72degrees wrote:I think the idea is that on a very short course the start is even more important. The time to 64 feet can find half a second or more on a bike that pulls extremely well without having to coax it off the line and needs to come out of tight hairpins on full song. To be fair, things have moved on since then in engine, carburation and ignition systems. The riders of modern supermoto 4T singles seem to cope just fine with a huge carb by yesterday's conventions and the tables in Phil Irving's 'Tuning for Speed'. Mind you, fuel injection is the real deal these days. The KTM350SXF I had was ace off the start and brilliant everywhere else.
I've never competed, so my comments are a bit in the armchair category! I attend the Piston Rally for pre-1980 bikes in Spain every year, usually on my 750 Bonneville. This is all steep hills and hairpins and how the bike makes the transition from idle to "progression" makes all the difference between huge fun and a pain in the neck. If this happens smoothly and quickly you are driving out of the bends, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Any hesitation and you are wobbling all over the place. The Bonnie works pretty well in the hills, but I suspect the K2, being even lighter and having slightly better brakes, would be even more fun. Pity it's outside the 1980 age limit! Still, let's get it fixed first before planning future trips!
I'm pretty skinny, so I'm finding the K2 suspension a bit over-damped for my weight (not ridiculous, just a bit harsh), so I'm already thinking about trying a lighter fork oil and maybe changing to Hagons with variable damping at the back. But this is fiddling about, like I say, I need to get the big issues sorted first. The good news is that I've regained enough enthusiasm to even think about fine-tuning the suspension!
