Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2002 Open Bike Shootout Honda CBRS54RR vs. Kawasaki ZX-SR Suzuki GSX-R1 000 vs. Yamaha YZF-R1 OHASS3S g HANDl3N ...... CllRt541111 When it comes to pure agility, it's hard to beat the Honda. The first time I rode the 954RR home, I felt like I was riding a Yamaha R6 - the thing just feels that tiny. Of course, that's what Honda's project leader Baba San set out to accomplish in the first place. Honda's claimed dry weight is the lightest of the group at 370 pounds (fairly close to the AJ'IlA Formula Xtreme minimum weight limit of 365), and it surely feels like it's the lightest. The Honda's lack of weight and excellent Iightsteering manners make the 954RR a breeze to maneuver around a tight track. Feel from the front end is excellent, with the tire always giving the rider good feedback and confidence. One thing that we weren't able to tune out on the 954 was a slightly twitchy feeling that the chassis was exhibiting in the racetrack's fast, tum-five right-hander. The corner has three decent-sized ripples right at the apex of the tum and the Honda always felt a little unstable at that point on the track, but nothing to get too worked up about. The Honda's front end felt really good under heavy braking for tum one - despite the massive braking bumps going in - giving good feedback and really nice compliance from the forks. Suspension. on the whole, was very good on the Honda, although it took us a little while to get set up exactly where we wanted it. Once it was set up, it felt really nke, with good spring rates and ample adjustability. BOTTOM UNE: The 954RR rules in the tight stuff. It's the quickest tuming, lightest steering of the bunch. The suspension gets high marks for compliance. Kawasaki lX-9R The ZX-9R is starting to show its age chassis wise as well. It has the longest wheelbase of the group at 56.6-inches, and when combined with the fact that it's also the heaviest of the group, racetrack handling becomes a bit sluggish. The bike's suspension isn1t a problem, with a nice, compliant fork that - once set up - works well over the bumps. The same goes for the rear end of the bike. One of the problems that Kawasaki has yet to remedy, however, is the bike's tendency to understeer, and the rough throttle delivery doesn't help matters by not allowing you to get on the gas and tighten the line mid-corner. In the fastest corner on the track, the Kawi felt like it wanted to wander, and it wouldn't give you the confidence to get In there nearly as fast as on the other bikes. The Kawasaki likes to be man-handled in the tight stuff, requiring a lot of aggressive counter-steering to get the bike on the line that you want. Of course, in everyday street-riding situations, this adds up to a very stable bike, but hit a really tight canyon road and you're back in the same boat. With so much to do and so little time to do it, we never got the chance to mess with the ride-height adjuster on the rear shock, which may have helped the bike to steer a little quicker by jacking up the rear of the bike. The one thing that this wasn't going to help was the bike's weight, which is a factor in itself. BOTTOM LINE: A really good street bike for everyday riding, commuting and weekend jaunts into the canyons. Not the best bike for the racetrack. Jeff Haney, from the Freddie Spencer HIgh RIdIng SCIIoollour ........ guest ....." .....,. ........... thIIt _ rtde lit ncb thIIt he ........, ....... 80 ttwt_ .... .IulIt IIIlIdIII8-_ at Look he .-.'t _ ...... ~ ".d 36 APRIL 24, 2002' cue I • n • _ 55 VS. StmIId GSX-lU.IH Last year, the racetrack on which we tested these bikes arguably favored the Suzuki because it was such a fast track (Willow Springs International Raceway), and the Suzuki's motor completely dominated the day's discussions. It could also be argued that the Las Vegas Classic course on which we tested this year was the GSX-R's biggest enemy. The track is a lot tighter, and the dusty surface made the Suzuki a bit of a handful at times. The real killer for the Suzuki, however, has to be the bike's lazy steering and the steering damper. The Suzuki requires even more steering input than the Kawasaki, which is a real shame because the bike is actually really light. The Suzuki is much slower on side-to-side transitions, and then fights you when you try to get down onto a tight line. At Willow Springs last year, this meant stability in the very fast, sweeping comers, but it just added up to extra work at Vegas. Another Suzuki Achilles heel this year is the fork. Our bike just didn't have stiff enough spring rates for the track's heavy braking bumps in the tum-one braking area. Jeff Haney and I tried to figure out a combination that would work, but even with the forks' preloads maxed out, the forks were bottoming out under hard braking. We noticed this to a certain degree last year, but Willow Springs doesn't have a really hard braking zone, so it wasn't an issue. The rear end of the bike felt really good, with good spring rates and good adjustability. As we suspected, the Suzuki was very stable in the fastest comer on the track and handled the mid-comer bumps without any fanfare. BOTTOM UNE: The Suzuki steers way slower than a bike as light as this should. The fork needs heavier springs to give them added adjustability options. It is very stable in the fast stuff. YalUU YZF-IU. When it comes to handling, the Yamaha is nearly perfect for a bike in this class. Okay, it's no R6, but for an open-class bike, it has a perfect combination of turn-in and stability. The Rl doesn't tum as quickly as the Honda does, but it's more stable over mid-comer bumps and feels more planted in the fast stuff. The Rl is still really close to the Honda in terms of agility, and the added stability makes it worth it. The Yamaha's suspension is the best of the bunch, offering an excellent range of adjustability with very good spring rates and compliance. The Yamaha is able to deal with mid-comer bumps better than any of the other bikes in the test, and also gives you supreme confidence while heeled over in terms of feedback from the tires. The front end on the Rl communicates what is going on under the rider very well, and yet it offers a lot of bite into the tarmac - really confidence-inspiring. The braking bumps going into turn one weren't an issue at all on the Yamaha. The front felt planted and communicative all the way into the nasty stuff. The Rl would shake its head on occasion under hard acceleration but never hard enough to scare you too bad. The Rl was everyone's favorite bike In the tight canyons last year and the same can be said for this year's bike - it makes unfamiliar roads seem, well, familiar. BOTTOM L1I'IE: The best overall combination between agility and stability. The best suspension of the lot, bar none. HandlingJ'Suspension Podium: 1. Yamaha 2. Honda 3. Suzuki 4. Kawasaki

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