And the Winner
is…
The Australia Day Towong Weekend
gave me the opportunity to ride three bikes:
- 1998 Honda CBR1100XX - Mine
- 2005 Honda CBR1000 - Paul Southwell’s
- 2005 Suzuki GSXR600 - Dave Ward’s
What an experience. The chance to
evaluate these bikes in ‘Club Conditions’ on excellent roads in
First pp, Paul Southwell’s
bike. He likes firm
suspension so has modified the bike accordingly. I jumped on and immediately
enjoyed the lightness of the bike when completing a U-turn. Up through the
gears I was impressed by the closeness of the ratios and the smooth shifting.
Throttle was conservative and changing around 7000 rpm each time quickly got me
to the “wind in my hair” feeling. A few corners later, having calibrated to the
grip of the rubber on the road and the bike feeling terrific, it was time to
lift the tempo a little.
The next few corners where exhilarating and loads of fun. I
settled into a great rhythm and enjoyed the next 20 km or so. Each corner had
me hanging off the seat and really in tune with the bike, but ahead were some
longer straight stretches. Time spent just sitting on the bike made me realize
the seat and suspension was a little too hard for a long ride and my arms were
getting a little sore.
For days at the racetrack, this is a great weapon! 20
minute sessions, hanging off the seat, handling sharp and accurate, engine with
heaps of grunt and with brakes that are excellent, this bike will ensure loads
of fun!
Next, Dave Ward said give his Suzuki heaps – 14 or 15
thousand revs and you’ll have fun. Can’t say I’m impressed at the idea of
revving an engine that hard, but from memory the red line starts at 17,000 rpm
so Dave’s advice will be spot on.
Accustomed to revving the big Honda’s around the 6 – 10 thousand
rpm mark, it may take a while to get into the hang of riding the Suzuki. Wrong.
Jump on this bike and its all there! Twist the throttle,
rev the engine, change the gears, and point and shoot through the corners.
Light, easy, precise and simple. This is a FUN machine.
Off in the distance I see Dave and Paul having a ding-dong
battle and my thoughts are to catch up. I rode the bike hard and loved it, but
keeping the tacho around 14,000 is a must. On a few
occasions I did not shift down to an appropriate gear, only to find myself
cursing because the tacho had dropped to 8000 and
getting out of the corner I was underpowered and slow. (This comes from riding
an 1100cc engine with plenty of pull, so the occasional wrong gear is
compensated by sheer grunt!)
I didn’t make that mistake after the first 5 kms or so and
the rest of the trip was a sheer delight. The seat was comfortable, no pain in
the arms and I could ride this all day! And the brakes are superb, so I
couldn’t come up with a lame excuse when it was time to stop and swap bikes.
Finally, I had to get back on the old beast – the CBR1100
Blackbird – or more recently nick-named ARMCHAIR. The first thing you notice is
the extra 55 kg. This is a heavy beast and a little tricky to maneuver at low
speeds. So off I go into the first corner and I nearly didn’t make it. I had to
slide sideways off the seat in a hurry! The massive weight means you have to
prepare early for the corners.
Continuing on, the throttle control was noticeably more
difficult than the fuel injected systems on the other bikes. The grunt
certainly is there, despite some lag due to the carburetor delivery of fuel. The
dual linked braking system worked well but that extra 55 kg of weight requires
more effort to control.
At speed, the windshield is very effective and I found
myself having to stand to get some air and cool down. For winter riding, this would
be a blessing. The seat is brilliantly comfortable and the dashboard and finish
is car-like.
Handling and suspension was predictable and well behaved
but not a match for modern system offering adjustments for compression damping,
rebound etc. The extra 55 kg ensures you don’t get thrown off in a hurry, but
watch out for the occasional bottoming out and grinding of the centre-stand.
Speaking of grind, the side clearance also leaves a lot to be desired and acts
as an insurance policy. After all, when the pegs start to scrape, the grip on
the tyres is reaching the limit. The extra 55 kg of
weight is not helping you here at all!
So when riding the CBR1100XX with the group, you have a
choice of three riding styles - brake heaps, lean the bike over less, then get
out of the corner with heaps of tyre-ripping grunt – or - keep it all smooth
and scrape pegs all day – or – ride someone else’s modern bike.
Now that I know how much easier it is for other riders to
maneuver their bikes around, I’m left with no choice but to spend some money on
…
The Winning Bike, which is…
So now its time to test ride the GSXR 750cc and 1000cc
models for comparison. I do like the grunt of a bigger engine!
Thanks to Dave and Paul for the opportunity to ride their
bikes. Also, a special mention for Dave who rode the
Blackbird exceptionally well. Despite my best efforts I was not able to
catch the ARMCHAIR while he was at the helm. Just goes to show you there is no
substitute for talent!
And it also reinforces the point – there is always a
better rider!
Peter Feistl