Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SHOOTOUT 1998 600cc SPORTBIKES ~~-~~-'--------------'--------1 The CBR600F3 is like an'old friend on the track. Familiar and predictable, with strong midrange power, the CBR was easy to go fast on. Despite being the only bike equipped with two-piston front calipers, its brakes rank among the best in this group. Street manners too are very good. Damping rates are right on and the Honda's small feel imparts a ~nse of total control. The only thing that marred an otherwise pleasant ride was the bUzzy motor. above 8000 rpm you flat haul. Particularly useful was how long the power hung on, which on the track was basically all the way until you h.it the rev. limiter, often times saving you a shift at critical points on the track. The ZX-6R's chassis ran.ked clearly behind the Suzuki's at race pace, as did the Honda's and Yamaha's. Remarkably similar in feel were the Kawasaki and Honda, with the Kawasaki really only giving anything away in terms of frontend feel. With the shortest trail spec in this bunch at 91mm, it isn't all that surprising. Doug Chandler doesn't seem to have a problem with it, however, so maybe we're nit-picking here. But the fact remains that we didn't approach some of .the fast, flat corners in the infield with quite the abandon tha t we did on the Honda or Suzuki, despite the ease with which the ZX turned in; where you could confidently reel either of those bikes back in with a little extra lean if you drifted wide a bit, the Kawasaki wanted speed scrubbed off instea.d. And entering the corner, we didn't seem to go in quite as fast or trail brake quite as hard as with the others we're talking maybe 1 or 2 mph here, but it's the difference between a good lap and a great one. Ripping around a race track on the Honda is like having a lively conversation with an old friend: And an old friend it is indeed - the current CBR600 has been with us, fundamentally unchanged, since 1991. But it's an old design that just keeps on working thanks to ongoing refinements over the years. A quick-turning, predictable chassis makes full-throttle, full-lean corners at 100-pll1s mph seem like harmless fun. Compared to the other bikes, the riding position feels a bit unusual, with the bars close together and on the high side, but it is one that imparts a feeling of control. Acceleration is vivid - and smooth - in the lower gears, but the CBR seemed to have a bit of trouble pulling redline as we headed into the wind in top gear along the front straight; it just didn't sizzle up top tlle way the Suzuki and Kawasaki did. What the Honda did do was inspire confidence, provide plenty of feedback and deliver power with nary a peak, . valley or hiccup in its broad curve. The biggest complaint with the powerplant was the buzz it sent through the bars and pegs. Despite the fact tha t the CBR has the fewest number of pistons per caliper at the front in this test (a measly two eacll side!) it was nonetheless impressive in providing strong, fade-free stopping power. How strong? Strong enough to surprise us once or twice as the rear end lifted off the ground braking for the left that leads into the infield. Feel was also very good, allowing you to brake hard enough to make the front end squirm, without inducing primal fear of sudden lockup in the process. A wonderful allaround package. Testers were evenly split as to whether they liked the Kawasaki or the Honda better at the track, the deciding factor being the chassis feel of the CBR vs. the seductive engine performance of theZX. Whicll leaves the Yamaha. The street orientation of the YZF - from riding position to damping rates to outright power - was clearly a handicap at the track, the bike giving up a little in every category of performance. The smooth, clean-running powerplant responded best to being lugged midcorner, while providing a reasonably vigorous jump off the corners from lower in the rev range than the other bikes. But as speeds rose as you fired out onto the banking, it seemed an eternity between shifts as the tach crept toward redline. In fact, th~ best strategy with this engine was to short-shift before the power would fade. Most testers found the front brake on the Yamaha to provide the best initial bite and very good feel. It was only as the pace was upped - particularly at the end of the day - that we noticed they were beginning to fade. Ultimately, the best course of action with the Yamaha was to be as smooth as possible and plan your lines ah·ead. The soft spring rates and street-oriented damping made it total-regroup time if you screwed up in a turn, rather than letting you get away with a little more lean (it has the least cornering clearance) or just briefly rolling out of the tlrrottle. While flicking down to full lean with the slightly top-heavy-feeling Yamaha was fairly easy due to the wide bars, transi- j tioning from -left to right at the chicane took the most effort. And powering out onto the banking in either of the fast lefts caused the chassis to wind up_to the point that made. it tough to get.into

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