Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2003 Middleweight Shootout: Honda CBRSOORR VS. Kawasaki ZX-SR (S3S) vs. Suzuki GSX-RSOO vs. Yamaha YZF-RS attempt. Not only is the response excellent picking up the throttle from a closed position, it's excellent everywhere else. Power from the 636 is awesome. The Honda may make more power at the very very top of the rev-range, but the Kawasaki makes more power from 3750-12,750 rpm - and, just for reference, makes 5.4 hp more at 7500 rpm, 10.2 hp more at 8000 rpm and 8.5 hp more at 9000 rpm. I mean how much time is really spent at 13,000 rpm anyway? Some will call the 636 a cheater bike, but Kawasaki built the RR version to meet the Supersport rules. Who said a middleweight sportbike had to be exactly 600ccs? They are, after all, streetbikes, and wouldn't you rather have 36ccs more displacement if given the choice? The GSX-R600, as Montano put it, "feels like a trusted and reliable friend." I can't say that we disagree. On the track it may not be the quickest handling of the group, but it sure does offer a lot of confidence in the fast sweepers. The bike's geometry offers a lot of stability, and the feel from the front end is completely trustworthy. The Suzuki's suspension was very compliant and actually required very little in the way of fettling to get sorted out. A minor change here, a minor change there, and the bike was fine. It's funny to say this, but the Suzuki is the most comfortable bike of the lot. I almost laugh out loud when I utter those words. Who would ever have thought that a GSX-R would not only be called comfortable, but called the most comfortable? One area that Suzuki really needs to address when redesigning the bike is the brakes. The GSX-R literally scared me after I got off the other bikes and got on it. I would go in a little short of my normal brake marker and still felt like 1 was going to run off the track. The power is on the weak side, and the feel is nonexistent. 1 actually had to pull in at one point and adjust the lever span to the furthest out position (I normally like them almost all the way in) because 1 was squishing my fingers between the lever and grip under hard braking. Power from the GSX-R feels a bit down compared to some of the other bikes in the test (l00.6hp), the least of the four bikes, but more than the Ducati and the ZX-6RR. It does have fairly good torque, which is something that you feel on the racetrack quite noticeably. One thing that is certain is that the intake noise on the GSX-R is like music, resonating up from the airbox and into your ears. It sounds at times more like a Formula One car than a bike. The GSX-R was still able to win the 2002 AMA Supersport title with Aaron Yates at the helm, but if he is able to repeat the performance in 2003 with the dated GSX·R, it will be a miracle. Yamaha did a complete redesign of its bike for 2003 with the all-new YZF-R6. Unlike the bike's update two years ago, the new bike is fresh from the ground up, with an all-new chassis and motor. After riding the R6 in Spain in December at the Almeria Circuit, I was positive that the bike was at least going to be in the hunt for top honors in this shootout. The R6, like the Kawasakis, received fuel injection for the first time this year, and, like Kawasaki, Yamaha did its homework and designed an excellent system. The system on the R6 is very similar to the excellent design that the R1 received last year. On the track, the R6's power delivery feels different from the other bikes. The Yamaha's peak power is made at 12,500 rpm, but the power curve at that point isn't as flat as the Honda's or the Kawasaki's, forcing the rider to grab a quick shift to keep the bike on the boil. The Yamaha requires a bit more work with the gearbox to keep up the momentum. But with that said, there are plenty of horsies under the hood, and the fuelinjection system is second only to the Kawasaki's. One thing that the R6 does well is get off the corners, due to the excellent response from the fuel injection. On the old R6 the bike would occasionally bog if the throttle was opened too quickly exiting a corner. There was a big hole in the middle of the powerband. Now the FI system allows the bike to pull cleanly out of the corners through that same midrange without hesitation. It makes the bike feel more powerful than it really is. The R6 is the best-handling 600 made. Not only does the bike flick into the corners with the same zeal that it always has - the bike has newfound stability due to its revised geometry. Places where the old R6 would shake its head and tank-slap, the new bike tracks through without any drama. Yamaha found the right combination between quick handling and stability and didn't really com- The Kawasakis have the best brakes in this test by a landslide. 20 MARCH 26, 2003' c: U c: • e

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