Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

amazing 19.8 pound compared to its predecessor. The motor has also been shortened considerably to compact the mass and reduce the bike's wheelbase by rotating the gearbox shafts below and behind the crank, with a separate split in the crankcases. The 6- peed gear cluster can actually be removed without splitting the engine, though the motor - a fully-stressed part of th chassis package - does ha-ve to be removed fram the frame to do this. With an 11.8:1 compres- (Right) Trimuph's Thunderbird gets a new companion, the Adventurer. One of five models to be based on the T-bird, this one Is only for the States and Is styled accordingly. (Left) The big news In Paris was the surprise Introduction of Yamaha's all-new ThunderCat 600 sportblke (pictured) and Its big brother the ThunderAce, the longawaited VZF1000. Will they come to America? Yamaha would only say "maybe." (Below) MuZ debuted the Skorplon Traveller. The 660cc slngl.cyllnder tourer comes standard with saddlebegs and weighs Just over 400 pounds. sion in standard street form, and a steep angle of downdraft for the carbs thanks to the semi-slant-block engine configuration, Suzuki's new superbike mill looks set to deliver performance to go: this was nominally a launch for the French market with its 100-bhp power limit, but factory sources revealed output in unrestricted street guise to be an impressive 129 bhp at 13,200 rpm - in a bike weighing an amazing 394 pounds dry with full street equipment. But Suzuki's clean-sheet concept didn't end there, for the new GSXR also finally! - incorporates Suzuki's first proper Deltabox-type, GP-derived twin-spar alloy frame, which the factory claims was developed on the basis of the world-titlewinning RGV500 GP racer. The distinctive pointy-round seat tail - the top of which removes for access to the passenger seat - certainly owes more to Max Biaggi's 250 Aprilia, but apart from doubtlessly helping to discourage slipstreaming by slower bikes, just as on the MadMax machine, it also helps Suzuki deliver an individual edge to their new superbike's styling. Tn addition to looking like no other 750, the Suzuki isn't built like one, either: Wheelbase is an amazing 55.12 inches over half an inch less than a 600cc Kawasaki ZX6R, and even shorter than the RGV5OO! - and at 28.35 inches wide, it's more than three-quarters of an inch slimmer than the ZX7R. Inverted 43mrn forks and a piggyback rear Showa with alloy links for the rising rate, 320mm front brakes with 6-piston Tokico calipers and a host of weight-saving attention to detail make the Suzuki a genuine step forward in sportbike design, which the factory is evidently determined to underline with success on the race track. The major part of the Paris Show launch was devoted to confirming Suzuki's imminent debut in World Superbike competition in 1996, spearheaded by a full-factory two-rider team to be run in blue-and-white Suzuki colors (no outside sponsor, for at least two seasons, is the word) by Britain's Harris Performance, who will operate the team on an entirely separate basis from their current 500cc GP effort. And with Pascal Picotte now confirmed as Suzuki's other rider for the 1996 American Superbike series (alongside Fred Merkel), the new GSXR750 will make its racing debut at Daytona in March with a five-bike effort; Merkel and Picotte plus Harris' two riders (who have yet to be confirmed, says team boss Lester Harris), and - you guessed it Scott Russell, who will make a bid to be the first four-time Daytona 200 winner on the new Suzuki, say factory sources. Should be some debut! Suzuki concentrated all their efforts at Paris in getting the GSXR750 into the marketplace (though word is that they'll have two more new sportsbikes to corne in each of the next two years, presumably a 6OO-elass version of the new 750 to plug their biggest obvious gap, followed by an 1100cc version (now that should be awesome!). Paris also saw the world launch of the GSF1200 Banditnaked-elass model that's been on sale in Japan for the past year, as well as an updated version of the bestselling DR650 trail bike, with a new, lower frame and more tarmac-derived styling, and the opportunity to lower the seat height by an extra 40rnm with a dif- ferent link for the rear shock, if desired. At 324 pounds dry, the Suzuki is also the lightest bike in its clas , partly thanks to the more compact new version of the oilcooled 644cc engine, as well as the smaller 3.434-gallon fuel tank - a whopping 1.85 gallons smaller than the old one. Kawasaki also upped the ante in the superbike stakes with the Paris launch of their ZX7R, which is a development of th.e bike on which Russell won the World Superbike title in '93. The biggest change is the new ultra-short-stroke engine, measuring 73 x 44.7mrn compared to the previous model's 71 x 47.3m.rn, aimed at providing shorter, straighter inlet tracts, larger combustion chambers and lower piston speeds - as well as "higher rev potential," says Kawasaki. Given that the Russell/Gobert Muzzy Kawasakis spin to 14,700 rpm, does this herald the arrival of the first 15,OOO-rpm superbike racer? Delivering 125 bhp at 13,000 rpm, the Ninja ZX7RR is a supersports version of the single-R base model, with 4lrnrn Keibin flat-slides instead of 38mm CVs, a close-ratio 6-speed transmission, and·a fully adjustable chassis for the first time on a Japanese street bike - trail/ castor angle, swingarrn pivot and wheelbase, as well as ride height can be altered. The new alloy chassis has 5mm-wider beams than before for extra rigidity, with a similar suspension and brake package to the Suzuki - 43mm fully adjustable forks, and Tokico six-piston calipers (Nissins on the double-R) - and a lookalike twinscoop ram-air intake system. But the Kawasaki weighs in at a surprisingly porky 447 pounds (441 for the ZX-7RR). The rear tire is a whopping 190/50ZR17, perhaps to distribute the weight more evenly? Aside from the first Kawasaki to hit the showrooms with the D-CEL computerized ABS introduced back in '88 at the Cologne Show, but thus far never fitted to a production model (the GPZllOO now features it as a cost-effective option for around $3(0), the Big K concentrated on the custom cruiser class, with a complete revamp of their neo-Harley range which makes the various-capacity V-twins even more Milwaukee-cloned, explaining their "Classic" subtitles. The VN1500 heads up the line with a new frame; torquier engine by viture of camshaft and ignition changes; a wider-ratio, 4-speed gearbox; and completely revised styling, with two-tone paintwork, lots of chrome and tank-mounted gauges. Hard to tell it from the real thing - or a Honda Shadow. The smaller VNBOO and EN500 (the latter now fitted with chain final drive, rather than the belt used until now) have had similar revisions. Honda may have had the least to say out of the Japanese Big Four at Paris, but they said it better than anyone else, with an evening launch beneath the Mona Lisa in the cellars of the Louvre museum, the highlight of which carne when works superbike rider Aaron Slight demonstrated the ST1100's new traction-control systern to advantage while turning a comer of the slippery stage in bottom gear. Before that, Mick Doohan had shown off the heavily revised CBR900RR FireBlade, more than 60,000 of which have now been built and sold since its launch three years ago. It has been completely updated with changes including a 1mrn-larger bore that increases capacity from 893cc to 91&c. Power is up by 4 bhp to 128 bhp at 10,500 rpm, and torque has risen correspondingly as well. Weight is 3.31 pounds down at 404.55 pounds dry, and detail improvements to this best-selling sportbike include a stiffer crank with larger big~nd bearing~ new programed ignition, carb jetting, revised gear ratios, new rear suspension, new frame and swingarm dimensions to increase rigidity, and three bold new color schemes. A similarly updated Africa Twin super trail bike - computer-controlled, linked braking with ABS on both wheels of the ST1100 - and a new 250cc twincylinder Rebel custom for beginners completed the short list of Honda novelties: Maybe they're holding back a rash of new bikes for the 50th birthday of Honda Motor Co. in 1996. Which leaves Yamaha -. and if you Lf') 0\ 0\ rl 00- rl l-< Q) .0 o ...... u o 19

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