AND THE WINNER IS …
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| Editor ‘arris, Seymour and Ed (and a large gentleman in the background) compare notes. Okay, they’re menus, but we gotta eat! |
In the first part we looked at how each bike performed on our long weekend trip, without much of a judgement being made between them. But if you’ve read all three write-ups and got close to $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you’ll want to know the dirt that will help decide where that hard earned cash is going to go.
As is often told to a bunch of pre-teenagers waiting to hear whether they’ve been picked for the school team, “There’s no losers here. You’ve all won by taking part. But …” The ensuing tears suggest a different story, but when it comes to a weekend’s comparison of three of the hottest sport-tourers, I can say (with hand on heart, and Kleenex at the ready) that there are truly no losers here.
After the three days of fun and madness, we all sat down over a beer and discussed the pros and cons of each bike. Numbers were allotted to each category and then comments of the group summarized into bite sized chunks of knowledge.
The result of this highly scientific process can be found in the handy Model Rating chart below.
P.S. Missed Part 1??? Click here.
MODEL RATING (Graded from 1 to 3, 1 being the best) |
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CATEGORY
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Honda
ST 1300 |
Yamaha
FJR 1300 |
Kawasaki
ZZR 1200 |
COMMENTS
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Braking |
1 |
2 |
3 |
The Honda brakes had a whole load of bite and needed the least amount of effort to stop hard and well. Yamaha brakes are lifted from the R1 and work well but require a tad more effort to haul the hunk to a stop. The ZZR’s brakes aren’t crap either, but needed the most squeeze of the lot. |
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Fit & Finish |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Honda have a bit of a reputation for good build quality and do a great job on the new ST. Yamaha and Kawasaki are perfectly acceptable, but they just don’t quite come together like the ST. |
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Handling (twisties) |
2 |
3 |
1 |
The ZZR is the most sport-bike like of the lot. Less weight, stiffer suspension and a screaming engine made it the bike to grab when the curves sprang up. The ST did remarkably well considering its weight, but inevitably lost on the flickability The FJR was the bike most likely to feel that it was tying itself in knots. It didn’t, it just felt like it might. |
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Transmission |
1 |
3 |
2 |
The ST was the smoothest of the lot. ZZR not far behind, but needed a bit more of a punt. The FJR was positive but definitely notchy, and required a more thoughtful push to click into the next gear. |
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Comfort (seat) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
ST = Arse masseur. Say no more. FJR was close but would cause some pain eventually. ZZR was , well, sportbike-like and broke my arse clean in two on the way down to Penns. Less noticeable in the twisties when sliding around, but not pleasant on the highway. |
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Comfort |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Again, the ZZR benefits well from it’s sportier bias, which a more lean-over position for greater control. The ST is upright but you still feel somewhat plugged in. FJR lost out thanks to its weird bars that come too far back making you feel that your on a cruiser, not a sports-tourer. |
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Comfort |
1 |
2 |
3 |
ST. Perfect position, super seat and a screen that comes up high enough to clip low bridges, leaving the rider in a sea of calmness. FJR comes a close second, though the screen doesn’t completely isolate the rider. ZZR locks you into one position so that it can focus on breaking down yer arse. |
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Engine (performance) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
The ZZR loves and begs to be revved. Although it lacks power below 3,500 rpm, it keeps on hopping up from there. FJR is fierce, with massive stump pulling torque and unlike the ZZR, is accessible from any point. Party stops early at 8,500 rpm when power drops off. Honda motor is perfectly usable, but a bit too much on the sensible side for the sporty edge. |
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Engine (alroundability) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
The ST nudges out the FJR thanks to its silky smoothness and flat feeling torque output. Massive spread of power from FJR is a wondrous thing but it’s just not quite as sophisticated as the ST. ZZR is a bit too sport orientated for this category. |
Overall the Honda gets the best marks, only falling a tad short when it came to putting it through the twisties and in general sporty mode. Of all the bikes, the ST was seen as the one that would do it all – gobble up the highway miles and then flip-flop through the twisties with sufficient ease. However, even though it did so well, there was a certain lack of love/lust for the bike. Tester Ed summed it up nicely with “It’s a mile killer. It does everything you want it to do, but at the end of the ride, you weren’t infatuated”.
The Yamaha came in just behind the Honda in its touring abilities, but seemed to come out worst when it was asked to get sporty.
Finally, the Kawasaki seemed to excel at the sporty stuff, but when asked to gobble up the highway miles responded by getting medieval on yer arse.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
And finally, the usual (and very handy) CMG technical data comparison. And free of commentary too!
– TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION COMPARISON – |
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