Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ l/l U z « a:: ... 0 a:: « :r u CI: > '" l/l 0 0 U"') I- 00 :r 0') 0- ....... ~ U"') c-r M 11) ,1:J 8 .... 11) 0. 11) o: Kawasaki' s new GP z 1OOORX makes m ore power t han the GPz900R Ninja, but weig hs 582 pounds with gas, Imp-ression: Kawasaki GPzl000 RX Is bigger always better? By Pet er Nielsen " Excu se me," said the sweet yo u n g thing from Kawasaki Motors Germany, leaning over the low concrete wall of the Salzburgring's pit wall. " So me of ze German riders are saying za t ze 1000 is n ot as good as ze 900 . VO L a re yo u r feeling s?" , (M y o wn f ee I mgs w er~ pr~ lty bl o od y wounded , ha vin g JUSl 16 exited a 70 m p h corner o n m y ass behi nd one of the G Pz IOOO RX s in question , b ut I was n't tellin g h er tha t. ) She blinked nervou sly as assorted British journal ists bent bloodsh ot eyes in h er direct io n and broke in to wide grins. IJl .t ~hen she wa s.n't 10 " k.no w that we d Just bee n trym g to fl~ure o ut w hy we all felt the same wa y. ' After tw o days o f ridin g bot h bikes a ro u nd on e of th e fastes t, m os t-puckering race tr acks in Europe. this qual itative ass essmeru was sri]l bein g jugg led around by mos t o f th e 80-odd wri ters wh o 'd bee n in vited to Aus tria for th e world .lau nch of .the bi g K's fastest-ever road bike. Hell , we a ll knew th e 1000 sh ou ld be a bett er ma ch ine. After a ll. 125 h orsepow er beats 112, 160 mph beats ISO mph , 1985 tech no logy beats th e 1983 d a rk ages stuff, a nd so fort h. H we'd a ll been as ked 10 writ e our impress io ns fro m the spec sheets o f both bikes. th e high cei lings o f th e Sa lzb urg Sheraton wou ld 've been peppered with cha mpa~ne co rks a nd Kawa saki 's P R d epa rt me nt co u ld h av e taken a yea r 's holid a y in th e Baham as, all ex pe nses paid. As it is. I for o ne sta ggered into th e pl an e back to London still mullin g o ver th e somewhat unsubtl e m arketing philosophies o f th e j apanese, "Designed to o u tper form co m pe ti ng 1000-plus sport bikes for several years," sa id the 1000 press pack . a nd who are we to a rg ue ? No company in its righ t m ind is go ing to go to a ll this troubl e 10 produce a motorcycle th at 's o u tperformed by its co m pe ti to rs (u n less it's British or Germa n . o f co u rse). Anywa y. so now we've arri ved a t the point where Kaw asaki , IwOyea rs after . launching th e d efinitive Superbike o f th e 1980s . h av e laun ch ed t h e G Pz IOOO R . T he M in isrrv o f Disin forma tio n h adbeen ha rd' at work i n the weeks lead in g up 10 th e launch . spreading ru mors th a t the new G Pz was a giant ver sio n o f th e GPz600 R with a lightwei gh t chassis, ca m cha in positi oned centra lly. a nd so forth . But th e o n lv thin g th e 1000' s aClu all y gOI in co m mon with th e 600 is th e use o f 16-inch wh eel s front a nd rear. The e ngine is si m p ly a n ove rs ized 900 un it (b u t with a "wide va rie ty o f new performance featu res," th e p ress pack ha stens to add ) housed in a co mp letely-new frame o f si milar co ncep t to th e Birnot a /F] llO O endless specia lis t / ca fe racer chassis. T his fra m e looks prett y. The to p lo op sw ings o ut wide to cl ea r th e engi ne o n it s wa y do wn 10 jo in th e rear do wntu bes abou t six in ch es a bo ve th e swin garrn , with a no ther sectio n gra fte d o n to support th e lOP o f th e steer ing head. Wh ere the 900's en g ine was used as a stressed m ember , tw o bolt-on sec tio ns o f th e sa me sq ua re steel tubing support rh e 1000 eng i ne a nd a lso perm it th e u se o f rubber m ounts 10 smooth it out even m ore. A m a ssiv e a lu m in u m rear s u bfra rne protrudes a bo ve the solid box-section a lumin um swin ga rm like a gantry cra ne , T h is steel a nd a lloy trellis acco u nts for a goodly a mou nt o f th e 1000's ex tra 26 pounds weight di sadvantag e o ver th e 900. Co m p lete with rea r suspens io n, th e fram e weighs 44 p ounds. Whal gets m e abou t this d esign . whi ch should be reall y low a n d co m pact, is that th e 1000's seat is a n inch h igh er than th e 900 ·s. In fac t, th e 1000 feel s a lo t bigger all a ro u n d th an th e d ear o ld 900 , a fact evide nt from th e fir st time a rider swings a leg o ver th e new bike. The tank 's flared o u t wide to me et th e fairing outside rh e frame rail s, a nd th e sea l is a fa ir bit broader; this is n o bad thing . as a ny bod y wh o 's ridden SOD-plus m il es in a da y o n a 900 will verify. The 1000 shows sig ns o f being a very co m forta ble lon g-di stan ce bike, although th e fairing scr een doesn 't g ive a s much protecti on as th e 900's. T he low er s, h ow ever, are wider and o ffer better leg pro tection for lo u ri ng types. And louring was about all most o f us g ot 10 do during the fi rst day's riding. H th er e was a n y sound of music floating about the cloudy peaks surro u nding th e circ u it, it wou ld hav e been a di sta nt refrain of "Si ngin g in th e Rain. " Aft er a few sluggish laps on o ne o f th e half-doz en G P, 900R s provided for purposes of co m pa riso n , th e fir st sessi on o n the 1000 didn 't prove much a t a ll. I saw 130 mph o n th e speedo a co u p le of tim es bef ore rnv boule sha t tered, had pl enty o f lime 10 notice th at the scr een was low er . th e riding position wa s a litt le room ier, a nd th e brakes worked su perb ly in th e wet , a nd got in to a coupl e o f interestin g slid es on th e o bese Brid geston e Excedra tires ( 120/ 80 front . a m assiv e 150 / 80 rea r ) before ge ll ing ba ck into th e line to do it all o ver agai n . T ypicall y, th e weath er cleared just a s r iding Slopped for lunch, and then th e ra in ca m e down j us t befo re m y second ri de of th e d a y, We fill ed in th e time by ge ll ing a few ro ll-ons togeth er between th e lWO bikes, and wer en 't surprised to find that th e 900 lost on ly a few length s to th e 1000 up unti l th e wrong side o f 100 m p h , when the extra 90-odd cubi c centi m et ers of th e bigger engine strode away remorsel ess ly. Mean wh il e, the go-fast bo ys were b usy testin g the lim its of th e ti res a n d th ereb y keep in g th e Kaw asaki mecha n ics bu sy straig b ten ing o ut bent G p z1000s. Half a dozen were crashed that fir st day, the worst off bel ong ing to an Eng lish road test er who had his fron t wheel taken out from u nder him o n a 120 mph kink by a brain-off South Afri can . Despite bouncing in to Armco a nds p in ni ng d own th e track

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