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New bikes///Modern legends///used metal
ÂŁ2.99
used 600s make them handle
! w e n ster
blades
ÂŁ2.99
fa tion// dom sec p//wis ng u e ridi set-d k i l go ering 7 ste ers p m a d ted s e t
ISSN
0268-4942 1 0
9
770268 494187
supertool or 1992 original?
nc30 must. have. one.
plus The secrets of massive lean tuono///675///super duke///1098r///zx-10r
oct 2008 usa $8.95
04 honda cbr600rr
sharper faster better for under ÂŁ1000 Part Two
better suspension, better brakes, more power: our cbr600rr is sorted words matt wildee pics john noble
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t
his is so, so much better. the Cbr is on its side, floating over the bumpiness of the fen, tyres digging into bumpy rippled tarmac. the Cbr tracks the curves, filling me with confidence. Yesterday I was riding a tigcraft supermono at Oulton park. I’m having more fun on the road on a four-year-old Cbr600. I can’t believe the difference that just freshening up the CBR has made. This was all about value modifications. We decided the best thing that we could do was keep it cheap, and because of this I wasn’t expecting the bike to be as good as it is. But just by changing a few simple things the CBR is transformed – it’s a far, far better road bike than my 2008 R6. The wind of the road continues – the CBR is banked, toe and knee probing for tarmac and both scuff without trying. I’m taking corners faster than I have all year, full of the confidence I’ve missed on the tight, uptight R6. The ride-quality is superb – there’s no super-stiff springs and no heavy damping needed to keep things under control. This is supple without being soft. If it didn’t have MCT stickers on it you wouldn’t know it had been fettled, you’d just think it was extremely good out of the box. This is how suspension should be. Things are flowing now, the bike is working with me. Ó Ó Ó
Your bike Made faster
‘this is supple without being soft. it’s how suspension should be’
PB’s 2004 CBR600RR. noW The ePIToMe of a ConfIdenCe-InsPIRIng MoToRCyCle.
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Blade v Blade
1992 Honda CBR900RR
PRiCe £2395 (now) eNGiNe 893cc liquid-cooled inline four POWeR 112bhp @ 10,500rpm TORQUe 62lb.ft @ 7500rpm MeASUReD WeT WeiGHT 207kg FRAMe Alloy beam FRONT SUSPeNSiON 45mm conventional forks, fully adjustable ReAR SUSPeNSiON Monoshock, fully adjustable RAKe/TRAiL 24°/90mm FRONT BRAKeS 2 x 296mm discs, four-piston calipers PB LiKeS Looks, character, heritage PB DOeSN’T LiKe How slow it feels next to the new Blade
1992 BLADE
THIS IS THE BEST BIkE of THE 20th cEnTury
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2008 BLADE
AnD THIS IS THE FInEST MAcHInE oF THE 21st... wOrDs Matt Wildee Pic John noble
so how far have we come?
A
fter years in the shadows, Honda’s Fireblade has re-asserted itself as the greatest bike in world. In almost every measurable and immeasurable way, this is the motorcycle that trumps the rest – there’s never been a faster, more advanced mainstream superbike. Just like the original 92 Blade, it drags motorcycling another couple of steps up the evolutionary ladder. But how much difference has 16 years really made? Ó Ó Ó
2008 HONDA CBR1000RR PRICE £9299 ENGINE 1000cc, liquid-cooled inline four
POWER 165bhp @ 12,000rpm TORQUE 77lb.ft @ 9250rpm MEASURED WET WEIGHT 202kg
FRAME Alloy beam FRONT SUSPENSION 43mm USD forks, fully adjustable REAR SUSPENSION Monoshock,
fully adjustable RAKE/TRAIL 23.3°/96.3mm FRONT BRAKES 2 x 320mm discs, four-piston calipers
PB LIKES The sheer lack of effort needed to go very fast, very easily PB DOESN’T LIKE We love it all
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HOW £660 AND 10 gArAge HOurs MADe THIs BIKe A JeWeL…
SUSPENSION
WHAT We DID Rebuilt by MC Technics of Stowmarket. At the front, the standard progressive springs were replaced with heavier linear items, and the oil gap raised to 120mm. The progression in the damping is now facilitated by the oil level. MCT used high-quality Motul 5wt oil. This was all in an effort to make the bike better on the brakes.We serviced the rear shock, replacing with Öhlins racing oil. According to MCT, this keeps its viscosity much better than the OE oil and doesn’t aerate over time like the standard stuff. Rebound and compression damping set to match. DOes IT WOrK? Yes. Our five-season-old bike now has the ride quality of a new bike. It can absorb bumps while braking hard and has the kind of front-end feel that lets you lever bikes into corners with real progression – it lets you take every advantage of the CBR’s excellent chassis. Makes your road bike so much better front and rear, for less than the price of a new race shock. Perfect. >£350 > WWW.McTecHNIcs.cO.uK
FUELLING
WHAT We DID Under the seat was a Power Commander. We just tuned it to suit the bike and the standard exhaust and machine set-up. The Power Commander had been set up for a full exhaust system, but the bike had been put back to standard. We downloaded the free maps from Dynojet’s website to fix the bike. Free power. DOes IT WOrK? Yes. More power, better throttle response, better fuel economy. Perfect (see page 110.) >£0 (IT WAs ALreADy fITTeD. usuALLy £280) > WWW.pOWercOMMANDer. cO.uK
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GEARING
What We dId We lowered the gearing to increase acceleration and midrange response. We fitted a 15t Renthal sprocket on the front, from a 16t, reducing the final drive ratio (front sprocket divided by rear sprocket) from 0.38 to 0.357. In theory, this can reduce top speed, but previous experience with CBR600RRs has proven that maximum speed is unaffected. It just revs higher in top. does It WoRK? Yes. For the money, this is the easiest, most cost-effective mod you can do. The CBR feels instantly livelier, the gears closer. Together with the modification to the fuelling, acceleration is improved. The bike now hits 0-60 in 3.49 seconds and 100mph in 7.31 seconds. It’s faster and more flexible. The downside is the speedo now over-reads (for reference when the speedo says 30mph, the bike is travelling at 27.3mph, when it is showing 60mph it’s doing 54.3mph, and when it reads 90mph it’s travelling at 79.6mph). >£17.02 > WWW.bandcexpRess.co.uK
TYRES
What We dId A set of Pirelli Diablo Corsa IIIs have been fitted. A dual-compound tyre (softer on the edges, longer life in the centre) mean they last well on the road, warm up quickly but have proper grip for trackdays, too.
BRAKES
What We dId Just improved what we had. The standard brake lines were five years old and starting to flex when you pulled the lever. They would fade under repeated braking, too. Braided lines were the obvious solution, along with new fluid. Pads does It WoRK? were worn almost to their backing Yes. We chose the Pirellis for their so we replaced them with OE Honda stability and neutrality rather then pads. We chose OE because we racetrack grip, but they have know they work, and are specifically enough grip to run in the fast group – designed for these discs. We also they were the control tyre for the R6 cleaned and lubed the pistons with Cup. Together with the suspension Castrol Red Rubber lube. modifications, they give the bike a progressive, friendly feel while still does It WoRK? feeling impossibly nimble. Huge Yes, but it didn’t make the massive stability, too. difference initially that we thought it would. The pads needed a long time > £200 (fItted) to bed in on the worn discs and > WWW.pIRellI.co.uK braking felt wooden until then. But once they were run in, the brakes were hugely improved, having more feel, stopping better and with better initial bite. A slightly-warped disc stops them being perfect, though, and sends a vibration through the lever during high-speed braking. >£38 (pads) £50 (lInes) £4.99 (fluId) > WWW.h-e-l.co.uK
Your bike Made faster
What else Would We do? We could go further with the CBR600RR, but we won’t. This wasn’t about making the bike pretty, or festooning it with bolt-on baubles. We wanted to refresh a tired bike – and make it better in the process. But if money were no object, the first thing we would do is spend more time on the brakes. A new disc to cure the high-speed vibration is a must. Then we’d look at upgrading the master cylinder. Brembo 19/20 racing radial items (£170, www.gprdirect.com) are said to work well on the CBR and they ooze GP-tech too. After that we get into silly money. A full exhaust system would be nice, but forking out up to a £1000 on one isn’t in the spirit of this project. And, as our recent ‘Project Bolt-On’ GSX-R600 proved, unless you’re prepared to have one illegally loud, there seems little power to be gained. But really, that would be about it. We started from a decent level with our CBR, but just some small changes have made it very, very good. These are the kind of tweaks you could make, without having to shell out a fortune. Give your bike a treat. MW
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Ducati 1098R
half the cylinders of a zx-10r but even more power. this engine blows us away unlike every other ducati, the 1098r has two injectors per cylinder
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heads are sandcasted. the improved precision provides extra strength
21/8/08 12:57:10
PRiCE £24,000 (includes paddock stand, race exhausts and ecU) EnginE 1198cc liquid-cooled V-twin BoRE x STRokE 106 x 67.9mm PoWER 167bhp @10,000rpm ToRqUE 93lb.ft @ 8300rpm fRonT SUSPEnSion 43mm usd Öhlins forks REAR SUSPEnSion Öhlins ttxr shock RAkE/TRAiL 24.5°/ 97mm WhEELBASE 1430mm WET WEighT 194kg CLAimED DRy WEighT 165kg fUEL CAPACiTy 15.5 litres
dumping of the Lambda system, giving it more power. With 167bhp at the rear wheel, less weight than a 600cc sportsbike and no speed restriction we thought it’d crack 190mph. Above an indicated 186mph, the speedo displays ‘- - -.’ Three blats down the runway gave us a maximum datalogged speed of 174mph; 2mph down on our own ZX-10R. is the traction control a load of marketing waffle?
first of all you need to fit the race ECU. only then can the Ducati Traction Control (DTC) be activated with the switchgear. There are eight profiles to play with, ranging from Ducati test rider Vittoriano guareschi’s personal favourite (number one, that allows plenty of sliding) to a wet weather map (number eight). on a hot day with Pirelli SC2 tyres up to temperature it was never going to be simple to provoke it, but it did chime in when using the more sensitive profiles where it is intolerant of any wheelspin. the best roadbike engine eVer?
it’d be hard to say no, looking at the figures (right). Especially as it puts out 167bhp at the rear wheel. That just blows us away. There’s a whopping 91lb.ft, too. A V-twin making more power than a litre-class inline four race replica is amazing. Just take a look at the dyno chart. All the important stuff has been changed. The crankcases and cylinder heads are sandcasted, giving a more precise and stronger casting. There are two injectors per cylinder, rather than one like on every previous Ducati. Titanium conrods, magnesium cam covers and carbon belt covers help bring the R’s engine in 2.2kg lighter than the standard 1098 engine. And it sounds awesome. The 102dB Termignoni ‘silencers’ bark when the throttle is blipped.
‘as you’d expect, it’s dripping in pitlane jewellery’ As A bAsis for superbike teAms to build on, we knew it would be fAst And mAke big power. roAd test ed wilkins finds out just how fAst And how much power... first, the hype...
‘The 1098R is the ultimate superbike. The most advanced, most powerful twin-cylinder motorcycle ever built. The 1098R is not a replica – it’s the real deal. An incredible 180hp L-twin Testastretta Evoluzione engine in a race-winning trellis set-up tips the scales at an unbelievably lightweight 165kg.’ So say Ducati, at least. PB features ed Wildee rode one a few months ago and said it was the fastest bike he’d ever ridden. exactly how fast is it?
The standard ECU doesn’t speed restrict it, unlike Japanese machines that are honourably limited to 186mph. But the race ECU that comes with the bike re-maps it for the open Termignoni pipes and allows the
anything else?
The bike is the basis for Ducati’s Superbike racers so, as you’d expect, it’s dripping with top-drawer pitlane jewellery. forged marchesini wheels vie for attention with beautiful carbon-fibre bodywork, honed to perfection Brembo monoblocks and the exquisite TTXR Öhlins rear shock. Just clicking the adjusters is a semi-sexual experience. there mUst be a bUt…
Riding it isn’t quite the experience i was expecting. The bars are high, mounted just under the top yoke. The pegs are relatively low, and annoyingly the rounded ends mean it’s easy for feet to slip off, especially if it’s damp. high bars and low pegs don’t sound like a homologation-special Ducati, but the seat, steeply raked towards the tank, gives a reminder. it’s massively purposeful but feels incredibly numb. To get the feedback i’m expecting it needs to be pushed hard, much harder than the ZX-10R to get the same feeling. Ducati’s 142bhp 1098S feels better out of the crate and is almost half the price. Everything is there but it needs to be set up; race teams will throw half of it away before they even ride it. Racing aside, it’s a bike for (rich) enthusiasts (who probably won’t bother setting it up anyway). We love it, but it’s not perfect. bw
how it stacks Up 2008 1098r vs 2008 Zx-10r
The 1098R makes 2bhp more than a 2008 ZX-10R at peak revs and absolutely murders it everywhere else, to the tune of a shade over 33bhp at 8000rpm. okay, it’s an 1198 but still impressive. And it weighs 3kg less than our 08 yamaha R6. With a datalogger strapped to the 1098, we put it through its paces at Bruntingthorpe and pitted it against our ZX-10R. Despite making more power everywhere below 10,000rpm, the Ducati is beaten by the 19.5kgheavier 10R because it’s easier to ride. The 1098 is wheelie-prone in every gear up to third.
head to head 0-60mph 0-100mph top speed Gatso stop
(100mph-60mph)
1098r 3.4s 7.2s 174.1mph
Zx-10r 3.5s 6.3s 176.1
72.43m
64.1m
250m
241m
Lazy overtake
(50mph-100mph in fifth)
wet weight
(fully fuelled and ready to go) 2008 Ducati 1098R 194kg 2008 Yamaha YZF-R6 197kg 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R 213.5kg
dyno ● 2008 1098R max poweR 167.4bhp@10,000rpm ● 2008 Zx-10R max poweR 165bhp@12,200rpm
● 2008 1098R max ToRque 93.1lb.ft@8300rpm ● 2008 Zx-10R max ToRque 77.6lb.ft@8900rpm
180 160 140 120
power (bhp)/torque (lb.ft)
Ducati 1098R
100 80 60 40 20 0
0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
speed (rpm x 1000)
the 1098R delivers its power harder and sooner than the ZX-10. it trounces it with torque.
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PB road test///the Plan European muscle takes on the might of the Japanese 600. well, 636, but what’s a 36cc overbore among friends?
onlY one WaY to FInd out. FIt theM all WIth stICKY aVon VIPer tYres and FInd soMe Corners… words ben wilkins pics james cheadle
2008 TRiumph 675 dayTona 111bhp
The oddball. home-gRown TalenT ThaT’s in a class of iTs own. iT TReads iTs own paTh and hammeRs a sTeaK beTween Twins and fouRs.
2008 KTm supeR duKe 990 124bhp
The sTeeplechaseR. aggRessive and agile. conceived on The haiRpins of The ausTRian alps, gReaT handling should be a given.
2008 apRilia Tuono R 122bhp
The Race-Replica. wiTh 9/10Ths dna fRom The apRilia Rsv-R, The Tuono sTRaddles The gap beTween spoRTs and naKed.
2006 KawasaKi ZX-6R 109bhp
The sTandaRd. The 636 ninja is The choice of haRdcoRe spoRTs RideRs eveRywheRe. sTiff and nimble, almosT To a faulT.
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THIS MONTH WE’VE MOSTLY:
● Ridden each bike more than 600 miles on Britain’s best, and sometimes worst, roads ● Datalogged the same set of corners over a dozen times ● All been amazed with the Triumph 675’s engine ● Drunk 27 pints of beer in a night. Purely for fortification against the British ‘summer’ Ó Ó Ó
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pb100 the bikes to ride before you die
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0
words Matt Wildee Pics Paul Bryant
e
The 750 SRAD gets the same results as the latest model – it just makes you work harder for them
suzuki gsx-r750
srad
If it weren’t for this bike...
F
roadtrip from heaven: a clean srAd and warm spanish tarmac
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orget the alloy-framed, oil-cooled 1985 model or the gsx-r’s 1992-1995 wilderness years, this is the forefather of every modern suzuki sportsbike. For Suzuki, the 1996 bike is year zero. Everything you see on a fast Suzuki today dates back to this super-stiff beam frame, high-revving, short-stroke motor, ram-air, anorexic chassis, and marketing-led steering geometry that mimics GP bikes. In a race-replica class that had already been refining itself for 10 years, this was a quantum leap as significant as that of the Fireblade, four years before. This bike is history made metal. But none of this matters when you are 17 years old. In 1996 I was in love with the SRAD, mind boggled by massive lean and the concept of a speedo reading 185mph. This was the fastest, sharpest-handling bike there was. The 12-year wait was worth it. My first acquaintance was on the winter roadtrip from heaven – 1500 miles in two days across Europe with an open pitlane at Guadix circuit in Spain as the final goal. The SRAD didn’t disappoint – even though the one I rode was the fuel-injected, sanitised 1998 model. Luggaged up, chin on tankbag, it ripped though France, hit 170mph, laughed at a Furygan-clad motard on a ZX-6R, and outran the winter, leaving me in sunny Spain with warm tyres. On the C353, a perfect ribbon of tarmac that twists its way out of Granada, the SRAD engine howled to the 13,000rpm redline. The Tokico six-pots stopped with a ferocity that were at odds with their age. The SRAD captivates you in a way that few older bikes can, because it was so good when it was new. It’s still more than passable today, even if you’ve been brought up on super-sharp scalpels from the thick end of this decade. The SRAD does everything that a modern Suzuki can, just a couple of per cent slower. You push and pull at the bars, tug harder at the brakes, use exaggerated body language to make it turn, but turn it will. It is so much more involving because it makes you work for it. The engine provides enough power to get you into trouble, the last 3000rpm still have enough violence in them to shut down a 600. The potential is clear. This is still a credible performance bike – not so much a bike to ride before you die, more a bike you should own, as few bikes respond better to a loving owner. I already have my dream SRAD mapped out – a 1996 carb-fed model with a works WSB swingarm, a GSX-R750 K8 front end, Suzuki France endurance bodywork and an Lean outrageously loud Yoshi pipe. Twelve years on, the SRAD is still an object of desire. MW
schWantz srad, see page 88
50% 50% Wail
20/8/08 17:34:51
modern Legend
Forget the Yamaha 350LC this is the bike that Created sportsbike britain if you learned to ride performance bikes in the 90s, chances are you did it on honda’s iconic Vfr400r nc30. fancy another? words BEN MILLER Pics johN NoBLE
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