Letter From Europe

LETTER FROM Europe

ROUNDUP

The Dutch ELF

Twelve months of planning predated Dutch constructors Bram Bijl and Cor van Reeuwijk’s decision to build the advanced new RB-1 prototype. Powered by a standard Kawasaki GPz600 (Ninja) engine, the RB-1 has already undergone track tests, and is currently being further developed before being handed over to Horeon BV, Holland’s leading Kawasaki and Honda tuning shop. Horeon plans to market the bike for street and racing use with a variety of engines late in the year.

Amazingly, the RB-1 is deceptively simple: The Kawasaki engine sits in an aluminum cradle on which the single-sided front and rear swingarms pivot. Rear suspension is a Pro-Link-type design, while at the front a combination of the traditional and innovative

results in a bike that feels remarkably conventional. A White Power suspension unit is bolted to the front of the frame, working off the horizontal swingarm without the benefit of any linkage. What’s more, the bike is claimed to work well right out of the box, with behavior under braking especially improved over a more conventional machine.

The unheralded RB-1 may end up being the first commercially produced streetbike with alternative chassis design of the modern age. Whether or not that happens depends upon whether Honda get its much-rumored ELFderived road model into production at the end of this year.

Trench chassis constructor Moto Martin’s products have a reputation for highquality construction that places them above the level of most other frame manufacturers. Best known for its lateral frame designs for the sixcylinder Honda CBX engine, Martin has now joined the trend toward aluminum chassis with a new basic, open-cradle, twin-spar design available in rectangular-section aircraft alloy or, at lesser cost, in steel tube painted silver to resemble the same thing.

Front suspension is by Martin’s own telescopic fork, with a Marzocchi MiR fork as a special option. At the rear, the socalled “Cantiflex” design utilizes a Sachs unit with variable-rate spring. Unusually, 18-inch wheels are fitted front and rear, clad with low-profile Michelin radiais and Brembo front discs. The one-piece seat/tank unit has a detachable pillion squab for a passenger.

Martins continue to be marketed in more than 20 countries around the world, with Japan now the company’s leading export market.

—Alan Cathcart