HONDA CBR929RR v SUZUKI GSX-R1000 v KAWASAKI ZX-9R v YAMAHA YZF-R1

It's the powerful bully sent by the Suzuki family to clean up the playground and steal milk and crackers from the other kids in class. It's full of attitude, got powerful bones and a healthy body.

Good nutrition has made its heart pound faster and stronger than the others - and it's some 14 horsepower mightier (at the rear wheel) than the next-strongest classmate.

Watch it swing from the monkey bars and you know this Suzuki could well be capable of kicking the other litre bikes out of the canopy.

No pushover
But the GSX-R won't have it easy because the open-class Supersport category is chock full of youthful track stars. Take a quick roll call and you'll see familiar faces.

Honda's CBR929RR is in its second semester, with no changes officially announced by the Big H. We suspect extra after-school exercise, though, because our 2001 version testbike was up almost six horsepower from the previous bike.

So now the Honda doesn't have to cower in the corner worrying about mischievous 750s giving it the business.

Kawasaki's ZX-9R comes to class with no changes, either, but its mommy forgot to clip all the horsepower to its sweater. Our 2001 tester was a bit down on power compared with last year's example.

And then there's the Yamaha. Ostensibly, the oldest kid in the yard, held back for massive competence. Last year it got a couple of hundred small changes that improved its behavior day to day, but these alterations haven't wiped all of the attitude off its face. This is still one fierce and competitive tyke.

Playing together
We needed to know how these beasts would play together, so we gathered them up, wrote bogus notes to get them out of class and took them on a field trip.

First, the mundane stuff: getting around. Hit the freeway and right away the ZX-9R's size turns it into the big, happy goofball of the bunch. Take a look at the ergonomics charts and you'll see why.

This thing feels dramatically larger than the others, has the most humane (yes, we'll call it comfortable) seating position, and one of the smoothest, most willing engines here.

Yes, it's down a smidgen on power and shy at the bottom end of the torque curve, but the 9R's gearing is perfect, and its silky four revs with such freedom that you don't notice (or mind) having to use a few more revs to keep up with the pack.

The 9R's suspension isn't exactly plush, but decent spring and damping rates let it handle concrete-block freeways without punishing you too much; a bit of impact harshness mars an otherwise good set of suspenders.

Overall, this motorcycle is a peach for the daily grind - composed, easy to ride slow as well as moderately fast, and clearly ready to head off for the other coast at a moment's notice.

Small and flickable
Close on the Kawasaki's heels is the Honda. It feels tight and small and incredibly flickable. Find a hole in traffic, twist the throttle and nudge the bar, and the CBR is right there.

Yet the bike's modestly sporting ergonomic setup keeps you from wondering what made you get on the freeway in the first place.

No, it doesn't have the wind protection of the Kawasaki (or even the Suzuki, for that matter), and no, it doesn't have a particularly compliant ride over choppy pavement.

It's also true that the Honda's engine is more coarse than the Kawasaki's (though it is smoother than our year-2000 testbike's).

But the CBR is not bad in any area; in fact, for the sporting capabilities untapped by urban/highway travels we'll happily put up with the CBR's incremental shortcomings.

Stumbling along
For the most part, the Suzuki and the Yamaha stumble over the same lesson - it hurts to bear much of your weight on your wrists when there's nothing to do but drone along.

We'd rate the Suzuki ahead of the YZF-R1 mainly on the strengths of its plusher suspension. (You may note that this is the same ranking Motorcyclist gave the contenders last year.) The GSX-R1000 isn't a lot different in low-impact riding than the 750. Still not quite a rack.

Fine. Let's get off the highway and onto roads where we can really learn something. Now the first pick - the ZX-9R - falls down the order.

Terse apologies to Kawasaki and ZX-9R lovers here, but the bike's heft (a whopping 13.6kg flabbier than the GSX-R) allows the others to steam ahead. When the road's fairly open and fast, the 9R will maintain the pace without too much trouble. It is, after all, highly stable and fast, and its brakes are among the best here, with superb progressivity if a slightly wooden initial bite.

Chuckling along
When you're really chucking along though, the ride of choice moves in the direction of the GSX-R and R1.

The Yamaha we know: fast, stable, awe-inspiring. At a street pace, the R1 feels unflappable, and made from billet. There's no hesitation between control input and action. No slop. Nothing that doesn't make the bike accelerate, stop or turn.

Put simply, there's no bike around - save, maybe, for the Yamaha's little-brother YZF-R6 - that feels quite like it. If you appreciate total mechanical honesty and an undiluted feedback stream, you will love the R1.

That's not to say the Suzuki feels like a school bus run into the mud. And understand, too, that the differences here are small and only discernible after back-to-back riding.

But the GSX-R feels just that bit slower-responding and somehow less edgy than the R1. Part of it (aside from the GSX-R's less radical chassis geometry) has to do with the steering damper, whose action is evident at lower speeds and in some particularly rapid transitions, and part to do with the bike's greater height. (Few bikes are as overall compact as the R1…still!)

Blessing in disguise
You might also point to the Suzuki's suspension, which is a bit softer and more compliant than the Yamaha's, a blessing most of the time, actually.

One more point of distinction: the Yamaha's brakes possess more aggressive come-in than the Suzuki's, so they feel a bit more accessible at a street pace. (At the track, our tester preferred the GSX-R's binders.)

Then there's the Honda. If the Yamaha's feedback seems direct and unadulterated, the CBR's is amplified, with the bass turned up to the peg. Pavement ripples, camber changes, 20-cent coins - doesn't matter what you're running over, you'll be able to tell through the bars and seat.

Once the standard Michelin Pilot Sport rubber warms up (the Michies are pretty greasy when cold, unlike the excellent Dunlop D207s on the Kawasaki and Yamaha and the Bridgestone BT010s on the Suzuki) you'll feel instantly confident and aggressive on the Honda.

Wide margin
The CBR's steering is the lightest here by a wide margin and leaves you thinking that you can out-manoeuvre anything you encounter.

Similarly, the CBR's brakes have a very lively, instant-on feeling that makes it easy for an intermediate-level rider to get maximum braking on the street. (We wonder if they're a bit too snatchy for novices, but there's always the CBR600F4i for the newbie.)

Honda's given the CBR the finest overall street chassis here, aided no doubt by an ergo setup that puts you more upright and steering characteristics that don't ask for as much weight shifting as the Suzuki.

What's more, the Honda's chassis is stable enough to give high-speed confidence like the Suzuki's or Kawasaki's, yet it flicks and responds like a middleweight's.

Downsides? The CBR's suspension isn't as plush as either the R1 or GSX-R's. Nothing major, but the other bikes edge the CBR in this regard.

Donk domination
No mention of the engines, yet, and that's for a reason. The Suzuki simply catches the other bikes napping. Packing some 14 extra horses under the curve, the stroked GSX-R engine dominates the discussion. It's disarmingly easy to live with.

In comparison, the Yamaha feels torquier down low and slightly better rounded - it also has the best carburation of the four.

Kawasaki's engine feels and acts like the smallest here, and its low-speed carburation glitch (an injection-like abruptness right off the bottom) mars an otherwise fine showing.

Honda found some extra oomph this year and managed to clean up the CBR929RR's low-speed injection at the same time. It's also got probably the finest gearbox on the street, with light, short throws and deliciously positive action.

But somehow the bike just doesn't feel as fast - more like a big, beefy 750. We're sure that before the next school year some of these three will be taking vitamins.

Street ranking
Apart from the Suzuki, this class clings to the status quo. We still appreciate the Kawasaki's long-distance capabilities, but it is falling further behind its classmates in pure sporting prowess.

The Yamaha continues its legendary ways - that's a term we do not use carelessly. Light, small and powerful make a fine combination, and the R1 uses it to full effect.

You'd think we'd be tired of blathering on about the R1, but even after four seasons we're still as excited as ever to throw a leg over one.

Somehow, though, Honda's way of finding more power (albeit with an equally mysterious 3.6kg weight increase) in the CBR929RR has further swelled our appreciation for it. With a bit more character in the engine and, perhaps, a bit more suspension refinement, we'd be over the moon.

So our ranking on the street stands as Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki.

The Suzuki?

So what wins?
You're probably wondering: is Suzuki's new GSX-R1000 the kick-arse open-class Supersport of 2001? Does it have what it takes to unseat Yamaha's YZF-R1 or Honda's CBR929RR?

Yes. Absolutely.

Before you CBR929RR and YZF-R1 owners (or at least more of you than normal) reach for the mouse and email us threatening missives, consider this: the GSX-R is the lightest bike here.

We've always said that light is right, and the theory proves itself true once again. A motorcycle unburdened by weight responds and manoeuvres more easily without the need for the kind of ultrasharp geometry that inevitably leads to instability.

Low mass permits the suspension designers to toss aside the extra-heavy springs and molasses-like damping (and the punishing ride that goes with them), and allows for stunning acceleration without mega horsepower.

New standards
And yet the GSX-R1000 has mega horsepower. This bored (slightly) and stroked (a lot) 750 engine flat embarrasses the other lighter bikes (14 more rear-wheel horsepower than the mighty R1!) and does so with true and utterly unexpected gentility.

By and large, Suzuki has banished the dreaded fuel-injection disease of abrupt throttle response and artificial (that is, uncarburettorlike) feel. In these areas, the GSX-R resets the standards of the class, and not merely by the smallest of increments.

The bike's performance numbers are mega, too. The big GSX-R strode away from the others by 14kmh in top speed (running past our radar gun at an astounding 283kmh/177mph), and by 0.18sec and 9.3kmh/5.8mph over the quarter-mile. (In fact, the margin would have been greater had the short, powerful Suzuki been easier to launch. Ownership of this vehicle will breed familiarity with wheelspin.)

A clean sweep
Also, partly from its power advantage and partly because this motorcycle was designed for the track, the GSX-R1000 swamped the field on the racetrack. A clean sweep.

Do we place the GSX-R atop the heap without reservation? Alas, no. As much as we appreciate this bike's jaw-dropping performance, we admit that the Suzuki's ultrasporty ergonomics (even more extreme than the R1's) are not conducive to happy sportstouring or commuting.

If not for the performance gap, Honda's more-versatile CBR929RR might have staged an upset and won. (And if you want the most versatile of all these bikes - from a purely cranky-old-man, one-bike-garage point of view - write the cheque for the Kawasaki and ignore its less-than-optimal spec-chart numbers.)

In the end, though, the GSX-R's ergonomic deficiencies don't come close to overcoming its significant performance advantages.

What can we say? We're suckers for the type of adrenalin rush we get every time we ride the thing.