Bike Of The Year - Absolute Power

Yawn. Another year, another bumper crop of fantastic sportbikes that is unbelievably and undeniably superior to the previous year's. Over the course of the year, we put more than 25 of those bikes through the Sport Rider mill. Thousands of street miles, hundreds of racetrack laps and dozens of dyno runs and dragstrip passes have been logged. Untold hours of midnight oil have been burnt to determine the best bike in each class, but one question remains as the year winds down: Which bike is the cream of the '07 crop? To find out, we took the winners from three of our earlier comparison tests and pitted them against each other in the closest-fought Bike of the Year battle we've had in ages.

The Contenders
As the winner of our middleweight comparison smackdown ("Tear It Up," May '07), Honda's CBR600RR earned pole position on the BOTY grid. The all-new 600 used light weight and a surprisingly midrange-potent engine to not only handily outperform its peers but also to change our expectations of the class itself. Certainly the flyweight Honda is outpowered in this company, but there is a precedent: In 1999, Yamaha's then-new scimitar-like R6 turned the middleweight class on its ear and went on to pluck the BOTY crown from its big-brother R1.

Next on the list is the incredible Suzuki GSX-R1000, slotted in by virtue of its performance in our literbike comparison test ("Mind the Gap," July '07). While some view the somewhat overweight GSX-R as a step backward from the previous model, the more powerful K7 is still the big-bike champ-for better or worse. The Suzuki also has the advantage of being the incumbent BOTY candidate: In our '05 end-of-year bash, the GSX-R handily won against the CBR600RR and Ducati 999. In fact, we didn't even bother holding the competition last year, as the held-over model retained such an advantage.

Winning last issue's exotics comparison test ("High-Dollar Hardware," Sept. '07), Ducati's 1098S took the final grid position here. The standard model fared less than spectacularly against literbike competition, but in upscale trim with hlins suspension and lighter, forged wheels, the S model could well prove to be the dark horse. And if you think a twin can't break the four-cylinder BOTY stranglehold, flipping through some SR history may surprise you: In the mid-'90s, the Ducati 916 had as strong a grip on the title as the GSX-R1000 has had in the more recent past.

This trio of comparison test winners was fed to the street- and track-testing wolves: Staffers Kunitsugu and Trevitt were joined by guest tester Lance Holst for a day at Buttonwillow Raceway and then for extended street rides in the Los Angeles area. Each rider completed a questionnaire and rated each bike in 10 categories for both the street and track portions. The summed scores for each venue are detailed in the following text, with the final, overall scores listed by category in the accompanying SR Ratings chart. In addition, we strapped our Racepak G2X datalogger to each bike at Buttonwillow, with the results (and lap times) shown in a separate sidebar, and the usual dyno, dragstrip, ergos and other objective measurements are also listed. Enjoy.

Racetrack Rumble
Ducati: 88.3
While the high-dollar 1098S drew a favorable review in the company of MV Agusta's F4 312 R for last issue's exotics comparison test, against the GSX-R and CBR the Ducati shows its rough edges. At Buttonwillow, those rough edges turned into low scores practically across the board, as the 1098S struggled to compete with the Suzuki's steamroller horsepower and the Honda's rapier-quick maneuverability. Like the standard 1098 that has an identical engine specification, the S model is hampered by its wide-ratio gearbox that leaves you stuck between gears on many of the track's turns. Kunitsugu noted that "You're forced to shift too much to keep from smacking the rev limiter." Also hampering the 1098S are its ergonomics, which give a forward rider-weight bias with widely splayed clip-ons and a tall seat height. It's not uncomfortable, but rather gives less of a feeling of control when compared with the GSX-R or CBR.

In the plus column, the 1098's monoblock Brembo brakes drew high scores from our testers, and the hlins suspension and forged Marchesini wheels helped overall handling. "A surprising improvement from the standard model," Holst commented, "with a better-balanced chassis that lets you better use its strong-everywhere powerband." We've found both the standard and S versions of the 1098 to be sensitive to suspension setup, with what feels to be a very progressive rear linkage requiring some compromise in preload and ride-height settings. We made some significant improvements over the course of our track day with minor changes, but even then the hlins-equipped 1098S was a handful on Buttonwillow's aging tarmac. Perhaps Kunitsugu summed up the Ducati's track performance best: "The Ducati is kind of a paradox; it requires as much commitment from the rider as the GSX-R and feels like you're going really quick, but the end result isn't quite there."

Ducati 1098S

Ducati 1098 The 1098's all-LCD dash shows the most information in the least user-friendly fashion, and the mirrors are the worst of this group. Note the angle of the clip-ons compared with the Honda's and Suzuki's.

The incredibly strong Brembo setup on the 1098S offers one-finger stopping power and fantastic feel. The forged aluminum wheel and hlins fork are both part of the upgrade to S specification, giving quicker steering and better chassis control than the standard parts.

Honda: 92.9
In stark contrast to our constant fiddling with the 1098S, the CBR600RR went practically untouched in the garage when not being ridden. All our testers raved about the little Honda's toy-like feel and user-friendly handling. "One of the most pleasurable track bikes ever in terms of rider satisfaction," Holst wrote. "It makes me feel like a better rider. You can wring its neck and throw it around with reckless abandon without scaring yourself silly or getting dangerously over your head." With a well-sorted chassis, suspension that is "near perfect" according to Kunitsugu, stellar brakes and an overall package that is refined to the nth degree, the CBR has the performance to match: The data sidebar shows the full story, but in terms of lap times, the Honda is quicker than the Ducati and less than one second slower than the GSX-R around Buttonwillow's west loop.

On the score sheet, the Honda lost out only in terms of engine power and delivery-understandably, as it's more than 50 ponies down from the GSX-R. Our test bike had a noticeably more abrupt off/on throttle transition than we experienced in our middleweight test, slightly hampering mid-corner speed-a crucial point when you're trying to minimize the damage the big GSX-R will surely cause on the following straight. Setting egos and lap timers aside, all three of our testers pointed to the Honda as the user-friendly and fun track-day bike that would most benefit anyone's riding skills.

Honda CBR600RR

A clear analog tach combines with a large LCD panel on the CBR600RR, making it easy to see revs or speed at a glance. The mirrors are large and widely spaced to show a good view of what's behind. Yes, that's a fuel gauge!

While the CBR600RR's front end may not look as blingy as the Ducati's, braking and suspension performance are surprisingly effective even in the 1098S's company. The OEM Dunlop Qualifiers showed excellent grip and wear characteristics on our street ride.