Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127963
SHOW INAUGURAL INTERMOT MUNCHEN ~:' New Munich Trade Fair Center $~ six-piston ca liper s on th e fron t and a sing le 240mm rotor/ tw in-pis ton setu p in the rear. What is slimme r is also trimm er. Suzuki claim s a 474-pou nd dry we ight for the Hayabusa whi ch, if that' s tru e, is some 17 pound s lighter than the o ld GSXRllOO R. If you h a ve to h av e one, it will p rob ably ma ke your wallet ligh ter to the tun e of abou t $11,000. And on to the Itali ans. MV mad e the ro u nds with tw o of its Ag usta F4s, as d id Laverd a a nd Mot a Guzzi . Du cat i, ho w ev er, offere d a fresh look in th e form of mu sical motor s and a sleig ht-ofhand tr ick with a fairing. Perhap s most interesting was the new ST4 spor t tourer, whic h featured the sa me sty ling as the ST2 that it supercedes, only wit h an to enh a nce its long-di st ance cruising capability. Not to be outdone by Yamaha, however, Kawasaki ha s finall y seen fit to go into produ cti on with th e Indi anin spi red VN800 a n d VN 1500 Drifter models. The bike is basically a Kawasaki Vulcan Classic wi th long, va lanced fend er s reminiscen t of the defunct Indi an Chief. The United Sta tes will see the 1500, whi le the 800 will be de stined for foreign ma rkets . Co n tinu ing its th em e of neo-c lassicism , Kawasaki also debut ed a very Triu mp h-esqu e twin , called the W65 0. Clea rly influenced by the Bonneville of the '60s, and with a bit of Ducati beveld rive thrown in to the look of the engine for g oo d m easure, th e W650 , which 00 0\ 0\ ,...... -; l-< (]) ..n o ..... u o 18, ac tu ally d isp la ces 675cc, is reported ly destined for the Japanese market. Ju st as Yama ha has with its superbike, Suz u ki has long need ed a rep laceme nt for its com petent but long-in-thetoo th GSXR1100R, and help is on the way in the form of a new big gun, the 1999 Suzuki GSXR1300RX. Christened the Hayabusa after a small falcon indigeno us to Japa n and ca pable of cu tti ng th rou gh th e ai r a t speeds in excess of 186 m ph, th e n ew Gixxer' s in te n ded goal is clear. Aerodyna mic advantage was the key elemen t in the bike' s d esign, wi th carefu l th ou ght give n to engine type, size and placem ent, and rid er p lacement, in order to achieve maximum efficiency . Th e H ayabu s a featur es a p r eci s el y s hap ed fai ring, with a sleek projector headlarnp, and integ ra ted turn signals th a t actu a ll y force air int o the bi ke ' s ram-a ir in take tra cts, th u s producing the mo st slippery bod ywork ever built by Suzuki. The,aerod ynamically scu lp ted theme is carried through the 5.8-galIon fue l tank and on to the rear of the b ike, whi ch o bv iously pays a cert ain homage to the TL famil y. With the coefficient of drag cut wa y d own, Su zuki chose to complem ent that w it h a n engine th a t is pumped way, way up, to the tu ne of 1298cc. Yet the overa ll dimension of the liquid- and oiljet-cooled , in- line fou r-cylind er engi ne is ex tre me ly co m p act. The DOHC 16valve fe atu r es a n a rr o w , 14-d egr ee included an gle, electro nic fuel inject ion with a ram- air int ake, di rect ignition , a gear-d rive n cou nterba la nce r to redu ce vibra tion and a six-speed tr ansmissio n w it h a la rge-capaci ty clutch . To keep the engine as com pact as p ossible, the cam cha in is d riven off the right side of a shor t, five-journal crankshaft. Wr apped around th e power plant is a n aluminum -a ll o y twin-spa r fr am e wit h a bridged al u m in u m swinga rm . The rear is held up by a link-typ e su spen sio n a rrange m e n t w it h a fu lly adju s tab le shock absorber th at boasts 5.6 in ches o f w heel tr a vel. The fu lly adjus table 43m m inve rted forks deliver 4.8 inches of bu m p abso rp tion. Ven tu re low er on the Hayabu sa a nd yo u w ill find 17-inch cast-aluminum whee ls tha t are slowed by a twin 320m m ro tors and in carnati on of the more pow erfu l, four. va lve- h ea ded 9 16 Su perbike en gin e. Duca ti also saw fit to release a new ge nera tion of the 75055 which, like the ST, is mo st certai nly bound for Ll.S, shores. Then there was the new little brother II Mon stro 750, and a half-faired version of the 90055. Bu t a nea r ly u n an im ou s vo te fo r ' "ba ddest bike of the show" was cast in L fa vor of Duca ti's concept Mike Ha ilwood Etioluzionc, which featured a tasty blend of old and new. The bike's tubular ' ch ro me-moly s pacefr ame a nd singlesi ded swingar m a n d air-cooled 90degree V-twin engi ne we re a sharp contrast to its mod ern-look 916-stvle whee ls.' The pipe arr angem ent was als~ very 916-' ish, furth er adding to the modern image. But a harmonious bal ance w as clearly ' achi ev ed through the use of the H ail wood -inspired bod yw ork, w hich so mehow accomplished th e go al of lookin g mod ern and classic all at the same time. The new and exciting was not merely con fine d to t he " ro ad ie bikes," as Au strian manu facturer KTM displayed seve ral tantalizin g machines, the most in tri g uing of whi ch w a s the new 40 0 / 520cc fo ur-s tr oke b ik e th at will us her the company's line of four- stroke com petition bikes into the new milleniurn . The mach ine was brou ght to light ' a t the requ est of KTM ma nag ing di rector Stefa n Pierer, who ha s overseen the com pa ny since it stood on the brink' of ban kruptcy in 1991, and thu s has been instrumental in its incredible comeback th rough the rest o f th e d ecade . Upon" learn ing of Yama ha's int ent to produ ce ' the YZ400F, Pier er .called for the design ' and construction of a KTM that could ~ com pe te on eve n terms.