Many thanks to all the manufacturers...
Many thanks to all the manufacturers for providing technical support for the track testing portion of our comparison test.
By now many of you have already seen other comparisons that show us bucking an obvious trend. And while it'd be easier to avoid controversy and simply join the herd by making the easy choice of basing everything on lap times, we can't overlook all of the data we've compiled over several days of riding the bikes on the street and nearly two days at the track, with a group that provides an excellent cross-section of riding skills, from intermediate to expert. It should be noted that everyone rated all the bikes with their head and not their heart or ego; for instance, even though one tester picked the Honda as his overall choice, his ratings sheet showed the Kawasaki on top in the majority of categories-as did all of SR's testers.
Ironically, in the past it's often been a Honda that garners the top spot in our comparisons by virtue of its overall competence in a number of categories. But the ZX-10R not only rated highly in many areas, it was either at the top or tied for top spot in the majority of categories.
And that's basically why, for the second straight year in a row, Kawasaki's incredible ZX-10R is SR's Literbike of the Year.
With its huge torque advantage,...
With its huge torque advantage, the V-twin 1198 shows tremendous thrust in the first three gears (which is why the bike is such a wheelie monster). However, its widely spaced gears quickly kill off that thrust by sixth gear. Note that the "weak" R1 keeps pace with the others in the upper-midrange portion of its powerband, showing that if ridden to its strengths, the Yamaha can more than hold its own.
Once past the 60-foot mark,...
Once past the 60-foot mark, the Suzuki jumps ahead slightly with the ZX-10R nipping at its heels. The Honda gamely hangs in there with the GSX-R and Kawasaki until about 110 mph, leaving the other two battle it out up to approximately 135 mph, where the ZX-10R finally inches ahead at the finish.
The Suzuki and Honda open...
The Suzuki and Honda open up a huge advantage in a top gear roll-on, with the GSX-R interestingly jumping ahead of even the midrange-strong CBR by several bike lengths at the 60 mph starting point. It's not until about 90 mph that the CBR catches up and passes the Suzuki.
The Ducati has an obvious...
The Ducati has an obvious advantage in torque over the inline-fours, with both the horsepower and torque graphs towering over the others. On paper, the 1198 would be leaping ahead of the inline-fours, opening up a gap that they'd only be able to close once the Ducati starts to sign off around 10,000 rpm. Unfortunately it doesn't pan out in reality; the inline-fours rev so quickly due to their close-ratio gearboxes compared to the 1198 that they easily keep pace on acceleration.
| TOP SPEEDS |
| DUCATI 1198: |
184.2 mph |
| HONDA CBR1000RR: |
181.2 mph |
| KAWASAKI ZX-10R: |
184.1 mph |
| SUZUKI GSX-R1000: |
184.3 mph |
| YAMAHA YZF-R1: |
182.1 mph |
| SR RATINGS |
DUCATI
1198 |
HONDA
CBR1000RR |
KAWASAKI
ZX-10RI |
SUZUKI
GSX-R1000 |
YAMAHA
YZF-R1 |
| Fun to ride |
8.8 |
9.4 |
9.5 |
8.8 |
9.0 |
| Quality |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Instruments and controls |
8.3 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Ergonomics |
8.5 |
9.1 |
8.8 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Chassis and handling |
8.9 |
9.2 |
9.3 |
8.9 |
9.0 |
| Suspension |
8.8 |
9.3 |
9.2 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Brakes |
8.9 |
9.1 |
9.3 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Transmission |
9.0 |
9.1 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
9.0 |
| Engine power |
9.0 |
9.2 |
9.5 |
9.4 |
9.0 |
| Engine-power delivery |
9.2 |
9.2 |
9.2 |
9.2 |
9.0 |
| Total |
88.4 |
91.6 |
91.8 |
90.3 |
90.0 |