They measure everything, for instance whether the cylinders are parallel and true, that is vertical. If they are not straight and vertical then there will be increased friction and that robs the engine of power. So they make sure the bores are straight, they make sure the tops of the cylinders are flat, they check to see if the journals for the crankshaft are bored straight, and if they are not, they re-do all of this to very, very close tolerances.
The crank-shafts come straight from Suzuki in Japan, then when we get them we send them off again to get them balanced. Although they are very high quality when we get them, if you think of the speeds the engine rotates at, a slight out-of-balance in the shaft will lead to failure before long. We are not allowed to polish or lighten them, they are just balanced and dimensionally accurate, that’s all we need to do to them.
The gearbox is strengthened and the ratios brought closer together, so every time you change a gear you drop less RPM, so you are less way down the power band. In order to do this we have a very high first gear, which makes it difficult to get off the line, but once the bike is underway every time you change gear you are back in the power straight away.
The gears are also stronger, because the torque we put through the gearbox is around 25-30% more than on a standard bike. For 2005 Suzuki have addressed this problem by changing the primary ratio. This basically makes the gearbox spins faster, but in doing so puts less torque through it. By doing this they can make the clutch and gears smaller and lighter. This has a number of benefits, not only does it lighten the whole bike, it reduces the mass rotating within the engine, which frees up power.
