Top Dead Center

Today, America's fastest growing racing event. Super

moto is super hot. Plus we'll test Honda's awesome new middleweight, the 600 RR

then it's fuel injection power tuning in our project of the week.

Hey, guys, welcome to T DC. I'm Alan neighbors. And today we are going to take a look at the latest thrill in bike racing. Now, if you have trouble choosing between Motocross and road racing, well, don't worry. Now you can do both at the same time.

It doesn't matter if you call it super moto. Super bikers or Super Motor.

The latest craze in two wheel racing is attracting some big names just to

wait for an old guy like me to get back on a bike and be competitive. I guess

I'm just a motorcycle junkie. It's just catching on right now. Uh, it's pretty popular

and

uh, uh I can't take anything away from the fun factor. I mean, it's, it's a blast when you go out there and ride.

It's a little more, uh, you know, low key, not the pressure that they were used to in the height of their career, whether it was Supercross road racing, dirt truck or whatever.

So it's really been AAA bonus and a big boost for the sport in the US to have the star quality guys like Jeff Ward and Mike Metzger come out and do this. A combination of Motocross road racing and flat tracking. Super moto keeps racers and fans on the edge of their seats

watch out

because I really think that it's motor crossers who supermodel

have a benefit over the road racers or the flat trackers because Motocross guys are used to getting out of getting out of shape and,

and uh riding really rough tracks.

There may be dirt but the motor crosser also fun. These tracks are rough to ride,

man. This dirt is slippery

and I figured that the dust section would be easy for me being a motor, a motor crosser. And,

you know,

I found out that as well. You know, you gotta learn the limitations of a higher

car, you can lean back over and the dust se is the hardest part. I mean, that makes it interesting. I mean, I felt twice in the dirt already,

the

several types of surfaces in one course. And it, that's what brings out the best in the overall type of rider,

a guy that can adapt, but we just all learn as we go and

have fun. Hopefully we're doing it.

It's more than big tires that make these machines different and no one knows that better than Jeff Ford's mechanic. Chad Watts. I build the whole bike

and I build the, the motors

first circuit does the cylinder mods.

It had mods, I should actually say because a poor stroke

and the complete chassis is done by me.

So I maintain them and working on the Honda four stroke chad makes numerous modifications to get the bike race ready.

We uh start with uh suspension altercations. The travel is shortened to make the bike lower

and then we have oversized front rotor brakes,

caliper bigger calipers. The size is a 320 millimeter, stock is a 260 millimeter. So you're getting quite a bit of advantage there. And the reason why you have to have a big rotor like that and a big caliper is

you're going 100 miles an hour down a straight away and you gotta hit a Chicane,

a standard brake will not stop you on that fast speed and speed.

Uh, rear shock is shortened

a modified by Pro circuit

and then you have your 17 inch rear with a slick unlocked tire also with the uh 50 rim.

And then you have a standard braking on the rear standard O AM sizing

and then just uh gearing, you run real tall gearing quite a bit

hauler, gearing an O

bike or a motor

frost bike

or even a super frost bike

with dirt and pavement services set up is key.

I think it's mainly set up for asphalt.

Probably about 70% 80% for asphalt, there's not that much dirt.

So, and there's not big junks and there isn't hoop.

So you can set it up mainly for the asphalt. You sacrifice a little bit for the,

the

motorcycles may be modified, but Jeff can't feel a difference basically on the bike, you feel

as if it's a motocross bike. You know, the feeling of it's

kind of pretty much the same. So that's why I think we're able to

throw the bike around more than say the road racers because they're so used to such a totally different motorcycle on the pavement that reacts different. We're,

it reacts the same on the pavement to us as it is the dirt. Just a more grip. So

I

think we have a little advantage because of the bike

as Super

Moto grows, the big Japanese manufacturers are ready to capitalize, which is good news for the weekend. Warriors just having the Japanese manufacturers start to build bikes or offer Horman's kit

to modify their existing production motor cost bikes and it's an exciting time.

Well, Jeff Ford may have cut his teeth on a two stroke, but he's riding the wheels off that 458

Super

Moto from Las Vegas right after this,

riding on different surfaces in the same event. Well, that's what Super Moto is all about

with a $6000 purse and $1000 for the winner. Anticipation was running just as hot as the Vegas Trap.

I like showing off when I win a race. So

that's what I'm out here this week to do out here to win. It's Vegas try to come out here and have a good time and can make a couple of bucks. So be it a

week. Go, go

a

week,

go, go

a go,

go

get a,

we

go

road motor crosser Dustin Nelson discovered in the heat race winning the big money in the main

to be,

try to let everybody see what, what I see. I guess

the only thing you're missing is the feel

and, uh, that's probably the best part, but, uh, I'm sure I'm sure it looks pretty exciting, especially in that heat race. We had, we had some real close battling going on and, uh,

you know, a couple of guys going down and bumping into some guys,

you

gotta watch my language. They mic my helmet up.

Definitely. When I come up on a slower guy, I'll give him a good yell and try to scare him out of the way or at least let him know I'm there.

Excuse, man,

pretty amazing how much grip you can get from those road racing

and

be able to ride a motocross bike on the pavement, lay it over like a road race bike is, it's pretty exciting. Dust finished second in the heat race and was running behind Jeff Ward in the main event. Ward was

Supercross champion when I was growing up. So, uh,

it's cool to race against him even though he kicked our butt in that heat race

since he started running the Super Moto Series. Jeff Ward has done a lot of Buck

King.

I mean, it's like when you were

a Motocross bike and he took it out the garage and went down the street and had to get it back in the garage where the cops came. Since those days, He's gone on to become a legend in motorsports, seven time national champ Motocross champion,

um,

raced Indy cars for 10 years,

uh, finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th Indy 500.

Now I'm running supermodel.

It's that experience that's made him a dominator on a Super

Moto.

I think some of his Indy car experience helps him with this. Uh, you know, knowing where the apex of the turns are and things like that.

Jeff Ward is always a handful to deal with. It's definitely fast while the series goes through some growing pains for,

he is just having fun and enjoying his ride.

It's a good time and, uh, the sport is just starting out over here. So

I don't know where it's gonna go and where we're going, brace that,

what we can do to the tracks and make them better. It's just a different form of racing and it's something, you know, I can be competitive at and it's a motocross bike just did a lot of fun.

The new track in Vegas caused problems for some of the races.

This, uh, crush the basalt that they laid down just basically as a low cost paving job for this huge area that they use for,

you know, Winston Cup event parking or whatever.

So, uh,

that created a

turned into gravel once he got chewed up and

the tires, you probably see some of the video clips that the guys were really fighting to get through this loose gravelly stuff. But that's super moto.

No trouble for Ward as he easily took the win over Mike Metzger and Dustin Nelson for the $1000 jackpot.

What did you expect from a legend?

Congratulations to Jeff Ward. Nobody does super

moto better.

Next we test Honda's new middleweight, the potent 600 RR

coming up, lock up your toolbox and get out your laptop. It's computer tuning in our project of the week

by definition, high powered middle weights can be a little twitchy at speed,

but not this one.

It's Honda's new CBR 600 RR and it's rock solid.

What I really like about the Honda CV R is the fact that it's so stable.

Um, corner entry, you just run it in there and

it doesn't move, it doesn't do anything mid corner, the same exit, the same

high speed, very, very stable back over here. There's a,

you come out of a right hand turn and you're going pretty quick

and then you kind of go through this little Chicane thing.

Um, and, and you're carrying a lot of speed through there and if the bike's not stable, it can be a little hairy.

And, uh, and the Honda is really, really stable through there.

The RR is powered by a 599 cc in line four with dual stage injection.

It pulls out 104 rear wheel horses at 13,400 RPM

and 44.3 pound feet of torque

at 11 1.

They've taken the stuff that they've learned from Moto

GP and they're able to put it in a street bike and pass it on to the consumer,

which is a pretty cool thing.

GP. Race technology is apparent throughout the bike, particularly the revolutionary unit pro link rear suspension,

it houses the shock inside an extruded and cast aluminum swing arm.

The top of the shock is enclosed so none of its load energy is transmitted to the frame.

A bell crank compresses the shock from the bottom. This reduces wheel spin allowing the rider to open the throttle earlier.

The result, a lot less drama exiting

that composure may also be the result of a little less.

I think if um

if there were any shortcomings with the bike,

uh I don't think it has maybe some of the acceleration that some of the other bikes have just right off the corner

that may be due to the fact it's 20 pounds heavier than its competitors.

But its stability at speed is a big priority and it should be

your search for a new 600 needs to include a trip to your local Honda

dealer.

Next, lock up your toolbox, get out your laptop. It's computer tuning in our project of the week.

We're back on T DC. I'm Tommy G

for you guys that know your sport bikes. This is it

the 04 Gsxr

Suzuki's powerful middleweight rocket sports, a 600 cc liquid cooled and line 46 speed

making 100 and 20 horses at the crank.

Man, that's powerful. But let me ask you this.

Have we ever settled for stock performance?

Never

let me show you what we're gonna do today.

We'll install this trick racing exhaust from

Yashira. Then we'll up the throttle response even more by modifying the Suzuki's fuel settings with this power commander three from

dyno Jet

and man, I can't wait to show you how this baby works.

Oh,

today's build is really simple to do yourself and the results dramatic.

Here's a closer look at Yos Shamir's TRS carbon fiber muffler

and it's Titanium header.

The first thing you notice about this

is how light it is. It's only about seven pounds, that's less than half the way to stock. The header is a 4 to 2 to 1 for maximum exhaust flow. These small crossover tubes are designed to produce instant power when getting back on the throttle coming out of the corners

the hand welds are a work of art.

Plus each section of pipe connect with high tension springs for easy removal.

Another nice feature Yoshi

Mia's high exit design provides better ground clearance. So you can lean deeper into a turn without worrying about scraping your pipes.

I'll ditch the passenger foot peg for the new pipe racket.

Yeah,

we can talk about performance features all day

bottom line. This system just looks awesome.

Now the 600 will breathe a lot better. Which means in order to optimize performance,

we need to adjust a fuel delivery.

This power commander three comes with the module preset to the stock settings of your bike,

a software disk with tutorials and all the wiring

installations of no brainer.

We remove the tank to better show you how the power commander easily plugs in line with the bike stock ECU

no cutting or splicing required and that's all there is to it.

Ok. Here's how it works. I gotta turn the bike on.

Oh yeah. By the way, we get to hear that new pipe we put on too.

Select the RPM range. You want to adjust by pushing the button,

push again to make it richer

press and hold to make it leaner.

Two green led s take it back to zero for more advanced adjustments, load the software into your computer and hook up the module with the supplied USB cable.

You can fine tune fuel delivery settings throughout the power band,

reset the close and open throttle position,

even trim the fuel curve to individual cylinders.

There are a ton more advanced features, but let's just say you're a little bit leery about adjusting your bike's fuel system.

Not a problem. Dyno Jet preloaded custom mapping for our particular needs. Let's take a look at some of the numbers,

the top line shows throttle position settings, this side engine RPM and all these numbers were preset by dyno Jet engineers for optimum performance for the Suzuki with the

Yashira pipe.

We can expect about a 25% gain in midrange power and torque.

If you're on your bike in higher altitude where the air is thinner, you may want to lean it out a bit, but you don't need the computer

simply make your adjustments on the unit itself.

We also made adjustments to the tires by mounting up a set of Bridgestone's new BT 0 14.

Their new Aggressive street tire made from a sticky silica compound is designed for outstanding grip in all conditions and at all lean angles

and to improve handling, we'll add Hyper Pro's new RSC adjustable steering dampener.

It features active valving which means as steering speed increases, the valving automatically changes for better control.

They come in five colors. This gun metal finish looks great,

good looks increased power and better handling

equals one tricked out sport bike.

Now the power commander will also help tune modified exhaust on injected Harleys like cooker's new high flow drag pipes. These pipes are smooth with all the clams hidden behind thick chrome shields.

They're step tuned for extra power starting at inch and three quarters, opening up to two and a quarter at the slash cut tips. Retail is $470 a pair. Now, here's a new trick. I,

no matter what you ride,

the vapor is an onboard data unit with accelerometer that clamps your bars providing tag function,

0 to 60 in quarter mile times, 60 to 0 braking G force lap times and more at $279. It's a great tuning tool. Now, check out the latest some freestyle pants from flesh gear

not doing. C grabs a new resurrection pan, converts to shorts.

They're made of Cor

Dura Airmen and Kevlar Fibers. They feature velcro pockets and reflective leg stripes.

Now, Brian Deegan might get a deal but for everybody else, the retail is 115.

Well, guys, that's all for this week, but join T DC. Next week we'll find out who makes this year's best super bike in the cycle news. Big board shootout.

It'll be great until then. Ride safe.