Comparative test of sporty big bikes

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Comparative test of sporty big bikes

To the fast

Honda CBR 1100 XX, Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100 and Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa – power plant technology on two wheels, machines to pass the time. According to the motto: if you live faster, you finish earlier.

»Now comes the freeway entrance – rush hour traffic. But such a narrow motorcycle has no problems. Only one thing: there are other road users who do not want to let you pass … If you then push and push, they end up casually moving three centimeters to the side. But it is enough. In fourth gear from 6000 / min to 8500 / min is just the blink of an eye! If you shift to fifth gear, there is further acceleration afterwards. I dared go up to 8,200 rpm, and if the rev counter shows correctly, that would have been a little more than 200 km / h. The wind pressure is enormous, you cling to the nose of the bench with your knees and literally hang on the handlebars. And you can clearly feel that the fun is not over yet. «The older MOTORRAD readers know this quote. It still gives an inkling of the excitement that befell the author, Ernst “Klacks” Leverkus, on his maiden voyage with the Honda CB 750. As the first superbike of modern times, the “Four” had around 70 hp – enough to accelerate from zero to 180 km / h in a breathtaking 20 seconds.
Thirty years later, and the highway entrance comes again. Three machines gather speed in the Einfadelgasse quickly and smoothly, after briefly probing the situation in one work step, they click across the board to the left lane – and immediately appear in the rearview mirror of a rapidly gliding stately limousine. The driver lets his right foot drop on the floor pan in order to recognize the hopelessness of his attempt to shake off the pursuers at 200 km / h: In a decision that is both fair and wise, he decides to leave the field.
Also on board the Honda CBR 1100 XX, the Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100 and the Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa, a decision is required at this moment: just turn the throttle grip, downshift once or even tap the gear lever twice to get the opportunity to use appropriately for free travel?
The first variant, the acceleration shaken from the wrist, offers quite happy and satisfying moments. You will witness how the engines transfer the upswings in their performance curves to scale on the asphalt and, as the speed increases, they work increasingly energetically. The increase in speed achieved in this way is usually enough to get away quickly. Whereby it’s up to the Suzuki to deliver the most impressive show of power. As remarkably dynamic as Honda and Kawasaki fly away in sixth gear with the throttle valve open – the Suzuki, blessed with merciless punch in all revs, mercilessly steals the show.
Variant two – one gear back – marks the turning point from the rather casually presented speeding forward to serious acceleration. And yet it is only a foretaste of the scenario to which the drivers are exposed when the performance potentials – variant three – are exhausted. Now the tachometer needles move like a propeller, the play of forces is experienced as a whole, the dramatic increase in speed forces you to be humble in front of the rushing air masses, the previously wide strip of asphalt condenses into a hollow alley, at the edge of which the rest of the motorized world has shifted into reverse seems.
Tempo 250. Honda and Kawasaki, involved in an internal head-to-head race, have long since lost touch with the Suzuki and are gradually reaching the limits of the performance of their engines. Only the speedometer needles drag themselves slowly over the last quadrant of the dial, instead of visible forward movement there is now a tough struggle for every further scale mark. Real 280 or 283 km / h look out in the end – not bad, especially for the ZZ-R, which is inferior in paper form.
The Suzuki clearly has the stronger and longer breath. Their forward thrust loses their penetrating power much later and justifies the term “acceleration” even after the two comrades-in-arms have long since lost the battle with the driving resistance. And its top speed deserves to be set in stone: smooth, clean 300 things – achieved by a rather tall person without using any aerodynamic tricks.
Anxiety? When the image of the surroundings turns into a video clip that is projected fast forward at 80 meters per second onto a storm-tossed plexiglass dome, there is no time for it. All attention is focused on anticipating how things will be and making constant decisions regarding the traffic situation. If possible the right ones: To reduce the speed from 280 to 140 km / h, it takes at least 300 meters – with a reaction time of one second.
On the technical side, there is no apparent trouble. Largely unaffected by external disturbance impulses, be it irregularities in the roadway or thousands of air turbulences, the three undercarriages show themselves to be good straight-ahead runners. With slight advantages for the Hayabusa, which still runs like a string when CBR and – even more pronounced – ZZ-R under the said influences sometimes lapse into a slight, harmless shake of the head. The latent risk of a technical defect is of course always included. A failing rear tire, a breaking chain – unthinkable.
Physical stress? Little. Least of all on the Kawasaki, whose fairing cuts the largest hole in the atmosphere and offers decent wind protection even if the driver is not completely wrapped around the tank. The other two machines require more dedication before their operators can enjoy complete calm. When traveling in more conventional speed ranges, with cautiously bent upper body, the advantage of the Kawasaki shell is reversed: vortices caused by the windshield hit the helmet and cause an unsightly noise. Honda and Suzuki, both in a more crouched body, keep the wake vortices – and the noise – at a lower level.
30 years of technical progress, and the result – superficially balanced – is a speed increase of around fifty percent. But the relations have hardly changed. At the time of the CB 750 only a few fast motorcycles populated the streets, but all the more anemically motorized Beetles and Cadets. Today, Golfe, Astras and their kind are successfully nibbling at the 200 km / h threshold, and it is well known how fast modern, sporty 600s are. Seen in this way, Suzuki with the Hayabusa should at best deserve the credit for having adjusted the balance of power on the streets in favor of the big, powerful motorcycle.
However, anyone looking for the deeper meaning of such high-powered vehicles can easily ponder. Anyone who has tried it knows that life with 280 or 300 things on a motorcycle is not really fun. You try it out – for the private trophy collection, so to speak – and that’s it for now. It is much more tempting to treat yourself to that acceleration kick every now and then, that eerily beautiful kick in the buttocks when the intake sluices suddenly open. At least initially. Unfortunately, not only does the rear tire wear out in no time at all, the gain in pleasure is also subject to heavy wear if the required thrust is used frequently.
In the end, what remains – or should remain – is completely normal motorcycling beyond the high-speed roads and drag strips, which are called A-so-and-so in this country. So this time the motorway exit – although the decision to turn, especially with the Hayabusa, should be made carefully and in good time. On the one hand, this machine is particularly good at downplaying the current speed, on the other hand, its braking system, which requires relatively high levels of manual effort and is not particularly easy to adjust, is not the very best means of reducing speed. Better is the Kawasaki, but the most efficient is the Honda with its ingenious composite brake, which basically works on the front and rear wheels.
Driving on country roads, maybe even in the wet on bitumen-clogged roads – that smells like collective sweat, given the excess power of the three machines. But do not worry: anyone who is mentally able to transfer the principle of a heating stage switch on an electric stove in reverse to the gear lever of a motorcycle should not have any problems with the power metering with any of the three motorcycles. The most violent outbreaks are provided by numbers one and two. They can be safely forgotten – with the exception of the start, burnout and wheelie driving. For more heating, number four is a good choice – for emergencies with the three on call. In stages five and six, progress is relatively slow – good for questionable road conditions and still fully sufficient for proper propulsion.
Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki all agree that their engines communicate extremely sensitively with the throttle grip and that their power reaches the rear wheel in a well-dosed manner – provided the driver has a minimum of sensitivity. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Suzuki generally pulls the most violently at the chain, the Kawasaki seems quite phlegmatic in the lower speed range and the Honda offers an agreeable compromise.
When it comes to chassis, too, the Doppel-X is a well-rounded affair on country roads. Comfortably tuned, with reasonably nimble handling, precise in the lane keeping, neutral during heavy braking maneuvers, confidently in fast corners, the Honda shows the competition where to go.
If the Kawasaki, despite its bulky appearance, can keep up surprisingly well with the CBR in terms of handiness, it falls behind when driving quickly: The handlebars twitch on bumpy roads, the hindquarters stuck, the load sways, when at the end of the straight line you get hard into the irons.
In the sum of its chassis qualities, the Suzuki also finds its master in the Honda. In tight turns, the Hayabusa requires more steering effort and greater concentration if the targeted line is to be hit. Even in fast corners and in brutal braking maneuvers, she misses the sovereignty that distinguishes the XX.
Of course, this should not be viewed as a real shortcoming. Anyone who thinks about forced heating à la racetrack is in any case on the wrong steam with each of the three machines. When it comes to maximum precision and lightning-like reflexes, for example, sporty 600 circles drive for the powerhouses. But the next straight is sure to come, and where the dear little ones give everything with screaming revs and hectic manual work, the big ones shoot past effortlessly in the twinkling of an eye. The Suzuki – as I said before – even more effortless.
The two-person operation is also characterized by effortlessness. 70 kilograms of ballast or not have an almost negligible effect on the power-to-weight ratio. Anyone who wants to scare a loved one from time to time without endangering their physical well-being should reach for the slightly touristy Kawasaki. If you want to complete the endurance test in a double pack, choose the Suzuki, and if you are next to yourself, treat yourself to the well-kept ergonomic features of the Honda, which offers the soloist the best seating comfort.
NAny questions? For example, whether a hundred god knows how much horsepower is needed for a fulfilling life on two wheels? Is it politically correct to live a life in the fast lane? There are no generally binding answers to this. Especially not in a hurry.

1st place – Honda CBR 1100 XX

The fine English way – that’s how you could describe the character of the double X. The elegant understatement of its external appearance is accompanied by harmoniously coordinated inner values: a smooth engine with sufficient thump and a chassis that is in its element even outside dead straight high-speed roads. well done.

3rd place – Kawasaki ZZ-R 1100

The ZZ-R is unmistakably getting on in years, which does not prevent it from still swinging the big hammer – admittedly not as effortlessly and naturally as the Suzuki pre-exercises. When it comes to the chassis, the Kawasaki does not show any serious weaknesses, but it lacks the fine-tuning and balance that distinguishes the Honda.

2nd place – Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa

The engine of the Hayabusa deserves the title “particularly valuable”. On the one hand, it guarantees driving performance that raises the hair on the back of the neck; Unfortunately, the chassis and brakes fail to match the high level of the drive unit. So the Suzuki can not win the overall, but the awe rating.

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