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/128321
- , , , I I 'M .~~~tr~~~i~~~ rp~ ---.- ~--.-.-J=--""i-... !I ! I I I T----T-- f I +---+-1- M -----;----+-i,."" I I . , , i i 75.50 ft.-lbs. @ 9700rpin t - I ! M M 1 ---1I,', ! ._ _ I ' i 1 1 1 ; I 1---1 i ' 1 i-'--="""" I 1 I '-1- - - r - - - - ---I!---" I · L_ i _ _. L_ _ ! I i i I I I : ---r------r-~ ».:.. i . ! . "'! - - ,. - - I 1......... 1_.,001I1 KAWASAKI NinjaZX-IOR comfortable seating position, a soft seat, and allof the controls have ample adiustment. The mirrors OIl the 750 offera decent view behindyou, unlike some ofthe other bikes. Suzuki GSX-R I 000 Okay,so the 1000 doesn'tlook quite dated, but compared to its own lit· tle bro. the 750, it's "Riding the z)(-10R is like jumping into the mash pit at a la er concert." starting to get there. The G5X-RI000 stillhas the most comfonable seat and arguably the most comfortable ridingposition. Many of our tes ters commented on this during the street ride. including the motorcycle cop, who nonnallyrides a BMWpolice bike and spends a lot of time in the saddle. The dash on the GSX·RIOOO still has allthe infoyou need but isn't as fresh as the newer Suzukis. Most pre00, ferred the headlights on the 750 to the 10 but we hope that Suzukidoes somethingdifferentwith the 1000next year to differentiate it from the other two models in the family. The guy who buys a 1 000 sure ashell doesn't want every one thinking he'son a 600! The fit and finish from Suzuki isvery good and is right on par with Yamaha and close to Honda's. Yamaha YZF-R I The RI has always been a very striking bike, especially the last version, but the new one takes the cake , for sure. From the headlights and ram-air intakes on the fairing to the veryslickunder-the-seat exhausts, Yamaha didanawe- some job stylingthe RI. One complaint is that the fairings must have about 20 separate pieces to them. including the split in the fuel tanklairbox. which is justa little too much for some. The dash is fineon the track, but on the street the smallish LCD screens can be hard to read. Asfor the rumors about excessiveheat from the Rl's tail section, it was neveran issue for us, but thenagain it was a cold and foggy day on our street ride. In the middleofJuly it may bean issue. The leveradju sters are a new design. Some likedthem, and some didn't, but there is plenty of adjustment. If lookscould kill. the RI would haveslaughteredthe rest of the competition beforea wheel was everturned. LIST PRICE $1 0.999 DISPLACEMENT 99Bcc ENGINE TYPE ....Liq uid-cooled, 16-valve. OOHC in-line four-cylinder fou r-stroke BORE x STROKE .76 x 55mm COMPRESSION RATIO 12.7:1 CARBURETION EFI w/(4) 4 3mm t hro ttle bo d ies IGN IT IO N Oigital TRANSMISSION Six-speed STARTING SYSTEM Electric FUEL CAPACITY .4.4 2 gal. WHEELBASE 55.4 in. RAKEITRAIL 24' /102mm SEAT HEIGHT 33 in. FRONT TIRE 120/ 70- 17 REAR TIRE 190/50-17 FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL.. .4.8 in. REAR·WHEEL TRAVEL. 5 in. FRONT BRAKE Dual 300mm discs w/radial-mount fo ur-p isto n calipers REAR BRAKE 220mm disc w/single piston caliper FINAL DRIVE Chain CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 374 Ibs. Dunlop D 2llB 6 P-A As always we decided to fitallof the bikes with stickyrubber for the racetrack, whichat Willow Springs is absolutely mandatory. On our street ride we ran each bike on its OEM rubber. Dunlop Sport Tire Services' DennisSmith worked hisass off at this shoo tou t and needsto be thanked big-time. He had to swap allof the tires over to the D208 GP-A tires prior to our taking to the track for the afternoon at the Streets and then hadto swap allseven bike tires again s' the next morningfor the bigtrack. To top it alloff, we completely roasted the tires halfway through the dayon the bigtrack, and he hadto do it one more time! Thank Dennis, we realty s appreciateyourhelp; we obviousty couldn't have done it withoutyou. Priorto our shootout, with our commitment already made to use Dunlop tires,we discov- ered that the company's new 190/50ZR17208 GP- had clearance issueson both the RI and A the LX- lOR. The issue isthatthe circumference of the tire istoo large, and asthe tire swells, it rubs the swingarm on those two bikes. Knowing this going in . dueto the misfortune of another magazine that discovered it the hard way - we chose to run the 1BO/55ZR17 tires on allof the bikes. That was the ontyoption, because Dunloponty makes the tire in two rear widths. Anytire thatcanput the power of these new-generation sportbikes to the ground isworking pretty hard. The GP-As did an awesome job, providingtons of side grip and plenty of feedbackon Willow's fast road course. The best attribute that the GP-Ashave ~ that they were very consistent from bike to bike.wnen were doingour hot laps, we were able to hop from bike to bike and trust the levelof grip immediately. despite the differentsetup characteristics. The tires seemed to be at their absolute best after sixor seven laps, at whichpoint the grip and feedback were excellent. By the time we did our hot laps, allseven of the bikes had received fresh buns. On bikes with as much power as these. predictability is paramount. The GP-As provide plentyof feedback, letting you know when you're approachingthe point of potentialdoom - the highside. We couldn't have been happier with the tires. which made riding these bikes a lot safer, faster and fun.