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/128225
rn::J(}: GSX-R1000 VS. R1 Last year's Cycle News Openbike Shootout winner squares off with the new Gixxer. By BLAKE CONNER PHOTOS BY FRANK HOPPEN he two protagonists in this shootout need no introduction, as they are the both title-quality contenders. But what does it take to be the king of the mountain, force or finesse? That's exactly what we set out to answer. Like hungry lions pouncing on their prey, they are both stunningly agile and pack a bite like no others on the market. Pound for Mood the open-class sportbikes are the most lethal in existence, but these twp in particular rise to the top. the GS~R packs class-leading horsepower that has been unrivaled since its inception back in 200 I, while the Yamaha has that glassy near-perfect fuel injection to launch you out of the corner without a hiccup. What we really set out to answer was if the GSX-R's horsepower would win us over and change our minds about our darling, the Rl. We coddled the R1 last year because of its ability to cope with 'anything and everything. It handles, it has killer brakes, the power is more than adequate, and the fuel delivery, as we mentioned, is stellar. But man, that GSX-RIOOO is pumping out 145.8 horsepower from its 998cc motor on the White Brothers Research Dyno out in Yorba Linda, California, and that's hard to ignore. Once again I've enlisted the help of Tom "Dogger" Montano, Isle of Man madman and former AMA Pro Thunder National Champion. The two of us would spend the better part of two days flogging the hell out of the two bikes on both the street and the track; additionally I commuted on the two bikes exclusively for two months, all in an effort to determine a clear winner. As we would quickly discover, that's a lot easier said than done. The technical merits of these bikes have been well documented here in the pages of Cycle News, so we won't get too much into that, but what we will get into is their subjective performance and then take a look at the coLd hard numbers that the Dyno and the stopwatches produced. T 32 JULY 30, 2003· cue • • THE STREET This has to be the most important portion of any shootout because this is where the bikes will spend 99 percent of their time, blah, blah, blah. We threw everything we had at the bikes on the street, from riding on the freeway (which on these bikes can actually be a blast) to hHting our favorite twisty canyons to riding in stop-and-go traffic - I mean lane splitting. If stoplight to stoplight was the only criteria for these bikes, the GSXR would win hands down. The sheer power and slightly longer wheelbase (just over a half-inch) allow the bike to jump off the line with authority. The Rl on the other hand just wants to wheelie, forcing you to manage the clutch a lot more to keep the momentum going forward instead of vertical. One quality that the GSXR has is stability. Sure the bike will wag the handlebars in n e _ s your hands if provoked, but it's more a product of the bike's power than anything else. The only time it ever did this on the street was at full throttle in third or fourth gear, especially on the grooved cement that our wonderful So Cal freeways are made of. The R1 occasionally tries to pitch you off in the same situation. On multiple occasions it would tankslap getting onto the freeway from an onramp. Hang on, were going for a ride! I need to learn how to rope myself on like a bull rider. The canyons of Malibu only left Montano and me in a completely dazed and confused state. Both of us would get on one of the bikes for a stint and boldly declare it as the winner, only to have the same thing happen after jumping off of the other. Both of the bikes carry their weight very well on the street. What weight, you ask? Well compared to a 600 the bikes are a little porky. Okay I'm lying - it's only in the company of a 600 that you would even notice the weight. I really expected that the GSX-R would win me over instantly in the canyons. The problem is that the R1 just handles so well. The feel from the front end on the R1 is just excellent. The tire may not communicate what is going on as well as the hypersensitive GSX-R's, but the turn-in is crisper and can hold a much tighter line. The Rl's front is really neutral and light steering, and yet it