Up Front
Likes of the Year
UP FRONT
David Edwards
CURIOUS BUSINESS, THIS PICKING OF THE year’s Ten Best Bikes. 1993 marks the 18th year that Cycle World's staffers have come together to bestow the editorial thumbs-up on the 10 finest motorcycles sold to the American public. Yet that doesn’t tell the whole story. There were others among the 70 machines that passed through our hands over the last 12 months that pulled at our heart strings, but for various reasons didn’t make the final cut. You can read about CWs Ten Best Bikes of the Year on page 56. What follows are our individual 1993 Likes of the Year.
As Cycle World's off-road specialist, Assistant Editor Jimmy Lewis has ridden everything from trials bikes to fire-breathing factory racebikes, so his choice of Kawasaki’s KDX200 enduro/playbike is something of a shock.
“Why not?” he asks. “Sure, in stock form the 200 is underpowered, but consider its advantages. It has lights, an 80mile gas range, easy starting, proven reliability, a low sticker price and plenty of available hop-up parts when it comes time to give the muzzled motor a boost into 250cc territory. I’d pick a big four-stroke for some conditions and a 250 two-stroke for others. But for me, no other 1993 dirtbike fits all riding circumstances as well as the little KDX.”
Associate Editor Matt Miles, like two other staffers, was lured by the products of Italy.
“My favorite motorcycle of 1993? That would have to be Ducati’s 900SS. Yes, the 900SS is a bit less dramatic than the fuel-injected 888, but it’s still an attention-getter of the first degree. It’s also more civilized and considerably less expensive. Ducati’s lightweight chrome-moly frame and taut Showa suspension deliver confidenceinspiring handling, with that sweetrunning 90-degree V-Twin churning out loads of user-friendly torque and a character-rich exhaust note. Just blipping the throttle gives me chills.”
Associate Editor Don Canet keeps a brace of Suzuki GSX-R racebikes at the ready, so his favorite motorcycle of ’93 was bound to be sport-oriented.
“Every new streetbike I ever bought ended up safety-wired and wearing numberplates,” he says. “That’s why Honda’s CBR600F2 makes the most sense for me. Aboard the well-laid-out CBR, I can enjoy a reasonable level of sport-riding comfort, and when I do succumb to the temptation of roadracing, the Honda is only a couple of days’ work away from being trackready. I also appreciate a good deal. The CBR offers what I consider the best performance-per-dollar yield of any ’93 motorcycle.”
Feature Editor John Burns’ exploits on (and off) his Yamaha SRX600 Singles racer have been well detailed on the pages of this magazine.
“When I was ignorant, I assumed one cylinder couldn’t possibly be enough. I was sure you needed at least two and preferably four,” Burns says, “because I thought the deal was horsepower. Then one day I found out I could go quicker/safer/funner on a clapped-out SRX than I could on any full-zoot four-cylinder. Singles teach you how to ride. Rather than wobbling through the turns and spurting down the straights only to jump on the brakes again, Singles teach you to keep cornering speed high. Singles teach you momentum conservation. Singles are light enough, sometimes, to retrieve from the Brink of Overenthusiasm. Singles are where it is at. And Ducati’s Supermono is the ultimate Single. I don’t want one. I need one.”
Senior Editor Jon F. Thompson sold a BSA 650 and a Suzuki 1100 to help finance his 1990 Ducati 851, so his Like of the Year isn’t too surprising.
“My personal favorite? Oh, baby! That’s like asking for one’s Ultimate Woman. It’s a very personal and specific choice, and it seems unwise to say anything but, ’Why, the one I’m with, of course.’ If price is a consideration, I’d go for another Ducati Superbikethis time, an 888SP5. I’d need more money to cover my real ultimate bike of 1993: That could only be the incredible Bimota Tesi IDsr, which mates the Ducati’s killer engine to the most extraordinary motorcycle chassis I’ve ever ridden. Cost? A mere forty-something. But, hey, it’s only money.”
As for my choice, well, I’m tempted by Yamaha’s YZF750, the best 750cc repli-racer we can’t buy here in the U.S. Let’s hope 1994 is the year Yamaha gets its sportbike act together and brings in the YZF.
The Easy Rider in me pulls for the Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide, just a decent flame paint job away from being the perfect chopper for the ’90s. If I had a spare 20 K, Bimota’s luscious DB2 might get the call. For sheer funkability, Yamaha’s oddball but eminently ridable TDM850 is tough to beat. And don’t laugh, but as an urban-assault vehicle, the Honda Helix super-scooter is without peer.
Ducati’s M900 Monster comes very close to being my Like of the Year. If I were a product planner at Suzuki, I’d be ashamed that the company didn’t do the obvious and upgrade the 400 Bandit to 750 or 1 lOOcc status a year ago and beat the Italians to market with the first modern standard-style motorcycle for real enthusiasts.
In the end, my favorite 1993 bike is neither fast, nor laden with technotrickery, nor particularly stylish. In fact, BMW’s Paris-Dakar R100GS, complete with 9.3-gallon fuel tank, may be the ugliest bike on the market. It’s beauty was made apparent to me, though, during a sprint down a raindampened Austrian pass during Cycle World's GP Euro-Tour in May. With its quarter-fairing deflecting the cool Alpine air; its upright riding position and wide handlebar making easy work of tight hairpins; its electric handgrip warmers turned down to simmer; 20 pounds of camera gear in one hard saddlebag; rainsuit, electric vest, tool roll and sack lunch in the other; and maps, extra gloves and Swiss Army knife tucked neatly into the tank-top cubby hole, the GS P-D was the ideal traveling partner. It’s tough not to like a bike like that.
