Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I know it - l'm fortunate to have the I best iob in the world. and the dream I .hrn.. to comoare and contrast all I five of 2005's mainstream militants I rn ttre ongo,ng two-wheered war that is Motoce and it brought only one possible winner. Valentino Rossi didn't win his filth successive World crown because he's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, racer of all time - but also because he has provided the guidance and wisdom, as well as the incentive, for Yamaha to refine the YZR-M I into what is, unquestionably, the pick of the four- stroke GP field at the present time. Just as he did with Honda before that. Building on its success in 2004, Yamaha and Rossi have iointly developed the finest motorcycle that has ever been my privi lege to ride. Even though Rossi insists that the rZR-M I takes a long time to dial in perfectly for each circuit, the package Yamaha ended up delivering for him to do business with has now been improved to an impressive degree of all around excel- lence. On top of the '04 Yamaha's bench- mark responsiveness and controllability, an extra level ofstraight line performance has now been added, which eliminated its Honda rival's only substantial ad\rantage - thanks to the exra power achieved by Yamaha's new shoner-stroke four-cylin- der motor. The fact that the M I redlines iust 50O rpm less than the theoretically much hiSher-rewing five-cylinder, Honda undeGcores Yamaha's achievement in delivering this extra speed wkhout sacri- ficing the Ml's greatest asset - its wide spread of power and rideability. EYerything about the Yamaha seems delicate and refined. lf the Ducati Desmosedici is the mde of the motor- cycle species in the way it handles and puts its undeniably impressive power to the ground, the Yamaha is almost femi- nine by comparison, sweet and well- behaved, albeit definitely requiring a more delicate biddinS to get the best out of her, where the Ducati dictates a more physical riding style, and the Honda comes in somewhere between the two. The Yamaha seemed so comfortable - and comfortinS - to ride by comparison to the other MotoGP contenders from Suzuki and Kawasaki, which I tested the same day at Valencia- Both these two bikes felt slqwer but paradoxically hard- er to ride (less forgiving and much less relined than the YZR-M l) with a more aggressive power delivery - only, less of it! The Kawasaki ZX-RR is a comparatiye- ly raw-edged, rather all-or-nothing example ofa work in proSress. lt isn't yet producing quite enough power to get on terms with its rivals, and also doesn't yet have quite the sense of relinemem or controllability that the faster, better-han- dling Yamaha does. Kawasaki especially needs to find a way of taming the vicious thrgttle response of its in-line four, which must make it extremety challenging for Shinya Nakano to ride the bike with worn Bridgestone tires in the last l0 l+s of a race, Still, the green machine had better traction in this season's big-bang form than the screamer I tested a year ago, even if the extra Srip this delivered then led to problems holding a line in turn! with the light-switch power delivery ln a year when Suzuki demonstrated by its dominance of the World Superbike Championship that what they don't know about making fast four-strokes hasn't yet been written, riding the holdover XRE 2.3 vercion of their narrow-angle 65-degree V4 GSV-R was a disappointment. While this feels to have its mass more compact- ed together than the YZR-M I and ZX-RR in-line fours, the Strzuki feels physically taller and bulkier, as well as heavier-steer- in8, even if it does keep up corner speed well - when there's no faster bike parked in front of you in a turn. No question when you ride it that the '05 V-four engine seems more potent - but only at the expens€ of a power deliverl that's far more layered than a year ago, when the XRE2 motor with its then-new 360- degree firing order had seemed so very torquey and ,lexible. Which leaves the two "butch bikes" of MotoGP of which the Ducati GP5 for sure takes the award as most improved motorcycle of the 2005 season, with the Italian company's Bridgestone bet startinS to pay dividends, A far more homoge- neous package than its flawed GP4 pred- ecessor, the 2005 Ducati has more assured handlin8 than a year ago, still allied to the ltalian v-four's legendary per- formance. However, it was noticeable when riding it that this is quite a peaky motor - Ducati lowered the rev-limiter so much for the press test at Valencia that I never even saw the shifter light llash once on an engine redlined at 17,500 rpm, as ir was limited ro 16,000 revs for our few laps each. However, even with this hand- icap it was evident that the optimum desmodromic blend of power, speed and handling was now much closer to anain- ment, and the Ducati will be a contender for top honors in 2006 for sure. So that leaves Honda, a bike that has now been truly rendered second best by the better-balanced-feelinS Yamaha- By contrast, while always impressively flexi- ble and still very powerful, with more than 260 hp on tap in 2005 for the first time, the Honda seemed slightt haGher and rougher to ride than in previous years - less T\ ) 4 t J_._.' a s I --/ '1 a- \.' P ! /.- --

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