Long-Term Update

Long-Term Update

Honda CBR1000RR New kid on the block

ADDING THE CBR1000RR TO THE long-term test fleet was a nobrainer. For starters, at 413 pounds dry, the redesigned-for-2008 Honda is the lightest literbike available. It’s one of the most powerful, too, producing nearly 160 horsepower at the rear wheel. On the backroads of Southern California, every corner is another reason to smile.

Comparison testing at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah (“Turn & Burn,” July, 2008), left us wondering how much better the bike might have performed if we had been able to get the rear

tire to hook up better exiting corners. Was this shortcoming due to low track temperatures on that cold Spring day? Or was it simply a lack of setup time?

More questions where raised when the CBR-RR won Motociclismos annual MasterBike shootout in Spain. At Albacete, the setup was softer and the Dunlops were hooked-up. The broad torque curve that we loved on the street produced predictable slides, and the Honda cut the quickest lap times in the finale.

We recently fitted an Öhlins 25mm Cartridge Kit ($1762) and aTTX36 shock ($ 1399). We’ll report on how they effect handling in the next update.

$11,595

Ducati 1098 Service!

WITH ALL THE ELECTRONICS AND zero-maintenance this-and-that on bikes these days, it is sometimes easy to think that the old-style “tune-up” simply isn’t relevant.

Not so! When we took in our 1098 for its 7500-mile service, we figured they’d hit the high points and we’d get the bike back running just how it had before. Instead after Spectrum Motorsports (www. spectrum-motorsports.com) tuned the fuel mixture, reset the throttle-position sensor and fiddled with a few other things, the bike ran sweeter than ever, with crisper response and smoother running.

Glad it came out so nice, because with the valve check and adjustment, plus oil change, timing-belt checks and new sparkplugs ($34 each!), the total with parts and labor was $729. That’s a lot of spaghetti!

Mechanical issues have been minimal. First was an occasional fast idle to 2000 rpm. We thought the service would fix it, but it didn’t. Then, the aftermarket Advanced Motorsports-imported EVR slipper clutch ($1895, www.advanced motorsports.com; 81 7/790-0200) suddenly refused to disengage, the lever completely rock-solid. No fault of the actual clutch, which is functionally awesome, but rather the center nut came loose and the pushrod no longer could lift the pressure plate. A half-hour at the dealer ($45) and it was fixed with no harm done. They used Loctite this time...

$14,995

kawasaki CONCOURS 14 The accidental long termer

NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING, RIGHT? So it was with our Kawasaki Concours 14, Cycle World's Best SportTourer of 2008. Kawasaki assumed that we’d want to keep the saddlebag-shod steamroller around for a while, so didn’t ask when the bike wasn't returned after our road test. Staffers were happy to have such a useful and rapid conveyance in the garage, so proceeded to use it at will.

Dudek has to jet the 300 miles out to Death Valley for a dirtbike press intro? Take the Concours; be there in under four hours, bags stuffed and boots strapped to the back seat. Canet and wife Erin in need of a kids-free weekender to the Anza-Borrego desert? Take the Concours; can’t get closer than two-up and hangin’ on tight. Paul Dean and girlfriend Ro looking for something sporty for their annual backroad blast to the Laguna Seca MotoGP? Take the Concours; embarrass solo Gixxers along the way.

Problem was, while everyone assumed the Cone was part of CW's long-term fleet, no one actually made the assignment!

That’s been addressed and the 14 is now officially on the rolls. So far we’ve accumulated almost 7000 trouble-free miles. Oh, the rear tire ingested a screw on the way back from Laguna, pilot tipped off by the bike’s automatic airpressure sensors. The tire was plugged en route, then soon after replaced. With all that riding, it was getting a bit threadbare, anyway. ^

$13,799