While here in The United States of America the buzz is all about the new Motus MST sport-tourer and the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS sportbike, in Germany the talk of the town is the new Horex VR6 street bike, which began its road testing today. Horex released a photo of the supercharged 200+hp 1,200cc machine testing on a closed circuit, with Hennes Fischer, the man in charge of the VR6’s development, stating that “in this phase of the test series we mainly wanted to determine whether the current suspension configuration, basic geometry and engine tuning are correctly matched. It’s a big step from computer calculations and engine tuning on the dynamometer to a perfectly functioning bike.”
“This is the only way to really evaluate engine response under all load conditions and determine how the frame and spring elements work together – especially under different loads and asphalt conditions,” continued Fischer. “The results of the initial tests were satisfactory. Following the new evolution of the chassis we managed to further improve the bike’s handling. This is an important step towards defining the final parameters.”
Horex plans on continuing its track testing, and is also running tests on the Horex VR6 on rural roads as well. The company warns that in some cases third-party parts are being used to help advance the bike’s evolution, but the final version will feature more pieces built in-house by the German company (so don’t draw too many conclusions from this photo). With three prominent projects (Horex, Motus, & Erik Buell Racing) currently coming out of the ashes of the economic apocalypse, it’s intriguing to compare these efforts to the those of the cash-poor OEMs.
Source: Horex
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