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/1542345
'-t r I I BHOUSES a lil t a C- I I {r-1" I -r\r' I cW!.. a J, - =te - {r,r tra :+ , rr- ;AL a, nt o a t EJ Bv Burc Coxxsr PHoroi BY Bnnx J. NrEo eart-stopping accel6ration, razor-sharp handling. unpro- voked power wheelies and smoldering tires - yes, it s that time ofyear again. Time the hope that our differert choice o{ road- racing venue for this yea.r's comparison might improve their chances. Of the updated bikes, Kawasaki's ZX-|oR is the mqst changed, but the Honda (15 pounds lighter. more power) and Yamaha (updated chassis) have both been tweaked for improved per{ormance as well. Speaking of our designated racetrackg: This year we were back to the familiar Willow Springs Interoational Raceway (big track) for that portion of our testinS, while we once gaio retained the use of Los Angeles County Raceway for our accelera- tion tests. ,ust like last year, we also enlist- ed the help of our buddies Tom Montano (2001 Pro Thunder Champion) and Chuck Sorensen (three-time AMA 250cc Champion) and current Al'4A Superstock competitor Brad Puetz to offer feedback durinS the road-course testing. At LACR, former NHRA and AMA Prostar-regular Larry Laye was the main man abusing the clutch and smokin' the rear tires in an effort to net the best elapsed time from each bike. We also headed to our luper top-secret dyno facilit/, code-named Area f; to have Kerry Bryant run the bikes on the dyno. One thing that is always a possibilit), at Willow Springs is wind, and it started howl- ing in from the \ /est as we headed out on track for dre timed (ofiicial scoring) laps, To say that the lap times were skewed woLrld be unfair, but they weren't exactly what we expected either- fu lt turned out, the bikes that performed well on the track did so because of their rock-solid handlinS and good suspension, and not their outright horsepower. Come to think of it, despite the fast nature of the track, Willow tends to reward handlin8 more than power any. $/ay, so it shouldn't have come as a sur- prise. At the drag strrp rhings were very simi- lar to 2005, with Laye turning very similar times on the bikes that didn't chanSe. On the bikes that were updated (Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha) the quarter-mile times improved, but nor dramarically. Watching Laye ride is a lesson in consisten- cy. Once he finds a bike's sweet spot, he can click off nearly identicaltimes, run after TUn. We have committed to the same Formula One-sryle scoring system that we used last year, with l0 points for first, eight for second, six for third. five for fourth and so on to sixth place, in each category The categories are: racetrack performance, drag strip performance, dyno perform- ance, racetrack subjective and street sub- jective. For the subiective .atings each par- ticipant was asked to rate every aspect of each bike, including: €ngine, tiansmissiofl, fork, shock, turn-in, midcomer stabilit),, brakes. erSonomics, cockpit (including dash) and styling. Thefl we rated the bikes in order o, preference. Three riders participated in the timed racerrack porrion of the (est including Sorensen, lYontano and myself (Conner). All six bikes were fitted with fresh Bridgestone BT-002 tires for the official timed racetrack sessiqns. Each rider was allowed a warmup lap, three flyin8laps and a cool-down lap. At the drag strip the only thihg that we allowed Laye to change was to lower the rear-tire pressure - he even ran with the mrrrors in therr normal posF tions. No doubt, you will ultimarely find that there are some surprisinS results in this year's shootout. Some bikes have moved up the ladder and some have fallen to the bottom- Ei$er way, we re dead posrtive that we got it right, so read on to find out which bike was able to wiggle its way to the top of the scrum and take the title of Cycle News Open-Class champion for 2006_ to put the l000cc open-class misslles back ioto combat ard see which bike emerges the victor All six players from the 2005 shqotout have returned lor the opponunity to take home the b.agging riShts for 2006, Last year, an all-new Suzuki GSX-R1000 destroyed all comers by dominating the proceedings at Buttonwillow and Los An8eles County Raceways, in addition to topping the dyno charts and virtually sweeping our subiective rating categoraes. The scoring tiShtened up for rhe remaining finishing positions, but the Kawasaki ZX- l0R and Honda CBRl000RR rounded out the podium. The lithe handling Ducati 9995 was iust off the box in fourth while the Yamaha YZF-RI scored a disappointin8 fifth and the MV &usta F4- 1000 S brought up the rear in sixrh despite postiht the sec- ond-quickest quarter-mile time- For 2006, Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha have updated their bikes in an effort to catch the all-conquering Suzuki GSX-R, while Ducati and MV have both banked on 30 MARCH 15, 2006 CYCLE NEWS rt:-t::f 2006 Open-Closs Shootoul ! I I I Il v.' a f 1 I { I /l r ) ,, t I € \ r \ ,s . 4 -l I \ - I I -4 7 DUCATI 9995 V5. HONDA C I RIOOORR VS. KAWASAKI ZX.IOR V5.