After watching the PRO
1200 runabout qualifiers on Saturday at the 2000
World Championships in Lake Havasu City,
Arizona, during the month of October, simply
describing the performance of Nicholas Rius and
his Yamaha GP1200R as impressive is an
understatement. In fact, he annihilated the
competition, lapping the field up to
second-place. Although the likes of Kawasaki’s
Chris MacClugage, and other top hitters weren’t
in Rius’ qualifying heat, his performance was a
good indicator of what would come during final
motos the following day. Sure enough, Rius’
final motos were virtually a repeat of his
previous day’s performance. In both motos, Rius
pulled the holeshot and was gone. He was so far
ahead he was in a class by himself, taking the
win unchallenged. Rumors were that Rius’ Yamaha
GP1200R was hitting speeds well over 85 mph on
the back straightaway.
Now, let’s back up a
few days. When Hain and I drove into Havasu
early in the week, we stopper by Rius’ new home
and shop. The shop, which is the new
headquarters for Rius Racing, is a dream for any
watercraft mechanic. Not only was there plenty
of bench space and an engine hoist, there were
bins with each and every size bolt imaginable,
and the stock of parts for Yamaha watercraft was
incredible. Although the entire shop was
immaculate, inside the “clean room” were several
Yamaha engines in various stages of assembly.
These were the very engines the Rius would be
using in his SuperJet and hisGP1200R in the
upcoming days. In fact, when we arrived, Rius
Racing crew chief Lilian Beaumer was finishing
assembly of the very engine theat Rius would be
running at the World Championships in his new
GPR hull that was fresh from the paint shop.
While most team are usually ultra secretive
about their crafe before the finals, it was
obvious that Beaumer was proud of his work.
Furthermore, it was obvious the Rius Racing
spared no expense in developing a race-winning
raft.
 The
first thing that made this so obvious was the
amount of titanium and aluminum bolts used in
the assembly of the 2000-model Yamaha GP1200R.
Approximately $3,000 of this stuff was used. The
super-light hardware was used almost exclusively
on the engine – even the head bolts! Only a few
of the engine-mounting plates utilized the OE
steel bolts.
As crew chief,
Beaumer doesn’t perform all the work on the
craft himself. Dan Lamey of Racer’s Edge does
most of the grinding on the engine, in addition
to having he dyno and data-acquisition equipment
used for engine development. Bill Chapin,
co-owner of R&D Racing, one of Rius’s sponsors,
and Lee Manvell are responsible for much of the
craft’s performance as well. Through countless
hours of testing on Lamey’s dyno, the team
worked together to find that utmost horsepower
from the Yamaha mill.
Other than the trick
fasteners, looking at the long block sitting on
the bench was all but spectacular. The work
performed on the inside of the engine is a
different story altogether. The OE crank was
utilized, however, it was trued and the crank
pins were welded for added durability. The
crankcases were ported by Lamey for increase
flow. The OE cylinders, s they come from Yamaha,
have a ceramic plating in the bore, which
eliminates the need for sleeves. However, to
achieve the desired porting specifications,
Lamey bored the cylinders to accept sleeves.
Inside each sleeve rides an 80mm Wiseco piston
made specifically for R&D Racing to its specs.
These custom-manufactured pistons have a
flat-top design, instead of the domed profile
standard on Yamaha water craft pistons.
Topping off the
engine is set of individually mounted billet R&D
heads, each having its own girdle to prevent the
modified cylinders form cracking. Inside the
heads are 28cc domes, which gives the engine a
cranking compression of 170 psi with the exhaust
valves held in the up position. Speaking of the
valves, the electronically controlled and
activated Yamaha Power Valve System (YPVS) was
tossed in favor of a Racer’s Edge valve kit.
This kit adapts the exhaust-pressure activated
Sea-Doo RAVE valves to the Yamaha cylinders.
Mounted to the intake
side of the crankcase is an R&D Dominator intake
manifold. The manifold is a plenum design and
replicates the effects of a boost bottle to
increase midrange performance.
While we were in Rius’
shop talking with Beaumer, Glen Dickenson, the
other half of R&D racing walked in with a grin
from ear to ear. He then went on to say that he
had a new part that would contribute to Rius’
anticipated success. The new part, which he
showed us after a few minutes of hyping it up,
was a new reed valve cage. Although similar in
appearance to the V-Force cages by Moto
Tassinari, the billet-aluminum R&D cages are
deeper, offering increased flow. Additionally,
the cages space the manifold 10mm away form the
crankcase. R&D is calling these new valves the
M-16 (the M is for monster and the 16 is for the
valves 16-petal design) Power Valves. And while
the one that Dickenson showed us (as well as
those in Rius’ race boat) were all billet, he
did inform us that the production M-16’s will be
of cast-aluminum construction.
Fuel-mixing duties in
Rius’ GP1200R are handled by a trio of 48mm Novi
Maxflow carburetors. Again, showing the teams
attention to detail, the heavy breathers were
mounted to the intake manifold with blue
anodized aluminum nuts. To prevent the
carburetors form going momentarily lean, a Novi
vapor separator was installed. Supplying fuel to
the separator is a single high-flow fuel pump
drawing from a custom-made 3/8-inch fuel pickup
in the tank. The carbs breathe through an R&D
Racing Pro Lock Power Plenum flame arrestor.
Approximately 25 2”x 2” cubes of fuel-cell foam
were added to the fuel tank to prevent the fuel
from sloshing in the tank and affecting the
crafts handling.
On the exhaust side
of the engine is a set of fully water-jacketed
Factory Pipe dry triple pipes. Jet Works
water-control valves are connected inline with
the waterline feeding the pipes’ stingers to
limit the amount injected at lower water
pressures. The three chambers are each routed to
the OE waterbox, which has been modified with
three inlets. Since this modification eliminates
the need of a Factory Pipe exhaust collector,
and subsequent backpressure associated with it,
Beaumer installed reducers in the stinger of the
three chambers for maximum peak power. The
waterbox also has two water injection fittings
plumbed into it, one on each side of the
internal baffle. Water is injected by means of
two solenoids activated by a Factory Pipe ECWI
controller at 7,100 rpm. The engine receives its
cooling via two half-inch waterlines from the
pump and three 3/8-inch water lines off the
heads dump water overboard via three bypasses
for the exhaust system, one off of each chamber.
Firing the air and
fuel in the combustion chambers is an MSD
Ignition Pro Digital total-loss ignition system.
The ignition, which includes a lightweight
aluminum flywheel, has an initial timing of 24
degrees until 4,000 rpm where it then retards 19
degrees until the ignition’s 9,000-rpm
rev-limit. The OE NGK BR8ES spark plugs are
swapped in favor of BPR8ES units.
Turning the engine’s
power into thrust is a Skat-Trak 14-vane, 155mm
stainless-steel Magnum pump. The pump, which
features a setback stator, houses a 15/20
Skat-Trak Swirl impeller. Due to the setback
design, Rius’ GPR utilizes an extended Skat-Trak
driveshaft.
On the business end
of the thrust is an R&D Power Steering nozzle
kit with an OE 87mm reduction nozzle and an 89mm
steering nozzle. The Power Steering system
lowers the nozzle when the handlebars are to
plant the bow for aggressive turning. When the
bars are turned all the way in either direction,
the nozzle is lowered 3/8 of an inch.
Additionally, Rius has a lever-activated
trim-lab system to slow the craft down before
entering turns. The tabs, which are cable
activated, are even with the crafts planning
surface at rest, and drop ¼ of an inch at full
pull of the lever.
The bottom of Rius’
GPR hull was trued by Beaumer to remove any
irregularities and improve the craft’s handling.
A slightly modified, more aggressive version of
R&D’s Pro Series Aquavein intake grate keeps the
craft hooked up and an R&D ride plate helps keep
the craft tracking straight. Flanking either
side of the hull is a set of R&D G-Force
sponsons, which Rius runs a set in the lower
rearward position.
In the cockpit, the
stock seat and rear grab handle were tossed and
a carbon-fiber seat assembly manufactured by
Bullet Marine for Rius Racing was used. The
seat, which weighs about half that of the stock
unit, is also narrower than the stocker. Lining
the footwells are jettrim mats.
 For
controls, Rius uses R&D Arrow tapered bars that
have and oversized 1 1/8- inch diameter at the
bar’s clamping area and are 32.5 inches wide.
Clamping the bars is a billet R&D Pro-Action
steering system. A UMI Racing throttle lever is
on the right side of the bars while a shimano
mountain bike brake lever is on the left side of
the bars. The lever is used to activate the
trim-lab system. Rius uses ATI grips, which
Beaumer safety-wired to the bars.
In the former glove
box location is a Sea-Doo lanyard terminal and a
start button. The Sea-Doo lanyard system is used
because it has a normally open circuit when the
lanyard is not connected which is easier to wire
into the MSD ignition system. Using the Sea-Doo
switch allows the ignition system to be shut off
when the lanyard is disconnected, This
eliminates the need of an additional ignition
on/off switch that could accidentally be left
on. There is no stop button since the craft’s
idle is set so low that the engine won’t idle.
The deck is all stock
with the exception of custom blue paint job by
Image Auto Body of Lake Havasu City. Perlacing
the stock cowling assembly are Rius Racing
Carbon-fiber side panels and a Rius Racing
carbon-fiber hinged hood. Below the hood is a
removable carbon-fiber piece that allows easy
access to the MSD ignition module, which makes
timing changes a snap.
Other mods to Rius’
race boat include a custom aluminum battery box
which houses the OE battery, a 500-gph bilge
pump, and dual Inventioneering duck bills, which
drain the hull of water. In addition to all the
titanium and aluminum hardware, Beaumer machined
as much unnecessary aluminum from the engine,
pump, and miscellaneous brackets as possible. He
estimates that this, along with the hardware,
shaves off about 30 pounds from the craft.
Beaumer also
estimates that the engine’s horsepower with VP
103 Motorsport fuel and Motul 800 oil is around
240-250. While we didn’t have a tachometer to
connect to the boat, he claims that at peak
speed, the triple-cylinder engine turns between
8,100 and 8,200 rpm.
 The
day after the World Championships, after riding
Jacob’s SuperJet, Hain and I went over to Rius’
shop where Beaumer was just finishing up
reassembling the craft, since the IJSBA tech
inspector required engine tear down on the
top-finishing boats. Once Beaumer finished
putting the boat back together, we headed down
to Havasu’s famed Body Beach to ride the champ’s
ride. Before I hopped on, Beamer unloaded the
craft from the trailer and took it out to warm
it up and ensure everything was back in working
order.
While sitting on the
craft, I only imagined racing around the buoy
course in front of thousands of fans. Just the
thought of riding the World Championship craft
was awesome. The seat was indeed narrower than
the stock unit. And although the carbon-fiber
seat does have a small padded section, I believe
my wetsuit had more padding. But for the type of
riding this craft was built to do, the seat is
only there to grab with your legs. The R&D bars,
having no crossbar, initially felt extremely
wide with a lot of pullback to them. Even though
I rode, and was quite comfortable on the GP1200R
that Rius Racing first used fro development
nearly a year before, now for some reason I felt
a bit intimidated. After all, I did just get
tossed from Jacobs’ SuperJet at nearly 60 mph
just hours earlier.
Throwing caution to
the wind, after clearing the congested area
around Body Beach, I pinned the throttle. As
expected, Rius’ GPR accelerated like a bat out
of hell. Surprisingly, it didn’t rip my arms off
like Jacobs’ ski, but then again it does weigh
nearly twice as much – although it does have
about 100 more horsepower. The power rolled on
extremely smooth and there was very little
engine vibration, which further contributed to
its electric-like feeling. In no time, I was
flying across the lake’s mild chop.
One of the key points
to Rius’ craft that I rode last January was that
at over 79 mph, I didn’t feel the sensation that
I was going fast. In fact, at the time it felt
to be only 70 mph. But the radar gun showed
otherwise. The scary part was how fast the other
side of the lake approached. Rius’ World
Championship GPR had the same feeling. And
unlike Jacob’s ski, which was a white knuckle
ride on smooth water, Rius’ GPR was effortless
to ride in all waster conditions.
After an extended
straight-line run I started to turn. Not
remembering the Power Steering system, the craft
turned much harder than anticipated. It wasn’t
abrupt by any means, but more than expected.
After remembering the system, I knew what to
expect, and in fact, this made riding the craft
even easier as I didn’t have to think about
turning as much.
Going into turns at
speed, I found that by leaning slightly forward,
and to the inside, I could make aggressive turns
without ever having the sensation of being
flicked off – no matter how fat I was going. For
tighter turns, I used the lever-activated trim
tabs to drop the nose of the craft further into
the water. Putting more of the hull in the water
also acted like brake to slow the craft down a
bit. Once the beginning of the turn was engaged,
I let off the trim-tab leer and let the trim
nozzle, which is tied into the steering system,
take over. Coming out of turns and getting up to
planning speeds, the craft stayed level without
a hint of porpoising. In some rough-water
conditions, however, the tabs help to keep the
bow planted to accelerate faster out of turns.
If I held the tabs down through the turn, it was
really easy to sub the craft, which scrubbed off
way too much speed.
 While
riding the craft, it was no wonder why Rius
could go so fast around the buoy course on it –
I imagine he never had to let off the gas. To
say the least, Rius’ GPR was so easy and
predictable to ride. I also imagine that late in
a race, when the competition is getting tired
from overly aggressive handling of their craft,
Rius can keep his pace.
Another aspect of
Rius’ craft that contributed to its
easy-handling nature was that the craft rode
really light. Although he couldn’t reveal the
actual weight of the craft, the head IJSBA tech
official, informed me that Rius’ GP1200R was
well above the class minimum of 475 pounds. In
fact, he mentioned that it wasn’t that much
lighter than the third-place finisher Dustin
Farthing’s GP1200R.
About the time we
were set to radar (top speed only because that’s
all the team would permit) Rius’ GP1200R, I had
a problem with the craft shutting down after
being run at high speeds for a distance. It felt
like it was running out of gas, so Beaumer added
another five gallons of fuel. Unfortunately,
this didn’t solve the problem. Later, Beaumer
determined the problem was the fuel-cell foam
installed into the fuel tank had somehow
partially dissolved and was clogging the fuel
pickup and filter.
Despite this, we
still attempted to radar the craft. We agreed
with Beaumer that we wouldn’t measure the crafts
acceleration as he didn’t want the competition
to know what they are going up against for the
2001 season. Top speed, just before the craft
shut down, was consistently 73-74 mph. Even
though this wasn’t the crafts peak, from riding
it successfully at full speed earlier, I would
estimate that the craft’s top speed at about
77-79 mph – about what Beaumer had said the
craft’s speed was before we ever put the boat in
the water.
 Okay,
these speeds are nowhere near the 85-plus-mph
claims we had heard over the weekend, but we
didn’t expect the rumors to be remotely true
anyway. After initially riding Rius’ craft, I
didn’t quite see what made it the most
dominating craft around the course in the Pro
1200 Runabout class. Of course I can’t discredit
Rius’ conditioning and training, as I believe he
trains harder and is more serious about winning
than any other current racer. Sure Rius’ craft
was fast. Sure it turned with precision. And
sure its hooked up was awesome. But mostly, it
required very little effort to ride at its full
potential. Not that I could have been as fast as
Rius, but now I can really dream that I would
be. A craft like Rius’ World Championship –
winning GP1200R will inspire confidence you. It
handles well, is fast, and most of all, it is
easy to ride. From what I can tell, Nicolas Rius
has an unfair advantage.
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