Cycle World's Top 12 Naked Bikes

[jeffw]

The one thing that caught my eye in the article was they called the Triumph the original Hooligan bike.  I thought that title went to the Bandit???

[Ronrdrcr]

The way I saw it they set the bikes up in three different groups.  Here is a list of the bikes tested:

Aprilia Tuono vs. BMW K1200R vs. Buell Ulysses vs. Ducati S4RS vs. Honda 919 vs. Kawasaki Z1000 vs. KTM 950SM vs. Moto Guzzi Griso vs. MV Agusta 910R vs. Suzuki SV1000S vs. Triumph Speed Triple vs. Yamaha FZ1

October 2006 issue



They say they liked the Honda 919 the most out of the Japanese bikes because of the refinement of its drivetrain, but gave the Z1000 the award "best from the west".  The FZ1 was given "most likely to keep up with your friends on sportbikes" or something to that nature.  The Aprilia Tuono won overall, with the MV Agusta 910R Brutale in an extremely close 2nd.  The Moto Guzzi didn't fair too well because of lack of power and cornering issues.  Pretty much they gave every bike an award for something.  My favorite though of course is the Z1000 for obvious reasons.

Ron


Oh yeah, they also have an article in it about a water-cooled HD Sportster.

[speedytriple]

in all fairness the speed triple has been around since 1995, in the first gen. they are now on the fifth. if i am right in thinking the b-1200 was not out in 95 was it? i know the 1200 came stateside in 97? by 97 the triple was on its 2nd gen already, the t509 speedtriple. they have had the t3 in 95, the t509 in 96 to 98. in 99 they came out with the 955i triple, which ran till 02 then they had a 955i that was redone from the ground up that ran from 03 till 05 when they came out with the 1050. if only suzuki would have done the like with the bandit. the triple started as a air oil cooled, carbs, heavy and not to high on the horses. after 10 years it now has state of the art brakes, suspension, uses f.i. and has lost about 40 pounds from the 95. oh and it picked up about 30 horses and 20 ft lbs. and the price from 95 to 06 has only gone up 1500 bucks? the first one sold for around 8500 i beleive, the new ones sell for 10k. think of a 450 pound wet bandit, with upside down forks, radial brakes with stainless lines, fuel injection, fully adjustable front and rear suspension. with almost 120 horse and near 80 ft lbs for 10k?! if they made one i would sell my triple and run to buy one. but if they did that think of all the gsxr's that wouldnt sell? thats why they never will build a great modern sport standard, they dont want to loose any squid sales on the gixxer 1000!

mike

[Dundee]

to be fair, our old girl can't compete in that sort of company.

triple you're right about it stealing sales, but never from gixxers for squids.. They wouldn't improve the Bandit as lovely as you put it, they'd make a cheapo standard-tourer with budget suspension, and another bike that handles (but too heavy to be considered truly sporty) and is fairly poor for touring.
Lucky for us the Bandit can do both very well, we can only keep our fingers crossed.
(Also the fact that they seem to be openly putting more expensive stuff on bikes that shouldn't have it- look at the rear footpeg on the GSR it's ridiculous & how much $$$ must it cost?)

**edit** but if Suzuki does want add more bikes, it should be a mix of DL1000 & SV - which means a Bandit litre twin!    

[rocketman1]

The thing that counts against a bandit is the suspension especially the rear shock, its a dog. changed my for a GSXR shock, mate! its a different bike- 100% better. If Suzuki made this of shock standard they would have had to sell the bike for a few hundred more but would have got rid of 99%of the one and only critism most people have with the Bike.
You just gotta love a Bandit.

[Dundee]

What year model gixxer, rocketman? I've been looking for a Busa shock for a while.

[DaveG]

i still think the B12 is the best "real world" bike. that is why i chose it.

we all know what i mean don't we.

i wanted non high tech, non water cooled, non fuel injection,

[fritobandito]

Just curious about the triple. I was looking at the Sprint 1050 the other day in the Yammy showroom. How smooth is that engine? Three cylinders just doesn't add up to smoothness in my mind. Could I be wrong??

[speedytriple]

well i put around 30k miles on my bandit before i wrecked it. and i have over 32k on my triple now. and i would say on the highway the triple motor is smoother. in 6th gear on the triple i run 4k on the tach and it has almost no vibes anywhere. on my bandit at 4 or 5k it had vibes in the grips and foot pegs. i have never ridden a st befor in the 1050 version. the 955 was smooth. i have ridden a 1050 triple and it is smoother then my triple is. and they share motors? the bandit is more comfortable then the sprint st is. st has more power and is lighter with out bags. bandit has WAY bigger aftermarket support. if i have one major gripe about owning a triumph its lack of aftermarket parts. the st can be laid out with factory stuff but is pricey. the bandit can be done with factory stuff or aftermarket. but the biggest thing is sprint st still being made, bandit is not  

mike

[LowRyter]

I own an '94 Z-28 6 speed & '98 1200 Bandit....and for good measure a (now discontinued) 1999 Isuzu Trooper.  All unique & relatively bargain vehicles.  The Isuzu being the most solid & trouble free of the lot.

Suzuki looks to be doing the same thing GM did with the Firebird/Camaro.

"Ooooh,.. sales are low,.. dump it!"  Whereas, IMHO, they should see why they're not hitting their target market instead.

Of course redesigns don't always go well either.  Look at the new Camaro "designs".  Yuck.

GM's designers need to be relieved, and new blood put in there.