Highway report Stuttgart ?? Berlin & back

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Highway report Stuttgart ?? Berlin & back

The bet stands

The German autobahns: speed limits, traffic jams, roadworks, notorious sneaks. It doesn’t really matter whether you drive a Hayabusa or a 34 hp machine. Or not? MOTORRAD sent a test team out.

No joke: you know what Australians think about using the German Autobahn? Anyone who does not drive at least 180 km / h will get a ticket. Well, in order to achieve this, all vehicles would have to have approximately 100 HP, all construction sites and speed limits would have to be erased, heavy goods vehicles and caravans would have to be banished to rails and the frequency of use would have to be similar to what is often done in overcrowded discos: only let in as much as you leave. In addition, all Danes would have to sign a waiver of use of the middle and left lanes when crossing the border.
All gray theory. Dear Australians and full throttle freaks all over the world: Reality is different. In a test drive, MOTORRAD wanted to clarify how and, above all, whether horsepower limbers can get infinite time advantages on overcrowded autobahns, in compliance with the road traffic regulations. GPS devices were used for monitoring, which continuously store data on the respective location of the individual motorcycle using satellite navigation. The recorded coordinates were later displayed as curves, which must be exactly on top of each other in the speed-limited zones (see page 20). Cheating becomes impossible. The route: Stuttgart (or more precisely: Wunnenstein) ?? Berlin and back. Twice 686 kilometers across the Federal Republic. On the evening before the start, each driver was given a precisely defined route plan and had to provide a forecast of their driving time. The handicap: Nobody knew the motorcycle assigned to them very well, and didn’t know anything about fuel consumption. Otherwise everything was thought of: six bikes, six GPS devices, six cell phones, a van to collect possible breakdowns. But firstly it turns out differently and secondly than you think.
Tuesday morning, July 17, 2001, 4.36 a.m., 9 degrees Celsius. There is hustle and bustle at the Wunnenstein motorway service station, A81, just under 30 kilometers north of Stuttgart. Six motorcyclists refuel their machines, squeeze the last drop of fuel into it, check the air pressure, the chain tension, the oil level, activate strange little computers, and talk excitedly.
Gerry, the 175-horsepower Hayabusa man, jokes: Mathematically, the 686 kilometers should be behind him in just under three hours. If he can drive 250 km / h permanently and completes the refueling stops in Formula 1 style. Thorsten, the 98 hp Pan Europeanist, is also sure: a large tank combined with just one stop? this is the victory. Ducati driver Stefan Gluck refers to the successes in the superbike racing series. With its 113 hp, this is guaranteed to be transferred to the motorway. With his 61 hp XJ 600 S, Thomas relies on economical gasoline consumption and does not want to stop even for urgent human needs. Stephan Grosshans is confident in spite of the underperformance of his 34 HP ER-5: It is comfortable, the mounted high tank bag even offers some wind protection. And ?? Where there is a will, there’s a way. I myself drive the 85 hp BMW R 1150 GS and know very well that I definitely need two refueling stops. No matter how I drive. So immediately on attack. The starting flag falls exactly at 5.30 a.m..
We push north in a dense group, the speed is limited to 120 km / h. Only after the cross Weinsberg does the field tear up, until the triangle Wurzburg West free blowing is the order of the day. Before leaving with Hayabusa, 996 and the Pan European. At 5:49 the sunrise paints the fog, we dive through a sea of ​​glowing red and orange. After a drive of only 40 kilometers, strong air turbulence on the GS starts to work behind the pane on the Velcro fastener of the tank bag and free the locked card including a list of all petrol stations. The race starts well.
Not just for me. Gerry realizes just a few kilometers after the start that he has made a mistake with serious consequences: By using a tank bag and the incredibly low, windy windshield of the Hayabusa, he can never protect his head from the hurricane wind. Every time he hesitantly turns off the gas and the speed drops below 240 km / h, the Ducati’s double headlights can be seen in the mirror. Stefan drives to victory, pays homage to Fogarty and is sardonically happy about the tank bag on the Hayabusa.
On the exactly 100 unrestricted kilometers between Kreuz Weinsberg and the triangle Wurzburg, the following time advantages could be achieved due to the theoretically possible maximum speed: The Hayabusa would need exactly 20 minutes for the distance, the Ducati three minutes more, the Honda nine, the BMW twelve, the Yamaha 12.5 and the ER-5 double the time, i.e. 40 minutes. In theory, as I said. The Wurzburg triangle passes the Hayabusa at exactly 6.05.06 a.m. and has a lead of only 1:11 minutes over the Ducati. Almost at the same time, the Pan European passed with 4:30 minutes and the 1150 GS with 4:36 minutes. The XJ 600 S is 5:18 minutes behind the Hayabusa, the ER-5 12:14 minutes.
So much for theory and practice. After 140 kilometers, Ducatisti Stefan is just racing past a gas station when the red warning light on the fuel gauge starts to glow. What he doesn’t know: It’s about 40 kilometers to the next gas station. After 34, his nerves are on edge, he follows the tempting offer of a DEA advertisement. Drives off to the town four kilometers away and stands in front of closed doors at 6.25 a.m.: open between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Shivering, he maneuvers the Ducati back onto the autobahn, filling the next tank with 15.66 liters into the 17 liter tank.
I’m not doing much better. When trying to grab the Honda, the boxer turns out to be a combat drinker, the petrol panel warns of an impending low tide after 185 kilometers. At 194 kilometers, just under 18 liters gush into the tank, 20 fit in. I have to drive more economically, of course. The field has now grown apart. Nobody knows where the others are. Far behind me, ER-5-Stephan squeezes into a second sweater, bagged with cold, eats, drinks and refuel at the same time. Only 30 kilometers after my fuel stop, I overtake Thomas. He’s standing on the hard shoulder fiddling with the reserve tap on his XJ 600 S..
The Rhon and the Kassler Mountains lie ahead of us. Here even the A7 mutates into a cornering paradise, provided you drive really fast. However, this not only requires the necessary driving skills, but also involves dangers due to underestimating distances and braking performance. Assuming a deceleration of 8 m / s², the braking distance from 200 km / h is exactly 148 meters ?? that is 35 VW Golfs lined up in a row. From 300 km / h it would be 29 forty-ton trucks or four soccer fields? exactly 434 meters. Traffic jams around a curve or a hilltop turn into a nightmare.
This becomes brutally real shortly before Gottingen? fortunately in an area of ​​100 km / h. The Hayabusa is the first to reach the action. A forty-tonne truck stumbled less than two minutes before, now lies on its side and stretches across both lanes and hard shoulder. Gerry finds a gap with his 1300 and slips past. Moments later the route is completely closed. When I get to the scene of the accident, Ducati-Stefan and Thorsten stand in front of a sea of ​​blue lights with their Pan European. Together we wait until the highway is cleared. Meanwhile, Thomas on the XJ follows the instructions for the diversion and Stephan on his ER-5 a short time later those of his stomach. He gets lost on the 7.2 kilometer detour and at kilometer 12 he cannot resist a kebab stand. How good that we have GPS to reconstruct everything.
Meanwhile, the Hayabusa is likely to mutate into a traffic obstacle for the first time in its history. On the freshly tarred connection piece of the A 39, shortly after the Salzgitter triangle, the speed is limited to 60 km / h due to gravel and missing markings ?? Gerry is overtaken by the truck, honking and cursing. Can drive away from all other road users on the newly developed A2 between Wolfsburg and Berlin. The three-lane concrete freeway has the character of a runway; it could easily accommodate a Boing 747. Definitely a Hayabusa. Gerry is the first to reach his destination, the “Drei Linden” car park in Berlin, after just 4 hours 55:13 driving time. After reading out the GPS data and calculating the traffic jam, the following sequence results: the Ducati comes second, followed by the BMW, the Honda, the Yamaha and the Kawasaki. The time difference between the first and last is 1h 24:39. Thorsten’s one-stop strategy did not work. 84 kilometers from the finish, the needle on the fuel gauge is already touching the reserve area, it has to chug on to save fuel and let me overtake it. Revenge is due tomorrow. A lot more traffic is to be expected on the return journey from 2 p.m., but everyone has learned from their mistakes.
Wednesday, July 18, 2001, 2:19 p.m. After two construction sites in Berlin and the 120 km / h limits on the A10, all horses get their spurs again from Dreieck Potsdam. The weather department warns of local thunderstorms in the south, the sky over Berlin is ocean blue, a thick wall of clouds with a lot of headwind pushes towards us from the west. As a precaution, I put on the rain suit, to save fuel, I stay at 160 km / h. The BMW rotates in its long-geared sixth gear just 4500 rpm.
Shortly before Helmstedt, on the A2 motorway, near Morsleben, the three-lane carriageway is narrowed to just one lane using the existing traffic control system. 10.7 kilometers of traffic jam! All six drivers feel their way through independently of each other, the race continues. Thorsten has switched to the two-stop strategy and taken up the pursuit of both super athletes. But misses the right exit and goes straight on at the Wolfsburg / Konigslutter junction. So the GPS computer program has something to do again.
Incredibly sluggish it goes on. Dense traffic on the A7 makes quick overtaking maneuvers on the two-lane railway between Dreieck Salzgitter and Friedland a stroke of luck. Danes, elephant races between trucks, notorious left-hand drivers ?? Fractions of a second determine whether you drive behind or in front of the obstacles. Meanwhile, a gigantic storm is brewing over the Rhon in the late afternoon hours. Exactly at 5.43 p.m. the Hayabusa passes the Eichenzell exit near Fulda. The Ducati follows with a gap of only two minutes. Two minutes that should decide the victory. Meanwhile the sky is pitch black, strong gusts announce the upcoming thunderstorm. After two refueling stops, Ducati-Stefan has a half-full tank of fuel, the lead Gerry only made one refueling stop, but lost more than five minutes to Stefan due to traffic. Just as Gerry closes the tank cap at the Uttrichshausen rest stop at 5.48 p.m., Stefan rushes past on the Ducati. Two minutes later, all hell breaks over the Rhon.
Lightning flashes, the rain lashes horizontally. Mixed with hailstones the size of a tooth crown. Within a minute the road is covered with a two-centimeter layer of water. Gerry waits at the gas station for 16 minutes, hoping the rain will come back as quickly as it came. It pours like a bucket. At 6:09 p.m. I pass the Uttrichshausen rest area and am happy about the coarse enduro tires on the BMW. Compared to the thick slippers on sports motorcycles, it takes much longer for aquaplaning to set in.
Ducatisto Stefan has a good laugh. Without taking a drop, he reached his destination, the Wunnenstein service station, after 5 hours 09:22. Almost 60 kilometers before that, on the free stretch of the A81, the Hayabusa shoots past me and comes in second. After evaluating the GPS and eliminating Thorsten’s detour, the Honda is in third place, followed by the BMW in front of Yamaha and Kawasaki (see final results on page 21).
And the moral of the story??? Achievement cannot be a sin. It’s a great feeling when every short turn of the throttle grip brings you closer to your goal. But 100 hp is always enough for fast progress on German autobahns. Top performances like that of the Hayabusa, firstly, cannot be converted into time saved due to the enormous volume of traffic, and secondly, they turn into physical and psychological stress.
D.The consumption figures of the four most powerful motorcycles, calculated over the entire distance, are close together. The throttling is to blame for the comparatively high gasoline consumption of the 34 hp ER-5. Permanent full throttle with ineffective combustion is anything but fuel-saving. The economic winner of the race is undoubtedly the Yamaha XJ 600. It boasts the lowest tire costs and the lowest gasoline consumption. Compared to the Hayabusa, it saves 46 marks in fuel alone. That corresponds to 16 Berlin curry sausages or eight Big Macs. And gave the editors another idea. Which bike is the cheapest way to get to Rostock? sequel follows.

What was striking about the BMW

On the BMW: With the original tank bag, turbulence causes the pocket for the map compartment to open

What I noticed about the Kawasaki

On the Kawasaki: The throttled engine has the effect of an air pump. Only between 6500 and 8000 rpm is there power

What I noticed about the Honda

On the Honda: The integrated case system vibrates strongly, the seat is absolutely excellent

What I noticed about the Suzuki

On the Suzuki: The windshield is so flat that you can only find protection when you crouch down

What I noticed about the Yamaha

On the Yamaha: The fuel tap is difficult to operate with thick gloves while driving

What I noticed about the Ducati

On the Ducati: From 160 km / h the seating position is perfect, but in the mirrors you can only see the forearms

The GPS ?? that’s how it works

The GPS devices map76 (manufacturer: Garmin) provided by Touratech (phone 07728/92790) save a maximum of 2046 coordinates, which they determine using a maximum of twelve satellites. Regardless of the speed, the points are documented with an accuracy of up to five meters. Together with the QV navigation program from Touratech, it is possible to reproduce the route driven to the nearest meter. Interruptions due to force majeure or detours can thus be calculated out again.

Total surveillance

MOTORRAD monitored the route as well as the driving condition of each machine over the entire route via GPS (satellite navigation). As an example, the top section shows a 220-kilometer section of the return journey from the start in Berlin to Salzgitter. Immediately after the start (1), all drivers stick to the prescribed 120 km / h, at two construction sites (3) only 80 km / h applies. Then free driving (4) is announced. The A2 is equipped with a traffic control system that detects even short-term high traffic volumes at lightning speed and limits the speed using electronic boards. While the Hayabusa, the Ducati and the ER-5 are unlucky enough to get into such a 120 km / h limit (5), the others can drive freely in this section. Shortly thereafter, however, everyone gets into a ten-kilometer traffic jam (6) through which they feel their way. The sloping curves (7) mark the candidates’ refueling stops.

Gerry Wagner, 35 years

Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa Water-cooled four-cylinder four-stroke in-line engine, 175 HP, 1299 cm³, chain drive, weight 233 kg, tank capacity / reserve 20 / 4.5 liters, max. Test consumption 8.6 liters, theoretical range: 232 km, Vmax 300 km / h, price: 24590 marks

Racing driver, fleet manager at MOTORRAD, hobbies: motocross, sport, 16 years of experience on two-wheelers Strategy: Full pipe, if traffic permits, better to fill up once too much than once. Actual time: 4h 55.13 there, 5h 09.22 back My mistake: »The tank bag on the way there, of course. Enduring the wind pressure was almost impossible. From 260 km / h the lights almost went out for me. Without a tank bag, I would have been able to get out another ten minutes, guaranteed. The good thing about the Hayabusa is the Toni Mang effect: The recognition is so great that most cars willingly make room for you on the autobahn. “

Thomas Behr, 39 years

Yamaha XJ 600 S air-cooled four-cylinder four-stroke in-line engine, 61 hp, 599 cm³, chain drive, weight: 231 kg, tank capacity / reserve 17 / 3.5 liters, max. Test consumption 6.4 liters, theoretical range: 265 kilometers, Vmax 188 km / h, price: 11300 marks

Bicycle dealer, hobbies: badminton, cycling; Driving experience: A lot of motorway experience; a total of over 100,000 two-wheeled kilometers Strategy: no breaks, two refueling stops, a full-throttle stage, two stages at medium speeds Estimated travel time: there and back just under six hours; Actual time: 5h 21.11 there, 5h 51.07 backMy mistake: »In the leather suit it quickly got too cold, a thick sweater underneath would have been better. Two refueling stops were extremely tight on the way there. I once had to refuel 17.6 liters. Two were enough on the way back due to the flow of traffic. I should have put on the rain suit in Berlin, that would have taken me a few minutes.

Stephan Grosshans, 23 years

Kawasaki ER-5 water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke in-line engine, 34 hp, 499 cm³, chain drive, weight 195 kg, tank capacity / reserve 16/4 liters, max. Test consumption 7.1 liters, theoretical range 281 km, Vmax 150 km / h, price: 8990 marks

Student, hobbies: motorcycle (race track, travel), inline skating; Driving experience: five years, around 60,000 kilometers Strategy: Few, short refueling stops, no long breaks, constant drive and therefore only mediocre consumption Estimated driving time: seven and a half hours there and back; actual time: 6h 19.51 there, 6h 12.22 backMy mistake: »I completely underestimated the fuel consumption of the ER-5. I had to refuel once more than expected each way. In addition, I should have had a real breakfast before starting the journey, then hunger would not have tempted me to stop. The only way to be reasonably fast was to take advantage of the slipstream of some cars.

Rolf Henniges, 36 years

BMW R 1150 GS air / oil-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke boxer engine, 85 hp, 1130 cm³, regulated catalytic converter, cardan drive, weight 264 kg, tank capacity 22 liters, max. Test consumption 7.3 liters, theoretical range: 273 km, Vmax 192 km / h, price: 20,250 marks

Editor and ex-globetrotter, hobbies: motorcycle, music, traveling; Driving experience: over 600,000 kilometers Strategy: two refueling stops are unavoidable, no matter how fast or slow I drive, so keep on top of that Estimated driving time: 5h 40 there, 6h 15 back; Actual time: 5:10:02 there, 5:28:48 back My mistake: »I overestimated the effect of the long sixth gear. Hardly anything happens when you accelerate, and if you are still driving fast, the throttle valves are open so wide that the overdrive does not save fuel. On the way back I was afraid of using too much fuel in the headwind, I was driving too slowly on the A2. ??

Thorsten Dentges, 29 years

Honda ST 1100 Pan European water-cooled V4 four-stroke engine, 98 HP, 1085 cm³, shaft drive, weight: 328 kg, tank capacity 28 liters, max. Test consumption 8.5 liters, theoretical range: 329 kilometers, Vmax 211 km / h, price: 27,620 marks

Online editor at MOTORRAD, hobbies: motorcycle, mountain bike; Driving experience: around 200,000 kilometers, a lot of it on the motorway Strategy: Only one refueling stop on the outward journey, drive a maximum of 170 km / h to save fuel, return full pipe Estimated driving time: 5h45 there, 7h back Actual time: 5:12:22 there, 5:18:21 back My mistake: »The one-stop strategy on the way there was bad. Since I didn’t know how far I could get on reserve, I lost too much time before Berlin. And because of an elephant race between two trucks, I missed the right descent on the way back and lost time. That’s why I drove the most relaxed of all.

Stefan Gluck, 34 years

Ducati 996 water-cooled V2 four-stroke engine, 113 HP, 996 cm³, chain drive, weight 221 kg, tank capacity / reserve 17/4 liters, max. Test consumption 7.3 liters, theoretical range: 232 km, Vmax 260 km / h, price: 30,011 marks

Man for all occasions, hobbies: mountain biking, crazy films, enduro riding, driving experience: around 200,000 kilometers on- and off-road Strategy: roll fast but stress-free ?? power cruising, no cigarette, no break, no garnishEstimated travel time: five hours there, five and a half back; Actual time: 5h 02:14 there, 5h 09:22 back My mistake: »On the way there, the 996 was simply set too hard, the seals almost fell out of my teeth. It was also bad that I didn’t know how many kilometers I could get with a reserve. My tactics have paid off for this: do gymnastics on the motorcycle in the 80s and 60s zones and wear cycling shorts. My bottom was wrinkle-free.

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