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Technology and driving reports: Tuning-VTR 1000 F

One two Three

The world was waiting for the Japanese 916 hunter, the world got a Japanese country road V2 without racing ambitions – the Honda VTR 1000 F. Some cheered it, others went in search of hidden sports talents. Curtain up on two special fruits of this labor.

The VTR 1000 F ?? a first-rate mugger. Right from the start, the slim Nippon V2 sports car with a full liter displacement and wasp waist impressed in many tests, shone with its always adequate engine, a handy, easily manageable chassis and a pleasing appearance. Truly a good litter, which also convinced in the MOTORRAD endurance test after 50,000 kilometers. After three years of sales, Honda’s character athlete with the swingarm mounted in the engine housing and the typical side radiators has become fans all over the world. A motorcycle in the middle, comfortable, with gentle force even from low speed, as if made for the country road.
The stokers, who wanted a more consistent implementation of the Sporttwin theme, an affordable alternative to the Ducati 916, remained disappointed. The Honda likes to be taken to the racetrack, but for real frenzy it lacks that crucial bit of sportiness: the top performance too tame, the brakes too dull, the ground clearance too low ?? Above all, the exhaust manifold brushes annoyingly – too soft the tuning of the spring elements, too comfortable the chassis when dancing around the curbs.
A fact that caused some sports drivers to resort to competing products, while encouraging others to train the hidden sportiness of the VTR by tuning. And the Honda offers plenty of leeway for this, as MOTORRAD found in two extreme examples: On the one hand, the VTR from the hand of the well-known Honda tuner and accelerator Christian Mende (phone 05153/963001), who does a lot of coiffing and has already achieved considerable sporting successes with TÜV approval Has. On the other hand, on the uncompromising BoT racer of the Eifler Nordschleife fox and laminate artist Heinz Ruroth (phone 02655/960377, www.heru-carbontec.de), a dreaded size in the BoT DM.
Stage one: Mende-VTR 1000 F, built to be the fastest possible VTR with the blessing of TÜV. A goal that should be achieved? see driving impressions on page XXX. It is noticeable that the series look has been trimmed in the direction of the V2-NSR 500 by means of full cladding and a hump seat. The black paint underlines the warlike appearance as well as the yellow six-spoke PVM wheels and above all the high-rise carbon silencers. In terms of ergonomics, nothing stayed the same, because the feet are positioned far, high up on beautifully milled Lucas footrests, the hands on relatively deeply clamped handlebar halves.
Wherever possible, the lightweight lever was used: for example, with the self-made, lightweight rear frame made of aluminum rectangular tubes, with the minimal fairing bracket, a small battery with low capacity or when replacing the standard exhaust system with its heavy stainless steel silencer with Termignoni carbon parts including Mende’s own manifolds. Just 194 kilograms – 22 less than the series? brings the Mende VTR on the scales, with a balanced weight distribution and with ?? probably just enough? Headlights, blinkers, mirrors and a horn.
It goes without saying that tuner Mende applies his know-how to the engine. Objective: to mobilize as much stable performance as possible as cheaply as possible. Therefore, the only special parts that rotate in the cylinder heads of this VTR are self-drawn camshafts, while otherwise revised series parts generate the engine power. Classic tuning ?? Balancing the crankshaft drive, optimizing channels and valve seats, processing pistons and combustion chambers and minimizing installation tolerances, plus fine-tuning of carburetors and ignition systems ?? conjures up an extremely voluminous performance curve, culminating in an extraordinarily impressive 131 horses. With ABE, as I said.
In terms of performance and weight, the beautiful HERU-VTR goes even further. As a thoroughbred racing machine, it has to obey the regulations but not the ABE limits. It is accordingly uncompromising. It is clear that CFRP artist Ruroth has laminated rows of stylish lightweight components ?? Starting with the fairing and hump according to the NSR-500 pattern, an airbox that fills every space between the frame and the engine and skilfully directs the fresh gas to the cylinders, right up to its intake duct, which greedily peeks through the fairing window, or the air duct on the two radiators, to the battery holder, to the fender, to the super-light Kevlar tank with fuel level window and so on, and so on.
Hard to recognize, this VTR, and beautifully made, like a look under the fairing ?? whose complete dismantling takes less than a minute thanks to the smart holder and quick-release fasteners? disclosed. Not only has it been lovingly changed, but also optimized in a targeted manner, for example the water cycle, which uses an electric water pump to relieve the engine of the drive losses of its mechanical counterpart. An engine, by the way, that without an alternator and with a complete Moriwaki kit upgrade on the MOTORCYCLE test bench is a little unwilling to mockery? the open airbox requires a carburetor adjustment for the climate? a bold 141 hp.
The upgrade of the rest of the motorcycle follows seamlessly: milled triple clamps from Perfomance Parts, a racing fork from Showa, a Technoflex shock absorber, multi-part, light Fischer wheels, an Akrapovic racing exhaust system and self-made parts such as the rear frame or the footrest system, which are next to it the bridge between the frame and the swing arm strikes and thus stiffens the chassis, or the milled fork to the upper strut mount ?? everything was done beautifully and with a lot of love and expertise.
B.With the right upbringing, the VTR 1000 F is actually extremely talented. And it can now officially prove these talents in the VTR 1000 SP-1 offshoot, from which Honda put super-sporty genes in the cradle.

Hold on, please!

She is small, she is black, she is strong. The former in particular makes it difficult for taller pilots to use the Mende VTR ?? the Lucas footrest system demands a certain ability to suffer, as do the tightly angled stubs. Well, Christian Mende likes it that way. Of more general interest are the manners of the redesigned engine. It is almost free of allure, always jumps willingly, sounds a bit more robust, but hardly louder than its serial brother. Interestingly, he needs a relatively high water temperature ?? around 80 degrees Celsius, below that he sometimes only reluctantly accepts gas, a phenomenon that is said to have completely disappeared with the racing exhaust. Warming up properly is called for and is rewarded with a performance development for connoisseurs: perfect throttle response, full, smooth power development across the entire speed range (the end of which is signaled by a small shift light in the original speedometer at 10800 rpm) and in all load conditions through strong springs. Thanks to a particularly smart actuation, the leverage forces remain small, as a lever mechanism keeps the hand forces within limits (also HERU, see photo on page XXX). It’s great how well the clutch can be metered with it. It goes without saying that such a motor makes the slender Mende VTR, which is translated briefly, really gets moving. A Brembo brake system with a radial hand pump destroys the speed in a neatly dosed manner, but the pads need a good operating temperature for the best bite. And the chassis? CBR 900 RR fork with Mende’s own springs at the front, Ohlins shock absorber at the rear, plus a steering damper and the aforementioned PVM wheels. The light VTR, which is properly raised at the rear, steers in with enormous agility, which requires concentrated driving to avoid unrest in the chassis. This is especially true when braking into bends, as the relatively soft, sprung fork plunges deeply and thus further shortens the caster, but also at high speed because the airflow provokes steering movements from the driver. It takes some getting used to, but apparently perfectly suited to owner Mende, whose lap times show good grades. The stiff Ohlins shock absorber works perfectly, the ground clearance knows no limits.

Mende-VTR 1000 F.

Motor VTR 1000 F basic engine with Mende tuning, compression ratio 10.6: 1, battery 12 V / 5 Ah, power transmission, mechanically operated multi-disc oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox, O-ring chain Chassis VTR 1000 F basic chassis, CBR 900 telescopic fork, standpipe diameter 45 mm, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, Ohlins central spring strut, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, steering damper, Brembo double disc brake at the front, Ø 310 mm, PVM wheels, 3.50 x 17; 5.50 x 17, tires 120/70 ZR 17; 180/55 ZR 17Measured values ​​* L / W / H 2090/670/1110 mmSeat height 870 mmTurning circle 10 720 mmWeight fully fueled 194 kgWheel load distribution f / h 49/51% Top speed 259 km / hAcceleration0 ?? 100 km / h 3.2 sec0 ?? 140 km / h 5.1 sec0 ?? 200 km / h 9.3 seconds pulling 60 ?? 100 km / h 3.9 sec 100 ?? 140 km / h 4.4 sec 140 ?? 180 km / h 4.1 seconds Complete conversion 21 600 Marks performance kit (engine tuning, exhaust system, airbox conversion) 8 248 Mark * Measurement conditions: measuring location Hockenheim, 16 degrees, no wind

The dream vau

This is really not an everyday motorcycle that Heinz is diligently scoring with. Hardly any part still corresponds to the series, and no gap in the regulations remains unused. The suction snorkel winds impressively out of the tank ?? the lower nostril in the slim nose of the fairing, on the other hand, directs the wind to the two radiators. To anticipate: a dumb battery defect? As a Sprinter without an alternator, the HERU draws its operating current from a battery? limited the driving pleasure to a few, albeit impressive, laps. Although raised at the rear similar to the Mende-VTR, the HERU creation remains free of nervous driving behavior, steers lightly and always gives good feedback and adherence to the line. The steering precision is also convincing? probably thanks to the much tighter fork, the swing arm stiffened via the upper cable, the front-heavy weight distribution and the stiff carcass of the Bridgestone slicks. The footrest plates should also help, as they stiffen the chassis by creating a bridge between the frame and the swing arm mounting. According to Ruroth, this has noticeable advantages, especially when accelerating out, where the HERU does not actually make any undesirable mux. Interesting that the Showa racing fork needs operating temperature. Cold it cushions namely at the edge of the plug, in order to respond perfectly after one or two rounds and to dampen ?? Qualities that the Technoflex rear shock absorber always offers: In view of the generous engine power and low weight (only 180 kilograms with a full tank), a stiff, precise chassis is recommended. Several times the “995” made the testers look astonished at the sky? and with an adapted sprinkler system there would probably be a few more horses. When accelerating this brute VTR ?? not easy, as the time up to 100 km / h reveals – the same clutch mechanism helps as with the Mende VTR. For this, the HERU brakes at the front with standard brake calipers, but with converted connecting screws on the brake calipers (from eight to ten thread). Together with Kevlar-coated brake lines, this creates a firm pressure point, and Lucas racing pads provide the right braking effect. If only the battery had worked, we wouldn’t have stopped using it. Really fun, but not cheap.

HERU VTR 995 F

MotorVTR 1000 F basic engine with Wellbrock Moriwaki complete tuning, Moriwaki constant pressure carburetor, Ø 48 mm, battery 12 V / 5 Ah. Chassis VTR 1000 F basic chassis, Showa Racing fork, stanchion diameter 43 mm, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping , reinforced standard swing arm, Technoflex central spring strut, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping (high and low speed), double disc brake at the front, modified four-piston calipers, Fischer composite wheels 3.50 x 17; 5.50 x 17, Bridgestone slicks, 120/70 ZR 17; 180/55 ZR 17Measured values ​​* L / W / H 2100/690/1100 mmSeat height 870 mmTurning circle 8180 mmWeight fully fueled 180 kgWheel load distribution f / h 51/49% acceleration0 ?? 100 km / h 3.6 sec0 ?? 140 km / h 5.1 sec0 ?? 200 km / h 9.1 seconds pulling 60 ?? 100 km / h 4.0 sec 100 ?? 140 km / h 4.4 sec 140 ?? 180 km / h 3.2 seconds Complete vehicle around 85,000 marks * Measurement conditions: Measurement location Hockenheim, 0 degrees, no wind, damp

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