Tyco BMW's Guy Martin, Alastair Seeley and William Dunlop have had their final shakedowns on the S1000RR superbikes that they will ride at the North West 200 next week.  The Tyco trio tested alongside Michael Dunlop at Kirkistown with the Ballymoney man testing the Milwaukee Yamaha R1 and his Supersport spec R6 as well as having his first outing on his MD Racing Superstock R1.  "That's the first time the Superbike has turned a wheel." Martin said after a day of testing in the sunshine at the Co Down track.  "It is a bloody handful!"

The Lincolnshire man, who recently won the feature races at the Scarborough Spring Cup and the Cookstown 100 on a superstock version of the German machine,  said he was getting to grips with the BMW.  "Its a little bit here and a little bit there at the moment." he said.  "Everything we have done today has made a difference and we are not a million miles away now."

William Dunlop had already enjoyed brief outing on his Superbike spec S1000RR during an earlier test at Kirkistown. After some problems with his quickshifter and a low speed tumble, the 29 year old posted his fastest ever lap of the Co Down short circuit on Thursday.  "We still have a lot to do but we are definitely in the ball park now." he declared afterwards.

Dunlop won the Tandragee 100 feature race last weekend on his stock S1000RR and although he said the Superbike and stock versions "worked differently" he said there was "very little difference" between the two models.  "We will only know when we see the speed trap times at the North West whether there is much difference ." he said.

12 times North West winner Seeley was the fastest rider on track during the test and the British Superstock title challenger was unfazed by the extra power of the new Superbike.  "We decided to run with the traction control switched off today to give us a better feel for what the bike is doing." he said after the test.  "It definitely has more speed when you get it wound up towards the end of the back straight."

Michael Dunlop declared himself "a million times better than we were this morning" with his new R1 Yamaha after the Kirkistown outing. The 2014 double North West winner was almost as fast on his stock version of the R1 as he was on the superbike in spite of the fact the Milwaukee machine was running a new Phase 3 state of tune engine at the test. The team opted not to use a new suspension link that was available.  With both the Tyco and Milwaukee squads struggling to find a set up with their new machinery this season the start of practice at the North West 200 next Tuesday promises to be a fascinating encounter.

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