Old guys get naked - Team Rigor Mortis takes the newest motorcycles through their paces at the track
SHANNONVILLE, ONT. • In the automotive world, it's all so easy; the more pistons you have the sportier the car. Oh, you can futz with the system with the addition of a supercharger, turbocharger(s) and, even in more recent times, one of those newfangled hybrid electric motors. But, in general, the more connecting rods an engine has, the faster the car goes.
Motorcycles are not nearly as simple. When motorcycling was in its infancy, almost all bikes were singles or V-twins, simply because nobody figured out how to make a multi-cylinder motorcycle work. Then, the Japanese bike makers came along and showed the world how to make the now-classic, across-the-beam, in-line-four-cylinder reliable, fast and cheap. For 25 years, it was accepted that a four-cylinder engine was fast; anything else was slow.
Then, Ducati resurfaced as a superbike force and -- regardless of whether you agree or not with the displacement advantages various racing associations grant the blood-red V-twins -- the Italians re-popularized what had become a forgotten engine format. Not quite as historic but equally forgotten, the three-cylinder motorcycle engine has also recently been resurrected by Triumph, first as a comfy-cozy, somewhat flatulent touring powerplant, but more recently in some seriously fire-breathing sportbikes. So, the argument begins anew: Which is the superior sporting motorcycle engine -- two, three or four cylinders?
This was the premise (or excuse) for a track comparison -- not that I or any other member of Team Rigor Mortis (still alive and flailing despite our age, decrepitude and Pat Barnes' incredibly traitorous purchase of not one but two monumentally slow, semi-luxurious sailboats) needs an excuse. As a further twist, however, we decided to test the three engines in their "naked" bike format, having noticed in previous tests that the fairing-less motorcycles' more upright seating position was easier on our pitiful bodies.
The weapons chosen were actually kind of obvious. Triumph's Street Triple R made the grade because its supersports cousin -- the Daytona 675 -- won our last track shoot-out. The Buell 1125CR made an appearance because a) we didn't know it was going out of business and b) because it was a brand-new take on a format we liked. The choice of BMW's K1300R was the least obvious choice until one realizes BMW makes the most powerful naked bike.
Indeed, the BMW proved two things, at least one of them obvious. The first -- and, again, this is no great surprise -- huge amounts of power are massively entertaining. Tiptoe the 173-horsepower K1300 through Shannonville Motorsport Park's tightest hairpin and it launches down the back straight like all the hounds of Hades have assembled right here in Southern Ontario. By the end of the straight, there's a whopping 250 kilometres an hour on the speedo, assuming you are brave enough to keep the throttle pinned long past a sensible braking point and stupid enough to be looking at the gauges when doing this.
Foolish or not, that phenomenal turn of speed illustrates one important fact -- all things being equal (and, in this case, we admit they weren't), four-cylinder engines produce more top-end power than their two- and three-cylinder counterparts. It's a simple matter of valve area or, more accurately, valve circumference. But four-bangers can pack more of it in for a given displacement than can twins or triples, so for the same displacement and state-of-tune (i.e., camshafts, etc.), a four will always be more powerful.
Power is not everything, however, and straightaways are the least challenging part of any race track. Serious speed is judged by how fast you can get around corners and, at Shannonville, they are many and varied. The bottom line is that the BMW, despite its heft, managed this portion of the test quite well, though initially it looked as if it was going to be the fish out of water. Our first two testers were sent out on the track with the company's new ESA adjustable suspension set to its softest setting. It wobbled around like a water buffalo on roller skates. It bounced, it flounced, it shook like a nervous chihuahua just getting out of its dreaded monthly bath. Anything that looked like a corner was a cause for panic. Even from the sidelines it looked as though the entire machine was quaking in fear.
Then we discovered the "track" setting and all was well. No, the K1300 wasn't transformed into a grid-ready MotoGP machine, but it became competent enough that some of us started pushing it hard enough to boil the brake fluid (see the aforementioned brave and stupid). For something so large, it really does heel over well - as long as the suspension is in the right setting.
This is something the Triumph hardly requires. As delivered, the Street Triple R was suspended with a similar soft setting. But while the soft springing limited the available ground clearance during cornering, it didn't affect handling all that much. The basic ingredients of the Triumph's chassis -- light weight, short wheelbase, ideal rake and trail, etc. -- are such that, even with the dampers on full soft, the Triple scooted around the race track with ease.
After we fooled with the suspenders (the "R" version gets a fully adjustable suspension fore and aft compared with the standard Street Triple), it turned that much sharper and the steering felt directly wired to the left side of our neo-cortexes, that part of the brain I assume handles things such as the fear of leaning a motorcycle over too far. Triumph may have softened the suspension of the Street Triple versus its Daytona sibling in respect to its street orientation, but the basic goodness of the chassis has not been lost. And the Triumph could be braked hard lap after lap without anything foolish like the brake fluid turning the colour of steeped tea. That's also because the Street Triple wasn't going anywhere near as fast as the big Beemer. Yes, it was lighter and yes, it revved higher. But, at roughly half the displacement as the German broadsword and with 67 less horsepower (107), there was no way it could even remotely play in the K1300's wake.
That said, there are a lot of good things to say about Triumph's 675-cubic-centimetre DOHC engine. For one thing, thanks to its three-cylinder format, the 675 is significantly torquier than a comparable Japanese four-cylinder 600. Where an in-line four might not start making serious power until 10,000 rpm, the Triumph has decent torque as low as 6,000 rpm. In the middleweight category, that passes for stump-pulling, low-end grunt.
Low-end torque is something the Buell 1125CR has in spades. Say what you will about the now-defunct American sportbike company -- questionable reliability, odd-duck styling, etc. -- the 146-hp, Rotax-built 1,125-cc V-twin is a gem. Though it revs with ease to 9,500 rpm -- high by big-twin standards but nothing compared with the 12,000-plus rpm the Triumph spins -- all that torque makes shifting superfluous once above 4,000 rpm.
Like all V-twins, it's not just the power it makes but how it makes power that sets the Buell apart from its rivals. Gas it at low speed and the engine doesn't so much vibrate as quake, seemingly shuddering in anticipation of the great illegality of speed upon which you are about to embark. At higher rpm, the rumble becomes more insistent (the Rotax engine uses a 72-degree angle between cylinders rather than the vibration-quelling 90 degrees of Ducati's trademark V-twin), but it's never objectionable like the pounding of big-inch, solidly mounted Harleys or the frenzied buzzing of some in-line fours. If you're looking for character, V-twins deliver, the Buell 1125 in particular.
The CR also handles well, if a little oddly. Traditional sporting V-twins -- Ducatis and Aprilias to be sure -- have been rearward-biased sportbikes, steered with the back wheel via the throttle as much as through the front. Stable in the extreme, they are generally not the sharpest-steering bikes on the track. Conversely, the Buell places even more emphasis on the front tire than many Japanese fours. Indeed, with the 1125CR's standard clubman handlebar, it feels as though your head is directly over the front axle. It takes some getting used to compared with the laid-back riding positions of the BMW and Triumph, but it works well at the track. As well, Buell does (or did) offer an optional, higher "superbike" bar to make the CR more comfortable for the street. One can have the best of both worlds, were Buell still in the business of selling motorcycles.
Answering the question of which bike is best or even which engine is superior to the others is as difficult a comparison as I've ever attempted. The only definite is that BMW's size, comfort and incredible power make it an ideal streetbike.
If the road isn't too twisty, then the Triumph's lightweight handling and manageable motor make it the easiest bike of the trio to ride. That it is comfortable and even-tempered just make it all the more versatile.
As for the Buell, as much as it performed surprisingly well, it simply doesn't matter any more. By the time you read this, all the company's remaining stock will probably have been blown out at ridiculously low prices. And there will be one fewer sporting V-twin for us to choose from.
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Source: Old guys get naked - Team Rigor Mortis takes the newest motorcycles through their paces at the track
Motorcycles are not nearly as simple. When motorcycling was in its infancy, almost all bikes were singles or V-twins, simply because nobody figured out how to make a multi-cylinder motorcycle work. Then, the Japanese bike makers came along and showed the world how to make the now-classic, across-the-beam, in-line-four-cylinder reliable, fast and cheap. For 25 years, it was accepted that a four-cylinder engine was fast; anything else was slow.
Then, Ducati resurfaced as a superbike force and -- regardless of whether you agree or not with the displacement advantages various racing associations grant the blood-red V-twins -- the Italians re-popularized what had become a forgotten engine format. Not quite as historic but equally forgotten, the three-cylinder motorcycle engine has also recently been resurrected by Triumph, first as a comfy-cozy, somewhat flatulent touring powerplant, but more recently in some seriously fire-breathing sportbikes. So, the argument begins anew: Which is the superior sporting motorcycle engine -- two, three or four cylinders?
This was the premise (or excuse) for a track comparison -- not that I or any other member of Team Rigor Mortis (still alive and flailing despite our age, decrepitude and Pat Barnes' incredibly traitorous purchase of not one but two monumentally slow, semi-luxurious sailboats) needs an excuse. As a further twist, however, we decided to test the three engines in their "naked" bike format, having noticed in previous tests that the fairing-less motorcycles' more upright seating position was easier on our pitiful bodies.
The weapons chosen were actually kind of obvious. Triumph's Street Triple R made the grade because its supersports cousin -- the Daytona 675 -- won our last track shoot-out. The Buell 1125CR made an appearance because a) we didn't know it was going out of business and b) because it was a brand-new take on a format we liked. The choice of BMW's K1300R was the least obvious choice until one realizes BMW makes the most powerful naked bike.
Indeed, the BMW proved two things, at least one of them obvious. The first -- and, again, this is no great surprise -- huge amounts of power are massively entertaining. Tiptoe the 173-horsepower K1300 through Shannonville Motorsport Park's tightest hairpin and it launches down the back straight like all the hounds of Hades have assembled right here in Southern Ontario. By the end of the straight, there's a whopping 250 kilometres an hour on the speedo, assuming you are brave enough to keep the throttle pinned long past a sensible braking point and stupid enough to be looking at the gauges when doing this.
Foolish or not, that phenomenal turn of speed illustrates one important fact -- all things being equal (and, in this case, we admit they weren't), four-cylinder engines produce more top-end power than their two- and three-cylinder counterparts. It's a simple matter of valve area or, more accurately, valve circumference. But four-bangers can pack more of it in for a given displacement than can twins or triples, so for the same displacement and state-of-tune (i.e., camshafts, etc.), a four will always be more powerful.
Power is not everything, however, and straightaways are the least challenging part of any race track. Serious speed is judged by how fast you can get around corners and, at Shannonville, they are many and varied. The bottom line is that the BMW, despite its heft, managed this portion of the test quite well, though initially it looked as if it was going to be the fish out of water. Our first two testers were sent out on the track with the company's new ESA adjustable suspension set to its softest setting. It wobbled around like a water buffalo on roller skates. It bounced, it flounced, it shook like a nervous chihuahua just getting out of its dreaded monthly bath. Anything that looked like a corner was a cause for panic. Even from the sidelines it looked as though the entire machine was quaking in fear.
Then we discovered the "track" setting and all was well. No, the K1300 wasn't transformed into a grid-ready MotoGP machine, but it became competent enough that some of us started pushing it hard enough to boil the brake fluid (see the aforementioned brave and stupid). For something so large, it really does heel over well - as long as the suspension is in the right setting.
This is something the Triumph hardly requires. As delivered, the Street Triple R was suspended with a similar soft setting. But while the soft springing limited the available ground clearance during cornering, it didn't affect handling all that much. The basic ingredients of the Triumph's chassis -- light weight, short wheelbase, ideal rake and trail, etc. -- are such that, even with the dampers on full soft, the Triple scooted around the race track with ease.
After we fooled with the suspenders (the "R" version gets a fully adjustable suspension fore and aft compared with the standard Street Triple), it turned that much sharper and the steering felt directly wired to the left side of our neo-cortexes, that part of the brain I assume handles things such as the fear of leaning a motorcycle over too far. Triumph may have softened the suspension of the Street Triple versus its Daytona sibling in respect to its street orientation, but the basic goodness of the chassis has not been lost. And the Triumph could be braked hard lap after lap without anything foolish like the brake fluid turning the colour of steeped tea. That's also because the Street Triple wasn't going anywhere near as fast as the big Beemer. Yes, it was lighter and yes, it revved higher. But, at roughly half the displacement as the German broadsword and with 67 less horsepower (107), there was no way it could even remotely play in the K1300's wake.
That said, there are a lot of good things to say about Triumph's 675-cubic-centimetre DOHC engine. For one thing, thanks to its three-cylinder format, the 675 is significantly torquier than a comparable Japanese four-cylinder 600. Where an in-line four might not start making serious power until 10,000 rpm, the Triumph has decent torque as low as 6,000 rpm. In the middleweight category, that passes for stump-pulling, low-end grunt.
Low-end torque is something the Buell 1125CR has in spades. Say what you will about the now-defunct American sportbike company -- questionable reliability, odd-duck styling, etc. -- the 146-hp, Rotax-built 1,125-cc V-twin is a gem. Though it revs with ease to 9,500 rpm -- high by big-twin standards but nothing compared with the 12,000-plus rpm the Triumph spins -- all that torque makes shifting superfluous once above 4,000 rpm.
Like all V-twins, it's not just the power it makes but how it makes power that sets the Buell apart from its rivals. Gas it at low speed and the engine doesn't so much vibrate as quake, seemingly shuddering in anticipation of the great illegality of speed upon which you are about to embark. At higher rpm, the rumble becomes more insistent (the Rotax engine uses a 72-degree angle between cylinders rather than the vibration-quelling 90 degrees of Ducati's trademark V-twin), but it's never objectionable like the pounding of big-inch, solidly mounted Harleys or the frenzied buzzing of some in-line fours. If you're looking for character, V-twins deliver, the Buell 1125 in particular.
The CR also handles well, if a little oddly. Traditional sporting V-twins -- Ducatis and Aprilias to be sure -- have been rearward-biased sportbikes, steered with the back wheel via the throttle as much as through the front. Stable in the extreme, they are generally not the sharpest-steering bikes on the track. Conversely, the Buell places even more emphasis on the front tire than many Japanese fours. Indeed, with the 1125CR's standard clubman handlebar, it feels as though your head is directly over the front axle. It takes some getting used to compared with the laid-back riding positions of the BMW and Triumph, but it works well at the track. As well, Buell does (or did) offer an optional, higher "superbike" bar to make the CR more comfortable for the street. One can have the best of both worlds, were Buell still in the business of selling motorcycles.
Answering the question of which bike is best or even which engine is superior to the others is as difficult a comparison as I've ever attempted. The only definite is that BMW's size, comfort and incredible power make it an ideal streetbike.
If the road isn't too twisty, then the Triumph's lightweight handling and manageable motor make it the easiest bike of the trio to ride. That it is comfortable and even-tempered just make it all the more versatile.
As for the Buell, as much as it performed surprisingly well, it simply doesn't matter any more. By the time you read this, all the company's remaining stock will probably have been blown out at ridiculously low prices. And there will be one fewer sporting V-twin for us to choose from.
Read more: National Post Story
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Source: Old guys get naked - Team Rigor Mortis takes the newest motorcycles through their paces at the track
