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/127977
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We also brought in a few hotshoes to
help wring the last ounce of performance from these bikes. Jeff Haney, former Honda factory, dirt tracker and
Freddie Spen er Team Honda teammate
(finishing third in the 1985 Daytona 200
that Spencer won), jumped at the chance
to come out and rail, as did Lance Holst,
who tested with us once before in our
1998 big-bore shootout ("Size matters,"
I sue #31998).
As for the lap-time snafu, we simply
waited too long before sending fast-man
Haney out for timed laps and ended up
with a bunch of cooked tires. The R6's
were worn to the point that it was a
safety issue (Haney, also a part-time
Spencer School instructor, smoked 'em
chasing Freddie around the track), and
it got a new set, as did the F4, the bike
with the second-mast-worn tires. Unfortunately, we only had two extra sets of
tires on hand, so the other bikes stayed
on the old ones. Of course, new tires do
present rather an unfair advantage. A
post-test call to Dunlop's race-tire manager, Jim Allen, revealed that we probably were looking at a difference of as
much as one second between a bike
with new tires and those mounted on
the other bikes, pretty much an eternity
for the purposes of testing. That fairly
well flushed the empirical data on the
day, which left me, the test organizer,
with a nice warm and fuzzy feeling all
over. Live and learn. We promise not to
do this to you again. These are the
times; take them with a big grain of salt,
keeping in mind that the two fastest
bikes had fresh tire, the other three,
tires with at least 50 l'aps: Yamaha
1:49.95; Honda 1:50.24; Kawasaki
1:51.21; Suzuki 1:51.82; Ducati 1:52.49.
Okay, down to business.
The GSX-R has traditionally stood
clearly above the rest in the hard-edged
confines of race-tra k use. Its advantage
has been diminished, though it hasn't
neces arily been overtaken. Its chassis
brings with it into 1999 the same steering precision, brilliant front-end feel and
killer brakes as ever. Out of the box the
Suzuki's chassis was dialed in and, with
the exception of adding a small amount
of rebound damping to the fork, the
Suzuki was otherwise bone stock. It i a
very refined chassis that feels completely sorted.
In fact, by the end of the day it was
the only bike other than the Ducati that
hadn't had a single complaint about a
wag from the bars anywhere on the
track. From the slice alOd dice of the
infield section, to the fast sweepers leading onto the banking, to the harsh transition onto the front straight, it was beautifully stable yet super-nimble and precise.
The brakes are still at the head of the
class, with really pos~tive feedback and
initial bite that inflates your confidence
to near-Schwantz levels. Haney said
simply: '1t has the best brakes."
Absolute magic.
So, what's the downside? It is a smaIl
thing and easy to fix, yet affected every
rider's whole lap: jetting. Getting back
into the throttle to settle the bike in a corner, the GSX-R was so lean it would hesitate, leaving the front end loaded for that
extra, confidence-sapping moment that
made you think twice about driving it in
so deeply on the next comer. It could be
as easy to fix as turning the low-speed air
screws, and would certainly be rectified
witll slightly larger pilot jets.
Both fast guy had similar comments
about the Suzuki: "The rest of the bike i
so good that it's getting cheated by the
carb problem," Haney said.
"Aside from the carb glitch," HoI t
said, "it's the most confidence-inspiring
bike to ride hard - very pitchable. I can't
The new Honda was impressive on the track,
delivering seamless power and quiCk, precise
steering. The new CBR's bars are connected
to a much stiffer front end than the old
CBR's, and feedback is much better. Though
a completely new motorcycle, the F4's
silhouette is similar to the F3's.
run as much midcorner speed as I
would expect, considering the otherwise
excellent chassis, because the (hes'itation) upsets the suspension."
Beyond that, engine power was quite
good, with the midrange in particular
much better than the :97 original and
equal to the other bikes on the dyno,
though it feels the least refined of the
four in-line engines in this group, as it
gets thrashy-sounding at high rpm.
So which bike closed the chassis gap?
Two did, and it's just the two you think:
R6and F4.
The R6's 24-degree rake, 81mm trail
and 54.4-inch wheelba e bring with
them certain expecta tions with regard to
handling. One definitely expects quick
turn-in and very light steering. Thjs is
true of the blue bike, and was borne out
in track testing. But one also expects that
it might make the bike prone to headshake and high-speed stability problems. It was no on both counts - at least
once the suspension was dialed in.
In fact, despite having less front-end
feel than the GSX-R, the Yamaha's midcomer stability - "planted," aid Holst was a boon to confidence and corner
speed, the bike feeling low and small
and ready to answer your every input
without protest.
"Feels supersmall, short, tight - more
250-like than any four-stroke I've ridden, including Japanese-market 400s,"
Holst said.
A lot was made of how much power
the R6 was going to produce, but reality
prevailed once we were on the dyno. It
94-hp peak - highest in the test, barely
ahead of the Kawi - comes at around
12,200 rpm, which is essentially the
same rpm that the other four-cylinder
bikes spin at their peak output. In stock
trim, the extra revs - all the way to
15,500 rpm - don't mean more power.
What it does mean is a huge amount of
overrev because the power doesn't fall
off much. And when you consider the
fact that the engine makes usable power
starting at 8000, you end up with 7500
rpm at your disposal. So while you
might expect to have to shift the highrevving Yamaha most, it turns out that
there are many times that you'll have to
hift all the other bikes - including the
Ducati - when you can hold the throttle
on and skip the shift with the R6. The
overrev wa particularly useful in the
sweeper after the chicane, in which you
must upshift - the R6 lets you wait until
later in the corner, when the bike is
more upright. It feels much Ie precarious.
Throttle response was good witil the
Yamaha, but less immediate than both
the Honda and the Kawasaki. The
Honda's power delivery is amazing and
jetting is perfect everywhere.
"Right from the crack of the throttle all
the way up, the Honda was just strong,"
Haney said. "Reminded you of a biggerbore bike. The Yamaha had very good
power but didn't have that same hit."
Holst had similar sentiments about
the Yamalla.
"Power is surprisingly good at 8000
and then bllilds steadily to 14,000 or so,
but it doesn't rev as quickly on the top
end as you would expect," he said.
Last time we were in Vegas, we said
riding the F3 on the track was like having a lively conversation with an old
friend. Rjding the F4 is like. having a
livelier conversation with a new friend,
one who reminds you of your old
friend .. Having an essentially identical
riding position is the biggest thing that
taJ