Coming Soon: Big-Bore Bonanza
COMING SOON: BIG-BORE BONANZA
ROUNDUP
WELCOME TO THE Future, when innovative and often surprising new designs leap to life with the wave of an artist’s paintbrush-ormore appropriately as we enter the third millennium, the click of a computer mouse.
Such is the case with this curvaceous trio: the much-anticipated replacement for Kawasaki’s ZX-7R, a possible Open-class Suzuki GSX-R and-hold on to your clip-ons, British sportbike fans-an outrageous four-cylinder from Triumph.
Heralded as a replacement for the current Daytona 955i, the proposed lOOOcc TIO may not break any new ground in terms of chassis or engine structure, but as with the slickly packaged TT600, it will put Triumph on equal footing with the Japanese Big Four.
“There’s nothing beyond chitchat right now,” said a Triumph spokesman. “If we were to produce a bike like that and it were successful, it would give us a lot of visibility. The Europeans, though, are less than enthusiastic about a high-power hyperbike. They’re fearful of legislation. Right now, there’s legislation pending that would limit the speeds of cars to, say, 150 mph. So why spend the resources? In any case, it would take us three years to get there.” A new ZX-7R, meanwhile, is just over the horizon. “One is coming,” confirmed a Kawasaki spokesman. “When, I don’t know. It would be nice to have the new, upgraded body style of the ZX-6R and ZX-9R, but the current motor is very capable. With the economy the way it is in Japan, what with manpower and other products, it just fell off the priority list. We have other things that we need to get done.”
This decision can be traced in part to the current 750cc racereplica market. “It’s pretty soft,” explained the spokesman. “With 600s going the way they’re going, why bother? Already, people are running 600s in 750cc Supersport races. So for us, the priority was the ZX-6R.”
When it does debut, probably in 2002, the new ZX-7R will no doubt be powered by a fuel-injected inline-Four similar in structure and style to that of the incredibly powerful ZX-12R. “I haven’t seen any drawings, any sketches, anything in Japan of the ZX-7R of the future,” the spokesman added. “When it comes, though, it’s going to be a Supersport bike with Superbike capabilities. It will be awesome.” Also believed to be in the works is a big-bore version of Suzuki’s newly redesigned GSXR750. If produced, the ultra-compact and lightweight GSX-R900 would square off against Honda’s CBR929RR, Kawasaki’s ZX-9R and Yamaha’s YZF-R1 in what is already one of motorcycling’s toughest categories.
“The potential for a new literclass bike is in Europe,” said a Suzuki spokesman. “There, the GSX-R750 doesn’t sell as well as it does here.”
The spokesman added that the rocket-fast GSX1300R Hayabusa and V-Twin TL1000R are no substitute for a no-holds-barred, four-cylinder Superbike. “As sporty as the Hayabusa is, we never intended to position it as a race-replica,” he said. “The TL1000R has sold well, but Twins are kind of an acquired taste. They’re not as universal as an inline-Four. There’s still a big faction that wants the full-on, lightest-it-can-be-type bike.” Conjecture aside, could the people be wrong?
Matthew Miles
