Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

-SHOOTOUT :, r B 900R VS. YlF·R1 VS. ZX·9R R R ~~ his class is all about instant gratification - to get what you want, when you want it, like, nvw. The Rl is instantly gratifying. From the first time I ';' W its lovely looks to the first 1 T time I tweaked the throttle and felt the devastating midrange punch that turned into an even mor e devastating top-end whac k, this " vas it. Don't get the impress io n tha t it's all motor, though, because in the world of street bikes, there is little that rivals the unbelievable accuracy and response of the Rl 's Deltabox II chassis. It's everything I've ever wanted in a sportbike. The Green Meanie is nearly there for me, but it was about one-Mississippi off - make that one- Missi.. . ~ in low -to-m id range throttle response, though it certainly redeemed itse lf on ce it spooled up. But [ was frankly left a little puzzled when I finally got up to speed on Buttonwillow's bumpy track, because the ZX-9R never did. No matter how [ fiddled and-tweaked the suspension, I could never get the bike to settle down when [ pushed my limits. At the more sedate pace of daily life, [ enjoyed the Kawi - rain or shine - appreciating the big fairing and comfortable riding position somewhat remin iscent of its comfy, fat daddy, the 70-pound-heavier '97 model. At a sporting pace on my Sunday ride I truly enjoyed the bike, but had just one thing on my mind - R1. When I pulled up for breakfast at the local sportbike hangout, oat one of the bike-mad lunatics scattered about the parking lot took a second look - too much like the ZX6R and the old 9, [guess. As for the Honda, [ can't tell you how much better this bike is than the one it replaces. Tbe difference was amazi ng , It still has the incredibly light, quick steering of the old bike, but with a stability and feel that wa s never there be fore . This chass is has arrived, and there's a co hes ion to this bike that the other two lack that makes it pure 'pleasure to ride on a day-to-day basis very civil. In this class, however, civility has suddenly become highly overrated, a nd that motor flat put me to sleep. Maybe a CBRll00 RR would do the trick. So here's my wallet, Yamaha; take my money and give me my bike - now! Mark Hoyer en Honda unveiled the original CBR900RR back in '92 the motorcylcling world held its breath. In concept, it redefined what we thought was possible in open-class sportbikes. The Double-R's engineering technology was so advanced that it's taken until now for the other manufacturers to catch up. But out on the street, the orignal RR was twitchy, lacked front-end feedback and felt ergonomically awk ward. Now in its fourth generation, Honda's honestly gotten it right. Problem is, the Guys in Green and the Crossed Tuning Forks folks have not only caught up but drafted clean past the Big H, leaving the CBR9 with its polit ically correct horsepowerlevel choking in the dust. As I expected from the spec charts and W Team G ree n's re p u ta tio n, th e s ho rte rs tro ke Kawasaki is the sc re am e r of the bunch an d w ha t a th ro at y, ra rn-a ir induced scream it is. The Kawasaki sacri> fices a bit in low-rpm response and manners for its peak power, but one hit of the afterburner thrust of the ZX-9R's engine (ironically the smallest displacement of the group) makes you forget about its slightly unruly demeanor. Fortu nately the 9R's strong, solid-feeling brakes are up to the task of dissipating all that sudden speed. But Buttonwillow's cha llenging midcorner bumps proved to be the Kawasaki's undoin g : Exce ssive high-spee d co m p re ss io n damping (particularly in the shock) caused harshness that fed the bumps through the chassis, robbing stability and rider confidence. Of the three, the Kawa sa ki felt the largest and the least controlled, but it's probably just a simple sus pension rev alving away from be ing righ t there. Actually, the other two bikes would have felt a whole lot more impressive if the Yamaha hadn't been so damn good. The YZF-RI's chassis and suspension is clearly the new class of the open class. Flick it in hard: The Yamaha responds instantly and Butt onw illow Raceway Park 's 1,54-mile West Loop was th e site of the tra ck portion of testing, Loca ted 25 miles west of Bakersfield, the facility offers a variety of fun and challenging layouts. exac tly . Run it o v er n ast y mid corn er bumps at max lean: It laughs them off and stays hooked up and stable. Overcook a corner en tra nce? The. Rl 's brill iant fron t- end feel and spo t-on riding position inspire the confidence to let yo u crank it over those last few degrees and tighten your line - just like a well-tuned race bike. Give it so me serious stick out of Buttonwil- WEST LOOP EAST LOOP 1.54 miles 16 ing of the Honda mad e it easiest to flick through the esses, and midcorner line changes were ea sy, a s w a s reeling it back in if you started to drift a bit wide on the exit. Damping ra tes were spot on with the stock Bridgestones , th o u gh with th e fitting of th e stiffer-constru ction Dunlop s the action became slightly ha rsh. Rear-wheel tra cti on improved grea tly, however . Th e e rg o n o m ics were m ore rid erfriend ly than th e Rl 's but still worked very well on the track - without givi ng up very much comfort on the stree t portion of our testing; it's. the best compromise in the gro up. What let the bike d own in this se tting wa s the Honda's 919cc powerplant, left feeling so tam e when compared with the two 13D-hp-plus mot ors in its company . Carbure ti on is perfect, power delivery n early sea m less a nd totally unintimidating, but th e mundane(!) 112.8-hp peak left the CBR's rider wanting more wh en he wa s di cing it ou t o n the track. Th e CBR900RR is a be autifull y bal anced package that happens to be abou t 20-hp off th e power pace. Despite thi s fact, the fine chassis allowed the CBR to nearly equ al the much m ore powerfu l Kawasaki' s lap times, th e Hond a ci rclin g the track in 1:12,92 vs. the Kawasaki's 1:12,88. This parity w a s b ro u gh t about because w hat th e ZX-9R lost in corner speed, it made up for in its top-end hit and corner-to-corne r acceler a tion - the s tronges t to p -en d p o w e r in th e tes t. Th ou gh thi s isn 't reflected in the d yno fi gures , t h e d yno d o es n ' t take in to account ram-air effect (wor th 5-8 h p depending on speed), the Kawasak i th e o n ly bike so eq uipp ed . Th e ho t-rod p o wer ch a ra c te ri s ti cs of th e ZX -9 R aren' t su rp rising when you cons ider its sho rt str oke of 50.9m m , Th is ba by was born to rev, carrying its pow er all th e way out to 12,200 rpm, 500 rpm af ter both the R1 a nd CBR' s lo nger-s troke m ot ors (both 58m m) have sig ned off . This, coupled with the prop er gea ring , also carried. the ZX-9R to the high est top s peed: 172. 2 mph on th e Cycl e N ews radar gun - an ama zin g veloci ty for an 899cc machine. Th e Yamaha' s sm aller, less protect ive fairing left m ore of th e rid er ou t in the breeze when he tucked in for h is ru n a t the g u n, an d th e Rl topped out at 168,2 mph, spinning right at its 11,750-rpm red line. As a testam ent of just how mu ch more power it tak es to go just a little faster at the top end of the scale, the Hond a m anaged to squeeze off a ru n of 163.6 mp h, despite giving so much away in th e horsepower d epartment. All three bikes we re perfectly stable at these sp eeds - ama zing . What really let the ZX-9R do wn was the su sp ens io n. Too m uc h hi gh-sp eed co m p ress io n d amp in g, in the s hock es p ecia lly, really unsettled th e bike on Butto nw ill o w' s bu m py su rfa ce. Fro n t and rear sus pens ion is poorly balan ced in th ese co nd it io ns , a nd th e rear end deflected so harshly th at it cau sed th e rider to feed un inten tional inpu t into the stee ring , further d estabilizin g th e bike. Toss in so ft lo w-rpm throttle respon se (ram -air: good o n top, not on bottom) a n d a bit of dri veli n e la s h , a n d th e Kawasaki w as the bik e th a t too k th e most attention to ride near the limit. Fitting the D207s upped the speeds but d id n othing to qu ell th e loos e beh avior. Reva lvin g is a relatively easy fix (easier to "fix" than a 2D-hp deficit), and the first thing we'd do to the Niner, With proper damping rates the ZX-9R w ould have given the Rl more of a ru n for its mon ey. low's second-gear right-hand er and the YZF's chassis design and linear, seemingly limitless power delivery allow the rear tire to step out so controllably that you feel like Wayne Rainey. Of course, at the other end of the straightaway, as you set up for the fast, bumpy right-hander that begins the es ses, the front tire comes back down on the pavement with a breathtaking headshake. (Fu nny, [ didn ' t kn ow [ was wheelying those last 250 yards.) And that's about the only serious shortcoming I could find: This thing cries out for a steering damper. Other than that, Yamaha's stunningly styled YZF-Rl is, as my friends like to say, perfectenough. Lance Holst As it w as , the Ka w a s a ki w a s th e heaviest-steering bike in the bu nch, with th e bi g g est feel o f th e thr ee bike s , though still very good for an open-class bik e . Credit th is to it s hi gh (fo r this grou p) ha n d leb a rs, a nd long (d itto), 55,7-inch w heelbase. THE ROA D A testam en t to the level of eng ine erin g in th es e b ik es is ho w sea m lessly they mak e th e tran sition from full-bore, knee-d ragging hot laps a t th e track or up your favorite piece of twi sty ta rmac to poki ng along the free w ay in rushhour traffic, or squi rting off to the store for a backpack full of groceries. Coddling yo u in the m ost co m fort and ease of ope ra tion - not to mention sporting a " trunk" under th e passenger sea t - was th e H ond a . It is the m ost refined bike in th e g ro u p, w it h s il ky controls, slick shifting and plush suspension ma ted to sea m less power delivery, Cruising ran ge is also dec ent , let ting you run abo u t 150 miles before you hit reserv e, Typical Honda execu tion, The th in gs tha t he ld the Kawasaki back on the track also made th emselves felt on the street. Despite ha ving sp un

• Cover