Michael Dunlop’s Day in the Desert

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Isle Of Man TT legend Michael Dunlop joined <i>Cycle World</i> at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway to test the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and BMW S 1000 RR. (Jeff Allen/)

California’s Chuckwalla Valley Raceway is a long way from Creg Ny Baa, and the only thing slowing down Isle of Man TT legend Michael Dunlop at our private test day is the lack of stone walls lining the racetrack, and the fact that our 78-degree weather was “scorching hot,” says Dunlop in the thick Northern Irish accent shared by his legendary TT family.

What is a “real” roadracer doing here? Because the on-going COVID-19 pandemic has brought many international roadraces to a halt, Michael Dunlop was in the United States preparing to compete in the annual Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway (he finished 11th) since it was one of his few opportunities to turn a wheel in anger. Racer’s gotta race.

But racers also like to ride. We brought Dunlop to Chuckwalla to find out how far open-class production superbikes have come and how they compare to the no-expense-spared, race-prepped superbikes that he pilots down public roads, and also talking riding technique, rider aids, and TT versus short-circuit racing.

What would Michael Dunlop think of these two production superbikes—and of a racetrack in the middle of the desert? We’d soon find out. (Jeff Allen/)

Our tools for the job were the 2020 BMW S 1000 RR and 2021 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP—both of which represent the pinnacle of track-ready road-going performance. Our only deviation from bone stock was the switch to Dunlop KR448 and KR451 racing slicks.

Stock production motorcycles are the basis for Dunlop’s dedicated racebikes, the ones he trusts his life with as he threads the needle on 133-mph-average laps on the famous Mountain Course. That means purchasing an open-class superbike from a dealership, then stripping it to the frame and reassembling it with rule-specific parts to make it competitive. But how much is changed in conversion to a true race-prepped superbike?

“Everything,” Dunlop says so nonchalantly. “Basically, the only thing from Honda we use on our own superbikes are the crankcases.”

To racers like Dunlop, the motorcycles are simply tools that can be refined to better suit their needs as they search for the final tenths of a second needed to win.

That’s not a knock against either of our testbikes. Bone-stock literbikes possess more sporting capability than many of us are skilled enough to handle without help from a full suite of electronic rider aids. Consider that the CW-measured 182.7 peak horsepower of the S 1000 RR and 165.4 hp of the Fireblade SP were once unobtainable in production-based racebikes.

“Stock bikes aren’t a million miles away,” Dunlop continues. “Stick an exhaust bike on, a fork kit, and a shock—bang! You’re on your way to superstock racing. Straight from the showroom, they’re pretty impressive. But when you move onto a true superbike, you move onto a whole different way of how it functions—the way the power is delivered, the way it handles, the way it stops, weight distribution, everything.”

In building a full-race superbike, Dunlop seeks a balance of performance that gives him the control, stability, and precision he needs for ripping between hedges at 200 mph with no room for error. It’s as much about outright performance as it is about suiting his riding style when real-roads racing. “On the TT, you’ve got to be present,” Dunlop says. “You can’t get away with much. It only takes one corner and the whole thing is buggered. Because you can go 10 miles without seeing the road’s end, you have to be so precise. Every corner links together, and you can f—k yourself up for five miles. Just stay on the motorbike.”

Optimizing power delivery so it can be better utilized under the unique conditions the TT represents is also key. “Sometimes, even if you don’t change the outright horsepower, you change the dynamic of how power is delivered,” Dunlop explains as he points out the strangely similar flat spots in power below 8,000 rpm on both the S 1000 RR and Fireblade, caused by US emissions standards and noise regulations.

A stock production CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP is not a million miles apart from a TT racebike says Dunlop, even though the only stock part used on his bike is the crankcase. (Jeff Allen/)

Electronics help with rideability for most mortals. In fact, the biggest difference between showroom-bought bikes and superbikes is the electronic rider aids, specifically at corner exit. Production-level traction control systems typically trade that final bit of corner-exit drive for extra safety. Race-spec electronics are all about sheer speed. Professional racers and teams work tirelessly to dial in the complex algorithms of TC systems to extract every ounce of acceleration possible while pushing the limits of usable traction.

Dunlop’s TC preference?

“I don’t use traction control,” Dunlop says. “I never have.” This seems particularly brave on his part considering the unknown lap-to-lap factors of the lengthy road circuits he specializes in, not to mention that virtually every professional racer from MotoAmerica to MotoGP relies heavily on TC to shave tenths off lap times. But who’s to argue against Dunlop’s success without it—he’s a 19-time TT winner after all.

Dunlop prefers to not use traction control when racing the TT—a decision that is incomprehensible to mere mortals. (Jeff Allen/)

The TT is the polar opposite of Chuckwalla—a 2.78-mile road circuit situated in Desert Center, California—an hour away from any significant civilization, and it features miles of runoff in every direction. “At the TT, there’s 200-and-something corners, but only two places you ‘want’ to fall down at,” Dunlop says. “You’ve got to bite your chin and go for it.” Then Dunlop jokes, “At this track, the only place I went fast was the start-finish straight because there is a wall beside it. Everywhere else I was quite slow! You’ve got good weather and a great track in the middle of nowhere—you don’t get any grief; that’s something we don’t have in Ireland… It’s a great wee circuit.”

Dunlop is not a complete stranger to short-circuit racing, competing in select Endurance World Championship and British Superbike races throughout his career, but racing the roads was in his family’s blood. Although he has a curiosity of what could have been. “I would have liked to have seen what I could have done,” he says. “I had done World Endurance and was the fastest on the team. It would have been interesting to see if I could have matched it somewhere else. But we just did what we know.”

Out here in the desert, without the stone walls, hedges, and curbing, you can still see what makes Dunlop a phenomenon at the TT. (Jeff Allen/)

What Dunlop “knows” is surely a wonder of many motorcycle enthusiasts. The raw talent and guts needed to slice the impossibly narrow gaps of the Mountain Course chasing victory is unfathomable to us, and remarkable to watch.

While Chuckwalla is a long way from the Isle of Man, and stock superbikes aren’t full-on racebikes, ripping these bikes at a local trackday gives us a glimpse of the magical, almost surreal skill and speed required to win at the TT. We may never experience the glory of Michael Dunlop’s accomplishments or 133-mph-average laps around the Mountain Course, but our own striving for speed gives us a taste that’s awfully close.

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