Upper-Middleclass Clout

UPPER-MIDDLECLASS CLOUT

TWO, THREE, OR FOUR: THREE ENGINE CONFIGURATIONS, ONE GOAL. WHICH DELIVERS THE KNOCKOUT PUNCH?

Blake Conner

CW

COMPARISOn

Sugar Ray Leonard and Roy Jones Jr. are two of the most famous boxers to compete as super middleweights. If these bikes were fighters, that's exactly the class they'd be in-not quite burly enough to be heavyweights but far too tough and strong to be "just" middleweights. All three are agile enough to give 600cc bikes (and their ilk) fits, but each can also deliver a much sharper blow.

On paper, this trio couldn't be more varied—a twin, a triple, and a four, in 898, 798, and 75OCC displacements, respectively. Yet all three match up well in performance. Because no motorcycle should be a one-trick pony, we tested these bikes on the street before wringing them out on the racetrack, dyno, and dragstrip.

ON THE STREET

Even with a partially fogged helmet visor, you'd be able to take one look at these bikes and see that the GSX-R is the most comfy. The riding position is plainly more humane, and the seat that looks softer really is. Further, on the Suzuki, you feel hunkered down in the bike, while on the others, you're perched way up on top on harder seats.

You can't ignore the very different cockpits, either. Road Test Editor Don Canet was smitten with the Ducati's layout: "The Panigale's LCD dash is a feature-rich sight to behold, well laid out and with a true exotic flavor. Menu navigation is more intuitive than that of the MV, though it would be nice to have the ability to toggle DTC on the fly like you can on the F3." The Suzuki is lowtech by comparison, but the gauges are easy to read, and the two power modes, while not TC, do add minor tunability to engine response. That said, we took full power all the time.

Let's hit the winding road first. The 899 feels light, handles great, and is surprisingly user-friendly, particularly with its excellent fueling. And if there were a MotoGP V-twin, it would sound like this. It might even be about this loud, but it is a roar we like. Steering isn't as razor sharp as the MV's, but the Panigale changes direction more easily than the Suzuki.

The MV feels the least stable without actually ever being unstable (it's the only bike without a steering damper). Its chassis is ridiculously good, if hardedged. But when you want to change direction, the deed is done ASAP. The howling three-cylinder engine is awesome; we just wish power delivery was less abrupt.

What can we say about the 750 that we haven't said before? As a go-to sportbike, the Gixxer does it all on the street:

good power (if less immediate than the twin or triple), with plush suspension and 600-like handling. What it lacks in character it makes up in near-perfect execution.

The Suzuki was unanimously the bike of choice for longer hauls, but guest tester and two-time AMA Pro SuperSport runner-up Hayden Gillim was oblivious to the lack of comfort on the MV and Ducati. The 19-year-old was perfectly happy droning along on the freeway, far more worried about his mom not being keen on him riding on the street and lane-splitting than about his sore butt.

Other street observations: "Riding in town, the MV falls glaringly short of the others," Canet said. "Its hair-triggerlike engine response—a combination of a feathery throttle spring and light flywheel effect—conspire with a shuddering clutch to make a smooth departure from a standstill a demanding act of focus and coordination. The Ducati and Suzuki both leave stops with ease, requiring only moderate revs and clutch slip."

At the end of our street test, the Suzuki was our unanimous choice as number one, followed closely by the Ducati and more distantly by the MV.

ON THE TRACK

The Streets of Willow Springs is a scrappy, bumpy circuit that taxes suspension and handling while also rewarding bikes with good acceleration. Perfectly imperfect for these machines.

Hotshoe Gillim (yes, he has podium finishes in AMA Pro Flat Track Singles, too) spent the morning working on setup, putting an identical number of laps on each bike to ensure than the Pirelli Supercorsa SC2 tires had the same amount of wear before timed laps began.

Despite each machine's unique power delivery and handling traits, we had a tight battle on our hands. Both of the hard-edged Italians felt racier, with stiffer suspension, more aggressive chassis geometry, and sharper, more powerful brakes. But the numbers don't lie.

BOTH OF THE HARD-EDGED ITALIANS FELT RACIER, WITH STIFFER SUSPEN SION AND MORE AGGRES SIVE CHASSIS GEOMETRY.

LAP ANALYSIS: STREETS OF WILLOW

We used a Racelogic VBOX Sport CPS data loggerto analyze and compare each bike's quickest lap on the 1.6-mile Streets of Willow road course, which has corners of varying radii and camber, plus braking zones and sideto-side direction changes that really put a sportbike's chassis and drivetrain to the test. The lap is divided into four splits of varying character. For added information, we've also isolated three corner sections to show the average speed of the bikes through each.

After crunching the data, we had a somewhat unexpected lap-time winner in the GSX-R, followed by the MV and Ducati. Key to the GSX-R's track performance was its user-friendly nature, incredibly refined fueling, progressive power delivery, plush, controlled suspension, and 6oo-sized chassis. Once spooled up, the 750 actually generated higher trap speeds than the two Latin contenders.

"The GSX-R might not have the outright power of the Ducati and MV, but its smooth, linear delivery means I could get on the gas sooner and didn't feel like I needed to rely on traction control," Gillim said.

The MV Agusta was incredibly fun to ride on the track and made it feel as if you were lapping more quickly than you actually were. And that's the problem. With the MV's razor-sharp handling, aggressive power delivery, and lowertech traction control (relying on a single wheel-speed sensor), the bike required small, speedand confidence-sapping corrections in every corner.

"The MV isn't great on a track like Streets where you need to be steady on the throttle midcorner," Gillim added, "because its light throttle makes it lurch when you hit bumps."

By comparison, the Ducati felt just right. Power delivery, handling, fueling, and great traction control all are very precise. The Ducati was refined and fast, boosting confidence and making it the easiest of the three to ride on the track. It also carried the highest speed in corner sections 1 and 2 but had the slowest trap speeds. We suspect that the 899's traction control (on setting 2) was intervening too much.

THE NUMBERS

DUCATI

899 PANIGALE

$14,995

MV AGUSTA

F3 800

$15,798

SUZUI

GSX-R750

$12,299

"The Ducati was my personal favorite at the track because of the way it transitions from side to side and its smooth throttle action," Gillim said. "With more setup time, I think I'd be fastest on this bike."

But a knockout is a knockout, and on this day, the Suzuki was the clear winner at the Streets, turning in a time 0.87 second faster and doing it with uncanny composure despite its lack of rider aids.

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

We strive to give you the complete picture, and although our subjective, seat-of-the-pants impressions were key to ranking the bikes on the street, the objective track data helped us when our hearts got in the way.

The MV has great sound and killer looks, but, while the F3 800 is by far the best sportbike the company has ever made, the abrupt nature of the engine and EFI hurts the bike's livability on the street and makes it a handful on the track. An MSRP of $15,798, the highest of the trio, also did the MV no favors.

Ducati's 899, our second-place finisher, is fantastic. At $14,995, it's a whole lot of exotica for your money. It's also one of the most refined and wellmannered sportbikes the company has ever produced. On the street or track, the 899 engine is tractable and easy to use, and it's complemented by a chassis that's at home in either environment. Our only gripes are the ultra-hard seat and excessive heat emitted from the rear header pipe. A decisive victory on track would have given the 899 the overall win.

But that goes to the Suzuki. We've been GSX-R750 fans just about from the beginning, but even we were surprised at how well this bike defended its turf against this new wave of Europeans. The Suzuki eschews electronic intervention and makes up for it with utter controllability and composure. Where the others feel harsh, the 750 glides. And when the Italians are twisting your body into a pretzel, the Gixxer keeps you in relative comfort. Lastly, your checkbook will thank you as the standard model has an MSRP of $12,299 (add $200 for the 50th Anniversary edition). The Suzuki remains the classic super middleweight champ.