Road testers - Ducati UpNorth
Transcription
Road testers - Ducati UpNorth
Road testers Simon Hargreaves Age 34 Experience Simon’s ridden almost every new bike in the last 10 years. He was at the 1992 launch of Honda’s first naked ’retro’, the CB1000. Britain’s most experienced tester? Tom Bedford Age 26 Experience As an experienced road tester and former racer, Tom has been testing bikes for a variety of magazines for the last five years You name it, he’s toured, cruised and raced the lot. Jim Moore Age 28 Experience Road riding for more than 10 years, road testing for six years, freelance tester Jim recently swapped his prized R6 for a CRM250 to preserve his battered licence. the test WORDS BY SIMON HARGREAVES PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHIPPY WOOD Honda’s Blade-engined 900 Hornet, Triumph’s 955i-powered 2002 Speed Triple and Ducati’s 916-driven Monster S4 – ultimate hooligans or ideal learner upgrades? Honda Hornet 900 Triumph Speed Triple 955i Ducati Monster S4 918cc, £6299 955cc, £7999 916cc, £7700 FireBlade motor in a 600 Hornet frame – sounds like an explosive combination of high power and low weight. On paper, anyway. First ride December 2001. The latest version of Triumph’s Daytona flagship race rep filters down to an updated version of the familiar Speed Triple chassis. First ride December 2001. The legendary 916 motor lives on in Ducati’s trellis frame and big-name wheels, suspension and brakes. Latest version of a now classic Ducati. Last tested May 2001. HONDA HORNET 900 the test Price £6299 power 94.6bhp top speed 140mph (est) Performance criteria for the test are all marked out of 20, making a maximum possible 100. ENGINE & GEARBOX 14 1998 Blade motor is missing 20bhp at the top end. It’s nippy and responsive without being memorable. Run forever. Gearbox is good. 14 CHASSIS Budget Honda is always a notch above other manufacturers’ budget stuff. Brakes and suspension work well. 16 VALUE Compared to the Ducati S4 and Triumph Speed Triple, the Hornet is a bargain. 12 FINISH Honda quality inside let down by suspect outside. Chrome exhaust skins rust, choke invisible, no centrestand. Rear mudguard rubbish – rider gets sprayed up the back with road crap. Messy. IN THE DETAILS... (from left): Hornet clocks are clean and uncluttered and, er, sorry, where were we? The 1998 Blade motor makes 94bhp as reliably as only a 120bhp motor can. As it happens, the 1994 Blade Nissin brakes also stop the 194kg Hornet as effectively as they do a 185kg FireBlade COLOUR SCHEMES... Silver, blue, black 88 IF HONDA SAID, at the start of Blade-mania in 1992, they were making a streetfighter CBR900RR you’d have had a coronary. The biggest bike manufacturer just built the most exciting bike, so a naked version must be fearsome. Maybe not. Experience says don’t get excited about ‘retros’ using up detuned stocks of yesterday’s sports engines in budget chassis (early Bandit 1200s aside). They’re never as mad as they promise. No, if anyone should get excited by the Hornet 900, it’s Hornet 600 owners looking to trade up. There’s much in the 900 they’ll find familiar, although parts are different. The 900’s engine is a 1998 918cc in-line four Blade with a crucial 20bhp lopped off the top (114bhp to 94bhp), and fuel injection instead of carbs. The FireBlade also contributes brakes, wheels and tyre sizes, but everything B MARCH 2002 else is 600 Hornet-derived – frame is a reinforced version of the 600’s steel spine, tank three litres bigger, seat 5mm taller, weight up 15kg, wheelbase up 40mm and steering geometry roughly the same. Insurance is a group higher and the asking £1650 steeper at £6299 (cheaper than the Speed Triple or S4). The bits are different, the philosophy’s the same: like the 600, the 900 is no brain-off shit-kicker but a simple, solid, bike ideal for recent converts. Despite dimensional increases over the 600 Hornet, the 900 is tiny (ladies and dwarves form a queue). It looks it from behind, with VFR-ish waisted rear end and twin understeat cans. It’s easily manoeuvrable, with nifty steering and just-so throttle response. Engine pick-up is sharp and efficient (almost too sharp, thanks to enthusiastic fuel injection), the budget suspension is quality, 14 WOW FACTOR The grey bike is uniformly dull, but even the blue ones fail to rescue the Hornet from car park obscurity. and one-size-fits-all riding position perfectly placed for optimum nipping in and out round town. Narrow bars are low on style, high on convenience – they lower the Hornet’s frontal area and don’t overstretch arms. This is good – wide bars look cool but hurt on the road. The Hornet cruises at 100mph – Triumph’s Speed Triple is agony over 90mph. To keep Horneteers from scaring themselves, the docile Blade motor surfs through its neat gearbox with such ruthless inconsequence it’s hard to imagine anything more civilised and less memorable. There’s enough gearing to overtake without changing down, but not the torquewrench of big-bore retros like Suzuki’s GSX1400 or the top end zasp of Yamaha’s Fazer 1000. It leaves the Honda flat and characterless – it could use the loopy powerband and sonic booming of the new VFR800. As it is, the only way to make the Hornet more user-friendly would be to include a free chauffeur with every bike to ride it on your behalf. The understressed engine will run forever, but finish is poor – rust showed on the exhaust skins after a couple of days. Less serious, but as annoying, is the inaccessible choke mounted behind the cylinder block. It’d take Honda five minutes to find elsewhere to put it. But that would be four minutes longer than they took coming up with the idea of the Hornet 900 in the first place. In the same way the original FireBlade was a flash of unalloyed genius, the Hornet 900 is a masterstroke of mediocrity, plugging a post600 Hornet, pre-FireBlade gap. A perfect upgrade for novice bikers, but never did a bike more deserve to be painted grey. 70/100 TOTAL It didn’t have to be a nutter’s bike, but it could have been a bit more interesting. But no – the sharp edges have been filed, the point blunted. Honda built the gun, then to make it safe left out the firing pin. MARCH 2002 B 89 DUCATI MONSTER S4 the test Price £7700 power 100.1bhp top speed 144mph Performance criteria for the test are all marked out of 20, making a maximum possible 100. ENGINE & GEARBOX 15 100bhp 916-derived effort, feels fit and delivers Ducati-style progress. Still a pain at low rpm – so rev it more. 14 CHASSIS Has the names, but just because they work on a 996 doesn’t mean the same goes for a roadster. Too harsh for sitting back and plugging around. Brakes feel pants, too. 12 VALUE Lots of money – nearly a grand and a half dearer than the Hornet, which is a lot of money to pay for character. 13 FINISH Doesn’t ooze quality – wouldn’t take too many winters to rot the downpipes, corrode the banjo bolts, seize the calipers, etc. Lots of niggly places for crap to build up, too. IN THE DETAILS... (from left): clocks are almost as dull as the Honda’s, but at least the flapping flyscreen takes your mind off them. Meanwhile, the Sachs shock is buried behind a maze of carbon fibre, chromemoly trellis frame and alloy hangers. And the brakes might be Brembo, but road salt is still road salt COLOUR SCHEMES... Black or red (that’ll be red, then) 90 THE MONSTER concept began in 1993 as an air-cooled, two-valve 900SS with no fairing, flat bars and lots of attitude. For seven years it stayed the same, bar minor styling, engine and chassis mods (and fuel injection in 2000). Then, in 2001, came the S4 label and an overhaul. Ducati repeated the trick – they de-faired their outdated sports tourer, the 916-engined ST4, and styled-up what was left with big-name chassis parts: 43mm adjustable usd Showa forks, adjustable Sachs rear shock, Brembo brakes, lightweight five-spoke wheels and more carbon than you can shake a hugger at. If the Hornet is a logical progression from its smaller, 600cc bro, the 900 Monster is an illogical progression from the 750cc and 620cc Monsters. Where the Hornet is so mainstream it’s drowning, the Monster is ankle-deep in a B MARCH 2002 cultural backwater, the choice of connoisseurs and perverts. Where the Hornet has one annoying flaw, the Monster has many. And where the Hornet is reliably dull, the Monster is either entertaining or irritating, depending on your point of view (ironically, Bike criticised the S4 in our first test, May 2001, for having less character than the original Monster). This is not a bike for novices. They’d hate the snatchy low down V-twin power that makes dawdling a pain, and the weight of the controls – clutch is too heavy, brakes too sharp for newbies. And they wouldn’t understand why the mirrors blur, and even less why the restricted steering lock gives the Monster a planetary orbit-sized turning circle. There’s no sidestand lug either, so you can’t get a foot on it to flick it down. In fact, you don’t have to be a novice to find this WOW FACTOR 15 More stand out than the Hornet, less than the Speed Triple. Doesn’t look as good as the old Monster, we reckon. The 916 engine was never built to be beautiful to the eye. distressing. I’ve been riding for 20 years and it bugs me. But senior ed Hugo, whose long termer this S4 is, has ridden for centuries and loves the Monster. “It’s a top motorcycle,” he says. “It’s so much fun, it’s all I want.” What Hugo likes is involvement with a bike which goes beyond getting on, pressing the starter, riding it, and getting off. And the S4 delivers. From ignition to engine stop, you’re intoxicated by a visceral overload of hot metal and oil, bellowing airbox and exhaust, and rough-hewn V-twin vibes. The S4’s 100bhp comes from a different place to the Hornet’s 96bhp. The Honda has a smooth, innocuous rush of power, the Ducati makes you feel every suck squeeze bang blow. The riding position is odd, too – the raised clip-ons tilt the rider into an aggressive, forward-leaning stance, shoulders spread and feet tucked neatly below. It’s not uncomfortable but it’s different. With the flyscreen, it makes the S4 the most comfortable long distance, or at speed. Handling is different, too. The Hornet demands no work – every operation is preordained, directed by remote control from Japan. The Italians just get on with it – on stock settings the S4 doesn’t have the ride quality of the Hornet. Ducati sets up its bikes, from race reps to sports tourers, for bum-smooth racetracks. If you want them to work anywhere else, tough – that’s what damping screws and ride height adjusters are for. In the meantime, feel the bumps and hear the engine bark under pressure – this is real motorcycling, not for beginners. Yes, an imperfect upgrade for novice bikers, but never did a bike more deserve to be painted red. 69/100 TOTAL Too charismatic to score highly – you have to be a Ducatiphile to get the point, and if you aren’t besotted with the marque you’re unlikely to be converted by the S4. If, on the other hand, you’re sure you want a naked Ducati, you’ll love it to bits. MARCH 2002 B 91 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE the test Price £7999 power 112bhp top speed 125mph 0-60mph 4.2s Performance criteria for the test are all marked out of 20, making a maximum possible 100. ENGINE & GEARBOX 16 The best here. Pulls from low down, stacks of midrange, good top end. All this and character too. 15 CHASSIS Not as nimble as either the Honda or the Ducati, but not exactly a bus. Suspension gives a better ride than the Ducati, and the brakes are stronger. 13 VALUE The dearest here, by a few hundred quid – worth being easier to use than the Ducati and more interesting than the Honda? You could do a lot of modifying to the Honda for £1400. 14 FINISH Triumph paint scores highly, while nothing rot-worthy of note. IN THE DETAILS... (from left): now this is more like it. Triumph nick the clocks straight off the 955i Daytona and, rather than change the logo on the clocks, rename the Speed Triple instead. The engine is the most visually stimulating of the bunch, even with the Valentine’s Day massacre-style bolts COLOUR SCHEMES... Blue, pink 92 OF THE THREE bikes here, the Speed Triple is the cheekiest. If the Hornet is a Blade engine in a 600 Hornet chassis, and the S4 a restyled ST4 minus the fairing, then the Speed Triple is built on the Daytona 955i production line right up to the very end, when Triumph fits a fairing and clip-ons to one bike and bug-eye lights and flat bars to another. It’s so close I’m surprised Triumph doesn’t just sell the Daytona with a quick-release fairing and a conversion kit. Take around 30 seconds to swap them – bingo! Two bikes for the price of one. The seat unit, seat, frame, subframe, brakes, engine casings, major engine components, front wheel, forks, shock, mudguard, tank, even the new clocks are a ripoff (the digital speedo looks disembodied, yet strangely pleasing, hovering above the pair of headlights). The factory MARCH 2002 can’t even be arsed to remove the 955i logo from the tacho – it’s cheaper to stick the number in the bike’s name instead. The only substantial differences between the two are the Triple’s single-sided swing-arm (the stock Daytona has a conventional swing-arm) and the Triple’s 112bhp compared to the Daytona’s 130bhp (achieved mostly by dragging the Daytona’s rev limit forward 1000rpm). And it doesn’t matter a fig, because those changes are enough to make the Triple completely different in character to anything else in Triumph’s range. Or in anyone else’s, for that matter. The Speed Triple’s motor dominates the bike in a way neither the Hornet’s nor the S4’s do. It’s the most powerful of the group, with gargantuan mid-range and a totally meaningless top-end rush, but what really sets it apart is its 16 WOW FACTOR The best here again. Bugeye lights are a turn on, the imposing motor gives the bike a retro-industrial look. Whatever that is. sheer effortlessness. It’s so potent and smooth it’s possible to spend many miles in fifth gear, thinking you’re in top. It’s not built to be seen – like the 916-engined S4, the motor looks best hidden behind a fairing – but the machinegunned bolts in the casing look funky enough. As does the other main styling feature of the bike, the headlights. They’re cool – they work well, but the best thing is you can see, in each chrome casing, a wide-angle reflection of yourself as you ride. It looks like a mad, split-screen onboard video, and it takes your mind off the pummeling your upper body and neck is taking from the lack of fairing. A tiny fly-screen is available – spare your osteopath and get it. The immense lack of wind protection seriously restricts the Triple’s usefulness. The riding position doesn’t help. The high, wide bars are a long way from the seat, stretching arms so it gets harder to use the clutch and throttle as you go faster. Once you get up to around 100mph, it actually becomes difficult to roll off the throttle. Given how close the Speed Triple’s chassis is to the Daytona 955i, it’s no surprise to find it handles. Brakes are class, steering neutral (but remote – the wide bars take away the immediacy), suspension controlled and supple. It works as well as the bike needs, without intruding. All these things make the Triple a suitable bike for new riders, a bit of a tool for serious riders and a good-looker for driveway queens. Never did a bike more deserve to be painted any colour you like. As long as it’s not pink. 74/100 TOTAL Good engine, good chassis, good looks, no bad habits. Only the high speed wind protection limits its usefulness, but it’s a naked bike ferchrissakes. MARCH 2002 B 93 70/100 69/100 Honda CB900 Hornet Ducati Monster S4 Triumph Speed Triple 955i £6299 140mph (est, weather prevented testing) 45mpg 31mpg 37mpg 918cc, four-stroke, 16v, dohc, in-line 4 71 x 58mm 10.8:1 fuel injection 6-speed, chain steel box-section spine 43mm telescopic fork none rising-rate monoshock preload 2 x 296mm discs/4-piston calipers; 240mm disc/1-piston caliper Wheelbase Rake/trail Dry weight (claimed) Seat height Fuel capacity Warranty/mileage NU insurance group Service intervals Michelin Hi-Sport 120/70-ZR17; 180/55-ZR17 1460mm 25°/98.7mm 194kg 795mm 19 litres 24 months/unlimited 15 4000 miles £7700 144.0 (figures from May 2001 test) 47mpg 35mpg 42mpg 916cc, dohc, 8v, 90° V-twin 94 x 66mm 11:1 fuel injection 6-speed, chain chrome moly steel tube trellis 43mm usd telescopic fork preload, compression, rebound rising-rate monoshock preload, rebound, compression 2 x 320mm discs/4-piston calipers; 245mm disc/2-piston caliper Pirelli Dragon Evo 120/70-ZR17; 180/55-ZR17 1440mm 24°/n/a 192kg 802mm 16 litres 24 months/unlimited 13 6000 miles £7999 125.2mph 42mpg 32mpg 39mpg 955cc, dohc, 12v, in-line triple 79 x 65mm 12:1 fuel injection 6-speed, chain tubular aluminium perimeter 45mm telescopic fork preload, compression, rebound rising-rate monoshock preload, compression, rebound 2 x 320mm discs/4-piston calipers; 220mm disc/2-piston caliper Bridgestone BT-010 120/70-ZR17; 190/50-ZR17 1429mm 23.5°/84mm 189kg 815mm 21 litres 24 months/unlimited 14 4000 miles PRACTICALITIES Spares prices Indicator Mirror Tank £50.30 £33.87 £414.21 £13.71 £81.07 £833.07 £19.73 £51.82 £735.30 Living with it... No centrestand, good mirrors, poor finish on chrome exhaust skins prone to rust. Relatively easy to clean engine. Will run forever on minimal maintenance. No centrestand, mirrors vibrate, steering lock limited, sidestand hard to use, comes with immobilising ignition. Needs regular servicing by a sympathetic dealer (tea and biscuits). Vibey mirrors are a pain above certain revs. Nuts and bolts have to be watched or Loctited. Takes a lot of looking after but the rewards are worth it. And your pillion... Big, wide grab rail, comfy seat and low pegs make the Hornet a sensible two-up choice. Will give the bike a tendency to wheelie, though. Pillion seat narrow, grab rails under the seat on the subframe at each side. Short trips only. Is positioned nicely. The pegs are okay, but there’s no grab rail and the extra weight of an average weight pillion messes up the handling too much. Price Top speed Fuel consumption Best Worst Average Engine Bore/stroke Compression Fuel system Transmission Frame Front suspension Adjustment Rear suspension Adjustment Brakes front; rear Tyres front; rear the test 74/100 Road testers say... Honda CB900 Hornet Simon Hargeaves (above): in a rarely-seen, superstitious biking ritual, Tom, Jim and Simon swap leather jackets (below): the quantity of filth gatheredyby a five-minute, cross-fen, mid-winter jog has to be seen to be believed. Half of it ends up sprayed across the rider’sback back– – the Honda needs a longer rear mudguard d or a wider numberplate (bottom): unlike Honda’s previous bigbore naked effort, the CB1100X, the Hornet has unlinked brakes. Which means you can misbehave Tom Bedford Ducati Monster S4 Jim Moore Freezing weather conditions prevented top speed testing and optimum acceleration figures. Data is only comparative to this test. The Hornet’s 94bhp – a mere shadow of the 125-odd bhp the engine is capable of – is roughly the same shape and size as a CBR600, only 3000rpm down the rev range. The Monster is a bit more frisky, with a steep bulge at 6500rpm and a good peak. But the Speed Triple aces the lot, with 112bhp. Thankfully it’s not all top end – if it was, the Triple would be fairly useless because it has the worst high speed riding position (excellent for cruising, though). But the Triple is big in the mid-range too – not fat, you understand, but cuddly. The S4 is my least favourite because I think Ducati V-twins don’t work in anything other than sportsbikes. They’re too lumpy at anything less than full bore. Riding position feels odd too. I can’t split the Hornet and Speed Triple. I like the Hornet for ease of use – perfect for a novice – but a bit bland. But the Speed Triple is more exciting and has quirky styling. It’s a tough choice. The Honda’s the most useful of the three, but also the most bland. It’ll sell well, though. My heart sides with the Triumph, which is the most rewarding to ride. A great road bike which would be even better with a screen. Then there’s the S4. I make no secret of my liking for Ducatis – to me they’re more than bikes, they’re an experience. And the S4 is the best experience offered by a Monster yet. Triumph Speed Triple 955i All prices are on-the-road, including the pre-delivery inspection (PDI), number plates and a year’s tax Dyno graphs explained The Hornet is a good bike, which is fine except we’ve come to expect great bikes from Honda – VFR800, Blade, CBR600, etc. It actually has less attitude than a 600 Hornet and is more like an overgrown CB500. The Ducati is too specific to have mass appeal, but if you like naked V-twins, this is the one. The Speed Triple, though, combines the best of both character and usability. At a price. Honda Hornet 900 94.6bhp @ 8840rpm 60.9lb-ft @ 7620rpm * Refer to our insurance ready reckoner on p157 for a rough guide to the cost of insuring these bikes with Norwich Union. Ducati Monster S4 100.1bhp @ 8440rpm 64.9lb-ft @ 6870rpm Triumph Speed Triple 112.6bhp @ 9450rpm 66.9lb-ft @ 7840rpm * Bikes are measured on BSD’s fantastic Dynojet dyno using the EEC power standard On all our road tests and European adventures, we’re covered by RAC breakdown and European assistance. Phone 0990 722722. Motohaus Marketing for Nady MRC-11 Radio Communicators (01256 704909). BSD Motorcycle Developments (01733 223377). “ verdict B AS USUAL THESE DAYS you can’t buy a bad bike, you can only buy the wrong one. The Hornet, Speed Triple and Monster S4 are the right bikes for the right people – and the Hornet will be the right bike for more of the people, more of the time. It’s easy to use, easy to run and the least intimidating. Perfect for novices or casual bikers, it also costs a packet less than the other two. The Ducati Monster S4 is the hardest to use, the most time-consuming to run and has enough quirky bits to fill a big box marked ‘Quirks Only’. People with patience call this character. People who just want to ride and not worry about it will find the S4 irritating. The Triumph is between the extremes – more funky than the Honda, less annoying than the Ducati. The engine is beefy, the handling reassuring and the riding position purpose-made for preserving your licence (fine up to 90mph, intolerable over it). Only the price is a downer – it’s way too rich, and instantly excludes it for most people. And once you‘ve added the list of extras (most of which other manufacturers fit as standard) you‘re looking at the best part of £8000, almost two thousand pounds more than a Hornet. ”