Honda RC51 Vs Suzuki GSX-R750 Bike Review

Is true happiness a screaming 14,000 rpm 750 multi or a bellowing 1000 V-twin? We compared the two latest superbikes for the street to determine which delivers the most coolness, friendliness, funness, and which promises to be the best to really, actually live with long term.

The New Parts in 100 Words or Less
Since we covered all of the cool new technical features in our initial reports about these bikes in our May issue, we won’t go into detail all over again, but as a courtesy to those of you with severe short-term memory problems, here’s the scoop in short.

The significant features of the new Honda RC51 include a ram air system with a trick central intake on the upper that feeds through ducts cast into the steering head, a ram air dust flapper valve to control flow, efi, gear driven cams, side-mounted radiators, a close ratio six speed gear box, and all the usual turn of the century new technology. The significant features of the new Suzuki GSX-R750 include giant dual ram air intake ducts leading into an enlarged
airbox, secondary throttle butterflies that act like CV slides with premeditated intentions, redesigned efi injectors, an overall lighter, smaller everything, a new frame geometry, a narrower rear tire, and all the usual turn of the century new technology. Sorry, that was 124 words.

The GSX-R750
The all-new for 2000 Honda RC51 and Suzuki GSX-R750 exhibit two very different philosophies about racebikes and streetbikes. Although it has been a good fifteen years since manufacturers started building streetbikes that are basically racebikes with lights and mirrors, these two machines take that concept to another technological extreme. With that said, it is remarkable how different the actual race versions of these bikes still are from the street versions.

At the Suzuki GSX-R’s intro, we were only provided the opportunity to ride the bike on a racetrack. Unfortunately, just like with chocolate, sex, and staring at people with missing limbs, in that sort of environment it is difficult to set limits of consumption. I really did try at one point to go a moderate speed so that I could get an impression of how the GSX-R might feel at street speeds, but that only lasted for about half a lap. And it only felt exactly like I was going
slow on a racetrack, and nothing more. That’s why we always later borrow the bikes and ride them on streets, and roads, and expressways, and parking lots.

In the report about my first riding impression of the new GSX-R750, I said that the bike had a surprising amount of midrange. Having now ridden the bike on public roads, that midrange has all but disappeared. Not because the bike is different but because the environment of public roads is so different from the track, regardless of what kind of maniac one is. On the racetrack, the GSX-R has midrange because, with a redline of 14,000 rpms, the midrange has been moved up to between 6,500 and 10,000 rpms. Think about it, even at 10 grand on this bike there are still 4,000 more to go. To redline that is, but to hit the rev limiter you have to rev the bike all the way to an indicated 14,500. On the street, a midrange that starts at 6,500 rpms is not reasonable. It might be fun in some situations, but it’s still not reasonable. So midrange in that environment has to be readjusted back down to a classical level in the lower revs, which yes, is where the bike feel sluggish. It comes on strong at around 7,000 rpms and then there is a hit up near 10,000 but it’s not a steep jump, which is confidence-inspiring when blasting through high speed sweepers. Riding the GSX-R750 on the street or highway also brings home the reality that there are very few places where 14,000 rpms can ever be used, in any gear. In order to ever go there with reasonable discretion and safety, one must be on a deserted road regardless of what gear is being used because, if the throttle is held open up through the higher revs, the bike will be accelerating at such an incredible rate of speed that it will overtake all vehicles in sight before it’s time to shift. Just for fun, we checked out the indicated speed in first gear at 14,000 rpms and it’s 84 mph. Which is about 150 feet down the street from 0 mph. And it’s impossible to go to 14,000 rpms slowly because the screaming of the engine at those high rpms without a fast drive through them to the top is nerve racking. It’s like trying to have a conversation with someone who talks too fast. It’s frantic. It’s like listening to surf guitar. None of this is to say that your average street rider doesn’t “need” a 750 that revs to 14,000 rpms. Because that would be foolish. Those 14,000 rpms are a desperate necessity for a happy life. It’s having the ability that is the most important thing regardless of whether or not it is actually ever used. It’s sort of like walking around with a prophylactic in your wallet. Everyone, including the guy carrying it, knows damn well that it will never be used, but so what? Just knowing it’s there makes life more exciting.

And it’s also like the auto-stick in my Dodge. I had to have the auto-stick and when I was in the market I wouldn’t even consider looking at a car without it. But I admit that, in the two and a half years that I’ve owned the car, I’ve used the feature twice. That doesn’t matter. I feel better about myself for having it and I’m glad I spent the extra money for it and I’m especially glad that I figured out an excuse to tell you about it so that you now have an appreciation of my brilliance and exemplary character that owning a car with auto-stick has bestowed on me. So, 14,000 rpms? Bring it on, baby. We need it. In fact, now that I think about it, a 16,000 rpm redline would be even more desirable.

Riding the GSX-R750 in the city showed that its steering damper-which was unnoticeable at all on the racetrack-is annoyingly stiff. The bike is the lightest 750 ever built, and almost the lightest 600 ever built, yet all is lost with the heavy damping of its steering. But be warned, on a racetrack the damper was much appreciated and so we do not recommend removing it unless it is replaced with an adjustable unit. On country roads with turns, the damping’s heaviness is less noticeable, but on tight roads, even at speed, it can get tiring after a while.

I remember reporting that the GSX-R750’s fuel injection was spot on perfect at the racetrack intro but, again, riding the bike in real-world conditions has shown that it does lurch out of corners almost the same as did the previous GSX-R750. Compared to the new Kawasaki ZX-9R, it’s not that bad, but compared to bikes that don’t, it does. Now that I think of it, there are fewer and fewer sportbikes made today that don’t do it. Every new sportbike released this year lurches when rolling it back on from full off throttle except maybe for the ZX-6R. It’s some kind of plot. The power of the GSX-R is more than was expected from an open class bike of just ten years ago. In our dyno tests, it produces 124 rear-wheel hp, which propelled the bike to a top speed of 165 mph. It should be noted that our top speed testing was done with a strong side wind so its numbers cannot be compared with other bikes tested at other times by other magazines. But compared to the RC51, which was tested by us in the same conditions, it had that bike by 2 mph. Damping and lurching not withstanding, the GSX-R750 does give the rider more confidence than its predecessor and, out on the open road, having those revs that never end is giggly fun. As I said earlier, using all of the revs takes practice, dedication, and discretion, so most riders will find themselves short-shifting even when it is in their hearts to ring out the mother. And taking corners while using those revs takes skill and commitment because apexing a turn at a moderate 4,000 rpms below redline will quickly enlighten one to the fact that that is not moderate at all; its like running with scissors. The GSX-R750 has an uncanny amount of front-end feedback and, when leaned over towards maximum lean angles, that feel actually seems to increase, adding comfort at the time when it is most desired. Mid-corner braking only makes the bike try to stand up mildly and the geometry just seems to be so right that suspension changes are more for fine than gross tuning. Brakes? Yup. Nothing memorable but that’s the whole point. It’s nicest when a bike’s brakes are something that we don’t have to think about. There’s really no better compliment for brakes but to say they’re forgettable. The new GSX-R750 has four-piston rather than six-piston calipers giving way to performance over show. Likewise, the bike has a narrower rear tire, which undoubtedly contributes significantly to the bike’s maximum lean comfort and cornering ease.

The GSX-R750 is probably the best-looking of all the new or redesigned bikes of year 2000. Gone is that giant humped butt that only recently started looking normal.

The RC51
My first pre-riding impression about the Honda RC51 was that it would be much less of a streetbike compared to the GSX-R750 because of how even more dedicated to the racetrack its design and numbers appeared to be than that other superbike platform. Also, this year Honda released its all-new CBR929RR to the market and a general comparison of that bike to the same company’s RC51 demonstrates two very different design philosophies. Two brand new sportbikes from one company that are seemingly polar to each other in design, construction, and, one would assume, in abilities. Abilities both on the track and the street.

If you read our article about the 929 intro, you might remember the Large Project manager for that bike, Baba-san, being asked why it was that the 929 and the RC51 have two very, very
different frame designs, one with no swingarm plates and the other with the biggest, wraparound plates in the business? His answer was that the 929 was designed for the street whereas the RC51 was designed to be the basis of a superbike. The RC51’s number-one intention is to win races, not transport enthusiasts’ asses. Knowing all of that, I was prepared for the RC51 to be about as enjoyable in rush-hour traffic as a Ducati 996, the other 90 degree V-twin purpose-built to win world events. Even so, many enthusiasts for some reason didn’t seemed fazed by that, and through it all, the RC51 remained the most anticipated bike of this year.

And too, as everyone knows by now, the RC51 is one hefty bike, weighing in at more than even Honda’s own new open class sportbike!? How could, and why would, a bike built for racing weigh so damn much? Well, we still don’t know. Maybe the thing has lead blinkers and cast iron fenders. Who knows? But the bottom line is, who cares? It doesn’t matter because the bike magically hides all of that weight in basically every activity; pushing it around, braking, steering, tight turns, or accelerating. Short of doing one singular thing with the RC51, its weight doesn’t exist. That one thing is to put the bike on a scale.

The initial impression of the RC51 is that it has limited steering for low speed maneuvering and a very wide tank. The bike looks small, but at first touch, it feels big. It exudes a stocky, dense personality and gives the impression that the thing could do cartwheels and suffer only scratches. True or not, we don’t know because we didn’t test that impression. Anyway, the bike is all frame and engine and the frame being painted black adds to the impression of the bike having been carved out of a chunk of solid metal.

Riding the bike in the city-where sportbikes are furthest from their element but closest to their everyday reality-the bike is surprisingly easy to ride. And easy to ride slowly. The tall gearing of first gear makes getting started something that has to be practiced a couple of times, but after that the beast is tame, friendly, actually comfortable, and, since it has no steering damper, easy to transition through turns at slow and moderate speeds. You’ll find
yourself looking around to try to figure out where its weight went. After even just a small amount of time in the saddle, the tank gets narrower, the seat fits better, and the impracticality of the machine is mailed off to some foreign country never to be heard from again. All of this is contrary to what the specifications say this bike should feel like.

The RC51 has a redline of only 10,000 rpms and it gets there much faster than it seems like it should. That makes the bike feel as though it has too many gears and a limited rev range but, by keeping an eye on the speedo, one eventually realizes that the bike is sneaky fast. It’s only a short rev range because the bike goes from one end of it to the other so stinking fast and so totally without fuss. And there ’s never a leap of power. Just a building rush. It also eats up the revs because the gearbox is close ratio.

Since the RC51 is a twin and not a high-strung multi, it is better suited for the street maybe even more than it is for the racetrack. At least as much. Big pops make big grunt and grunt is always much easier to control than the mad rush of horsepower. And having grunt means there is a broad powerband, which means that it doesn’t matter so much what gear the bike is in. If it’s close to the right gear, it’s close enough.

The RC51 has a peculiar cacophony of sounds, even more than the unusual noises coming from the new 929. When the throttle is opened or closed, there is a popping sound as if some door is opening or closing somewhere inside the bike’s fairing. The ram air flapper? No. But what? We don’t know. Also, there are valve train gear noises and other strange clicking sounds at unpredictable moments. None of this is annoying or improper and, in fact, it’s all kind of entertaining, adding to the character of the bike. The old slam of how Hondas might work ultra well but are without character cannot be applied to this bike. Distinctly, that claim cannot be applied to this bike. The RC51 has lots of character.

The brakes on the RC51 have a unique feel that takes a few moments to adjust to because they come on slow and then build in grip progressively. But this doesn’t take away from rider confidence, it just takes some adjusting to get used to.

Riding the RC in the canyons with the GSX-R quickly confirmed that the lighter steering RC was much easier to control and made the rider feel that he was making all of the decisions rather than arguing and making compromises. Don’t me wrong, the GSX-R does what it’s told; it’s just that it has to be told more firmly.

Perfect? No. When riding the bike at moderate speeds in the city with the revs at around 3,200 rpms, the RC starts whipping its driveline as the engine hunts up and down. Also, any little jerkiness on the throttle sends the bike forward or slows it on compression, forcing the rider to constantly think about what his right hand is doing. Neither of these complaints are big problems and the best solution is just to stay away from 3,200 rpms and to quit holding onto the throttle so damn tight.

More Words About Each
Racers who have ridden the GSX-R750 on the track are excited about how it performs and convinced that it will handily beat the old GSX-R750 in supersport racing. The funny thing about that, of course, is that the old GSX-R was so good that this new GSX-R is the first bike to challenge it in four years. Why no one else can build, or wants to build, competitive 750 supersport bike is anyone’s guess. And since the class in AMA doesn’t allow 1000cc twins in the class, the chance of any others coming to play seems pretty much dead.

We will not pretend to know anything about how these bikes will fare when competing against each other in superbike trim because we didn’t get those versions of the bikes and, admittedly, none of us here has ever won a World Superbike event. As far as how they compare as supersport racebikes, like we intimated, that’s pretty much a moot point. Unless rules are changed and Honda starts paying contingencies compareable to those of Suzuki’s, it ain’t happening.

The GSX-R has set new standards for gauges that are practical and easy to read. A nice, big white-faced analogue tach with a digital speedo crammed into its side is exactly what should come on every bike manufactured today. The sweep of the tach is easy to read as are the giant numbers indicating speed, and the message isn’t confused by a speedo that shows sweep and a tach that doesn’t. It would be nice if there was a moratorium called on gauge design and this thing became standard issue. Well, not really. We’d be bitching about that in two seconds. Bad gauges do help the world go round.

We did, though, take these two bikes to the racetrack so that we could push them to extremes and not get rammed by cell phone wielding, two-wheel-drive SUV pilots. At the Streets of Willow, Tom Montano did turn a faster lap on the GSX-R750 than on the RC51 and felt more comfortable on the GSX-R overall. With the RC51, he had to make a number of suspension changes to get the bike where it felt comfortable for him, but on the GSX-R, he didn’t seem to care where the suspension was set. But, then again, his brain is focused on racing and so he was looking for the fast combination.

Riding these bikes side to side on the track showed that they each demonstrated confidence and composure through every section of the track from the tight hairpin to the fast sweepers to the torn up braking sections. If one is considering either of these bikes for use as a track day machine, it is a tough call, but in the end, the grunt of the RC51 is still friendlier than the GSX-R even when riding hard. But those 14,000 rpms of the GSX-R are hard not to turn your back on. But the way that the RC51 shoots out of turns and can be controlled so easily through them with its 72 pounds of torque is also hard to turn your back on.

In short, the GSX-R750 is another giant step better than the last giant step taken by the ‘96 GSX-R, and if you liked that bike, you’ll appreciate how the new one is like a dream come true. How could it be any better? Junk the steering damper and add grunt, that’s how.

The RC51 has no steering damper and piles of grunt. Both bikes are the best of the best but the RC51 is the one that will be the friendliest and most rewarding to live with. Start calling dealers in small Midwestern towns and see if you can find one.

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