Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~ I l ,- --- ,....... , -l '" Ducah 999 ' o. --1 11~63-hp-@"" ~500' 'Pm- I-.:::::::::P' " I ,.-=!~.. ... F\- ~-=i m r ' $17 .695/$22 .995 99Bcc Liquid-cooled L-twin four-stroke BORE x STROKE 100 x 63 .5mm COMPRESSION RATIO 11.4: I CARBURET ION EFI w/5 4mm throttle bodies IGN ITI ON Electronic TRANSMISSION Six-speed START ING SYSTEM Electric FU EL CAPACITY .4.1 gal. WHEELBASE 5S.9 in. RAKEITRAIL 23.5°_24.5°/N /A SEAT HEIGHT 30.7 in. FRONT TIRE I 20nOZR17 REAR T IRE 190/50ZRI7 FRONT·WHEEL TRAVEL 4.7 in. REAR·WHEEL TRAVEL 5.0 in. FRONT BRAKE Dual d isc REAR BRAKE .D isc FINAL DRIVE C hain CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 439Ibs. M[)T[)RS Aprilia RSV Mille The Aprilia isunique because it doesn't reallyfeel like an Italian bike. and it doesn't reallyfeel likea Japanese bike, despite the fact that it's Latin through and through. The motoris un ique because it's a 60-degree dry-sumpV-twin. Even so. it seemsa little buzzy Mille fora V ·twin. transmitting a fair amount of vibrationthrough the ban and pegs. The best way to achievegood drive out of the RSV is to rev the hellout of it just like it's an inline four. If the motor is kept singing in the top of the rev r.ulge. the bike feels lik it's getting somee where. but let the revs fall too far and you can forget about that lap you just put in. One thingthat was reallyannoying on the Mille is that the trans mission is very stiff to shih compared to the other bikes in the test. to the point that it made backshifting two gears between Willow's turns eight and ninea unnervin proposition every time. g On the street the Mille's motor is reallynice. working much ben er than on the track. The clutch is a lot easier to managethan. say. the Ducati's dry clutch. makingstoplight-to-stoplightdrags a piece of cake. The motor is very flexible. with a broad powerband for street duty and plenty of power to keep the Mille on the boil. Ducati 999S/Ducati 999 Let's get one thingout of the way. the Ducati 999Sthat was the primarybike in this test developed somesort of fuel-i njection or ignition problem that ultimately made us switch over to our back-up999 Strodo. This mayhave been a bigblow to Docati, because prior to the time thatthe S-bike started to run poorly. we were very impressed with the power that the 999S hasover the standardversion. Even on the street the S would loft the front wiheeI under power in first gear with ease - no proddingfrom the clutch was needed. Unfortunately . the 999S began to go haywire at the Streets ofWillow the following day. The bike started running so poorlythat it was allanyone could do to get it out of Pit Lane. It sputtered like it was su ffering from either fuel starvationor some kindof intermittent ignition misfire. Despite the best effortsof Ducati fleet center techs TomHicksand Eric Beaman. the problem never didget sorted out. Thus, we decided to pullthe 999Sout of the shootout and insert the lesspowerful 999 rather than riska potential crash on one of the big track's high-speed corners. No for the standard bike. it fen considerablydown on power compared to the other bike. but its fuel injection was typically crisp. and it ran flawlessly . Honda CBR I OOORR The brand-new CBRIOOORR is reallythe sleeper of this group. Everything about the bike feels so integrated, with every component of the bike working in perfect harmony The engine isn't the most pow. erfulof the bunch. but it has by far the best midrange thron le response and amazingmidrange power. The Honda', engine characteristicfeels really similarto the GSX-RIOOO. The biggestpayoff is on the street. where the RR's torque curve can be utili ed the best. Pullingout of comers on the z street ride was a blast on the Honda; the engine comes to life the instant you tum the throttle; there is no waitingaround for gratification. At. the Streetsof Willow. the Honda turned the fastest lap time of the day primarilydue to the bike's ability to snap out of the track's tight corners with excellent midr.ulgeengineperfonmance. combined with excellenttraction from the rear end (see I_ . - i · - i¥ I ..... ~ (_. l _l LIST PRICE D ISPLACEMENT ENG INE TYPE f T 7 ~..,"." '.:;00 "'~ '." -- I ---~---1' .,~- . , . . . r E . '"I f " chassissidebar). It was unflappable at the Streets. No for the big track, the biggest problemthat the Hondahas is that it doesn't have that absolutelyraw top-end performance that someof the otherbig guns in the dass exhibit The RR just misses out in the horsepower wars. whichiswhat propelled the fastestbikesto good laptimesat Willow. The bottom linewith the CBRI OOORR is more thanadequate for anytype of ridingother thanon an ultra-balls-tothe-waft track. Kawasaki ZX-I OR Tosay that almost everyone involved in this shootout had a near religious experience on the lX-l O Risn't an exaggeration. I can't tell you how many times I sa one of our tes riders dismount w t the bike unering something like "Jesus-freakingChrist!" The bike has that kindof effect on people. There is no question that the lOR is the beast of the bunch. The way that its IS2 horsepower is delivered to the rear wheel is enough to make grown men quiverat the knees. The lORdelivers gobs and gobs of power and torque - and then throws in a little extra for drama's sake. On the street ride the bike felt excellent. with reallynice engine res ponse from the fuel-injection system and a flexible enough rev range that it's onlyevil if you ask it to be. At the Streets of Willow Montano turned his second-fastest lapon the lOR, which would have been his best if the poor Kawasakichassis was only able to get that power to the ground as efficiently as the Honda. So much power is being transmitted to the rear tire. and the thingis pulling a wheelie so often. we simplycan't fathom how Ka wasaki didn't feel a steering damper was in order. Going down the front straight at both the Streets and on the big track, the lX-lOR would wheelie an instant before every gear change - with the front tire barely

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