Superbike Shootout 1993
SUPERBIKE SHOOTOUT 1993
HONDA CBR900RR VS. SUZUKI GSX-R1100 VS. YAMAHA FZR1000
HORSEPOWER and handling. They are the cornerstones of sport motorcycling. Take a look at today’s sportbikes and you’ll find plenty of each. The power-packed ZX-11 and the slick-handling 600cc middleweights are perfect examples. But if you’re after the Maximum Sportbike, one that combines big-league horsepower and a high level of handling, you want an Open-class superbike. Nothing else combines horsepower and handling like the Honda CBR900RR, the Suzuki GSX-R1100 and the Yamaha FZR1000.
When we tested this trio last year (see “Superbike Shootout,” Cycle World, May, 1992), Honda’s featherweight CBR900RR came away a winner. Its superb showing at the strip, at the track and on the street made the choice elementary. At the end of that story, we wondered what the 1993 model year would bring from Honda’s competitors. Would Yamaha update its super-fast FZR? Would Suzuki bring a liquid-cooled GSX-R1100 to market?
We now know that Yamaha had plenty up its corporate Open-class sleeve for 1993, though the end result of that effort turned out to be the radical GTS 1000 sport-tourer, not a new FZR 1000, which received nothing more than revised graphics.
Suzuki, on the other hand, made considerable changes to its GSX-R 1100 for ’93, totally reworking the chassis and making the jump to liquid-cooling. We tested the third-generation GSX-R in our January, 1993, issue and found it good-heavier and more expensive than the ’92 version, but competent nonetheless. The big question, then, is this: How would the new GSX-R stack up against the CBR and FZR? Only a fullbore comparison would tell us, so we scheduled dyno, dragstrip and racetrack time, grabbed our leathers and headed for the door.
Though the newest of this trio, the GSXR is clearly evolutionary in design. As with the first-generation GSX-R1100 in 1986, its aluminum frame remains Lshaped, with dual downtubes cradling the more-compact engine. Suzuki says the new frame is both lighter and more rigid torsionally than last year’s. Suspension and wheels are basically unchanged, though a pair of six-piston calipers now adorn the bike’s front end.
The GSX-R’s engine is similarly evolutionary, though there are plenty of changes within. Liquid-cooling now keeps engine temperatures in check, while larger valves, lighter pistons and rods, and higher compression were employed to boost performance. Dual cams move the engine’s 16 valves via a bucket-and-shim valve-actuation set-up instead of via rockerarms as before, and to further shrink the engine’s physical size, bore was reduced and stroke was increased slightly. The changes put the new engine-on paper, at least—on par with its competition.
Unchanged from last year, the Honda CBR (which was actually an early-release 1993 model) and the Yamaha FZR both utilize aluminum frames and inline-Four engines, and the designs of these components differ from the Suzukis’. Most obvious are the CBR and FZR frames, whose wide, sturdy beams wrap around the engine’s cylinder head to connect the steering head and swingarm-pivot castings in a relatively straight line.
The CBR and FZR engines are also configured slightly differently than the GSX-R’s, with more radically angled cylinder banks that inhale through downdraft carburetors and large-volume, highmount airboxes positioned above the carbs; the GSX-R’s intake system is more traditional, with its carburetors and airbox situated aft of the cylinder bank, below the upper frame tube.
Aside from those differences, this trio has plenty in common, including rigid swingarm designs and up-to-date suspension componentry. In front, the GSX-R and FZR use 41mm inverted fork assemblies, while the CBR’s fork is of conventional design-albeit one with massive, 45mm stanchion tubes. In back, all three use linkage-type, single-shock systems fitted with remote reservoirs. Wheels in wide, race-spec 3.5-inch-front and 5.5-inch-rear widths are standard on all three bikes, and are fitted with radial tires. The Honda deviates in that it uses a 16-inch front wheel, while the others have 17-inchers fitted. All three rear wheels are the usual 17-inch size.
Our first stop was the Cycle World dynamometer, which told us what we already knew: That the 1002cc FZR and the 1074cc GSX-R would outgun the 893cc CBR in terms of rear-wheel horsepower. The FZR and GSX-R produced 127.5 and 126.0 horsepower, respectively, at 9750 rpm, while the CBR developed 117.6 horsepower at 10,250 rpm, 700 rpm below its 11,000 rpm redline.
If you expected the acceleration abilities of this trio to mimic their horsepower numbers, you'd be right, at least with regard to the FZR 1000. The muscular-engined Yamaha turned in the fastest quarter-mile sprint of the day, a blistering 10.65-second, 129.5-mph run. The GSX-R and CBR tied for runner-up honors with identical 10.82-second passes, though the CBR held a> 1-mph terminal speed advantage as it flew through the traps. That the GSXR wasn’t quicker than the CBR might seem surprising considering its horsepower advantage, though remember that the GSX-R weighs 99 pounds more than the featherweight Honda.
Despite its heftiness, the GSX-R performed surprisingly well in our topgear roll-on contest, taking just 3.2 seconds to accelerate from 60-80 mph. That’s quicker than the FZR and CBR by 1.5-tenths and two-tenths of a second, respectively. The CBR’s weight advantage helped it win the 40-60mph top-gear roll-ons.
At our secluded high-speed testing ground, the FZR once again proved its horsepower superiority, shrieking past the radar gun at 165 mph, the same speed it ran to win top-speed honors during last year’s Superbike Shootout. The GSX-R finished a close second, ripping the wind with its 163-mph run, 4 mph faster than the air-and-oil-cooled ’92 model could muster. The CBR finished third with a 156-mph performance, down 3 mph from its 159-mph showing in last year’s comparo.
Out on the street, each machine’s personalities shed a different light on the situation. The GSX-R, while the biggest and heaviest machine in this group, offers the roomiest riding position and is the most comfortable of the three on a longer trip. Its suspension offers a compliant ride, and the six-piston front brakes work superbly.
The FZR is also a big, heavy motorcycle, though it hides its bulk more effectively than the GSX-R despite the FZR’s relatively conservative front-end geometry. Steering effort seems equal to that of the GSX-R, though the FZR’s suspension offers a better balance of compliance and feedback, a plus during more aggressive backroad riding.
Compared to the heavier GSX-R and FZR, the CBR feels light and small despite its wide fuel tank. The CBR exhibits light steering manners, a willing engine and a “do-it-all” attitude whenever a twisty section of asphalt presents itself. Piloting the CBR through a set of full-lean, high-speed comers is a breeze: simply set your cornering speed with the brakes, click off the required number of downshifts and flick-Xhc bike responds instantly, settling into and maintaining the exact cornering attitude prescribed by the rider.
Suzuki and Yamaha pilots can slice and dice their way down a twisty road just about as quickly, though to do so demands more effort due to those bikes’ added weight and heavier steering manners.
The same qualities that make the CBR such a competent backroad tool make it quicker around the racetrack, as well. At Willow Springs, the CBR was consistently a full second or more quicker than the other two bikes, and easier to ride at that speed. Lapping Willow’s tighter “Streets” course proved even more telling: The CBR’s light, flickable nature, powerful engine and crisp brakes gave it more of an advantage there. The only problem we encountered with the CBR was a bit of front-end nervousness while cornering hard at triple-digit speeds, a characteristic due to the bike’s radical front-end geometry, though this is something the average street rider isn’t likely to run into.
It was a close call, but our test riders chose the FZR over the GSX-R as racetrack runner-up by virtue of its hell-for-strong top-end power and stable, planted feel through Willow’s ultra-fast corners. With its added weight, slightly heavier steering and somewhat overdamped fork and shock, the GSX-R proved more difficult to hustle around Willow Springs than the FZR, though its times were just about as quick. Front-end feedback seemed limited on the GSX-R, a trait that made it difficult for riders to tread the fine line between the edge of traction and traction loss, something you must do in order to cut fast laps.
Racetrack rankings aside, these are
three exceptionally good sporting motorcycles, the most competent Openclass superbikes ever produced. Which is the best for 1993? Put it this way: Were we to put three equally talented riders aboard these three machines, point them toward a 10-mile-long section of curvy road, and flag them off, there would be little distance between them at the road’s end. But there would be distance. And the machine in front? Easy. The Honda CBR900RR. □
HONDA CBR900RR
$8299
HORSEPOWER! TORQUE
SUZUKI GSX-R1100
$8199
YAMAHA FZR1000
$8399
