Honorable Mentions
HONORABLE MENTIONS
AN EMBARRASSEMENT OF RICHES, CONTINUED
HONDA CBR1000F
This is an Open-class sportbike that isn’t exactly a sportbike. What it really is, is an iron fist in a velvet glove. The big CBR’s very smooth, very powerful engine and its extraordinary linked braking system—a system that gives new urgency to the “Stop!” command—make up the fist. The bike’s plush suspension, its cushy saddle and its comfortable, upright seating position are the velvet glove. The CBR100F is a terrific all-rounder that, at $7500, also qualifies as an Open-class bargain buy.
KAWASAKI ZX-11
With its flowing bodywork and lustrous paint, the ZX-11 looks much like any other Open-class sportbike. It isn’t. It’s been endowed with That Motor, an engine that turns this innocent burgundy bike into a land-based, landbound missile capable of 176 miles per hour. But the ZX-11 is more than a roadhugging rocket. It’s also quite happy to potter around town or to indulge in comfortable sport-touring. All in all, the ZX-11 is a considerable engineering achievement, and for it, Kawasaki’s engineers have CW's congratulations.
HONDA GL 1500 GOLD WING
This is a touring bike. Doesn't matter if your tour takes you on a Sunday-morning breakfast ride or to the four corners of the U.S.A., Honda has shown how it’s done, to the extent that most other manufacturers—willingly or unwillingly—have all but ceded this market segment to Honda. Must be nice. The bike certainly is. It’s incredibly plush, and is laden with commodious luggage compartments, cruise control, stereo and the best full-coverage fairing anywhere. Ultra-sporting, it isn’t. Incredibly capable, it is.
YAMAHA GTS 1000A
Behold, an example of what can happen when a Japanese engineering giant throws aside its innate institutional caution and decides to build what it can build, instead of what it perceives as safe to build. The result is the GTS 1000A, a technological tour de force that blends a computer-managed engine with a very stiff chassis and a swingarm front suspension. Whatever you think about the GTS's bulgy, avant-garde form, it’s tough to fault its function. The bike works. We applaud Yamaha’s boldness.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON HERITAGE SOFTAIL NOSTALGIA
You’ve got to love a bike that goes by the unofficial moniker “Cow Glide.” Mostly, it’s a Harley like any other Harley, riding a Softail frame and a fat, 16-inch front wheel, powered by a V-Twin engine much like all Harley V-Twins. What’s different is this bike’s blatant Holstein look—its black-andwhite paint accented by whitewall tires, and the outrageous patches of black-andwhite calfhide, complete with hair, that grace its saddlebags and seat panels. Only thing missing? A horn that says “Mooo.”
