocted a Japanese Ducati, by building a slavish copy of a Bologna-made tubular-steel space-frame chassis to house their trademark slant-block motor. Unfair, even if they re-engineered the engine internally to mimic a Ducati's torquey personality by rephasing the crank throw from the two-up, 360-degree, Britbike format of the TDM which the Trixie engine is derived from, to an offbeat 270-degree guise which, anyway you look at it, has the same engine characteristics as a 90-degree V-twin. But this was all done for a purpose, as Stephane Peterhansel's string of African rally victories on his 270-degree works Yamaha twin have proven: The format enabled him to enjoy the same off-road traction on loose surfaces offered by the tuned Ducati 900 engine fitted to the rival Cagiva Elefant, in turn delivering rally-winning Big Bang ridability, now translated to the street.

Unfair? Churlish? Don't believe me? Well, how about listening to Massimo Tamburini, chief design guru of the Cagiva Group and the man responsible for the 900SS Ducati that has allegedly been so plagiarized by the Yamaha TXR850. "People seem to think that the tubular spaceframe is a Ducati trademark," he says, "whereas in fact it was invented by the British on the John Player Norton, and there have been many specialist chassis constructors since then who have used it on every kind of bike - not least Bimota. I do agree it's a European design concept - but you can't accuse Yamaha of being any more derivative for using it on the TRX than we were for employing a Deltabox chassis on the 500 Cagiva GP bike! Anyway, the TRX frame doesn't even resemble the Ducati 900SS, so much as one of Segale's designs - and in fact, I have followed the same composite path with the Cagiva F4 Superbike chassis I just completed, which like the Yamaha uses an upper space-frame combined with a lower aluminum engine mount and swingarm pivot, whereas the Ducati's is in steel!" So there: Perhaps if Yamaha hadn't curiously decided to duplicate the Ducati's red and white color scheme on the J-market Trixie, none of the copycat accusations would ever have been leveled.

There was never really much doubt it would happen, but after a debut year in 1995 when it was sold exclusively in the Japanese home market for which the model was originally conceived, Yamaha has now made the decision to sell their TRX850 sports twin abroad. In making its debut at the Paris Show this September, in revamped guise for the European market, Trixie has gone on her travels, and even if an apparently close vote stopped Yamaha from selling the model in America next year as well, word is that a '97 U.S. launch for the first Japanese bike to be a true competitor to the current breed of European twins is in the cards. However, in coming to Europe, Trixie has also gone native, with a series of detail amendments to the original J-market specification wrought by the development team, headed by Yamaha project engineer Hirosuke Negishi, in the interests of adapting the bike to European riding conditions - as well as a new suit of clothes. Instead of the red and white livery of the J-market model, the TRX850 sold abroad comes either in all black, or metallic blue with a silver frame, with the engine painted silver rather than a sombre black, and the three-spoke wheels a tasteful gray. She looks all the better for it.

As one of the handful of European journalists asked to ride a J-model TRX850 round the windmills of Holland back in freezing February - it was in response to our suggestions that Negishi-san and his crew made the changes they did for Trixie's European launch - I found the chance to compare and contrast the latest Euro version of Yamaha's 270-degree big twin on a 185-mile ride from Spain's craggy Costa Brava up into the foothills of the Pyrenees especially rewarding. I should also declare a further personal interest: Yamaha Europe asked me to ride the only TRX850 racer to be seen outside Japan in 1995 for them, prepared in Japan by Over. Out of a total of eight International BOTT races in Europe this season, we won five of them, finished second and third once each, and DNFed just a solitary time with, of all things, a broken bolt in the gear linkage - after qualifying on pole for the seventh time out of eight starts. Winning major BOTT races ahead of 60-bike fields on GP circuits like Spa-Francorchamps and Assen was a real buzz, as well as proving the significant potential of the TRX for performance tuning - for road or track. Yamaha has concentrated on delivering a sound basic product at contained cost - 6800 pounds in Britain, for example, against 7895 pounds for a Ducati 900SS - on which the owner can then improve the specifications as inclination and budget allow, personalizing the bike to his tastes. By offering not only their own six-speed close-ratio gearbox and racing ignition as a customer option, but also marketing the entire range of Over Racing parts through Yamaha dealers - including camshafts, high-compression pistons, 2-1-2 exhaust system with carbon silencers, 41 mm Keihin flat-sliders, and various chassis parts - Yamaha has made it possible to duplicate my 114 bhp race bike down to the last ultra-competitive detail, without sacrificing the ridability and smooth, torquey power delivery that made my gal Trixie so easy to ride on tight street circuits or in wet conditions.

 

[jpe70]

Alan Cathcart & TRX, del 2

Fortsättning....

But you don't need all these goodies to make the TRX850 into an enjoyable street bike; riding it just the way it comes is an impressive testament to the qualities of this supersports twin. In adapting the bike for more forceful, higher-speed European riding conditions, Negishi and his team have also sharpened the TRX's appeal, starting with the throatier exhaust note from revised exhaust silencers, removing the accelerator pumps from the 38mm semi-downdraft Mikuni carbs, and gearing the bike up quite substantially by two teeth, with a 39-tooth rear sprocket instead of the J-model's 41. It will still pull that tall gearing, though, as a fast run back to base along the Perpignan-Barcelona autopista confirmed: Squatting down under the screen, with toes on footrests and chest resting on the hump of the fuel tank in a way that was downright comfortable (especially once I'd tweaked the very solid mirrors down so I could change lanes safely without sitting up), the TRX ran for mile after mile at exactly its 8000-rpm redline, equating to 232 kph (144 mph) on the speedo. The screen is quite low, so leaning flat on the tank is the best way to avoid windblast at anything over 120 kph (75 mph), but the back of the tank does need a scratch pad to avoid being scarred by the zips of your leathers. Still, this is a twin that won't get left behind on German autobahns, and it's also comfortable for a long ride, too, thanks to the extra seat padding adopted for the European version. The riding position is still the same, though - a rational, spacious, real-world stance that sits you in the bike rather than on top of it, and doesn't have the flawed footpeg position of the Ducati 900SS, which is too far forward, thus leaving your knees too high. The Yamaha feels quite compact and light compared to a V-twin, even though it's an inevitably bulkier parallel-twin design.

But it doesn't feel like a V-twin to ride, nor indeed like a Euro-twin at all: The Yamaha has its own distinct personality which, for lack of any comparable counterpart made in Japan, you must term Japanese. The TRX has a smooth, linear power delivery, pulling from as low as 2000 rpm on part-throttle without snatching, or 3000 rpm wide open on the gas. From about 4500 rpm it really gets going, the 89.5 x 67.5mm engine delivering peak power of 83 bhp at 7500 rpm - but that's not to say it's all midrange like a 900SS. Instead, the Yamaha builds power in truly impressive manner all the way through the rev range - and even beyond. It has an appetite for revs that will send the tach needle off the clock at 9000 rpm, without the power falling off too steeply before running into the soft rev-limiter around there. The TPS (throttle position sensor) fitted to the carbs is part of a three-dimensional mapped CDI, with a trio of sensors varying the ignition timing according to engine revs, carb slide position and throttle operation. It works. Using the sweet-shifting five-speed gearbox with its widishly spaced ratios (1000 rpm between third and fourth, 1200 rpm from fourth to top) to keep the revs high is a real pleasure - but don't imagine that the TRX is peaky and inflexible as a result. Along the twisty coastal road between Tossa and Lioret, I could hold the bike in third gear for miles on end through countless turns, some little more than walking pace, interspersed with short straights where speeds approaching the ton (100 mph, to non-cafe racers!) were achieved. It's a bike which allows you to ride it as your mood dictates.

Though there are a few vibes at high revs through the footpegs, the twin counterbalancers do their job well enough to leave only the tingles that delight, and add character to the bike. This, together with the unique offbeat lilt from the 270-degree motor now breathing through more-rorty exhausts, ensures it sounds like no other twin. I've been told that my race bike sounds completely different from the flock of 90-degree V-twins it usually shares the track with - and it certainly feels different to ride, too. Only the pickup from low revs is a bit disappointing on the street TRX. I was sure Yamaha had fitted a different ignition curve than the one used on the J-model, but Negishi-san says this isn't the case. The initial response from a closed throttle at 2000-3000 rpm is rather jerky, as if the lack of accelerator pumps hadn't been compensated for correctly. Not enough to spoil enjoyment, though - and as a short rain shower thoughtfully arranged by Yamaha soon after our lunch stop high up in the mountains confirmed, this is still one of the world's great wet-weather motorcycles. Good for riding in Britain, then - well, except this year with our record hot summer and drought conditions, maybe!

Yamaha made more changes to the chassis for Europe than they did to the mechanical package, stiffening both the 41mm forks and Bilstein-type rear shock, while retaining the same link on the rising-rate rear suspension, and employing Michelin Macadam tires rather than the TX Hi-Sports fitted for Japan, supposedly to improve stability but I suspect really because their tread pattern and construction are more suitable for everyday use in all types of conditions. Those sport riders who do it just for fun will want to swap straight back to Hi-Sports as soon as they can, because though the Macadams give okay grip, they do start to move around if you get too enthusiastic with corner speeds, and are adequate rather than exceptional. The composite space-frame chassis delivers stable, forgiving handling that requires a little bit of effort to make the bike change direction, even with the shortish 56.5-inch wheelbase, but not so much that it ever stops being fun. You have to work just hard enough to make riding the TRX satisfying. The rear shock is quite progressive in response, but skipped noticeably over ridges and sharp bumps in the road surface till I dialed in four more clicks of rebound at the lunch stop, after which it felt better and stopped bouncing back off compression.

The stiffened forks are really good, even if some customers are surely going to swap them immediately for more de riguer upside-down suspenders. The stock units give good ride quality, with no patter or chatter at quite respectable corner speeds over a variety of different surfaces, and not too much dive under the braking offered by the four-pot Sumitomo calipers fitted to the European bike instead of the Brembos on the J-model - now, that's a switch, apparently made to improve feel! Trixie brakes pretty much the same with the Sumitomos as she did before with the spaghetti stoppers, which is okay without having as much bite as I prefer. The brake lever is adjustable for reach, but you need quite a strong squeeze to dial in heavy braking, like when Joe in his old pickup amber-gambles over on you and a panic stop is called for while cruising gently through a light that just turned green! The back brake is quite strong, though apart from said panic stop I only used it cranked over in the middle of a turn to pull the bike upright for a straighter, harder drive out, when it was a little difficult to get the right degree of sensitivity. Still, Jay Springsteen would have been proud of my rear wheel drifts - or maybe not...

Ducati did Yamaha a big favor by delaying the debut of their all-new 900SS until the 1998 model year - maybe. Though the two-valve Ducati sportbike is still back-ordered, its limited production and dated styling have given Yamaha a vital chink in the twinsports market that the TRX850 is bound to take full advantage of - especially at such a favorable price. Because in spite of having been originally engineered for the different requirements of the Japanese market, the TRX850 is that rare thing: a Japanese bike with soul, perhaps as representative of the new era in Japanese motorcycle culture as young GP riders like Ueda, Sakata and Saito, with their outgoing, try-anything nature and ability to adapt to different cultures and different lifestyles. Yamaha's TRX850 is a true original, with all the potential to become a modern classic: Time, and the customer dollar, will determine if that's really the case.

 

[HansJ]

Nån som ska till Gelleråsen på onsdag? Kanske kanske jag kan få plats, får besked i morgon fm. Såg att det lutats på Atorp i helgen, hur var det?
/Hasse

 

[HansJ]

Om någon tvekar i sitt TRX-ägande, kan jag här nedan citera vad Alan Cathcart skrev i Cycle News i slutet av 90-talet om "Trixie"

Det är långt, men det är ganska smickrande läsning.

Har läst artikeln tidigare nånstans, men läsvärd igen! Man undrar ju lite varför TRX:en inte såldes i USA