For 2002, Ricky Carmichael made a controversial switch to Honda. Some fans initially turned away, but as soon as he started winning, Ricky was as popular as ever. Mid-season, Honda gave us the opportunity to ride the works CR250R two-stroke that Ricky used to capture the Supercross championship that year. It had been on display at the Hard Rock Cafe since RC won Vegas. We also got to pick the brains of Honda teamsters Chad Watts and Erik Kehoe, mechanic and manager, respectively, for Team Universal Studios Honda. We got a glimpse into the preferences of RC and how much different his indoor sled is from his outdoor bike.

 

 

No doubt about it, Ricky Carmichael’s switch to Team Honda paid off. Despite his first-round DNF and another nasty get-off at Pontiac, RC had a stellar Supercross season, winning 11 mains, 12 heats and his second 250cc indoor title. He’s started off the outdoor season in dominating fashion, too, winning 10 motos in a row. Yep, Honda has to be pleased, winning its first indoor title since McGrath did it in ’96. The break between Mt. Morris and Southwick, was our opportunity to ride Carmichael’s championship bike.

“My very first lap on the Honda at my supercross track at home,” said Carmichael, “I set my all-time lap record. The bike is so stable I could go faster without working as hard.”

“Ricky took the bike home to Georgia,” said Chad Watts, “and when it came back the bars were rotated down, almost to the tank! The steering head is taller on the CR, so Ricky wanted the bars lower and further back. It’s funny, Ricky uses the #999 McGrath-bend bars, and McGrath uses the Ricky bend.”

It also seems RC is a lot like former Team Honda star Jean-Michel Bayle in that, once he finds the setting that works, he sticks with it. “He may want a click here or there, but the basic setup doesn’t change from track to track, race to race,” says Chad.

As for us, we had a difficult time even riding the #4 Honda at Glen Helen’s Supercross track. According to test pilot Spud Walters. “It’s like riding the world’s fastest minibike. His bars and levers are so weird that it actually hurt my clutch finger after a few laps. Actually, if you rotated the bars to the “normal” position, the levers would be perfect for old-schoolers. As for suspension settings, RC is much like MC in that he likes his bike very low in the back and the fork stiff, which makes the bike feel like a chopper. And what could be more stable than a chopper?

Just as McGrath likes his shock to settle and stay put, Carmichael takes the idea to new extremes. Give the Carmichael bike the seat-push test, and it will move an inch then stop cold. Press harder, and it presses back, refusing to budge. Likewise, lift the rear fender, and the rear wheel comes off of the ground. There’s so much compression and rebound damping in the works Showa shock that it feels like The Dead Zone. When it settles, it’s like having only six or seven inches of travel left, and it practically bottoms on the faces of jumps. It works for Ricky, though. Up front, the fork isn’t nearly as damped as the shock, but it’s pretty darned stiff. Spud never bottomed it, as the O-ring indicator showed we had a good inch of travel left. There’s no spike or mid-stroke harshness of any sort, and the bike turns extremely well, despite being set up for Ricky’s back-it-in riding style. “Ricky steers with the throttle and his hips,” said Watts.

One thing is for sure, RC’s motor is as fast as his chassis settings are weird. The factory Honda Gieken Asaka engine puts out some 56 horsepower, equivalent to a KX500. Response is instantaneous, although it’s a little rich off of the very bottom. It comes on in the lower midrange and builds power extremely quickly into an eye-watering, white-knuckle top-end. It’s like being shot out of a cannon. And why not? The HGA crank, special gearbox, handmade pipe, digital ignition, cylinder, head, works Mikuni carb and Delta V-Force reed work well together and accommodate Ricky’s whiskey-throttle hand. We looked for a titanium throttle cable or one the size of a clutch cable. Nope, Chad just keeps an eye on the OEM unit. He does use heavy-duty clutch springs to help the motor deal with Ricky’s zealous left hand, though. Reliability is big with the new CR250R mill. “We use the same motor for five races,” said Watts. “We’ve got these really killer metal boxes, and I Fed-X them back and forth between races.

Chad and the team change frames and swingarms every five races, then they swap out the components to team practice bikes, thereby saving the new factory bits for the race bikes. To further lower the back of the bike, Chad also cuts down RC’s subframe and makes special cuts to the seat foam. “HGA also sends us seats, so Ricky has a choice from track to track.” As for tires, RC is also set in his ways. “No matter what, RC wants a 756 rear. Fronts are either a 739 or the factory 742,” Chad said.

HGA radiators increase cooling capacity over stock, so RC never has to worry about overheating, even at the hottest outdoor races. RC has never lost a point from a flat tire because he runs bib mousses indoors and out. Nor does he like the wider 2.5-inch rear rim for hard-packed tracks. Also, although he runs a massive 280mm front disc, a 240mm rear disc and works Nissin master-cylinders and calipers. He likes a nylon brake line instead of the factory braided-steel ones. It’s also very loose at the lever, so much so that it smacked Spud’s hand under braking. Hinson provides team baskets and pressure plates. Chad recently did a motor that had 11-12 hours of racing and practice on it, and the basket’s tangs were just starting to groove.

Yep, the Honda guys are stoked. RC is going faster than ever, and now he’s riding red. Cliff White did his homework well in setting up a machine that RC would like, and the team has gelled behind its new star. “When anyone at Team Honda wins, everyone gets a bonus,” added Chad. How can you beat that? You have a guy who’s easy on equipment, dedicated to training like no other, driven to win everything in sight (including practice) and so humble he doesn’t even run his #1 plate. And, if you think Honda’s recent successes are all due to Ricky, consider that Sebastian Tortelli is often the fastest guy on the track, once RC sets it on cruise control. Tortelli is on the same machine as Ricky and has produced a couple of 1-2s for the team, so some of that speed has to be the bike. And the team behind it.

MOTOCROSS SET UP
How RC’s MX ride differs from the SX bike

Speeds are higher and so are the temperatures during the outdoor season. Long before this MX season started, Team Honda was testing in earnest. The powerband had to be moved up and made wider, suspension settings had to be finalized, as did steering geometry and ergonomics. Here are the things that were done differently when building RC’s outdoor bikes.

• Fork: Lighter damping and spring rates, fork dropped in triple clamps for more high-speed stability.
• Holeshot device: Removed for the concrete start-pads of the MX series, as RC wants as much rear-wheel traction as possible.
• Handlebars: Rotates them forward a little for more front-end traction.
• Engine: More top-end power and over-rev through revised cylinder and ignition settings.
• Gearing: Where RC runs 14/53-56 in supercross, depending on the track and soil, he runs 14/50-53 outdoors. The wheelbase varies slightly depending on sprocket choice.
• Shock: Lighter damping and spring, linkage unchanged. • Maintenance: Watts swaps engines every four races instead of five.

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