An Embarrassment of Riches
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES
CW COMPARISON
HONDA CBR1000 vs. KAWASAKI ZX-11 vs. SUZUKI KATANA 1100 vs. YAMAHA FJ1200
YOU DON'T NEED A DEGREE IN ROCKET SCIENCE TO figure out what the four Open-class sportbikes assembled here are all about: performance. And not just your everyday "high" performance, either. We're talking pavement-searing mega-performance, the kind that generates blink-of-an-eye quarter-mile times and top speeds more appropriate for vehicles with wings.
Indeed, these four speedsters promise more raw performance than anything else on the road—the only possible exceptions being Suzuki’s GSX-R1100 and Yamaha’s FZR 1000. And the truth is that there are many situations in which even those two narrow-focus racetrack refugees would be hard-pressed to outperform some of the bikes in this quartet. What’s more, these four also offer something the knife-edged repli-racers can't: versatility. They are more sport-oriented than pure sport-tourers, yet more comfortable and utilitarian than dedicated sportbikes.
Chassis-wise, the FJ, Katana and CBR all are based on steel perimeter frames that have been around a while, and all have benefited from detail changes since their introduction. The air-cooled, five-speed FJ is the veteran of the bunch, first hitting the streets in 1984 as an 1100 before being punched-out to a 1 200 in 1 986; it is unchanged for '90, having been the recipient last year of a slightly larger fairing, an inch-larger front wheel and improved passenger accommodations. The Katana, an air-and-oil-cooled five-speeder introduced just two years ago, also remains unchanged for 1990 after undergoing some important frame, suspension and engine refinements for 1989. And the six-speed, liquid-cooled CBR, a bike we found worthy of high praise when its 1989 version was sampled in Eu-
rope, is a development of the much-loved Hurricane 1000, which dates back to 1987 but was absent on these shores during 1989. Among this latest model’s refinements are wider wheels and tires, a lower center of gravity, more ground clearance, a new fork and redesigned bodywork.
The ZX-1 1. on the other hand, despite being an evolutionary refinement of the lOOOcc ZX-10, incorporates enough never-before-seen pieces to qualify as a new machine. And although the ZX is not a full-on repli-racer, its creators dug deep into their reservoir of roadrace technology to design it. The bike is built around a box-section perimeter frame crafted of hardened aluminum, from which hangs a counterbalanced, liquid-cooled engine that delivers a claimed 145 horsepower through a six-speed gearbox. It’s all wrapped in an exceptionally slippery fairing, and it rides on the most sophisticated tires—Dunlop Sportmax radiais—found among this quartet.
Some of the most-obvious differences between these bikes are revealed as soon as their respective pilot accommodations are tried on for size. The FJ's are the most traditional, the relationships within the footpeg-seat-handlebar triangle providing a relatively upright riding position w ith a hint of a forward, sporting flavor, enhanced by a wide, plush seat. The Katana, meanwhile, offers its rider an odd ergonomic mix. Its bars are high enough and its seat
ow enough to coddle the rider’s upper body in a position just a tad on the sporty side of standard; but the footpegs
Hpr H°m10ned/S0 hlgh and far ío the rear that they forcera decidedly roadracy bend at the knees that can lead to discomfort on long rides.
ro7hC CBR S ndin^ Position is even farther along the oadrace curve, with lower, narrower bars than the
atana sand pegs that are almost as rear-set. But what most detracts trom the Honda’s overall comfort level is a
comfW'f°h|d ^ Shaped Seaí whichin add«tion to being uncomfortable, causes the rider to slide forward into the"fuel
TKsÄhHlm W"h he'd brouêht his armored codpiece I his problem doesn t exist on the Kawasaki, even though
NeithblkH reciu‘re^the longest, lowest reach to the ba?s
rRRhertdh°ettheZX k,nk the knees as bad,y as either the CBR or the Katana. And although the Kaw's seat is rather
able than W tG han&n^ d still is more comfortable than the Honda s-even if it isn’t as good as the FJ’s saddle over the long haul. 5 c s
Even more than the Yamaha’s rational riding position however, the element that has endeared the RH 1/12 to countless riders over the years has been its easy production power over a wide rpm range. As if to illustrate that time has done nothing to diminish that capability, our test FJ showed us this quartet’s quickest top-gear roll-on times
that pirts i^he F7 7 'VTC£n.d. quarter-mi|e run. While í t pats the FJ a few ticks behind the ZX and the Kat it
fh atpphe time recorded by the higher-tech CBR Granted
he b nchOPBrd' a‘ 149 mHeS Per hour' is *he lowest of
the bunch. But supersonic speeds aren't what this bike is about: us about effortless, big-number mileage done m seven or eight-tenths, a prospect made viable by the FJ's
proven comfort and capable handling
ihr°/'n yhen the pace a^vances from merely hurrying through the twisties in a relaxed way to full-on backrmd
scratching does the FJ's handling fall short. The fork becins having trouble keeping the front wheel firmly planted on bumpy surfaces, and the tues star, squirmmg around just enough to be disquieting. The rear shock requires a lot
dowFandfi/°ad U). keep the centerstand from hitting down and levering the rear wheel off the ground durino
¡.grcssive cornering: the shock also lacks sufficient re^ bound damping, even at its highest setting, to prevent the rear envi from extending too quickly after a bump So no
are ‘set Th^Fjl t F "“"«T5 ^nsion adju^ms three bikes in’thtsgró/p. as the other
Compared to the FJ. the Katana is much more secure under these same circumstances. It offers the fortunate combination of superb high-speed handling and the most
comfortable ride of the group. Its steering is the lightest and most neutral, and its suspension delivers fine chassis control while making surface irregularities of all sizes and shapes virtually disappear. The result is a bike that can make its rider feel like a hero through the corners.
The Kat has only one handling p~oblem: a slight short age of ground clearance. It is the first of the four to gouge a footpeg into the tarmac during really hard cornering; and if the rear suspension gets compressed by a bump while the bike is banked over that far, the centerstand will also ground heavily, even with the fork and shock preload cranked up.
There are no such performance limitations in the Katana's engine, which was built to deliver mid-range stomp in massive amounts. Its roll-on performance is only a hair slower than the FJ's, and its instantaneous, mad rush acceleration makes it feel like the quickest bike of the four in most situations. Its power tapers off as it nears its 1! ,250-rpm rev limit, but it still blitzed the quarter-mile in 10.67 seconds-the second-quickest of this bunch-and posted a top speed of 154 miles per hour.
I here are, however, a couple of lumps in the Katana's engine stew. One is vibration, which makes itself known with a particularly annoying band of buzzing and shaking right at 5000 rpm, or 70 miles per hour in top gear. And another is a carburetion flat spot that often causes a mad dening hesitation when the throttle is twisted wide-open at higher engine speeds. Those two traits compromise what might otherwise be a perfect Open-class street engine.
I So, too, is there some compromise in the CBR, but of a different nature. The Honda trades low-speed, low-rpm nimbleness for exemplary high-speed competence, and
the result is a bike with dual personalities. The most pleasant of those makes the Honda the bike to own if your travel is mostly along open, mainline roads blessed with long, sweeping curves that allow you to maintain very high speeds. In such situations, the Honda is beautifully stable, tracking as though laser-guided. And its suspension, second only to the Katana’s for smoothness and comfort, provides a compliant highway ride.
It is in slower going where the CBR’s other, less-agile personality asserts itself. When the bike is pushed hard through lower-speed corners, the front end tries to steer into the turn and make it sit up. Some firm countersteering offsets this tendency, but then the front tire starts pushing slightly, as evidenced by an accelerated rate of wear on the sides of the tread; and as the tire wears, even more countersteering is needed to maintain a given lean angle in lower-speed corners. Obviously, then, the CBR’s lowspeed handling does not promote a high level of rider confidence.
What’s more, the CBR’s very smooth engine does little to help the bike’s low-speed prowess. It makes excellent peak power, firing the bike to an 11.2-second quarter-mile time and a 156-mile-per-hour top speed. But good, usable power is not evident until about 6000 rpm, and below 3000 rpm, there’s very little urge on tap. So, in those slower corners, you’ve got to be in a low enough gear to keep the revs up if you want a smooth, swift launch out of the turn.
Availability of power is never a problem with the ZX1 1, which is ready to go whenever you are—a willingness evident in the ZX’s 10.25 quarter-mile time and 176 mileper-hour top speed. It’s not the roll-on king, due in part to the tall gearing needed to reach such prodigious speeds; but once the tach needle zings past 7000, this beast rockets out of corners and down straights as though shot from a rifle—a very big, very powerful rifle.
Fortunately, the ZX’s chassis is a match for its engine. A taut suspension and incredibly sticky tires help it handle
more like a real repli-racer than do the others in this group. Whether hammering through slow, tight turns or flat-out, high-speed ones, the ZX feels wonderful. Its steering is light and almost perfectly neutral, and its stability is unflappable. Its only cornering glitch is a tendency to lurch ahead abruptly when you try to apply just a little throttle in a turn. This is caused partly by the engine’s tendency to rev too quickly when the throttle is first opened, and partly by excessive free play in the driveline.
Then there is the harsh ride to deal with. The ZX's suspension is calibrated for supreme stability at high lean angles and mega speeds rather than for comfort. So, when
you hit a bump, you know it. The harshness begins in the bike’s stiff, short-sidewall Dunlop radiais, and is amplified by its firm suspension rates and thin, narrow seat. That’s fine for an all-out sportbike, but hardly what the doctor ordered for long days in the saddle.
Our ZX had another problem: Its brakes faded enough under hard street use to let the lever pull all the way back to the handlebar. Mind you. the bike never failed to stop.
but it did occasionally shake our faith in its ability to do so—no small matter with a bike that has this one’s speed potential.
Which brings us to the hard part—the task of deciding which of these four Open-class bullets is the best of the bunch. We could take the easy road, and say that because of its fabulous suspension, ever-ready power and general user-friendliness, all delivered for the lowest price in the group, the Katana is the one most of us would buy.
But not all of us. Our staff speed weasel, always ready for an adrenaline rush, couldn’t have cared less about the Katana; he had eyes only for the ZX-1 1. Another of us, inclined more toward gentlemanly sport-touring than to dragging his knees around apexes, hailed the CBR as The Answer. And our staff traditionalist was happiest aboard the FJ because he liked its comfort, its roll-on performance and the fact that it is powered by an air-cooled engine you can actually see.
So, it’s just not that simple to point to a clear winner here. Each of these bikes has its own individual strengths that offset its particular weaknesses; which one is best for you depends almost entirely on who you are and how your requirements stack up against what each bike can deliver.
What this means is that no matter which of these Openclassers might sing its siren song to you, you won't go wrong with any of them. Œ
Kawasaki
ZX-11
$7599
Suzuki
Katana 1100
$6599
Yamaha
FJ1200
$6699
Honda
CBR1000
$6998
