The Sport-Twins
The Sport-Twins
The new math: half the jugs, twice the fun
BACK IN MOTORCYCLING’S FOGGY PRE-HISTORY, back when “aught” preceded a year’s single digit, the V-Twin engine was born. Then, as now, motorcyclists were greedy. If one cylinder was good, then two cylinders-and twice the displacement-were better. And a V-Twin was a simple doubling of the existing components that fit nicely into the bicycle frames of the era.
For decades thereafter, V-Twins ruled. Smoother than Singles, narrow and light, they powered America’s motorcycles-whether they were tourers, racers or roadsters. It wasn’t until the onslaught of British vertical-Twins and then Japanese Fours that the V-Twin withered. It’s hard to believe now, but by the early ’70s, the configuration was seen as antique, headed for history’s scrap heap.
But...a primeval attraction remained in a V-Twin’s rhythm, in the lazy way it delivered power, in its apparent simplicity and undisguisable form. It was enough to save HarleyDavidson. And it was enough to convince a few thousand enthusiasts that Italian V-Twins were the sporting answer, even if they didn’t accelerate like a Kawasaki Z-l. Instead, ’70s Ducatis and Moto Guzzis offered handling and tractability and that diastolic engine pulse, and quickly became the romantic’s sportbike. You didn’t buy a V-Twin for its numbers; you bought it out of love.
That changed, in part, with the coming of Ducati’s desmoquattro, and the Flonda VTR1000F and Suzuki TL1000S that have now followed. These bikes produce numbers that require no excuses or explanation. Yet V-Twin romanticism is alive in the Buell S3 and the Ducati 900SS, bikes with subtler and perhaps even deeper appeal than can be found on a spec sheet.
Honda VTR1000F Super Hawk
$8999
Ups A Killer midrange A Comfortable yet sporty riding position A High level of refinement A Light, precise shifting A Compliant suspension
Downs ▼ Rearview mirrors reflect elbows ▼ Finicky about tire choice ▼ Maybe too refined
Buell S3 Thunderbolt
$11.999
Alps
A Thundering torque A Precise steering A Infinite hop-up equipment A Comfortable riding position A Low maintenance requirements A Exceptional fuel mileage and range
Downs
▼ High-effort shifting ▼ Excessive off-idle vibration ▼ Unfinished fairing interior ▼ Too expensive
Start with the bike newest to these pages, the Buell S3 Thunderbolt. New for ’97, it shares little but name and family resemblance with its S2 predecessor. Think of the S3 as an SI Lightning transformed into a hardcore sport-tourer, a machine capable of carrying one or two people for several hundred miles comfortably and quickly. Its Sportster-based engine has roots deep in V-Twin history, but it has been enhanced by Buell into a reasonably modern performer. If it were rigidly mounted, it would shake your fillings out, but Buell’s rubber mounts isolate the rider from the engine so well that the S3 buzzes noticeably less than a 90-degree V-Twin in the upper reaches of its rev range. It’s only if you let the idle speed creep from 900 rpm up to 1200-1400 rpm that the engine’s inherent vibration makes itself annoyingly apparent, causing the mirrors to flop like a fish on the dock.
The S3’s riding position emphasizes comfort over raciness. The footpegs are low and moderately rearset, while the bars place you in a slight forward lean. It’s more like a roomy Yamaha FJ1200 position than the low, tight tuck of most current sportbikes. With a seat just 29.5 inches from the ground, shorter riders can easily balance the S3 at a stop,
The most distinguishing feature of the S3, however, is its handling. With the same quick steering geometry as the S1, and without the mass of a headlight mounted to its fork, it turns quickly and easily. It tracks through corners with reassuring solidity, the firm WP suspension keeping the light wheels and radial tires well anchored to the pavement. It’s an easy machine to ride quickly while staying relaxed, and on real roads, if not on racetracks, it generally will keep up with the racier, more powerful V-Twins.
The same can be said for Ducati’s 900SS-SP. This machine traces its roots back to 1979, and the first Ducati Pantah 500. Ducati’s previous V-Twins used bevel gears and towershafts to drive their cams-a heavy, complex and expensive solution. So the Pantah engine introduced relatively new technology to motorcycling: the rubber-belt cam drive. Since then, the aircooled, two-valve-per-cylinder Pantah engine has been bored, stroked and strengthened, and has powered any number of Ducatis to Twinsclass racing victories.
Because it grew up from a 500, the 900SS’s 904cc engine is particularly light and compact. This allows a similarly light motorcycle, with a narrow tank and seat that make it feel more like a 600. And while the 900SS makes the least power and torque of this group, its lack of mass and its relatively short gearing allow it to post respectable quarter-mile times, and to accelerate in top-gear roll-ons almost as quickly as Honda’s new VTR1000.
Ducati 900SS-SP
$10,495
Alps
A Lightweight A Communicative chassis A Wide range of hi-po accessories A Broad powerband
Downs
▼ Chattering dry clutch ▼ Mushy front brake ▼ Questionable parts availability ▼ Poorly angled handlebars
On backroads, the Ducati’s steel-trellis chassis shows why there have been so many Ducati racing victories. It feels light yet planted, allowing you to run it deep into comers, and the suspension telegraphs every movement of the tires, with few surprises (we prefer the 916’s link design over the SS’s cantilever setup, though).
The close-ratio six-speed gearbox provides a cog for every occasion, even though the torque curve is so flat that you don't really need that many. Yes, the Ducati's engine may be clattery, and its styling rooted in the mid-'80s, but it still works very well.
If the Ducati is as familiar looking as an old shoe, the Suzuki TL1000S is as new as tomorrow's sunrise. The technical features of the Suzuki and its racetrack performance have been well documented in these pages, but its street performance has not. There,
the high-tech Suzuki is the most exciting of all production V Twins, and only a few development weeks short of perfec tion. With 111 peak horsepower and feathery flywheels, the 996cc V-Twin zings to the upper reaches of its rev range, accelerating as hard up top as all but the biggest inline-Fours.
Along with that, it pulls well and smoothly from low rpm, giving it a dual personality: fierce and fast up top, smooth and mellow down low.
Though not fully faired, the TL is very much a racer-replica, with a tight riding position close to that of a GSX-R750. This works well on winding backroads, but gets tiresome quickly if it takes freeway miles to get to those roads. In fast sweepers, the TL thrills, with a composed, balanced chassis that instills a great deal of confidence. But in the tight stuff, you start to discover some of those developmental shortcomings-such as the throttle response. Despite a sophisticated fuel-injection system, the transition from throttle-off to just-a-little-power is abrupt. You turn the grip slightly and nothing much happens; a fraction more, and suddenly you have more than you want. This makes the TL hard to ride smoothly, particularly on a downhill section. And the wide tires cause it to stand up while trailing the front brake into a comer. On a tight road where peak power matters little, these niggling things make the TL more work to ride quickly than the other machines.
Suzuki TL1000S
$8999
Alps
A Exhilarating top-end power A Hands-down winner of post-ride tech inspection A Hardcore sportbike for a fraction of a 916’s price
Downs
▼ Dedicated riding position ▼ Abrupt throttle response ▼ Occasional headshake ▼ Tends to stand up while trail-braking ▼ Hideous solo seat cowl
It’s on those same tightly twisting byways where the Honda VTR1000 shines brightest. The VTR is a sporting streetbike, pure and simple; Honda even claims its initial development target for the bike was the 900SS. The riding position is backed off from the racetrack, though the bars are still fairly low; in fact, the bar, seat and peg positions are similar to that of the latest CBR900RR, but the narrower gas tank makes the VTR’s position friendlier.
It’s the VTR’s engine that steals the show, though, with an unmatched midrange punch. Ride the VTR back-to-back with a CBR900, and the inline-Four feels weak anywhere but at the top of the rev range. The VTR pulls from 2000 to 9000 rpm with full liter-bike authority, and its twin 48mm carburetors provide the type of linear throttle response that leaves you wondering why we even need bother with fuel injection.
While the Honda is the most fully developed Sport-Twin here, it’s also so polished and seamless that at times it can seem a little too generic-depending on your particular tastes, you might find yourself loving one of the others more. Still, on the street, on stock tires, the VTR’s suspension and handling are near-perfect, and the agile chassis makes it feel like a machine of the gods. It’s a magical ride. -Steve Anderson
