42 TT WINNING BIKE“In 2016 Smith’s got 21st and 24th in BSB,then we came the next year and they gotfourth, with plenty of podiums in BSB andat the TT,” says Hicky. “It’s cost them a lotmore money to do it, but look at the results.They’re both enjoying it again.“I had a few demands when I first wentto Smith’s. They were on K-Tech suspension,but I don’t particularly like K-Tech, so I saidI’m not riding the bike unless it’s got Öhlinsin it, and Alan said, all right, I’ll buy Öhlins.Straightaway that cost him a hundred grandfor forks and shocks.”Smith’s next investment for Hickman wassix superbike-spec S1000RR engines, at£24,000 each.Last year Hickman raced the all-new,third-generation S1000RR for the first time,which he used to win the Superbike TT, atan all-time record speed of 132.6mph, andthe Superstock TT.“The new bike is a big step forward andis much better overall,” he adds. “It’s verydifferent to the previous model, it’s notreally similar in any way. Some of the reactionsit has are similar to the old bike, butin general it’s totally different. It’s bettereverywhere because it actually goes aroundcorners and it’s got heaps of feel.”Amazingly, Hickman runs almost identicalchassis set-ups for short circuits andfor the roads.“Suspension set-up is very similar – wejust run a softer link at the TT,” says Jones.“When we took our BSB bike to the Islandlast year we hardly changed anything, evenride-height. We used to run a higher rideheightat the TT, but not anymore. Obviouslyit’s a good thing if the bike stays the samewhen we go to the TT, because then Peterknows how it’s going to react.“The only thing we do is fit a stainless-steelsump guard to protect the enginewhen the suspension bottoms out at Barregarrow.Also, we do brace our chassis forBSB, but we don’t for the roads. To be fairwe don’t know how much the bracing helpsin BSB – sometimes Peter can’t tell, but thelap time is quicker“The thing is with Peter that we neverreally know if we’ve done a good job or abad job because he just rides it regardless!If there’s an issue he rides around it, whichcan be a good thing but can be a bad thing.“As daft as it sounds, the biggest differencefor the TT from a preparation point ofview is that we use a lot more lockwire anda bit more thread-lock.”The third-generation S1000RR (afterthe 2009 original and second iteration of2015) does has its weak points. The superbike-specrace engine has significantly lessHickman 2020; S 1000RRTT superbike 2019 enginetop end than the previous race engine: 220horsepower at the rear wheel, against 234from the old superbike spec.“In standard spec the new engine is anabsolute weapon,” says Hickman. “But BMWare struggling with superbike spec. At themoment we don’t have anywhere near thepower we had out of the old one, which at theTT and North West isn’t good because of thebig, long straights.”Top-speed figures from the 2019 TT onSulby straight tell the same story: Hickyreached 194mph aboard his superstock2019 Superbike TTWinnerS1000RR, just 2moph slower than the superbike.BMW sell three different specs of raceengines from their Munich race shop: Type 1is blueprinted for superstock racing, Type 2 isfor world endurance, with a kit gearbox, andType 3 is for superbike, with a kit gearbox.Hickman and Jones learned plenty fromtheir first TT with the latest superbike-specS1000RR. Their biggest lesson came duringthe week-ending Senior TT, which Hickyled by 20 seconds, until the engine startedchucking water out.
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