Re: [ST] RS vs. ST or ST vs. RS or whatever

["Darwin Holmstrom" <dholmstrom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Either Phil Schilling or Steve Anderson once wrote an editorial on this subject in Cycle magazine. Do you remember that, Marc? Anyway, it was a well-written piece about how the point was to test the motorcycles, not test dealer setup. And since dealer setup varies so wildly, this is a very good point. 

I didn't know the details on how Triumph sets up its test bikes. In fact, after reading last year's Sprint RS test in Roadracing World (forget the issue, but they compared a Sprint RS, a Suzuki Bandit 1200, and another bike I can't recall), I was a little concerned about their procedure. The Roadracing World RS ran like crap. Brian J. Nelson photographed the story, and he was a little shocked to learn I had actually bought one because the test bike ran so poorly. The thing was, the RS I mentioned below ran exactly as the one tested in Roadracing World. I did some research, and learned this particular bike had been set up by a temporary tech the shop hired while busy. I knew the mechanic who set up my RS--he's very good--and I've put on nearly 7000 miles with absolutely no trouble (and I've ridden it at least as hard as I ever rode any Buell). The injection is a bit rough below 4000 RPM, and shifting still isn't what it should be, but otherwise I love the bike.

>>> Marc Cook <marccook@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> - 7/18/01 9:46 AM >>>
As you know, Darwin, the test bikes are set up by an agency in CA hired by
Triumph to manage the test fleet. One would assume that these bikes would be
set up to deliver the utmost performance lest Triumph look bad in the eyes
of the various scribes.

At least that's my theory. I could be wrong.

MC

> From: "Darwin Holmstrom" <dholmstrom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 09:19:34 -0500
> To: <ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [ST] RS vs. ST or ST vs. RS or whatever
> 
> I wonder how much dealer setup affects horsepower output. Last summer I put
> about 700 miles on an RS that was set up really lean. The bike ran warmer than
> my RS, which is not set so lean. My bike also starts better when warm and is
> less prone to stalling. Although I haven't dynoed my RS, it seems to put out a
> few more ponies than the one I rode last summer. My seat-of-the-pants reading
> says it is in the 100 HP range, and it seems to have more snort than my
> buddies VFR800 throughout the rev range. The thing is, I don't recall seeing a
> stock RS dynoed at more than 95 hp.

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