Re: [ST] Motorcycle online text, come and get me MO

["Denis Liakos" <denoose@xxxxxxx>]

Motorcycle Online's Shoot Out reviews:

Kawasaki:
So Kawasaki hit the drawing board, and not too long ago revealed a heavily 
revised ZX-10R for 2006. The most noticeable change was a big, shiny Ohlins 
steering damper mounted crosswise behind the top triple clamp, but the 
changes are much deeper than that.

The chassis receives the most changes, starting with the steering head being 
moved forward in the frame and strengthened. Next, the engineers moved the 
motor mounts forward and up, as well as rotating the engine back a few 
degrees. The swingarm pivot was also raised. These changes result in a 
higher center of gravity for better "roll response", according to the 
Kawasaki website. This required an oddball rear tire size, a 190/55-17, with 
a roughly nine mm higher profile to help keep the swingarm and chassis at 
acceptable angles. After all this revision, the wheelbase remains unchanged 
at 54.7 inches.

The motor got a few changes to improve power, feel and throttle response. 
The flywheel weight was increased to make things smoother, the 43 mm Mikuni 
throttle bodies were revised to improve fuel atomization, but the rest of 
the liquid-cooled, dual overhead cam, four valve per cylinder 998 cc mill is 
basically the same fire-breather, a shortsroke design, with a 76 mm
bore and 55 mm stroke that makes its peak torque at 9,600 rpm.

Braking is handled up front by a pair of comparatively small 300 mm floating 
"petal" rotors and four-piston, radial-mount calipers that use separate pads 
for each piston: Kawasaki claims better wear characteristics and less 
overheating and warping that way. The front forks are 43 mm cartridge units; 
fully adjustable, of course.

Some changes are for style and convenience. Gone is the wacky LCD 
tachometer, replaced with a very cool-looking analog tach sitting underneath 
a wafer-thin LCD screen with the speedometer on it. There's also a lap timer 
with handy bar-mounted controls. The exhaust has been moved under the seat, 
with two separate cans like the Yamaha R1. We inquired why Kawasaki didn't 
put them under the bike like the Ninja 650; apparently there's not enough 
room under a modern 1000cc sportbike to fit the big exhaust volume and 
catalytic converters to damp the sound and emissions to EPA or Euro 
III-friendly levels. What happened to freedom of speech?

The new styling is edgy and aggressive, with big headlamps flanking a big 
ram-air duct. The bike's important dimensions -- weight, wheelbase, seat 
height -- remain basically the same as before, but the significant changes 
should make this bike both easy to ride for novices and a wicked enough 
powerhouse to thrill the most jaded moto-journo on our staff. You get all 
this for an unchanged MSRP of a mere $11,199. But it's not the only bike 
that's been in training over the winter.

If you took the forgiving, stable chassis from last year's CBR and plopped 
in the rambunctious motor from the 2003-2005 ZX-10R, you might have a bike 
that feels like the new ZX-10R. The filling in the Twinkie is the standard 
Ohlins steering damper to tame its wild ways. Does it retain enough of the 
naughtiness from last year to sneak past the GSX-R ? Apparently not, but 
it's still a terrific bike that will reward Kawasaki fans by providing 
everything they like in a Kawasaki while still being easy and fun to ride. 
>From the hot new styling to the dyno-shredding rear tire, this bike really 
is working hard to please the crowd.

The styling for 2006 is not-too-shabby. Kawasaki's stylists somehow managed 
to make the bike even more menacing this year, although we all agreed it 
looks much better in black than the other colors, much to the chagrin of Big 
Brother Dale, who has "a thing" for red Kawasakis, according to Sean. The 
underseat exhausts and shapely new swingarm add a touch of class to a bike 
that already looked pretty good.

Seated on the new bike, the first thing that leaps into focus is the new 
instrument cluster. Kawasaki must have been tired of explaining why they 
used that wacky digital tach, because now the tachometer is analog, with the 
needle behind a wafer-thin screen for the speedometer readout. It looks very 
trick, but unfortunately Gabe found it hard to read the small stub of a 
tachometer needle because of poor contrast with the background color and the 
obscuring effect of the speedometer. Pete said the exact opposite and said 
it was the best in the test. Maybe Gabe needs glasses.

If you want to forget all about that, just fire up the motor. The engine on 
this bike sounds great, with the traditional Kawasaki intake sounds filling 
your helmet at high rpms. The clutch and gearbox are smooth and have a light 
feel, plus the fuel injection functions perfectly, so tooling around town 
isn't a problem.

The slightly lower level of comfort might be, though. The footpegs are low 
enough to offer plenty of legroom, the seat is pretty broad and comfortable, 
but the handlebars are noticeably lower than on the Yamaha and Suzuki. If 
you aren't hustling the bike through the turns, it can get uncomfortable 
during long  freeway rides. Wind protection is also not as good as the 
Honda's or the Yamaha's, but we know this isn't a touring bike, right?

Where the bike works well is in the twisties. Just leave it in second gear 
and squirting off the corners is absolutely not a problem, not with 166 hp 
it isn't. The motor is smooth almost everywhere, too; the second-smoothest 
motor behind the Honda's. Even then, it's pretty close. It encourages you to 
use the whole powerband, which can make the front wheel hard to keep on the 
ground.

When you do get the front wheel up, the steering damper and revised chassis 
keep things under control for when you land. Gone is the stubby, 
racer-with-headlights feel of the older Zed Ex. What replaces it feels 
slightly sanitized, with more of a refined Honda-like feel than that old 
burly Kawasaki charm. The bike does everything -- turn, brake, accelerate 
off turns -- as well as anything we've ridden.

On the racetrack, the Ten succeeds in being user-friendly and easy to ride. 
It steers with a light touch, but doesn't feel like it's flopping into the 
turns like the Honda does. It also holds its line well, even while trail 
braking. The motor makes way too much power for most riders and most tracks, 
but as long as the operator respects that it is very controllable; keeping 
the hard-to-see tachometer needle below 9,000 rpm aids in power management 
exiting turns.

     At the end of that straight, the ZX-10R's excellent brakes keep 
everything under control. Sean said that it "has the best brakes...they're 
noticeably more powerful. They're perfect; super-powerful without being 
touchy." The combination of radial mounted calipers, the radial-pump master 
cylinder and separate pads for each piston add up to give the Kawi the edge 
in the braking department.

Also contributing to the speed-with-safety theme on this revamped bike is 
that fancy-looking Ohlins damper mounted cross-ways behind the triple clamp. 
It's notable for being the only adjustable damper in the test, with that 
distinctive Ohlins feel coming through your fingers when you click the 
easy-to-access adjuster knob. On the track, you can actually feel the damper 
working smoothly and fluidly against the bumps and wheelie-divots that 
litter Buttonwillow's surface. Having a damper makes a big difference, and 
with the speeds and acceleration these machines are capable of, having a 
top-quality damper is muy importante. Kudos to Kawasaki for not skimping in 
this area.

The ZX-10R is designed to use a 190/55-17 rear tire, not the 190/50-17 size 
we used. Michelin doesn't make their Pilot Power Race in the correct size; 
in fact, almost nobody does. Kawasaki used the taller sidewall (the "55" 
refers to the sidewall being 55% of the tire width) to increase stability 
and traction. However, Kawasaki had two technicians at the track who did 
some suspension setup and adjustment to make sure the shorter profile didn't 
adversely affect handling or safety. They rode the bike (quickly, too!) and 
seemed to think the Michelins suited the bike just fine, and Sean agreed 
with them, having also ridden the bike on correct-sized tires at the bike's 
launch at Fontana; "I liked the way the ZX-10R felt with the different 
tires." If there's a reason the ZX-10R didn't win, it's not because of us 
changing the tires.

"I was convinced it was going to sweep the shootout this year", said Sean 
after the test concluded. He was pretty surprised that it didn't. It's a 
very good bike, one that will surely please anybody who buys one with its 
winning combination of stable, predictable and forgiving handling with a 
colossus of a motor. However, at the end of the day the Kawasaki just fell 
short in the charisma department on the track and on twisty roads. It also 
lacked the comfort that a good street bike needs. Were it not for the 
brilliance of the GSX-R's design the ZX-10R would have won handily; as it is 
it's a unanimous choice as second-best.

Honda:

 Over 60 percent of the bike's components were revised or redesigned, 
resulting in a bike that is a claimed 17 pounds lighter wet (although the 
Honda website notes just an eight pound difference between the two bikes in 
dry weight) and makes eight more hp than the 2005 bike on the MO Dynojet 
Dyno.

The frame is basically the same aluminum twin-spar job as the 2005's, but 
with a 20mm shorter swingarm and differences in steering geometry aimed at 
giving the bike a more exciting ride. The wheelbase is now down to 55.2 
inches from 55.6, rake is 23.45 degrees instead of the 23.75 degrees of the 
2005, and trail was reduced by 1/10th of an inch, to 3.9 inches. A 190/50-17 
rear tire is held up by an HMAS cartridge-style, fully-adjustable rear 
shock, and the front hoop is pointed down the road by a 43 mm upside-down
cartridge fork. Like a watchful bureaucrat, an HSED speed-reactive steering 
damper crouches atop the triple clamp to save us from ourselves.

The CBR's motor is a four valve per cylinder liquid-cooled 998 cc mill with 
a 76 mm bore and 56.5 mm stroke. Lighter dual overhead camshafts, a higher, 
12.2:1 compression ratio and a 12,200 rpm redline account for the power 
increase. It's fed by dual-stage fuel injection and sends power to the road 
via a six-speed cartridge-type gearbox that can be removed from the motor 
without the motor being pulled from the frame, just like a true race bike.

It's finished with radial-mount four-piston calipers gripping 320 mm brake 
discs in front; 10 mm larger than last year's. The bodywork is also thinner 
and lighter than last year's, and the new blue-and-yellow paint scheme gives 
the bike an aggressive, sporty edge.

The 2006 CBR1000RR is lighter, faster and promises quicker handling. Will 
these changes make the Honda the best liter sporting weapon? Or will they 
just detract from the user-friendliness and refined feel that Honda fans 
love?

You know the Honda isn't the winner, but you probably want to know about it 
anyway. It makes a wicked howl through the intakes at high rpm and has a 
top-end rush that will jolt your head back and loft the front wheel in every 
gear if you're not careful.

Here's the bottom line; it's a great motorcycle. It's fast, flickable, It 
makes a wicked howl through the intakes at high rpm and has a top-end rush 
that will jolt your head back and loft the front wheel in every gear if 
you're not careful.
great-handling, and has a
wicked edge to it that most consumer products in our baby-proofed world 
lack. What makes it so good, and with all this going for it, why isn't it 
the best?

Hopping on the Honda, the first thing you notice is the high seat and low 
bars. Sean noted the "reach to the clip-ons was nice on the racetrack, but 
awkward on the freeway". The footpegs feel further forward and higher than 
the other bikes, reinforcing the CBR's racetrack intentions. After that, you 
can take note of the nice feeling you get from the build quality and level 
of finish of the bike. Everything fits together beautifully, in typical 
Honda fashion. The instrument panel is one of the best in this test; well 
thought-out and easy to read.

After you fire the bike up, you notice an exceptionally smooth motor. From 
idle to over 12,000 rpm, the vibration level is noticeably less than the 
other bikes, although the Kawasaki rivals it for smoothness. The gearbox is 
also very nice, with a short throw and an almost liquid feel to the shifting 
action, no doubt aided by the smooth and light-feeling hydraulic clutch. If 
you're expecting refinement from the Honda, you won't be disappointed.

What will surprise you is how the bike squirts forward under hard 
acceleration, with the front wheel clawing at the air. Dale said he 
"couldn't keep the front wheel down" and Sean was all to happy to tease his 
big brother by doing a basketball dribble imitation with the front tire at 
80 mph on the freeway. The altered chassis, lighter weight and extra power 
have turned the mildest of the 1000s into a tounge-pierced hooligan's tool. 
However, the low bars, higher pegs and what managing editor Pete Brissette 
called a "plank of a seat" keep the bike from being too much fun around 
town.

Out on the open road, the Honda has a refined and smooth feel from the 
motor, and the wide, relatively tall windscreen offers good wind protection 
at higher (read: illegal) speeds, but long-distance comfort leaves something 
to be desired. Your wrists, butt, and lower back will probably be aching 
long before the low-fuel light comes on.
     On winding canyon roads, the CBR's quick, responsive feel and ample 
power means it will appeal to riders who want an edgier, more focused ride. 
Like all the bikes here, the suspension, chassis and motor capabilities are 
world-class and have limits far in excess of any sane person's comfort zone 
for street riding. The brakes are a perfect example of this excess; they 
feel a bit dull and unresponsive at first, and then come on, almost without 
warning, with incredible power. A single finger is sufficient for street 
speeds; two fingers will lift the back tire and screech the front. Like the 
motor, the brakes' power is sharp, strong, and a little harder to control 
than the other bikes.

The motor is really a departure from many Honda motors. It is silky-smooth 
and perfectly fuel-injected, but it makes a wicked howl through the intakes 
at high rpm and has a top-end rush that will jolt your head back and loft 
the front wheel in every gear if you're not careful. A motor like this is 
endlessly entertaining, and we at MO predict these bikes will be the darling 
of the Stunt Brigade as soon as enough of them hit the salvage yards. They 
will doubtlessly find the cassette-style transmission a handy feature. MO 
predicts chrome-plated second gear medallions will be the fashion statement 
of 2007.

On the track, the Honda felt the most unique. The altered chassis, extra 
oomph and lighter weight made the bike a different animal from last year. 
Gabe noticed it instantly, with the wider, forward-swept (but slightly 
adjustable) bars putting him in a very aggressive riding position that made 
the bike turn with lighting response. Sean noticed the Honda went from being 
the "heaviest steering to lightest steering. On the CBR you can just fling 
the thing in there...it's not unstable, just much easier to steer."

The bike has a real road-racer feel to it that harkens back to the original 
900RR/Fireblade days of 1993. It rewards highly-skilled riders, as the 
laptime differences between the CBR and other bikes when Sean was riding are 
smaller than when the other riders rode the Honda.
   Gabe also noticed the way the CBR seems to anticipate your every move. 
The very first time he went to turn the bike at Buttonwillow, at a low 
warm-up speed going into the "esses" after entering the track, the bike 
surprised him by turning noticeably quicker and harder than the bike he'd 
been riding the session before. After warming the tires, he was able to get 
on the gas harder, and the front wheel wanted to snap up into the air, 
matching the way the bike flopped onto its side in its immediacy.

After experiencing fantastic acceleration, thanks to a new, top-weighted 
powerband a noticeable drop in weight, it's time to get on the brakes. 
Although they have almost identical specifications to the other bikes in the 
test -- four-piston, radial-mounted calipers, huge floating rotors and 
radial-actuated master cylinder -- the rider still needed to pull the lever 
closer to the bar and squeeze just a bit harder to get the same power from 
the brakes, which come on all at once to match the bike's powerband. Because 
of this chassis and brake sensitivity, trail-braking into corners, 
especially tight, decreasing-radius ones is a tricky affair that requires 
skill and concentration to pull off smoothly.

We all agreed the CBR was a good choice for an expert rider on the 
racetrack, rewarding skill with laptimes matching the other bikes. But a 
less-confident rider might be overwhelmed with the bike's responsiveness and 
less-forgiving nature. Roadrace champ Doug Toland was very proud of the way 
he influenced the redeveloped bike's character, so it's no accident a 
racetrack hotshot like Dirty would appreciate it; "...thanks to the quick 
and direct responsiveness of its chassis, it was by far the easiest bike to 
thread through the esses because of its willingness to change direction at 
high speeds." All that wheelie-ing and quick turning was fun, sure, but for 
overall balance, feel and ease-of-use, we all felt the Honda didn't quite 
have what it took to be the best.


Other competitors were the GSXR 1000 and the R1...They picked the GSXR as 
their favorite

Denis Liakos
'06 Sunset Red ST
Off to Vermont for vacation 


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