Engine-eering

As the title of this article purports, this comparison is as much a study in engine personality and power production as it is a bike shootout, so we're devoting this page to looking closer at this aspect. Each is liquid-cooled with double-overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, and range in size from the 953cc Kawi to the 955cc Trumpet to the 996cc Honda. Despite three dissimilar engine combinations and three different frame designs (tubular steel backbone; tubular aluminum perimeter; box-section aluminum perimeter, respectively), this trio's overall performance is more similar than it might first seem.

The most powerful of the group, the four-cylinder Z1000, is also the heftiest. The 120 horsepower at its peak and 463-lb tank-empty weight translates into 3.86 lbs/hp, the cream of this crop. The Speed Triple is just 5 lbs lighter than the Z, so each of its 106.7 horsies has to carry 4.29 lbs. The VTR has (barely) the lightest load to carry, 451 lbs on our Intercomp electronic scales, but has just 99.2 ponies pulling the load, so it comes in with a 4.55 lb/hp figure.

If we stopped there, the revvy Z would be the clear winner, but that's not the whole story. The Super Hawk redeems itself in terms of torque per pound, as you might expect from the big jugs of a Twin. Its peak torque is not only more than the others, but it also arrives earliest. The 996cc V-Twin pulls with authority from as low as 2700. However, the singing Triple isn't far behind, boasting a seriously healthy lump of midrange beginning at just 4200 rpm.

The VTR has the least ragged dyno pull and simply continues to make more power until it peaks around 9000 rpm before tailing off on the way to its 10,000-rpm rev limit. This means its power is omnipresent, although like many sportbike Twins, the feeling of acceleration is less than the reality. The Super Hawk has more vibes than expected from a 90-degree V-Twin, although they are of the throbbier, less-intrusive kind unlike the high-frequency buzz of the green Z.

The motor in the Speed Triple has neither the grunt of the Honda nor the hit of the Kawasaki, but it nicely fills the gap with a midrange that begins early and stays late. The Triple has the most of both worlds, with more of a hit than the VTR and less of a lull than the peaky Kawi. Plus, it accelerates with a wonderful whooohhp!, sounding like a monstrous Hoover at mid-rpm before building to a hair-raising howl up top. Music to our ears.