Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1995 Suzuki RF600RS &RF900RS The RF600 (left ) and the RF900 (right) eombine clean styllng'and an ergonomically corrlict .envlronment with sporty performance. Photos by Randy Phillips t comes as no surprise that neither the RF600 or RF900 sportbikes from Suzuki feature drastic changes for 1995. After all, both bikes were introduced in the U.S. just last year, and since t e RF line - all two of them - a ren ' t designed for the track, well, what's the hurry? Changes come gradually when you 're not constantly worried about getting one up on the competition in the cutthroat world of racing, and racing isn't what the RFs are all about. Instead, both the RF600 and 900 are designed to offer supersport-like performance without sacrificing comfort and day-to-day "livability." To find out whether or not Suzuki accomplished their goal, we got ahold of an RF600 and an RF900 late last year, and instead of turning around a quick test on the bikes, we chose to hold on to them for a while, ride them day in and day out and see if, in fact, these motorcycles are as livable as they are meant to be. Over the past six months, we've accumulated over 13,000 combined miles on the two RFs, most of those miles racked up du ring our long commutes from work to home. As far as changes from the '94 RFs, the only real modifications were made to the RF600, which took on some minor valve adjustments, a larger exhaust system to give it a little more punch in the middle of the powerband and the passenger seat was made a little softer. The RF900 , on the other hand , received no mechanical changes for '95, ....... only new paint, which includes beautiful l-< British Racing Green and a more gaudy 0... purple and silver "splash" color scheme, and of course, the traditional red. The 600 also comes in red, as well as a metallic light blue, and green. ..... -< 16 RF600 For a middleweight sportbike, the RF600 is comfortable but pushes the envelope, as the footpegs are still mounted a little too high . Otherw is e, t he handlebar/seat /footpeg relationship is acceptable, and we found that we could ride the little RF for long periods of time and still have functioning legs, back and arm s after dismounting. Your knees and butt will still be mo st relieved when stopping after a long haul, thou gh, as the high-mounted pegs keep your knees signifi cantly bent, and the fairl y narrow seat near the fuel tank junction can leave your hiney a little achy, Even so, the RF is more com fortable than many of the racer-replica 6005around town. What the RF600 might lack in sheer horsepower when compared to some of today's more race-oriented and supertechno 600cc sportbikes, it more than makes up for in all-around usability. Suzuki admits the bike wasn't designed for race tracks, which certainly explains its user-friendly, yet ene rgetic motor. The in-line four-cylind er powerplant was designed to be more street compatible than race-track worthy, and what Suzuki came up with is a very compliant motor . It has better-than-average bottom end for a 600cc sp ortbike, but you still have to slip the clutch when pulling away from an intersection . If you open the throttle quickly at sub-4000 rpm, the engine is slow to respond, but from about 6000 rpm on up th e little RF answers quickly. In fac t, it has more midrange oomph than last year's model, while still delivering respectable power on top, and you can especially feel a predictable surge of power right around 8000 rpm. The RF's smooth and wide power delivery is complimented by the fact that there is no vibration to speak of as you wind the motor ou t. At highway speeds, the RF is most comfortable cruising along between 60-65 mph. Anything above that and the engine starts beginning to feel revvy. Motoring along at 70 mph, you would swear that you were doing 170 mph just by the sound of the motor alone. But at 65 mph, the RF600 feels right at home and, again, there's no vibration to put your fingers to sleep . Initially, the RF shifted well, but as time and miles went by , the six-speed transm ission became extremely notchy and d eveloped a terrible feel either up shifting or downshifting. There are two distinctive "clicks" during each upshift, which requires a significant amount of exertion by the rider's left foot. The problem was especially noticeable on the 1-2 gear change, where a lazy stab at the lever was penalized by a missed shift. Downshifting wasn't any better either, especially clicking down in quick s uccessio n with the clutch pulled in coasting to a stop. Doing so required an equally sturdy jab on the shift lever to execute the gear changes. Dropping the bike into gear from neutral was simple enough, but there was always a loud "clunk " from deep within the cases. As far as we know, none of the gearbox maladies could be blamed on the clutch, which has a very light, one-finger-action pull but somewhat springy, on/off feel. While the RF might be reluctant to shift, it certainly isn't reluctant to turn. This bike handles extremely well and is a blast to flick through the turns. The fai rly firm s uspension gives the RF a very solid feeling while leaned over in the comers, rough or not, and the bike's well-balanced chassis and lightweight feeling translate into pure fun in the twisties . It's also easy to move around on the RF since the fairing lowers only stick out about an inch from the side of the bike. Simply put, there is nothing to bang your knees on. Overall, the RF can be pushed pretty hard with confidence and with very little effort. Although it migh t not be as agile through the switchbacks as either the full-race Kawasaki ZX-6R or the Honda CBR600F3 (it comes close, though), the RF feels more stab le and less sensitive to road stubble than ei ther one, perhaps due to the fact it gives away nearly 20 pounds to both bikes. As a result, the RF feels less ' twitchy and a bit more stable on bumpy freeways while remaining very responsive to rider input. It just doesn't feel as "nervous" as a race-bred 600. The RF600 has strong brakes to go with the strong motor, but some of our testers said that the rear brake didn't offer the feel they would have liked, saying it required a fair amount of pressure on the pedal to initiate the slowdown process with little indication of impending lockup. This was more of a nuisance than a real problem. Up front, we had no complaints whatsoever. Only one or two fingers are needed to operate the powerful front brake. Overall, the RF seems to be built well and the attention to detail is first-rate. Small niceties abound, such as rearview mirrors that actually work, a windscreen that offers excellent wind protection without producing unpleasant helmet buffeting, a brake lever that is adjustable, a small , handy storage compartment in the fairing and a large fuel tank that has an easy-to-reach petcock. The instruments are easy to read and offer all the usual information, including a variableintensity low-on-fuel warning light. We also like the "filled-in" appearance of the fairing around the instruments and fuel tank area . There are no gaping holes so you don't have to look at cables dangling around or fairing /windscreen brackets hanging all over the place like you do on the YZF600, ZX-6R and F3. The "dash" gives the RF a cleaner, more finished look. As far as fuel consumption, we could almost always count on the fuel warning light to start glowing at 127 miles after

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