| Feature article
by: Simon Bradley Since
the dawn of time, well, since Gottfried Daimler
bolted an engine to a bicycle, anyway, arguments have
raged over the best size and layout to have in a sports
bike. At the moment, looking on the world stage, it
looks as though a V-twin is the best way to go for competition
bikes. But on the road, four cylinder bikes dominate
sales, partly through cost and partly through their
sheer presence. So, layout aside, what�s the best way
to go? There are those who argue that there really is
no substitute for cubes. Others will say that corner
speed is king, and that a good lightweight will always
win. While some go for the best of both worlds and try
to get big power from a middleweight. We�ve had our
share of heated discussions about this as well, so we�ve
decided to sort it out. Once and for all. Preconceptions
are a terrible thing. We all have them, of course, in
spite of our best intentions. Look at us, for example.
Three road testers of similar experience. Adrian, having
spent his hard-earned on an R1, believes that any sportsbike
smaller than a litre is a mere pretender. Stuart, on the
other hand, worships at the altar of agility and is thus
the happy owner of a Triumph TT600. I, of course, am totally
objective in this area as my own bike is a GSX-R 750.
The fact that we have one with us on this test is, of
course, entirely coincidental and will not influence my
judgement in any way.
So. Do you really need a litre bike? Can a 600 really
be as quick as a 750, or indeed can a 750 live with a
1000? Adrian
Age 44, riding since Mr Daimler did his engine thing.
Fast, smooth and convinced of the merits of big powerful
bikes over weedy fine handling ones. Being used to�big-bore
superbikes for a long time now, both on road and track,
my initial thoughts about the 600 was that it was going
to have it�s work cut out just to keep pace with the 750
and no way was it going to keep up with the 1000. The
torque factor alone would somewhat restrict just what
you were going to be able to do with the 600, but in terms
of outright speed I suspected that all 3 bikes would be
of similar nature around the 14 � mile N�rburgring circuit.
I was somewhat dubious about the 600�s ability to cope
with the long hills and the sheer power needed to pull
out of some of the corners, but in terms of it general
handling I wasn�t concerned because a bike as agile as
the new GSXR600 should be able to play a game of catch
up,
if you were able to utilise its full potential. Having
ridden a 1000 sportsbike for more laps than I care to
remember around the N�rburgring, my natural choice would
have to be the GSXR 1000. It has the highest power and
torque of any current superbike on today�s market, so
the only question was whether you could use it to it�s
best at the track, and would it handle the road style
lumps and bumps of the Nürburgring under almost full
power without spitting you off into the Armco? Stuart
Age 43, been riding “a while.” Fast and incredibly accurate,
as befits an advanced instructor and Class One motorcyclist.
Believes in
the merits of agility over power. I like 600s because
they’re plenty fast enough for real roads riding while
remaining somehow more friendly than big bikes. He says,
thinking fondly of his fairly recently departed Daytona
955… I’ve seen enough GSX-Rs to know that they’re all
pretty well sorted and usually far roe capable than the
rider. Just like now, really. The 1000 may well be just
a little too much for an upright riding chap like me,
the 750 belongs to Simon and I don’t want to drop it so
I’ll probably end up happiest on the 600. So, um, that’s
my vote, then. Simon
At
38, only been riding for 24 years. Ex endurance and TT
racer, as well as sometime N�rburgring instructor. Fast
and usually smooth although has been known to get ragged.
As a racer, swears by 750s as the perfect combination
of power and agility. 600s are great, no
doubt about it. The combination of light weight and reasonable
power makes for a brilliant riding experience. Except
when you�re not totally committed, of course. At that
point the lack of torque and the need to constantly stir
the gearbox to keep any reasonable forward motion becomes
a pain in the neck. Litre bikes certainly address that
by throwing huge lumps of torque at the problem until
it vanishes in a haze of burnt rubber. And that�s the
problem � a litre class sportsbike has so much oomph that
it�s almost unusable in many circumstances and pretty
intimidating in most others. The 750 sits comfortably
between both camps, with enough power to remove the need
for constant gear swapping yet a gentle enough delivery
to make lighting the back tyre up at least a little less
likely. That�s why I bought one � plenty fast enough when
I want it to be yet easy going enough to use day to day
as well. And that’s why I reckon it will be the best bike
around here as well. There�s
only one way that we can really decide this.
Take the best sportsbike in each capacity group and ride
them back to back. The fact that the best in each class
happens to have the letters �GSX-R� in their names makes
the test rather easier � all have brilliant handling and
ace engines, and the shared gene-pool means that the playing
field is as even as it can be to start with. Talking of
playing field� This is not really a test we can do on
the road. Apart from the fact that we could never guarantee
consistent traffic conditions for long enough, getting
an accurate idea of performance with bikes like these
on public roads would result in the three of us being
banged up before you could say �Journalistic integrity,
Your Honour.� So we came to the N�rburgring instead. Why
the N�rburgring? Simple. 14� miles. Anything
between 64 and 170 bends, depending on how you count them.
1000 feet between the highest and lowest points. No speed
limits, no traffic coming the other way. But still close
enough to a normal road to be relevant for a test which
is, after all, aimed at you, the road rider. So how are
we going to do this? Quite straightforward, really. Each
of us will go out and ride as many laps as we can on each
of the bikes. We�ll try to get speeds at certain points
as well so that we can get an objective impression on
just how easy it is to get the power down. After we�ve
done that we�ll sit down and score each bike out of 10
for confidence, handling, braking, performance and overall
feel. There�s no point in scoring for comfort or looks
because they�re so alike that they should all score the
same. Then we�ll average the scores and that should give
us an overall winner. Place your bets, please� Next
week… The bikes |
Comprehensive litre bike comparison and buying guide
you really need a litre bike?
Feature article
by: Simon Bradley
Since
the dawn of time, well, since Gottfried Daimler
bolted an engine to a bicycle, anyway, arguments have
raged over the best size and layout to have in a sports
bike. At the moment, looking on the world stage, it
looks as though a V-twin is the best way to go for competition
bikes. But on the road, four cylinder bikes dominate
sales, partly through cost and partly through their
sheer presence. So, layout aside, what�s the best way
to go? There are those who argue that there really is
no substitute for cubes. Others will say that corner
speed is king, and that a good lightweight will always
win. While some go for the best of both worlds and try
to get big power from a middleweight. We�ve had our
share of heated discussions about this as well, so we�ve
decided to sort it out. Once and for all.
Preconceptions
are a terrible thing. We all have them, of course, in
spite of our best intentions. Look at us, for example.
Three road testers of similar experience. Adrian, having
spent his hard-earned on an R1, believes that any sportsbike
smaller than a litre is a mere pretender. Stuart, on the
other hand, worships at the altar of agility and is thus
the happy owner of a Triumph TT600. I, of course, am totally
objective in this area as my own bike is a GSX-R 750.
The fact that we have one with us on this test is, of
course, entirely coincidental and will not influence my
judgement in any way.
So. Do you really need a litre bike? Can a 600 really
be as quick as a 750, or indeed can a 750 live with a
1000?
Adrian
Age 44, riding since Mr Daimler did his engine thing.
Fast, smooth and convinced of the merits of big powerful
bikes over weedy fine handling ones.
Being used to�big-bore
superbikes for a long time now, both on road and track,
my initial thoughts about the 600 was that it was going
to have it�s work cut out just to keep pace with the 750
and no way was it going to keep up with the 1000. The
torque factor alone would somewhat restrict just what
you were going to be able to do with the 600, but in terms
of outright speed I suspected that all 3 bikes would be
of similar nature around the 14 � mile N�rburgring circuit.
I was somewhat dubious about the 600�s ability to cope
with the long hills and the sheer power needed to pull
out of some of the corners, but in terms of it general
handling I wasn�t concerned because a bike as agile as
the new GSXR600 should be able to play a game of catch
up,
if you were able to utilise its full potential. Having
ridden a 1000 sportsbike for more laps than I care to
remember around the N�rburgring, my natural choice would
have to be the GSXR 1000. It has the highest power and
torque of any current superbike on today�s market, so
the only question was whether you could use it to it�s
best at the track, and would it handle the road style
lumps and bumps of the Nürburgring under almost full
power without spitting you off into the Armco?
Stuart
Age 43, been riding “a while.” Fast and incredibly accurate,
as befits an advanced instructor and Class One motorcyclist.
Believes in
the merits of agility over power.
I like 600s because
they’re plenty fast enough for real roads riding while
remaining somehow more friendly than big bikes. He says,
thinking fondly of his fairly recently departed Daytona
955… I’ve seen enough GSX-Rs to know that they’re all
pretty well sorted and usually far roe capable than the
rider. Just like now, really. The 1000 may well be just
a little too much for an upright riding chap like me,
the 750 belongs to Simon and I don’t want to drop it so
I’ll probably end up happiest on the 600. So, um, that’s
my vote, then.
Simon
At
38, only been riding for 24 years. Ex endurance and TT
racer, as well as sometime N�rburgring instructor. Fast
and usually smooth although has been known to get ragged.
As a racer, swears by 750s as the perfect combination
of power and agility.
600s are great, no
doubt about it. The combination of light weight and reasonable
power makes for a brilliant riding experience. Except
when you�re not totally committed, of course. At that
point the lack of torque and the need to constantly stir
the gearbox to keep any reasonable forward motion becomes
a pain in the neck. Litre bikes certainly address that
by throwing huge lumps of torque at the problem until
it vanishes in a haze of burnt rubber. And that�s the
problem � a litre class sportsbike has so much oomph that
it�s almost unusable in many circumstances and pretty
intimidating in most others. The 750 sits comfortably
between both camps, with enough power to remove the need
for constant gear swapping yet a gentle enough delivery
to make lighting the back tyre up at least a little less
likely. That�s why I bought one � plenty fast enough when
I want it to be yet easy going enough to use day to day
as well. And that’s why I reckon it will be the best bike
around here as well.
There�s
only one way that we can really decide this.
Take the best sportsbike in each capacity group and ride
them back to back. The fact that the best in each class
happens to have the letters �GSX-R� in their names makes
the test rather easier � all have brilliant handling and
ace engines, and the shared gene-pool means that the playing
field is as even as it can be to start with. Talking of
playing field� This is not really a test we can do on
the road. Apart from the fact that we could never guarantee
consistent traffic conditions for long enough, getting
an accurate idea of performance with bikes like these
on public roads would result in the three of us being
banged up before you could say �Journalistic integrity,
Your Honour.� So we came to the N�rburgring instead.
Why
the N�rburgring? Simple. 14� miles. Anything
between 64 and 170 bends, depending on how you count them.
1000 feet between the highest and lowest points. No speed
limits, no traffic coming the other way. But still close
enough to a normal road to be relevant for a test which
is, after all, aimed at you, the road rider. So how are
we going to do this? Quite straightforward, really. Each
of us will go out and ride as many laps as we can on each
of the bikes. We�ll try to get speeds at certain points
as well so that we can get an objective impression on
just how easy it is to get the power down. After we�ve
done that we�ll sit down and score each bike out of 10
for confidence, handling, braking, performance and overall
feel. There�s no point in scoring for comfort or looks
because they�re so alike that they should all score the
same. Then we�ll average the scores and that should give
us an overall winner.
Place your bets, please�
Next
week… The bikes
Return
to Features Index Page