Turn&burn

TURN&BURN

CW COMPARISON

Zero to 180 mph on three miles of empty concrete, lapping a world-class racetrack and life on the street with the planet's most powerful production motorcycles

MARK HOYER

WE WERE IN A LAND WITHOUT LAWS, A PLACE WHERE the only true limits were imposed by physics. Parked before us were nine of the most powerful production motorcycles ever made, while stretching out to the horizon and beyond was a 3-mile strip of smooth concrete, waiting to be devoured in great gulps by our amazing collection of rapid hardware.

This was a speed junkie's dream, the ultimate playground for unleashing the last possible shred of straight-line pert or mance the worlds best sportbikes could deliver. The place was the Lemoore Naval Air Station in central California, our entry graciously allowed by command at the base because, we suspect. they understand the joy of pure power and exploring the performance envelope. Our players were liter-and-up hyperhikes that stood a chance of succeeding at the ultimate acceleration run: Zero to 1 80 mph. There were four Japanese I 000s. three exotic Italians and a pair of big-block (iTs. For some extra spice to go along with our street-legal road-burners, we also invited John Noonaii and his land-speed-record-holding. 390-horsepower turbo Flayabusa. as well as John Hennessey of Hennessev Pertbrmance. who rolled through the security gates oil a cool Saturday morning with a custom Ford (iT sporting a modified 91 5-horsepower twin-turbo V-Fight. for a little super car comparison. (For more on both, see "Under Pressure" sidebar.)

But because life is not, unfortunately. an empty stretch of straight concrete that seems never to end. we also hit Vv~rld Superbike-hosting Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele. Utah. to get a taste of at-the-liniit cornering. And under an additional `~unfortunate" heading is the fact tli.it lit~ is ilot a smooth and entertaining world-class racetrack, so bashed it out on some of the gr~at (and not so great) roads in Southern and Central California, for a r~iajor dose of perfor mance under the constraints of the Real World, where speed and cornering angle are mediated somewhat by what may lay around the next blind corner.

But first, our trip to fantasy land, and gazing out with anticipation at NAS Lemoore's Runway 32R. While this place was the perfect setting to test for outright top speed, that piece of data has become largely irrelevant on liter-classand-up machines since 2000, when motorcycle manufactur ers agreed to limit maximum velocity to 300 kph, or 186 mph, a speed nearly every production bike here either flirted with, bounced off of or even slightly surpassed. Which is why we concentrated on acceleration to Very High Speed.

And it was time to release the clutch... Road Test Editor Don Canet was the main man in the saddle, and after our VBOX GPS timing system acquired its satellites, he was off, vanishing into the puddle-like mirage that was the distant horizon.

"This place is way better than Bonneville because on the salt you're always looking for your line or soft spots," Canet said. "Here at Lemoore, it's so wide, consistent and smooth that for half the run I found myself staring at the tach and speedo trying to see if rpm or speed were rising and hardly looking up, which is just bizarre!" Launches took a bit more concentra tion, of course. But it was plain which bikes got off the line best by looking at the 0-60-mph times. It does seem somewhat ironic that the heaviest machines-the Kawasaki ZX 14 and Suzuki Hayabusa-were quickest, but their controllable torque delivery plus extra weight and wheelbase paid big dividends leaving the line.

"The `Busa feels like a 2-ton locomotive after the lighter bikes," Canet said. "But at high speed you can just tell that this is what the bike is all about-it's really in its element. I like the way the ZX-14 launches-it has great clutch feel-but it is a bit more wheelie-prone than the Suzuki after that." Surprisingly, neither of these big bruisers was king of the Big Sprint to 180 mph. The Hayabusa set the benchmark to 100 mph with a blistering 4.99 seconds but finished third overall with its 13.26-second 100-180 burn. The 14, mean while, ended up midpack after a solid 0-60 and sub-lO-sec ond quarter-mile. "The Kawasaki seemed to take a long time to get to the top end," confirmed Canet. An entertaining aside is that the instant fuel-economy reading on the dash said the big Ninja was getting 10.8 mpg at 175 mph.. .not bad!

DUCATI 1098

$15,995

The two Ducatis on hand had pretty different performance levels, which was expected from a $15,995 standard 1098 versus the $39,995 1098R homologation special with 99cc more displacement, lots of fancier parts and a very light 402-pound dry weight. In fact, the standard model topped out at "just" 163.39 mph and posted the slowest quarter-mile run. Even the 100-150-mph measurement-which negates launch woes encountered with the dry clutch-was a lazy 6.19 seconds. The R, in contrast, used its 166 rear-wheel horsepower (23 over the base model!) to good effect but still finished in the bottom three to 180 mph. We noticed on the dyno that the R's power was still climbing when the engine hit the same 10,400-rpm rev-limit as the non-R, and also had been told this bike was using a "hybrid" ECU, not the final version. Ducati North America said the ECU did have a top speed limiter, but that U.S. 1098Rs may not and wasn't sure of other possible differences.

Canet came back from his run on the all-new Honda CBR1000RR and said it felt like one of the quicker bikes. "Playing around on the way back, I couldn't believe I was pulling 110-mph power wheelies in third gear!" he exclaimed. The RR was super-solid in the midrange, as its dyno numbers showed. Honda engineers made a definite choice to increase the power and torque (impressively) from 4000-10,000 rpm, where the CBR makes more juice than the other l000s. But it trades this for a decreased bottom end and slightly lower peak hp output that rolls over well short of redline. Off the line, Canet also struggled with the clutch and its "assist" feature that squeezes the plates under load, which caused action to be grabby. Toss in a short 55.6-inch wheel base and its impressive 413-pound dry weight (a pound lighter than a GSX-R600!), and the Honda's wheelie-happy nature in the lower gears kept Canet very busy leaving the line, hurting the "short times."

Of the four-cylinder bikes, the Yamaha YZF-R1 offered the least power and torque. Nonetheless, it still hung with the 1098R and CBR up to 180 mph, plus delivered competi tive if not outstanding quarter-mile performance. As with all the machines, Canet was impressed by the Ri `s high-speed stability. "I can't believe how composed all these bikes are," he said. Like several other machines, the Ri revved higher in the lower gears than it did in sixth, with its tach reading 14,400 rpm at the limit in the bottom ratios, but stuttering at 13,700 in top. The only liter bike to get into the 9s in the quarter-mile was the 163.2-horsepower Suzuki GSX-R1000. It pulled hard to 150 mph with the second-quickest showing (ahead of the `Busa and 14!) and was near the top among 1000cc bikes to 180 mph. Check the chart: The big Gixxer was a contender in every regard.

But the real standouts were the MV Agusta F4 312 RR 1078 (say that fast three times!) and Kawasaki ZX-1OR. Both bikes impressed on the dyno with more than 160 horse power, but the near1100cc MV really cranked at 167.5 hp. The 4 extra horses over the 1OR (not to mention the MV'S stouter torque) was apparent to Canet. "On the Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha l000s, when I got to second gear things settled down and they didn't wheelie much," he said. "But on the MV I was far from being out of

HONDA CBR1000RR the woods!"

$11,599

Once the MV could T eat full throttle, it started flying with a 12.7-second 100-180-mph time and a 0180 of 17.98, a half-second quicker than the GSX-R. And the "312" part of the name that is supposed to signify top speed in kph? It went 187 mph, about 7 mph short of claimed.

As fast as the throaty Italian symphony of power was, it was no match for the subtle-yet-wicked Kawasaki, King of the Runway on the fast end of the scale. It was the only bike to reach 150 mph in the quarter-mile (with a 10.01 E.T.), had the fastest 100-150-mph time and beat the second-best MV from 0-180 mph by just over seven-tenths of a second. All the more impressive because the 0-60 and 0-100-mph num

bers were just ho-hum (in this amazing group, anyway). Just process the numbers here for a moment. A bonestock $11,549 production motorcycle that has a silkysmooth idle, easy starting and mild freeway cruising man ners-and got 42 mpg on the street ride to Lemoore-accel erated from a dead stop to 180 mph in 17.2 seconds in just over a half-mile, or 880 yards. It took you longer to read this paragraph! There is no better perfor mance-per-dollar vehicle, two r~i~tr groiuil'bowklpr air mi1~ t~affic-free runway as árt of you~ comnuite ôi Sunday ride, go green!

Burning" Lemoore was a blast, and our Navy hosts couldn't have been friendlier or more accommodating, but taking all these incredible-handling motorcycles to a place without corners felt, frankly, a little wrong!

Which is why we went "Turning" at Miller Motorsports Park (www.millermotorsportspark.com) and got some excel lent seat time on all kinds of roads.

At the track, we used the West Loop, a flowing and fun 2.2-mile ribbon of smooth asphalt with mild-but-interesting elevation changes. All the bikes were equipped with multicompound Pirelli Diablo Corsa III tires in OE-fitment sizes. They provided excellent grip and were consistent the length of the day. Local ace and Freddie Spencer school instructor Shane Turpin was on hand to show us the fast line and help us out with tire-warmers and such from his well-stocked pit garage. Thanks, bro!

During street testing, we ran on the as-delivered stock tires and rode fast and slow, but mostly fast... For bikes, we were riding the Attainable Eight, keeping the 1098R and its traction-controlled 1198cc engine (plus its $40K, make-your-reservation-now price tag) out of the mix. As mentioned, after the high-speed stuff we were stunned at how much perfor mance is available at such a low cost. Even the MV 1078 and its TBD MSRP (expect high $20,000 range) is far, far cheaper than any exotic car. In addition to set ting the fastest lap

KAWASAKI ZX-10R time at Miller (1:37.9), the MV was really something to ride. "It feels like a Superbike," said Cernicky, wide-eyed and breathing hard after his stint. "It is hard to trust the front trail-braking deep into corners, but what you give up on entrance feels like it is made up in the first 3 feet off the apex because of that motor! It's volatile..."

$11,549

That is something coming from Cernicky, himself a lover of excess. Everything about the MV was hard, from the seat to the edges of the bodywork to aggressive throttle response to the technique it took to ride it fast. "This bike definitely demands you adapt to it, not the other way around," said Associate Editor Blake Conner.

Senior Editor Paul Dean summed it up: "Although it is rewarding to ride, it's also hard to ride. There is no `neutral' throttle; the thing is either accelerating or decelerating, with no in between. There's harshness to practically everything the MV does. It's the antithesis of refined, a bike that does not include the word `finesse' anywhere in its résumé." Still, this is the most polished MV we've tried. Engine braking is now under control, the slipper clutch is sweet, fueling is good without quite being great and on the street the suspension doesn't completely kick your ass. In the right setting, it is magnificent to ride, but does anybody actually buy one of these to commute?!

Kawasaki can say what it will about its "Ignition Management System" and that it may con trol rear wheelspin under certain cir cumstances, but I am positive that it is fully possible to nearly highside yourself exiting Miller's Black Rock Hairpin. Dang, this thing stepped out big!

-~---t----.~_~,____'-' Redone steering was supposed to have heightened stabil ity, but turn-in remains ultra-quick, and between that ability to snipe the apex and strong drive at the exit, the Kawasaki impressed with the second-fastest lap time (1:38.3) dur ing Super Cernicky Pole. But he had his issues, too. "The front felt a little bound up on the brakes and I even locked the front once," he said. "And the feeling from the rear was somewhat vague during corner exits."

Canet also had reservations when riding at the limit. "The ZX I rode at the Qatar press launch never felt settled in corners and wallowed a bit driving out. I liked our testbike at Miller better, most of all its light handling and lighteffort controls, but even here it proved less planted than the Japanese competition, exhibiting a hint of front-end shimmy felt in the bars when powering out of corners."

Ridden hard on the street, it behaved better but still didn't provide as much front-end feedback after that quick initial turn-in response, leaving riders feeling wary. Back off the dizzying pace and that flightiness is gone, leaving a lightsteering and pretty comfortable bike that is easy to ride. The engine surprisingly feels more restrained than you'd expect from a 163 .5-hp motorcycle, but clearly it has the capabilities to turn in the lap times if you've got the cojones to push it.

Amazing how normal the Ducati 1098 felt after riding the MV. Bologna has been hard at work taking the unpleasant edges off the "character" points of its superbikes. The clutch works better than ever, fuel delivery is great, seat is support ive (if thin), maintenance costs are reduced and the styling is lovely. Sure, the tailpipe often overheats your lower body, but you can't expect head product man Claudio Domenicali to make a Buell, can you?!

On the road and track, feedback was phenomenal, chassis control sublime and stability topped the charts. But so did steering effort. Hey, it's Italian, and it definitely hasn't gone completely soft. The narrowness of the engine and footpeg location does impart a feeling of lightness, though, and once you recalibrate your brain from all these screamin' Fours, you find this big V-Twin loves to lug.

"I had a picture in the back of my mind of an Italian gentleman sitting legs crossed, sipping a cappuccino," said Cernicky after his 1:38.6 lap that tied the Ducati with the GSX-R1000 for fourth. "He ashes his cig and says to me, `Relax you don't need that downshift, just look farther up the track and roll the throttle open.. .we'll get there just fine.'" I didn't know Cernicky spoke Italian!

Yep, run it in deep, trust those amazing brakes, don't fuss with seven downshifts and just roll `er on. Those 330mm Brembo front discs gave the most power for the least amount of effort, which bothered several testers on the track and later on the street. They are either super low effort or a bit touchy, depending on your view.

Bottom line, this bike tolerates the street well but never coddles, and feels born to lap the racetrack. Which, of course, it was.

On the other hand, the big bombers-Hayabusa and ZX 14-were eyed suspiciously in the garage at the racetrack. We knew they couldn't run repli-racer lap times, but would they even survive out there. Would we? At Miller, the 14 was by far the most out of its element. The cushy seat and sus pension that helped our testers glide up Interstate 5 in com fort were definitely at the limit early, with the fork being the biggest letdown. We cranked preload and

KAWASAKI ZX-14 upped damping, but it never worked adequately, even at a 7/ioths track pace. The front tire would patter and the bars wiggled in protest. This limited its lap time to a 1:46.0.

$11,699

The Hayabusa was better; in fact, it felt like a giant GSX-R. Firmer damping and stiffer springs than the ZX-14 meant you could just roll the bike right onto its footpeg feelers, and it was, of course, highly satisfying on corner exits. Due to its weight and wheelbase, no match for the racer-replicas though it lapped at a respect able 1:43.4. If occasional track work is on the menu and you want a big bruiser, the `Busa is your bike. Both were definitely much more in their element on the street. "The Hayabusa is a surprisingly capable bike on a backroad," said Dean. "Despite its size and length, it was easy to ride fast through the twisties, and the motor just added to the fun."

The ZX-14 could be pushed to the pace if necessary, but it is much more of a comfortable and fast GT rather than a backroad scratcher. At the end of a long day, no bike was more welcoming than the ZX-14, followed by the `Busa. If we'd spent more time on freeways and less time scraping pegs, these two big fellas would have fared better, but both still impressed.

The Yamaha Ri exhibited strong performance at the MasterBike track test last year, and in our 2007 street test ing it showed well except for fuel-injection issues relating to the ride-by-wire throttle. Happy to report no such issues this year, although power and throttle response for a liter bike are not up to class standards. It is nonetheless a strong all-around performer, as made evident in its third-quickest-overall lap (1:38.5) at Miller. "After a little ini tial reluctance, once I dive-bombed into corners the Yamaha would hold a nice,

tight, curb-hugging line," said Cernicky. "Nothing dramatic ever happened and the only surprise I got from the Ri was its quick lap time."

Canet had similar feelings. "While the high altitude of over 4000 feet at Miller tamed all the bikes, none was more noticeable than the Ri, which actually felt soft coming off certain corners even when revs were upward of 9000 rpm," he said. "I found myself at full throttle while the bike was

MV AGUSTA F4 312 RR 1078 still leaned over! Chassis stability was very good but turn-in was also heavier than with the other liter class Japanese bikes." The Yamaha Ri con tinued its solid perfor mance when we hit the road, but solid doesn't

mean "standout." "Ergonomically, the Ri was my fave of the six repli-racers," declared Dean. "Its bars are higher and the footpeg-to-seat span greater, making for a very un-racer like riding position. Combine that with the good suspension rates, and a long day on the Ri can be a pleasant experience. It just came up a whisker short in enough departments not to make my personal podium."

For years, the CBR1000RR was the liter-bike people usu ally loved on the street for polish and smoothness and just plain Hondaness. At the same time, pure excite ment wasn't the first thing that came to mind. "The CBR is nothing at all like its immediate predecessor, and that's a good thing," declared Dean. "This new one is lighter, faster, more nimble, more fun. It's arguably the most flickable of the bunch."

SUZUKI GSX-R1000

$11,499

One of Canet's strong points is his clinical detachment when it comes to testing bikes. Of any of us, he is best at staying focused on the task of testing and not letting excite ment get the best of him.

And yet: "Wow! Honda has really pulled the stops and gotten serious this year," he enthused. "The highlight of our street ride came for me while aboard the Honda when we rode Highway 58 down to 33. With the CBR's midrange hit, this bike power wheelies like no other! I'm most excited by the low floaters finishing out corners that would raise a nostalgic tear in Fast Freddie's eye. It's just plain old-school powerband fun backed with modern confi dent stability."

But both at the track -and on the street, suspension didn't feel quite as planted as the GSX-R's, and while the power-when it was in the power-was awesome, if you dropped down too far in the revs, response was flatter. It was also "just a half-size too small," said 6-foot-2 Dean, which was the case for several of us larger guys. During timed sessions, Cernicky wrestled a bit with the CBR. "The rear wanted to pass the front on the brakes," said Cernicky. "It was also spinning the tire on corner exits. Plus, the gearing was just off in a couple of corners leading to important straightaways, and that led to the sixth-place result." The CBR ended up a few tenths off `the rest of the repli-racers at 1:38.8.

The Honda is a thrilling-to-ride turnaround from a sometimes-conservative company. For pure, focused fun on a backroad, this bike does not disappoint. Last year in our street comparison of the big supersports, the GSX-R topped the charts. It returned this year with no changes, which is just fine. Even for the CBR-loving Canet.

"Well into the street ride once my aging ass had worn thin and my lower back begged for a break, the GSX-R's cushy saddle and relatively relaxed racer reach was a good reprise," he offered. "Then again, it did follow the merciless MV in the rotation! Still, it's the best of the supersports in comfort and overall refinement." Actually, everybody liked the riding position and smooth> yet-controlled suspension. Charging hard on a backroad is when you want options in case of surprises, and we all felt like we had more choices on the GSX-R. Comfort was com pared to that of the `Busa. Fuel mapping was excellent from idle to redline, with peak power on par with the Kawasaki while providing a stronger midrange. The CBR did outtorque it, provided revs were above 6000, but below that the Suzuki did better while also delivering more meat at the top.

"I really love this bike; I trust it infinitely on a winding road," said Conner. "The level of feel from the chassis and the telepathic connection to the throttle bodies allowed me to get the most out of the big Gixxer's performance without breaking a sweat."

Yes, when it came time to go as fast, the GSX-R simply satisfied, street or track. All riders complimented the bike for its ability to change line, dive to the apex, remain stable and exit corners hard without running wide. Said Cernicky after his 1:38.6 track stint: "I couldn't believe that the five laps were over because I still felt totally relaxed. I could have lapped at that pace all day." Added Canet: "This bike is a powerhouse performer with plenty of muscle, but it proved incredibly confidence-inspiring when ridden hard around Miller. The sense of connection between the throttle and rear contact patch was the best of any bike I rode there. I'm amazed by the GSX-R's agility-it delivers an impression of being smaller than it actually is."

When we dropped the checkered flag, all the track-ori ented bikes were within 1 second of each other, and each rider set his personalbest time on a differ ent machine! That is parity. Big props to MV for turning in the best time and to all the manufacturers for building bikes that go so fast so easily, but everyone got off the

SUZUKI HAYABUSA GSX-Rl000 smiling big gest. It was also quite close on the street, with the GSX Rjust getting more votes than the CBR. If you're looking for rowdy fun, you could easily live with the Honda, but if you want a sportbike that is impeccably balanced in every venue, the Suzuki is tough to beat.

$11,999

W e all love a good story, a clear victor after a hard-fought battle. And we definitely had a ding-donger here, in every imaginable setting. As for a clear winner... Three bikes excited us more than the others and kept pop ulating the testers' rankings after all the riding was finished: Ducati 1098, Honda CBR1000RR and Suzuki GSX-R 1000. While the MV Agusta is a beautiful, magnificent, hardedged motorcycle powered by one of the most evocative and powerful engines ever hung between two wheels, that is what it does, nothing else. A must-have for some, to be sure, but for most it is not the answer. The Hayabusa and ZX-14 cod dled us with their comparative comfort and amazing torque, but an extra 100 pounds (or more!) shows itself everywhere, and in a search for the best-at-everything sportbike, porki ness is a clear DQ. Kawasaki soothed the savage beast that was the old ZX-1OR, while still making the new bike scream. In clinical, hard-number terms, the Kawasaki is tops because it smoked the runway, set the second-quickest lap time and was pretty comfortable on the street. But riders needed more faith in the front end when pushing hard, and even wanted some of that good old midrange torque back. The YZF-R1 did a lot of things well, but when you're 4-9 hp down on the 1000cc competition and soft on middle-rpm response, it's easy to get lost in a fast crowd, even with good lap times.

The 1098 was a deserving winner of our Best Superbike trophy last year and lost none of its racetrack-refugee appeal. But in this all-encompassing comparison, its Superbike-style emphasis hurt it in the daily grind, and its lower peak power hurt its acceleration numbers. Magic on the track or the right backroad doesn't mean it could do it all.

The CBR1000RR gets credit for feeling like a hard-edged 600 (and weighing less than some competing manufacturers' middleweights!) with a huge engine stuffed in it. But it never truly settled in at the track, it wasn't quite as comfortable or as flexible on the street and that mega-midrange engine trades enough at the bottom and enough at the top to just hold it off the top spot.

After all the rider notes were turned in, there wasn't one

YAMAHA YZF-R1 bad comment about the Suzuki. Testers lauded its steering, brakes, suspension, power delivery and comfort-on both street and track. It excelled in otherworldly acceleration at Lemoore, it lapped con sistently for more riders at Miller, while in the real world more people fit the bike and it fit more people. Along the way, it did exactly what we expected of a liter-class sportbike at every turn and on every straightaway. The GSX-Rl000 simply does more things better in every setting, while asking the rider to give up less. Turn, burn or just ride to work, it's the one.

$11,699

For more "Turning and Burning," log on to www.cycleworld.com