Whither the Passenger?
Whither the passenger?
ROUNDUP
STEVE ANDERSON
WHAT NEW MOTORCYCLE COULD I POSSIBLY BUY?” ASKED our columnist-about-town, Peter Egan. “It’s important to me that a motorcycle be comfortable two-up,” said the man who rarely takes a long bike trip without his wife Barb, “and other than BMWs and big touring bikes, that simply hasn’t been a consideration on modern bikes.” Barb, who has an opportunity to try the passenger accommodations of a fair number of Cycle World test bikes, shares that concern. “Don’t sell the Kawasaki,” she’s told Peter. So Egan is indeed keeping his 1980 KZ1000.
Shown in this issue, however, is at least one attempt to answer Egan’s question: Honda’s new Pacific Coast.
Now, we’re not sure if this unusual 800cc V-Twin with its almost scooterish plastic bodywork will be an acceptable reply to the very traditional Egan. But our contacts inside Honda do tell us that this new machine is a sporttourer designed so that two people can ride it comfortably. And just as certainly, for the last few years, when we’ve had the chance, we’ve told Honda and other motorcycle companies that passenger comfort is a significant issue for more motorcycles than just Gold Wings and Electra Glides.
With the big touring bikes, all motorcycle manufacturers are aware that the person sitting on the back is important, that the passenger may even be instrumental in deciding which touring rig to buy. And the same companies are also aware that with either GSX-R-type race replicas, or with some of the more radical,
chopperish customs, that passenger comfort takes a decided, er, back seat to performance or style. They’re right on both extremes.
But in the middle-ground of motorcycle designs, more attention should be paid to passenger seating. We’re aware of that, because we keep finding fewer nontouring bikes in our shop we’d want to put our wives or girlfriends on for a trip of more than a few miles. Most sportbikes, even the ones like Katanas and Hurricane 1000s that have no racing pretensions, have rear footpegs too high (to clear stylishly upswept exhaust systems) and rear seats too narrow and unpadded. And even when the rear seat is sufficiently soft, it too often slopes so radically that a passenger continually slides forward.
Most of the V-Twin cruisers, while not as bad as the worst of the sportbikes, have similar problems, with rear seats too narrow and uncomfortable for more than short trips.
Seat designs and passenger riding positions are two of the things that have not progressed in the last decade. Some of the most comfortable motorcycles to ride twoup, short of a full-dress touring bike, where the standards of the late 1970s. By then, at least some companies had learned how to design a good seat (and made it easy for themselves by keeping it wide and flat), and left enough room that two people could fit comfortably. If nothing else, today’s motorcycle designers might want to go back and look at bikes like the 1978 Suzuki GS1000 or the 1980 Kawasaki KZ1000, both of which had much better seats than most of today’s bikes.
We’re not suggesting a return to the 1970s, or that all future motorcycles look like Honda’s Pacific Coast; but we do know that the average motorcyclist of today is considerably older, and more likely to have a family, than the average rider of 15 years ago. When the time comes to buy a $5000 toy, he’ll find it much easier to justify if it provides an experience that can be shared, rather than one entirely private. And a first step is in providing a passenger seat that someone might want to sit on.
If the motorcycle companies take that advice, maybe one of our columnists will eventually part with his 9year-old Kawasaki.
Bikes we won’t be seeing here
yhere were several surprises at the Cologne show (see story on page 48) that won’t make it to the United States. Perhaps the most missed will be Honda’s extensively updated CBR 1000. The 1989 Honda literbike has revised bodywork that is not only stunning (and those who saw it at the show say the pictures don’t do it justice), but also offers improved rider protection. Also changed were wheels and tires, with 17-inch radiais fitted on very wide rims—3.5-inch front, 5.5-inch rear. The rear tire is the huge, 170/60 size becoming common on superbikes this year. Still, the bike that won one of our Ten Best awards in 1988 won’t be coming back, not this year—and maybe never if American Honda doesn’t relax its current atti-
tude toward high-performance motorcycles.
Two other European Honda models look more than a little interesting. First is the VFR750F, which is a slight update on the bike that was sold in the U.S. in 1986, and is still being raced by Bubba Shobert in the Superbike class. This latest VFR has an uprated engine with higher compression and larger valves for stronger mid-range power, and has swapped its 16-inch front wheel for a 17. Revisions to the suspension improve ride, and European magazines have been extremely impressed; but again, American Honda has no intentions of selling it here. Of interest, too, is the European version of the CBR600F. Engine changes, including l. I mm-larger carburetors and higher compression, add 8 horsepower, bringing the total to 92. Otherwise identical to the U.S. model, this high-output 600 will be sold in Canada, as well, and will undoubtedly have tech inspectors in a tizzy when a Canadian racer brings one to a U.S. Super Sport race.
Yamaha also displayed a bike that would be of considerable interest to the racing crowd; but we’re told the 1989 FZR750R “OW-Ol” will not be an American
citizen. The version shown at Cologne was Yamaha’s answer to Honda’s RC30, and wore slicks. Its engine is all-new, with a 40-degree cylinder cant instead of the previous 45, and it wears such racing essentials as titanium connecting rods and 38mm flat-slide carburetors. The Deltabox aluminum frame is new, and similar to that of the 1989 FZR1000. The hand-laid fiberglass bodywork and aluminum gas tank, however, are not shared with the 1000. Strictly a homologation special, the OW-Ol is rumored to carry a price tag larger than $ 15,000; a more civilized and less expensive version may follow it at the Paris show, but even that won’t be for American consumption.
One last Europe-only new model was Kawasaki’s Tengai. A more street-oriented version of the KLR650, the Tengai comes with a fairing that blends into its gas tank, and a low front fender. A 1990 American model, perhaps?
Norton sportbike delayed
Norton’s RC588 roadster, the street version of Norton’s Wankel-powered roadracer, was a no-show at Cologne, where it was originally to have debuted. Now Norton boss Philippe LeRoux has announced that the bike will be released at the British Show at Earl’s Court in October, and will be built in limited numbers. Price for the 150-mph-plus, two-rotor machine will be around $20,000.
While the Norton will have a Bimota-like price, it will not have the much-rumored Bimota chassis; Norton has shelved the idea of a tie-up with the Italian firm for the time being, though there’s a chance of a Bimota NB1 in the future, according to Italian sources. Just don’t expect that to happen until the 1990s, after Norton has had its own crack at the market with its Spondon-derived chassis.
Yamaha YZ250WR—not quite an enduro
Yamaha’s new YZ250WR is sold for closed-course competition, differing from the standard YZ250 motocrosser only in its wide-ratio five-speed gearbox and ignition with lighting coil. Of course, if you wanted to add a spark arrestor and lights, the YZ-WR just might make a very fine enduro bike. Just don’t tell Yamaha about it.
