Table of contents

• Handling special Comedy in four acts
• This is how MOTORRAD evaluates
• Technology transparent: technical terms explained

Gargolov

motorcycles

Handling special

Handling special
Comedy in four acts

Schnipp – the magic word handling, and all bikers shine. Research the motorcycle into the hairpin bends, conjure dizzy inclines out of the last groove and flick through alternating curves in the Flic-Flac. MOTORRAD let four test subjects dance.

Werner Koch

09/13/2002

“Shhhhhhh – now she’s flying off !!!!” With pointed mouths and narrowed eyes, the MOTORRAD testers comment on Corinna’s daring dance with the BMW R1150 GS. Corinna Ehmann, who in real life is responsible for flawless typeface as a producer in the editorial department, is turning the heads of the test crew in a completely different way than usual. As, let’s say, a genuine motorcycle amateur, she is looking for handling with the professionals -King. That the petite person is joking through the MOTORRAD handling course number 2 with the overweight enduro monster as if stung by a tarantula – no, no one had expected that. Least of all Corinna herself. “What a chunk,” she sighed and lifted the Bavarian ship from the side stand, but already in the second lap, apparently turning the physics upside down due to brave inclines. The thickest buzz was the fastest with her through the S-shaped slalom course number 2. How come? Very easily. Because Corinna learned the tips and tricks of the MOTORRAD test crew in the intensive course, and this also includes an important principle: The secret of fast laps lies in calm. The line has to be right at the first pylon after the start, if you start to thresh hectically, you will get tangled up in the third corner at the latest and lose your rhythm completely. This also happens if the bolt is bolted at too low a gear and too high an engine speed. It feels and sounds very dynamic, but it makes the curve dance much too hectic and choppy.
Which brings us to the crux of the story: Handling never stands on its own, perfect handling is more than light, agile steering. Because what impresses Corinna more than the maneuverability of the BWM R 1150 GS with narrow tires is the neutral cornering behavior. “Nothing wobbles, nothing struggles, she gives in as if she could read minds. That is worth much more than a feather-light steering behavior, «says the happy producer, who has so far revered her beloved Suzuki SV 650 as a dream motorcycle. With the uncompromisingly trimmed for super sports Yamaha YZF-R1 and the ZRX 1200, whose tubular handlebar is actually only 20 millimeters wider than the stub of the Yamaha, does not really get going. There you are KTM Supermoto, also equipped with extra-wide handlebars, is even better. Second place in the objective measurement, but first place in the highly emotional rating of “fun factor”.
“Bring the cow!” Test person number two gets impatient. Stefan Weber, graphic artist at MOTORRAD and owner of highly specific motorcycles, including a revamped Buell and a Triumph Speed ​​Triple for the more neat ride. Stefan lets the cow fly mightily, scrapes impatiently over the asphalt with the cylinder lids and nails ?? patsch – with the BMW R 1150 GS without further ado, the three competitors on the wall. “It doesn’t exist,” the experienced frequent driver ponders over his personal record, which he is more like Kawasaki or would have trusted Yamaha. And if not these two, then his secret crush, the KTM, which he directs in second place.
Only half a second faster than graphic designer Stefan, the MOTORRAD test professional chases the R 1150 GS through the slalom, but marks the physical end of the flagpole with narrow black stripes in the curves. Only a touch of safety separates the boxer from accident damage. The GS lands third behind the KTM Supermoto and the Yamaha R1. The Kawasaki is lame, does not get going and makes for long faces with extremely strange swaying and balls. “The rear tire,” the test professional comments on the discrepancies and mounts a new rubber. Corinna and Stefan couldn’t see that the old tire with 50 percent remaining tread depth should be the reason for the annoying tilt. In fact, wear and tear is responsible for a gradual reduction in maneuverability and steering precision in many machines. More on this in part three.
A change of scene, the BMW is now curving through the fast test course number 1, on which the candidates whirl through the pylons at up to 120 km / h. And already the fun has a hole. Corinna pulls hard on the wide BMW handlebars, manages another personal best and her highest speed, but complains about the unstable rocking of the boxer with its long suspension travel and the soft tuning, which give little feedback and security. Big grin on the KTM, because with the Supermoto flea enough strong impulses are initiated via the wide handlebars to quickly zip through the pylons.
Stefan Weber, tall and ready to drive, easily weighs 100 kilograms, rocks the BMW to last place and places the sufficiently tightly tuned Kawasaki and the robust Yamaha in the front positions on this course, followed by the KTM Supermoto. Why? Because a stable chassis with short suspension travel guarantees that the steering geometry does not change dramatically and that the vehicle’s mass does not rock when changing lean angles. Only the low handlebar stubs on the YZF-R1 disturb the very slow turning point, which is similar to a hairpin. There the Kawasaki also shows weaknesses and requires a high counter-steering force in order to add a nice round arc.
Between the wide, fast forest of pylons, the MOTORRAD test driver burns the asphalt with the Yamaha fastest time. Clear advantages: the very light wheels for low gyroscopic forces, a torsion-resistant telescopic fork that converts the steering impulses directly and precisely, and high-quality spring elements with finely adjustable damping. In contrast to course number 2, the abrupt changes of direction at over 100 km / h place the highest demands on the chassis. Motorcycles with heavy wheels (21-inch wire-spoke wheels, solid cast wheels) or torsion-prone telescopic forks (long, thin stanchions and axles) have a lot of trouble on this part of the MOTORRAD test track and bowling when trying to drive faster than physics allows, the pylons from the slopes regularly. More on this in the second part, which sheds light on the physical background of the vehicle.
So, and the bottom line are results that at first glance raise a whole mountain of question marks. For the MOTORRAD crew, who turn very different machines week after week through the lack of tests, the differences are easy to explain.
It is therefore no coincidence that the criteria for cornering stability and steering precision are directly linked to the “handling” rating in the 1000-point table. As already mentioned at the beginning: Handling never stands on its own, but always goes hand in hand with cornering stability and steering precision. The results of test driver Corinna, who cannot sound out the physically possible limits of a Yamaha R1 because she does not like the folded seat position, show that the subjective feeling for handiness is also related to the ergonomic conditions such as the seat position or the handlebar width. On the other hand, she is completely enthusiastic about the fantastic steering precision and stability of the Yamaha.
It looks different with Stefan Weber and the MOTORRAD test driver. With a lot of routine and hundreds of thousands of kilometers of experience, both shoot each other almost instinctively after a few meters at the individual motorcycle concepts, understand how the motorcycle has to be controlled and convert this knowledge, gained half in the subconscious, into good lap times and high cornering speed. But even with the veterans, as with Corinna, handling is only half the battle. Lightning-fast steering reactions are of no use if the motorcycle tips over in an uncontrolled manner, pushes stubbornly outward from the ideal line when accelerating, or when turning in because of the sheer excess of maneuverability whizzes past the desired apex. But what does the synthetic slalom course have to do with real life between the Black Forest and the Eifel? Much more than numbers and measured values ​​suggest. To put it in the words of our guest drivers who chased four motorcycles over demanding country road test tracks for a whole day: “Unbelievable, what works on the handling course works exactly to the same extent on the country road – or not.” And because the two could no longer be stopped while wagging the pylons, the MOTORRAD-ACTION-TEAM will set up a waving course with tips and tricks from the test professionals next year.

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Comedy in four acts

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This is how MOTORRAD evaluates

Because there is no clear definition of the term handling in the multi-faceted motorcycle scene, MOTORRAD created a test manual in which all the terms in the 1000-point evaluation are clearly defined. Handiness means: … Good handiness is characterized by low steering force, low steering force when correcting the curve radius, little effort required when changing lean angles, little effort required to keep the motorcycle in a constant lean angle. Analysis: Handiness is assessed in all speed ranges from city traffic to fast country roads to fast motorway curves. Super athletes also have to prove their maneuverability on the racetrack for the additional rating.

Technology transparent: technical terms explained

Steering force: This is the force that the driver has to bring in via the handlebars to change direction. Wide handlebars make this process easier due to the greater leverage. Advantages for a low steering force are: light wheels with low gyroscopic forces, steep steering head, short caster and wheelbase. Steering precision: This criterion describes whether the motorcycle follows the line desired by the driver or whether the curve line and lean angle need to be corrected. Tires with unfavorable contours, too manageable chassis geometry or too softly tuned spring elements have a disruptive effect. Cornering stability: This term partly includes the criteria listed under steering precision. In addition, there is the driving behavior when driving over bumps or parting joints in an inclined position and the stability when braking and accelerating in curves. Tight and harmoniously coordinated spring elements and tires with a stable carcass construction have an advantageous effect. Righting moment when braking in an inclined position: In curves, the contact point of the tires is shifted to the side of the curve. If the brake is actuated, the steering will turn in the respective direction of the curve through the lever arm between the steering axle and the front tire contact point. This causes the motorcycle to stand upright from a lean angle. The wider the front tire, the stronger the set-up torque, which the driver has to compensate for with a counter-steering force in order to maintain the desired lean angle and thus the curve . The driver has to compensate for this with counter pressure on the handlebars. At higher speeds, another symptom can often be observed: the motorcycle wants to make wide arcs and has to be forced into the curve with steering force and physical effort.

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