Long-Term Update

Long-Term Update

Honda CBR600RR Round and round

Kawasaki Z1000 Better than new?

KTM 525 SMC Dual sport bike

It's going too fast! Not our long-term Honda CBR600RR, our time together. It's been a few months since our last update, but aside from one minor setback, it's been nothing but oil and tires changes for Old Faithful.

We recently sampled a set of the new Maxxis Supermaxx radials ($288). The lower-profile 120/65-17 front we initially tried made the bike’s handling sketchy, but a standard-sized 120/70 worked much better. The Supermaxxes impressed us with their street prowess and longevity, but disappointed us with their grip level on the racetrack.

We had no such concerns with the Michelin Pilot Race radiais ($408) we tried next, which made the bike’s steering so precise that we felt we could hit a penny on the racetrack. The Michelins take a while to warm up, though, which may have played a role in Assistant Editor Mark Cernicky crashing en route to work one morning. Fortunately, he was only going maybe 10 mph at the time, so damage was minimal. All it took to repair it was a left-side fairing panel ($38), a bottle of Color Right touch-up paint and some clearcoat.

While Mark was at it, he replaced the stock clear windscreen with a smoked Puig double-bubble ($70 from ww'.t:cvc'Ie bra kes.com), which not only looks better than stock, but made the gauge glare go away.

$8599

Aside benefit of having a fresh 2004 Kawasaki Zl000 on hand for this issue's "World's Best Streetbike" shootout was an opportunity for a back to-back comparison with our 10,000mile long-term bike. Seems that filling our 2003 model's hollow handlebar with brass BBs provided a better buzz cut through the grips than we originally thought.

Even so, running either bike at midto-upper revs produced an annoying rattling sound from the clutch lever that was worse on the '03 model. Closer inspection revealed that the pivot-bolt hole had become slightly elongated, resulting in lever sloppiness. Chalk this up to the long-term effects of vibration, but also our neglect for maintaining grease in the works. Fortunately, the lever features a replaceable brass insert for the bolt to slip through, so for less than $12, our high-mileage, buckshotbarred Z1000 now feels more refined than the shiny new model.

One other minor annoyance had to do w'ith the standard color-matched solo seat cowl, which adds style and a bit more underscat storage capacity, but which proved difficult to get on or off while using the helmet-lock hook beneath it. Extending the cowl’s helmetstrap notch with a rattail file cured this headache once and for all.

$8499

Normally, the term `~dual-sport" refers to a bike that can be ridden on and off road. But in the case of the KTM 525 SMC, it means a bike that can be ridden in two sports. The latest addition to our long-term fleet is sold with two pairs of wheels, one set of 21/19-inch rims shod with motocross knobbies, plus a set of 1 7s shod with supermoto slicks. The latter setup also includes a larger front brake rotor and four-piston caliper for in creased stopping power on asphalt.

We took delivery of our 525 at Carls bad Raceway, so were dismayed when KTM's Media Relations man Tom Moen rolled the bike out of the truck in supermoto trim. Fortunately, it only took him about a half-hour to convert it to motocross spec-credit the eccentric axle blocks, wTiich compensate for the different gearing on the two rear wheels. Of course, Tom cheated by having a complete front brake setup ready to go, so he didn’t have to bleed the fluid. That ease would seem to justify the cost of a second master cylinder ($ 158) and line ($55).

So far we haven't ridden the mega-motored monster in supermoto trim, but that’s only because we’ve been having so much fun moto'ing it! In addition to practice days at Carlsbad and Cahuilla Creek, friend-of-the-magazine Chip Morton raced it at the annual Mammoth Mountain MX, and reported that it ran fine at

high elevation without re-jetting. □

$7298