Middleweight Strip Show

Legalities notwithstanding, we know that drag racing takes place not only on the track but also on the street, so we've included quarter-mile times in this street comparison. Unlike all you scofflaws, we conducted our acceleration testing in the controlled environment of the world-class strip at Infineon Raceway. And, unlike you, we have the phone number of the amazingly cooperative PR guy at Infineon, John Cardinale, who happily arranged to make the strip operational during a Zoom Zoom Trackdays lunch break.

With temperatures in the low 60s and an altitude not far above sea level, we were expecting to see some pretty quick times from these bikes, despite not changing any suspension or tire-pressure settings from road-racing trim.

But what we didn't expect was the severely limited traction offered from the dragstrip surface. The combination of several weeks of rain on top of all the old rubber laid on the tarmac made for an exciting tire-spinning ride all the way through the speed traps. It was a bizarre sight to see the tach needle rise up and then go down under full-throttle acceleration as the tire first loses grip then regains hold.

As such, the numbers we obtained at Infineon weren't as impressive as we could've hoped. Proof of the slippery surface came in the form of trap speeds of each bike that were down several miles per hour from our results last year. However, the numbers are representative of each bike's comparative ability to get down the strip. Each was given four runs to get its best time (with one notably exception).

To no one's surprise, Kawasaki's "cheater" bike took the top honors in the sprint race. Its E.T.s came down on each run until its third, a 10.78 at 128.8 mph, became the quickest and fastest run of the day. The ZX is relatively easy to launch, and from the saddle it definitely felt the strongest.

The second-placed runner, the R6, needs some explanation. The Yamaha was the hardest to launch due to its tendency to wheelie and its grabbier clutch, and its first four runs varied wildly by a half-second. Compounding matters was a ham-fisted throttle jockey (me) who ruined several runs by blowing either the 1-2 shift or 3-4 shift. I knew the R6 had a 10-second run in it and I truly felt that I wasn't doing it justice, so I made a couple of extra runs. I finally put it all together and nailed it on the sixth attempt, posting a decent 10.84 at 127.0 mph, a time two-tenths quicker than last year. All you sticklers who might say we gave Yamaha an unfair advantage, please take out a Sharpie and write down "11.10 seconds" on your PC screen, which was the R6's best time of its first four runs.

Thanks to its easy-to-modulate clutch and meaty power, the GSX-R is the simplest of the group to launch and would be my pick for an amateur racing series that has a 600cc limit. It calmly improved its time on each trip down the strip. Its best run, a 10.92, was identical to its time last year, but its 125.6-mph trap speed was down nearly 5 mph due to the horrible traction.

The CBR600RR trails the rest at the dragstrip, but it should be noted than all the 599cc bikes were within 0.15-second of each other. The CBR made very consistent runs, but its relative lack of midrange held it to the back of the pack. Although slowest of the group, its 10.99-second run at 125.4 mph was about one-tenth quicker than last year's bike even though its trap speed registered 3 mph down.

Weigh Points

Despite varying amounts of aluminum, titanium, steel and plastic, the middleweights scaled in within 5 pounds of each other, so the fact that the ZX and R6 tied for the lightest at 396 lbs means little to the 398-lb CBR or 401-lb Gixxer.

What's interesting is the comparison to the weights of last year's bikes, according to our fancy Intercomp electronic scales. Honda has taken the typical approach and lopped weight off the CBR, an incredible 22 lbs less than we measured last year. While the light plastic solo seat cover is no doubt lighter than the passenger seat from last year's bike, there's no way it is as heavy as a bowling ball.

If Honda is to be commended, then Kawasaki and Yamaha should be pilloried. The R6 has a quintet of extra pounds due partially to the stiffer but heavier inverted fork. The Kawi has packed on 11 lbs of meat, in no small part to that cool but heavy underseat stainless steel exhaust system.

Whoa, Nelly!

Perhaps you've noticed we haven't said much about how the brakes compare. Well, that's because they're all stellar for any sort of street riding, boasting incredible power and improved feeling than brakes from just a few years ago. Each bike here has radial-mount, 4-piston-caliper front brakes. Like the ZX, the Suzuki uses Tokico calipers, but they are an older generation design that uses just two pads to the ZX's four. Honda has fitted Tokico calipers that look to be similar to the GSX-R's, while Yamaha uses its own brand, Sumitomo, for its binders.

The Honda is the only one without a radial-mount master cylinder, which in our experience adds a greater level of control at threshold braking. The Gixxer and ZX use a Nissin component, while the R6 uses a Brembo piece. Each has an adjustable brake lever.

"The brakes on all four bikes felt so similar that it was difficult to say anything bad about them," Hutch explains. "They all were very powerful and offered incredible feel at the lever. The fact of the matter is that these braking systems are almost overkill for the street. I have no choice but to rate them equal and will scoff at anyone who tries to say one set is far superior to another in this portion of the test."