Thunderhill Park Raceway, CA -- Your fingers ache from the strain of holding yourself forward against the vicious acceleration even though it's only been four seconds since you rocketed off the last corner. The digital speedometer says 154, then 161, then... just a second, as you grab a fistful of brakes and bend the bike into Turn One. The asphalt is smoother near the apex and it takes some extra effort to force your head down to the inside, as your neck muscles fight the 110 mph windblast. You gently roll the throttle on and the bike is happy to stay at the current 45 degree lean angle, but it's acceleration you're after and this tire isn't going to put any more power down unless it's a bit more upright. That expert club racer with the single-digit number plate is making good time on his four-year-old R1, but you're catching him fast as you set-up for the long 180 degree Turn Two.
You bare your teeth inside your Arai as you anticipate the pass you're going to put on him at the exit. He rolls out of Turn Two hard on the throttle, but you're already deeper and harder into the gas, so you pass him and pull an extra 20 feet diving into the next bend. He doesn't know what hit him as he bobs in your wake, watching as a brand new machine with turn signals, stock exhaust and mirrors blasts past him into Turn Three.
Sounds impressive, doesn't it? It certainly is, when you consider that you're riding the slowest bike in this shootout.
To help us determine which bike is the best, we gathered together Suzuki's all-new GSX-R1000, the reigning MO Champion of the World Honda CBR1000RR, the lightly-updated ZX-10R from Kawasaki, and Yamaha's venerable R1. We loaded these bikes into our luxurious five-ton crew cab box truck along with leathers, helmets, gloves, boots, tools, cameras, 70's music, enough tires to choke a horse and departed Torrance for points north.
On our first evening in Northern California, prior to riding at the Willows to get street impressions of each bike. As it turned out, we got a slightly more adventurous evening ride than we'd planned with rain, darkness, a very large tumbleweed and numerous errant four-legged denizens of the night along for the ride.
After our nighttime blitz in the foothills west of I-5, we were prepared to declare MO as perhaps the most highly qualified publication on the planet to judge the spectral characteristics and brightness of the headlights on this year's crop of bikes and, along the same lines, the emergency stopping power and agility on wet roads for all four of the contenders.
Votes: Finals on Street We scored the bikes 5 pts. for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 1 for 4th. | |||||
Sean Alexander | Martin Hackworth | Pete Brissette | Gabe Ets-Hokin | Points | |
Suzuki GSX-R | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 13 |
Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1st | 4th | 4th | 1st | 12 |
Honda CBR 1000RR | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 4th | 10 |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 9 |
Your results may vary. Some Restrictions Apply. Not valid for certain residents of Washington State. |
During our two days at Thunderhill, we drew quite a crowd to the north end of the paddock where MO was ensconced for the duration of the track portion of the test. This year we were supported by a veritable army of OEM technicians including Scott "The Stud" Buckley of Kawasaki, Chuck Welch of Suzuki and Jon Siedel, Bob Oman and Doug Toland of Honda. We were joined by Van (aka bmw4vww) Washburn who showed up to lend a hand during the test and several interesting luminaries who stopped by to say howdy.
Votes: Finals on Track We scored the bikes 5 pts. for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 1 for 4th. | |||||
Sean Alexander | Martin Hackworth | Pete Brissette | Gabe Ets-Hokin | Points | |
Honda CBR 1000RR | 4th | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 13 |
Kawasaki ZX-10R | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 11 |
Suzuki GSX-R | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 12 |
Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 8 |
Your results may vary. Some Restrictions Apply. Not valid for certain residents of Washington State. |
All good things must come to an end and after an all-too-brief stay in the lush hills of the Northern San Joaquin Valley we had to make tracks back to SoCal to MO's Torrance headquarters and a rendezvous with our laptop computers. Along the way back, we headed over to Palmdale for a final street impression in the foothills near Lake Elizabeth, then onto LACR for a cold evening of wheelies and three-gear wheel spins down the quarter-mile-long drag strip.
It was a long week, with lots of work (as usual), several friends new and old, almost more excitement that even we can handle, and more fun than any reasonable human being has a right to expect. And at the end of it all, we had a pretty clear consensus as to the winner. So, without any further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the featured event on this card, the 2005 MO Open class shootout. Let the games begin!
34 Yrs Old, 5'8", 150Lbs
Pete is a very experienced street rider and novice club racer (we chronicled Pete's entrée into club racing in our first "Out of the Canyons" feature back in February). Aside from being one of the most genuinely useful folks who lend a hand at MO, Pete is also an occasional truck driver for the film industry and a motorcycle courier who has miraculously survived nine years on the streets and freeways of LA. Along with optimism, mechanical skills and lots of elbow grease, Pete brings the everyman perspective to our shootouts. He currently uses most of his personal income suppressing videotaped evidence of MO's initiation "ceremony."
Gabe Ets-Hokin - MO Features Editor
35 Yrs Old, 5'6", 145Lbs
Gabe is well qualified to evaluate motorcycles. He is a highly skilled rider, has been an industry rep and has extensive experience in motorcycle sales. He has a very useful ability to get straight to the point (something in short supply around here), possesses a quick wit, and is generally a smart guy. He is worried that someday, somebody will figure it out and pay him what he is actually worth.
Sean Alexander - MOron
36 Yrs Old, 6'2", 225Lbs
Dirty brings years of useful experience to our shootouts, garnered from a lifelong lifestyle wringing every ounce of performance out of an eclectic stable of motorcycles, Porsches, Corvettes, sailbots, yachts, CR500s, PSP Playstations and any other toy it's possible for an overgrown boy to blow wads of cash on. He also brings the dorm party, a great skill at character voices, an impressive supply of hair care products (that would be one bottle of gel, which is considered a lot when you're from Idaho where soap was recently introduced), a beautiful set of leathers, lots of enthusiasm, the body of a genius and the mind of an ape.
Martin Hackworth - MO Feature Writer
48 Yrs Old, 6'3", 200Lbs
In addition to being our token hillbilly, Martin brings his experience as both a researcher and manager of large projects to MO tests (along with an encyclopedic knowledge of every popular song lyric of the last 50 years). Martin is an expert-level club racer, has several hundred thousand miles of street experience under his belt, and has logged countless hours on his XR600R. Martin is a former climbing guide -- with many first- and only ascents to his name -- ski instructor, bicycle racer, audio engineer, has written several books and a slew of magazine articles about climbing and concert sound. Singer and guitarist for 5-11 Jimmy, Martin is perenially getting some band back together. He also dresses like a concert roadie, giving him immense credibility when loading the truck.
Alphonse "Fonzie" Palaima - MO Graphics Writer
34 Yrs Old, 5'9", 165Lbs
While a great work ethic -- and the ability to manage MO Editorial Egos to a tee -- is a huge asset, Fonzie's greatest skill may just be his inate CheeseyPuff'Dar that he so luckily possesses. Fonzie's always got the good snacks, and who ever remembers to bring such a silly item as food to the track?
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