The best of both worlds: that’s what the liter-plus naked bike class is all about. Centered on familiar Superbike underpinnings, but tweaked, via everyday riding seat positions and hand controls, not to mention the removal of some slipstream-friendly body panels, Streetfighters blend equal parts speed, comfort and, of course, style.
Aprilia offered the finest blend during our last go, with its 2014 Tuono V4 R ABS. It handily outpaced four-cylinder competition like BMW’s S1000R, MV Agusta’s Brutale 1090 RR and the Z1000 by Kawasaki. For 2016, it intends on maintaining its stranglehold on the class courtesy a big-bore variation in the Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR ABS ($14,799). The ’16 Tuono also boasts enhanced chassis measurements designed to sharpen an already excellent handling package.
The reigning champ in our 2014 Four-Cylinder Streetfighter Shootout, Aprilia’s Tuono gets added engine displacement paired with a sharper-steering chassis. Will it be enough to hold off the competition?
In the Twin segment, KTM wears the crown having wiped the proverbial blacktop floor against Ducati’s current-generation Monster 1200 S with its 1290 Super Duke R ($17,399). Aside from a $300 price increase the ’15 unit sports no changes. But that’s not a bad thing. We especially love its hard-hitting torque-monster of an engine, long-travel and big bump-absorbing suspension and its cozy cockpit that takes the pain out of long rides. Readers want to know how the Tuono stacks up against the orange bike, and we’re about ready to find out.
The last time we tested KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R it waxed its twin-cylinder competition in the form of Ducati’s Monster 1200 S. But how will it fair against the four-cylinder champ?
After a lengthy absence from the segment, Suzuki steps up to the plate with its all-new GSX-S1000 ABS ($10,499). The GSX-S cashes in on Suzuki’s Superbike racing domination a decade ago by recycling its GSX-R1000 powertrain (winner of 2005 Superbike Smackdown II Shootout). The longer-stroke mill (compared to the current ‘R’ spec engine) is harnessed inside an upright chassis with wheel speed-sensor-equipped traction control and ABS for a fraction of the price of its European competition.
The liter-class naked bike Suzuki should have built 10 years ago: Suzuki’s new and highly affordable GSX-S1000 ABS goes up against the best of the four and Twin-cylinder naked bikes in Streetfighter Shootout VIII.
For the eighth installment of our Streetfighter Shootout we logged miles on our customary array of Southern California blacktop to see, feel and hear how these bad boys perform on the road. As usual, we ran each bike thorough our standard gamut of performance tests to determine which machine reigns supreme. And as a final wrap-up we spent an afternoon at the track with the SoCal Trackdays folks to cement our final thoughts. Points were then assessed according to our faithful scorecard formula, giving us a winner.
Suzuki GSX-S1000 ABS – 3rd Place
Fresh metal joins the liter-sized naked bike ranks with the addition of Suzuki’s GSX-S1000 ABS ($10,499). Based off Suzuki’s cultish K5-generation GSX-R1000 superbike engine, the S model intends to win over motorcyclists with practical performance, at an affordable price.
If dollar conservation is the primary motivator, it’s hard to ignore the value Suzuki offers. Fire up the calculator app on your phone and you’ll discover it’s priced nearly 30% less than the Tuono and 40% less than the KTM. So what do you give up for that wad of 100s? Not a whole lot…
Electronics-wise the baby blue 1000 has both traction control (three-way adjustable, plus ‘off’) and ABS (always on), also standard on the European steeds. It’s also got an adjustable suspension, with an inverted fork, digital instrumentation and comparable power-to-weight ratio.
Yes, the smaller displacement Inline-cylinder Suzuki gives up almost six ponies to the 302cc larger KTM, and more than 12 horsepower on the big-bore Tuono. We see a similar discrepancy in the torque department, with it registering 5% less than the Aprilia and 21% lower than the torque monster KTM. Yet in the acceleration tests, it was only a few hundredths of a second slower than the muscular V-Four to 60 mph and just two-tenths slower than the Twin across a quarter-mile.
