SR Opinions
Steve Mikolas, Guest Tester
The Big Four are still going at it toe-to-toe. The strongest quality of the current-generation CBR is its rock-solid stability at speed, but its heft requires the most muscle during quick transitions, and that just doesn't cut it in this group.
The Yamaha, as always, is a wonderfully styled machine and the suspension is close to dead-on perfect, but the R1's power delivery and iffy front-end feedback separated it from the others. It just didn't have the grunt that defines this class.
The Kawasaki is still the muscle bike amongst its peers, just as it was back in the day. Strong all-round, the ZX finishes as a close runner-up. The 10R also gets bonus points for style; check that new matte finish paint job...very nice!
The Suzuki GSX-R strikes the best balance between power and chassis. Its performance is at or near the top in all categories. The nimble and responsive Gixxer takes it to another level. These bikes are all practically race-ready. What's next...wings?
Marc Cook, Guest Tester
It's hard to appreciate how much smaller and lighter the GSX-R feels compared to the rest of the liter class. Even the svelte Yamaha feels chunkier. I'd bet that if you hopped off a GSX-R750 and onto the new 1000, the 750 wouldn't feel any smaller. What Suzuki has done here is impressive-especially taken in the context of more power, better suspension, and easily the lightest, handling among these four. Well done.
I never managed to try the Suzuki right after the Honda, but I bet the comparison would be amazing. The Honda just feels big-long and chunky. And yet I still find reasons to like the CBR. Its suspension is superb; in my view the best of those here. It steers with both precision and reassurance. You always-always-trust it. And, in a perverse way, its extra heft and comparatively slow-revving engine make it feel more accessible on the street. The Honda was the only bike on which I regularly used full throttle and maximum revs. I suppose there's something to be said for that.
Andrew Trevitt, Senior Editor
I spent some track time on the Suzuki at its press introduction before we had a bike here at the office. My notes from the GSX-R's press launch pretty much sum things up: After the second session, I opened my pad, sat looking at a blank sheet for about 10 minutes, and wrote "There's really nothing wrong with this bike."
Last year, the Kawasaki was my favorite because it was so much fun, so powerful, and worked so well, even though it had-and still has-a few rough edges. The Suzuki has every bit as much power as the ZX-10R, handles lighter and crisper, and is more nicely finished. My objective self knows it's the better bike.
That's what I keep telling myself, but I also find that I enjoy riding the Kawasaki just as much as the Suzuki. Perhaps it's the rawness of the ZX-10R's power. Maybe it's the styling. It could be that riding it is like trying to tame something wild. But most likely, that's what I have to tell myself because there's no chance of me riding the GSX-R again now that the test is done and Kent has the key.