LONGTERM GEAR TESTS
LONGTERM BIKE TESTS
BUYERS’ GUIDE LISTINGS
INDUSTRY NEWS
RIDING ADVICE
TM
MONEY NO OBJECT? There might be doubts about the nation’s economy at the moment. But if you hung around Crescent Suzuki’s Performance Centre you wouldn’t think so. Scores of Suzuki GSX-R owners spend as much as £45,000 on their bikes. And with Brembo monoblock radial brake systems at £3,000, Yoshimura race systems at £1,750 and Marchesini wheel sets at £1,600, it’s easy to see why. “We’re always building top-spec replicas of our racers” says Ashley Pierson (pictured). “Plenty of customers ask for bikes fitted with everything we sell. They want 16.5 inch wheels so they can have the latest slicks. In fact sometimes Marchesini can’t keep up with the demand. The only thing we can’t really give people is the best-spec engine management systems we use on our superbike racers. And that’s simply because you need a man to fly in from Finland to set it up properly every time you run the bike. That’s OK for us in BSB racing, but it’s not really practical for the road.”
PIMPING YOUR RIDES
PED BIKES MIGHT BE BETTER THAN EVER, BUT THAT’S NOT STOP WAY. THE MAJORITY OF YOU TRYING TO IMPROVE THEM IN SOME NG THE THE TILLS OF DEALERS THROUGHOUT THE LAND ARE RINGI TS CHANGES, AS MORE AND MORE OF YOU FIDDLE WITH YOUR MOUN
T
he amount of modification varies a great deal, dependant mostly on the depths of pockets. But one thing many are changing is, unsurprisingly, exhaust endcans, particularly since the advent of those with removable baffles. “Loads of customers are buying Scorpion cans, taking the baffles out and then sticking them back in when it comes to MOT time,” says Adam West from Pidcock’s in Derby. He confirms the keenness to alter bikes by saying, “at least half of our customers make some sort of mods, and it’s rare for me to take a trade-in which hasn’t been altered
72 OCTOBER 2005 www.superbike.co.uk
anything that can be seen. Crash bobbins and double bubble screens are popular, as are seat cowls and huggers. Occasionally we get guys who want to spend a lot more though. Right now we’re building a Hayabusa which the buyer wants to spend £15,000 on in total. We’re going
Marchesini wheels? Öhlins suspension? Yoshimura swingarm? Basically, it’s a BSB a winner with lights and plate, but you lot seem more than prepared to pay for it
in some way. Most prefer