Yamaha has the YZF-R6 and YZF600R, Suzuki has the GSX-R600 and Katana 600, Kawasaki has the new ZX-6RR in limited production for supersport racers and a 636cc ZX-6R version of this bike, minus a few goodies the RR needs for race track duties. Now Honda has the new CBR600RR lining up next to last year’s CBR600F4i for the ’03 model year.
Honda has been, up until now, of the mind that their motorcycle products must first be superior in function on the street for the road riding customer, and would be made competitive for the track afterward. The emergence of the 600RR shows that this mindset is being set aside – at least in the middleweight class – perhaps because now being competitive in the supersport racing class means developing a bike that is too focused (for Honda) for the everyday street rider.
Kawasaki’s ’03 ZX-6R, with its extra 36cc, has demonstrated superior midrange performance, coupled with a storming top end rush. The 6R’s ergonomics, however, have gone hardcore, with no concessions to comfort for the street rider. U.S. riders everywhere are wishing that Kawasaki would bring over Europe’s 2002 636cc ZX-6R. With its larger fairing and more spacious ergos, this 636 could be a homerun on the street for Kawasaki, and possibly the best of all worlds for the street rider.
The European 636’s competence as a go-fast bike should not be in question, either, as Eric Bostrom missed the 2000 AMA Supersport championship on the 599cc version of their machine after tying in points, but having less wins than Kurtis Roberts on the newer Erion Honda F4. In 2001, Kawaski won both the World and AMA supersport championships with the “old” ZX-6R while Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki all fielded new designs.
Now that Honda has joined the two-bike club in the middleweight class, and Kawasaki is “cheating” with a few more cubic centimeters, could it be much of a stretch to speculate that a new “street” middleweight class, with comfortable ergonomics and more engine displacement is in the making?
