Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

addict, a canyon-carving junkie. Then after you had an insatiable appetite for asphalt, you advanced to the big bikes. The motorcycle manufacturers had your future planned out for you already; you just didn't know it. But the days of these bikes being "entry level" are long since over they've become way too serious for that. One look at the radical new Honda CBR600RR will tell you that this class has become very intense. With new bikes from Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha, this year's shootout was one that we had been looking forward to for quite some time. In addition to the four main protagonists in the shootout, we also had the opportunity to ride Ducati's new 749S and the other Kawasaki, the ZX-6RR (the 600cc version) for comparison. We didn't know until the last minute that the Kawasaki ZX-6RR was going to be available to us, so there wasn't enough time to get another set of Pirelli tires for that bike, and Ducati wasn't able to meet our deadline for the racetrack portion of the test, so it was destined to be a sidebar. This year's shootout consisted of three days of testing, a day at the Streets of Willow Springs Raceway with our buddy Tom Montano (former AMA Pro Thunder Champion) helping out, a day in the canyons in Malibu, California, and finally a day at the Dragstrip at Los Angeles County Raceway with hired gun/drag racer Larry Laye throwing down our fast times. Last but not least we entrusted Gary Jones (former National Motocross Champion) and the guys at White Brothers Racing in Yorba Linda, California. to weigh and dyno all of the bikes. We knew the outcome of this test was going to be difficult to determine, but I don't think we realized it was going to be this hard. The biggest surprise of the test was how indecisive we all felt after our day at Willow Springs. As we sat in a Mexican restaurant drinking margaritas (a post-track-day ritual), none of us had a clue which bike we would pick. Lucky for us the street ride would help clear up a lot of our questions. THE STREETS OF WILLOW SPRINGS As we did two years ago, we decided to do our middleweight shootout at the "Streets." The thing about the track is that it's an excellent place to test bikes because of its diversity. It offers bumps to work the suspension, long enough straights to work the motors (putting an emphasis on acceleration), and tight enough corners to work the brakes. What else do you need? Well, we also needed a couple of extra bodies to help insure that the bikes were constantly circulating. So as I mentioned above, we invited Montano down to keep the saddles warm, and we also shared the test with a couple of Canucks, Colin Fraser and Mark Orchard from Canada's Inside Motorcycles (more because we felt sorry for them, you know, being Canadian and all). As we worked our way through the bikes, there were a couple of surprises and a couple of completely predictable reactions. All of the bikes were very comfortable on the track and only required minimal suspension changes throughout the course of the day (most of which we let Montano do). We tried to ride each of the bikes at least twice or even three times to insure that a bike wasn't penalized due to our not being familiar with the track, or for scrubbing in the new tires. One of the big surprises was how different the bikes felt on track - a lot of this had to do with the way they steered and how they handled midcorner. Believe it or not, they each felt totally unique. The bike that has changed the most and is without a doubt the trickest 600 ever made has to be the Honda CBR600RR. The new RR has so many radical design elements, it's hard to remember them all. As I mentioned in my "First Ride" (issue #8) of the bike, it was designed first and foremost as a racebike, with street performance being a secondary concern. The RR definitely performs on the racetrack, especially the suspension. Although we were all in agreement that the springs in the forks and the rear spring were way too soft, forcing us to dial in a lot of preload. However, the suspension worked very well at Willow Springs. One thing that we all noticed was how early we could open the throttle exiting a corner, with the bike lunging forward with ample traction from the rear end. One complaint that we had was the fact that the bike seemed to tum into the corner fairly quickly, but then the steering would become heavy, requiring more effort to be put into the bars to get it to steer. It did offer lots of stability in the fast sweeping corners, feeling similar to the Suzuki's midcorner characteristics. And that's the impression that we were most left with by the Honda, how solid the bike feels on the track. Everything just feels right for racing. That includes the CBR600RR's brakes, which are really good, although they just don't have the power of the R6's and don't have the feel of the Kawasaki's. As for the motor, it's really hard to find too much to complain about in this department. The Honda makes the most power (107.8 hp), and, yes, it even makes more than the Kawasaki ZX-6R (636) at the very top. As I mentioned when I first rode the bike last month, the fuel injection isn't perfect. The bike has a noticeable glitch in the throttle response when picking the revs up from a closed throttle (especially going through The Street's tight chicane). However, if you pick up the throttle from a partially open position and go full throttle, the mapping is perfect, and the bike doesn't hesitate at all. It grabs revs faster than a kid grabs candy in the checkout line. All in all, we really liked the Honda in the track portion of the test. The bike was simply in its element there. The Kawasaki was the biggest surprise of the day. I think we got so used to old ZX-6R being touted as "a really comfortable street bike" that we weren't prepared for how well the newest incarnation of the bike performed. Not only was the bike's chassis outstanding, but the motor is incredible, as well. I'm not going to talk too much about the ZX-6RR (600) here because it was on Michelin Pilot race tires, and comparing it directly wouldn't be fair, so check out the sidebar. One thing that was instantly noticeable was that the 636 just flat out handles - although we all agreed that the 600cc version steered a little better due to the reduced reciprocating mass of the smaller engine. Turnin on the 636 is quick and effortless, and yet the bike feels stable mid- cue I e corner. The only complaint that we have is that both Kawasakis felt a little twitchy if we hit a bump midcomer while leaned over, making the front end dance around. The ZX-6RR was more sensitive to this probably due to the Michelin race tire's profile - there was more than one section on the track where a steering damper would have been very welcome. The 636 required that we soften up the springs a bit because they were pretty firm. After messing with them a bit and dialing everything else in, the bike felt perfect on the track. Both Kawasakis win the "best brakes" category without question. Their power may not be as good as the Yamaha's but their feel combined with the next-best power makes them easily the best of the bunch. The fact that the Kawasakis felt so good under braking has a lot to do with their awesome forks. They felt really planted and compliant while getting the bikes slowed down and had virtually no noticeable flex. The biggest surprise of the test (sorry Kawasaki) was the how well the fuel injection performed. This is the first year that the 600s have been fitted with fuel injection, and we weren't sure how well it would work. The fact of the matter is that the Kawasakis have the best throttle response of any of the bikes here - I guess we were really surprised that they would get it right in their first n .. _ so • MARCH 26, 2003 19

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