|
Riding The Graves F/X Bike |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 22 September 2004 |
|
Page 1 of 2
Death threat victimization by MikeE ~
Photos making me look better than I am by Kevin Wing
Ring, Ring...
Me: Hello?
Brad Banister (Yamaha PR guy): Hey Emery, when was the last time you crashed?
Me: Brad, I'm not a crasher (cough, cough) you know that…
BB: (Muffled laughter) So, what was the last thing you crashed?
Me: Well, there was that Gixxer and there was one time in band camp…
BB: Oh great, so open class bikes are your specialty?
Me: What? I can't hear you, I'm going under a bridge...
| That was it really; a promised ride on a Graves Motorsports Formula Xtreme bike. I was threatened with death and mutilation from Mr. Banister if I so much as bumped into the thing even whilst shooting photos of it at standstill. To compound the problem, Mark Miller called (in-between editing Superbike Life?) and gave me some advice on steady throttle control, heck even Yamaha's rising star, Jason DiSalvo, sniggered when he learnt that I was to be riding the thing… it looked bad. |
|
On taking ownership of Damon Buckmasters bike from Chuck Graves he too gave me that "I'll kill you, your family and your cats and dogs" look… Out on the track I gingerly rode around knowing that my journalistic involvement with Yamaha revolved around this 180+ horse-powered race bike. In retrospect, I got rolled by the above-mentioned racers - it was a pussycat, no, really. It was one of the smoothest power producing bikes that I have ever ridden, even though I probably didn't rev it high enough to produce the legendary power that it contains within.
|
|
Bare in mind, I had a good excuse though. The venue was the Californian Speedway in Fontucky. The last time I rode there was last year, again on a Yamaha, and that time on a Supermoto. All of a sudden I'm on a bike with four-times the power and arriving at certain corners four-times as fast… OK, maybe not four-times as fast, but it felt like it. Being the portly wuss that I am, I barely decked a knee slider, but the bike handled superbly, turned in with pinpoint accuracy and felt every bit worth its $80,000+ value. |
How nasty does it have the potential to be? Well get this - Damon weighed in at a svelte 155lbs at the start of the season in Daytona. After pushing for the championship lead with this bike since, he's now a skinny (but fit) 141lbs… screw Jenny Craig and those stinking Slim Fasts, I'm buying an F/X bike!
But that's a lot of moolar, I hear you mumble… |
|
| Well it does have some very trick parts from YEC (Yamaha Engineering Corporation). YEC is Yam's version of Honda's HRC. The nice thing here though, is that some, not all, of these parts can be ordered across the parts counter at you favorite or local Yamaha dealer. Chuck Graves and crew also add their "special sauce" to the internals and also work over the stock frame to add some rigidity. They also attach some of their own manufactured parts to aid adjustability, all within the guidelines of the AMA FX rulebook, I might add. |
|
Stock Compression is 11.8:1 and Mr. Graves bumps that a point or two further to 13.5:1. The tranny receives a work-over as well with some YEC closer ratio and beefier internals (available to you too), a dry clutch is installed and the stock starter retained. The motor mounts are also stock (so that motor will fit your bike) and the motors fueling is switch-able between 41mm carburetors or 40mmm throttle bodies (Fi) depending how Bucky's chi' is working at any particular race venue.
|
|
Don't be expecting to buy this big and beefy swing-arm though, apparently "someone" left that outside Chuck's door one night (anonymously).
However, with Yamaha paying $2000 contingencies for race wins on both the R1 and the R6, it's definitely worth paying the brothers Graves a visit for some go-faster bits for your own race or street bike. |
|
| |
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
