Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Shootout Oils sticker all season. 1£ you're radng a 748, you're pretty much on your own: no dollars available. Yamal,a was W18ble to provide us with a figure by press time. THE STREET 16 One leaves th race track with a very distinct et of impression about each bike, but your concerns when trying to maximize your peed in the relative safety of the race track are completely d lfferen t than those you encoun ter in the real world. The way a clutch engages or how comfortable a seat is hardly enter your mind until you start using these things for what they were actually made: transportation. Those of US who had yet to ride the R6 on the street had some pretty low expectations for the blue bike. We were pleasantly surprised. There is ample power available at 6000 rpm; clutch action is light and precise, if a little abrupt at the end of its engagement. But overall we are looking at a motorcycle that acquits itself qwte well in normal life. Primary complaints were about the diminutive fairing providing little wind pr teclion, and so-so mirrors. Otherwise, the riding position is quite comfortable, as is the broad seat. The engine i very smooth, making th power availabl in the upper reaches of the rev range neither unpleasant nor infregu ntly used, though you will encounter some high-frequency vibes above 8000 rpm. Ridden like a regular bike, it masks its racer base very well. It likes an aggressive hand when ridden in the twisties, and reveals itself to b quite neutraJ-steenng and stable when ridden hard. Back off a bit and it takes a little blt of pressure on the bars to maintain your cornering line, but not an excessive amount. "Front-end feel isn't stellar, but the steering is lightning-quick and the R6 is by far the easiest to flick through quick transitions," Holst aid. Set up for the lump and bumps of the road, the R6 turned out to be quite compliant overall, though firm mid-to-high-speed damping at the rear made the bike hop over small, sharp bumps. Testers were surprised at how much they liked the digital speedo ~same as the Rl's), though the white-faced tach drew mild complaints about readability. Like the RI, the R6 has the nice fuel-tripmeter feature that automatically sets itself to zero when you hit reserve - still cool a year later. . The CBR600F4 is what you would expect on the street: excellent. It certainly has a harder edge than the F3, and the upper-midrange-style power delivery keeps you busier with the shift lever than before if you're trying to shred (7000-plus is best). Overall, the Honda has a very high level of refinement, and jetting on the street was just like it had been on the track. The clutch is excellent, as is the transmission, and it has the best mirrors in the group. Though sprung more softly, the. rear shock behaved like the Yamaha's over sharp bump, and our fat guys (okay, it was me) needed to jack the preload up a click to be happiest with the rear susp nsion. Steering is the most feedbackrich and neutral of the bunch - riding \ aggres ively or not - and though it had a light tendency to stand up when trailbraking, it was no more prone to do so than th other bikes tested. The high bars were nice for the long haul, and the fit and finish of the F4 exudes typical Honda excellence in this regard. Universal praise was heaped on the Kawasaki and how it delivered its power. The rich and throaty sound the eng;ne makes is wuivaled for an in-line four and as satisfying as the thunder of . the Ducati's twin. Delivery is earnle and the ZX-6R never feels like it's out of the power. The chassis feel a little vague when ridden aggressively and it tends to tand up the most under the load of tra iI-braking. Aside from the oddly shaped seat (narrow at the front), it was the most comfortable, with the best and biggest fairing. The GSX-R turned out to be surprisingly plush-feeling in its new, more aggressive company, and was more forgiving in this regard than the Ducati, for instance. High-speed compression damping was perfect in our street riding, and after one rode the Kawasaki the . eat on the Suzuki was praised. The footpeg are till high for tho e long of I g, the GSX-R till the most extreme 600 in the ergonomic regard. We will try a jet kit in this bike, becau e the lean spot off the bottom made it the bike that took the longest to warm up and hardest to launch moothly. Proper fuel delivery would go a long way with the Suzuki. The excellent cha si made railing back roads a satisfying as anything on the road, and it is hard to beat the confidence the front end imparts. And the brakes? Best on the track, best on the road. The Honda's four-p t calipers are close to the Suzuki's, but the GSX-R's offer better outright pow r. This leaves but one: 748. Talk about surprises. In this company especially, the Ducati's low-end torque feels phenomenal and makes it teally fun to ride on the street. The clutch is terrible, juddering and screeching under heavy load, with a pull that makes you expect to see "Nautilu " etched into its backside, but such engine power makes it okay to live with. One would hope for better a t this price level, though. Once After some suspension tweaking, the R6 was awesome on the Speedway, delivering the quickest steering and a planted feel that encouraged you to explore the limit. It was a surprise on the street, too, with good midrange and . comfortable riding position. under way, however, the magic is there, with its awesome chassis and steering character and the desmo symphony bellowing its staccato thunder. Overall, the damping on the Duc is the tightest and its riding position the mo t extreme, with the thin, racerlike seat and low bar. But - or should I say "however" oj t' the kind of bike that makes your bu tt want to fight back. Even our long-illstance commuter came back happy with the 74 . The elegance of its styUng i unparalleled, and draws comment from non-motorcycle people the most. THE VERDICT We'll start by dishing out the "no bad bikes" platitude. Pick your raOOg hero or your favorite color, bust out your wallet and buy the one that appeals to you - you'll likely be very happy. But we test these tl~ings {o find the edge, .the bike that does the mo t things best right out of the crate. For that, the R6 is our dream. It was top of the heap on the track, seeming never to put a wheel wrong - unless, of course, you told it to - and yet ma ked its racer-like extremity well enough on the street that you didn't feel like you were g;ving anything up for it. A racer-wlthlights you can live with? Must be a d~m. ~ EVERY BIKE IN THIS TEST SURPRISED ME IN SOME WAY, BUT I THE END mv choice came down to the predictable pair. . Despite all the boastful ~orsepower claims for the R6 and F4, I still_pick the kawasaki's engine. At the track and on the street, the ZX·6R has the best power delivery, plus it snarl and growls all the way, sounding far better than any 01 the fours and even rivaling the thundering Ducah in terms of aural pleasure. Too bad the Kawi' chai::'iis feels numb and the brakes ~piring, despite the six:piston caliper-. Can't wait to see what Aaron Yates does In AMA competItion WIth this much horsepower, though, chassis or brakes be damned. The Suzuki's handling and brakes are still as good as it gets, though the R6 is about equal and the F4 is right there. Recent engine changes have given the GSXR600 a broader powerband and make it a much-improved streetbike but the bike cries out for a jet kit. The tock jetting is embarrassing. On the street, the Suzuki urprised testers with how comfortable it was, but on the track, mighty Mat MladJn is going to have to carry an awful lot of cornering speed to keep up with the comp tition. He's used to it. From what we saw in thI, test, th AMA should reconsider Il.'tting the 748 into the 600cc Supersport class. Can you imagine Gobert racing one of these? It didn't hold any Significant advantage over the 600s and typt ally ranked la t in any p rformance categorY. But the Duck isn't just about number, it' about beautiiul shapes and stirring sounds. The 748 is all that and more. Five year down the road. it will till stand out as a tunning bike and still bring owner satisfaction that ,,;11 have long worn off the othess In the test. For the buyer looking for something different. buying this miru-916 IS money well spent. Finall\', we get down to the two newest entries and the onJy objective moices for Best 600 honors. The Honda is a near-perfectly refined version of the F3, instantly familiar the moment you throw a leg over it, yet better in every way. They changed nearly every part, yet how - and why - did they make it feel so much the same? I'd like a more sporting riding position on the track, but that would keep the F4 from being all things to all people. The R6, on the other hand, is being touted as a no-compromise sporting weapon, yet it's surprisingly comfortable and tractable, and very dif6cult to fault. The Yamaha felt the ~st at the track. It steered so quickly that I actually ran over an inside cur9 the first time I flicked it into a corner. I quickly acclimated, though, and rode it harder and faster than any of the others. Its compact dimensions aI¥i screaming engjne just beg to be used hard, and I obliged. On the street, it was more of the same. And that's the biggest reason I'd pick the Yama)1a: It's exciting and insriring both visually and viscerally, while the Honda's near perfection comes of a bit benign in comparison. I have no doubt that Honda's wrecking crew of Nicky Hayden, Eric Bostrom and Miguel DuHaJ'nel will be a force to be reckoned with on the track, but I figure that Tommy Hayden, Rim Oliver and Jamie Hacking will give them all they can handle, especially if the R6 has the same effect on them that it did lue. LANCE HOLST

• Cover