The SB6R and the SB8R, the last two non-Ducati powered Bimotas built before the 'old' Bimota folded in 2000 are nearly idential in general looks, ride and handling characterics, but quite different in power delivery. I had the former out for a long ride Saturday, and the latter out today. About 125 miles on each each day. I pushed the SB6R a bit harder than the SB8R since the latter is a new bike, despite being 7 years old, while the 6 has 2850 on the clock.
These two bikes were designed and produced less than a year apart and both using Suzuki powerplants. Both use a refinement of the 'straight line connection' frame first introduced in the mid-90s SB6 and SB7. The newer two Suzuki bikes I rode this weekend had the same feel (excepting power delivery) in ride and handling. They use nearly the same suspensions, are nearly the same weight, and close in colors and looks as well, the former a red tank, black lowers and the latter with a white center section and gold pinstriping.
Of course the SB8R uses the much abused (by the press, I have no issues handling the bike with them) twin cf ram air snorkels feeding the air box over the tank.
Every road test and review I saw complained about how the air horns made the instruments hard to use and 'forced' you to reach around and under the tank in a bear hug. Horse manure! I road the SBR (no air horns) and then the SB8R the next day.
You can see from the photos taken by a friend's phone camera after our moring 'ride to breakfast' today show plenty of room to hold the bars normally. (Also note that the worthless mirrors that come with the SB8 were never mounted. The bar ends work just fine. The shot of the notorious 'air horn's shows the the 'problem' of not being able to reach the controls or being forced to put your arms around them in a bear hug is just plain guff. The reach to these is the same as on the SB6R and working the controls no issue at all. The carbon fiber/aluminum frame joint is also shown below. Quite neatly done.)
The SB8R is very "Ducati" in its feel, very close in ride and road feel to my 999S, the TL1000 engine with the larger Bimota throttle bodies and their own injection and freer-flowing exhaust changed from the TL1000S, to say nothing of loping off nearly 50 pounds in weight and coming up with a chassis that corners, stops and responds much better than the whale Suzuki built. The basic powerplant is, like the one in the Honda RC51, very 4FV Ducati like in sound, feel, and response.
Typical Ducati-like response, not much below 4,000 rpm, but then it builds smoothly and progressively to its 11,000 rpm red line. This one has the updated ECU map uploaded. Only a few hundred miles on it and the engine is still tight, so I haven't flogged it yet No fueling issues when cool, a slight issue when the oil and engine are 100% warmed up. It doesn't overheat, but the idle is at the low edge of minimal when cold and when warm, it holds the idle in neutral, but in a real slow corner, or when coasting up to a light in gear, it wants to die as it drops below mininum. Put it into neutral, idles fine. Needs to be cranked up about 100rpms on idle position, but I think that was a function of setting the bike up when it was only partially warmed through. It wants to run 'cold blooded' and that is a pleasant contrast to watching my MV F1000R want to run hotter than hell whenever I am at a stop. The rest of the fueling (sometimes a real problem on any FI Bimota) is perfect.
The SB6R differs from the earlier SB6 (I owned one when they first came out in the mid 90s.) The changes seem small when you read about them, but they make for a much better bike. The suspension was revised and retuned, the swingarm lenghtened by 10mm and the handling feel much less 'nervous' as a result. The bike feels confident and rock solid in a straight line or hard over in a corner. The overall road feel and handling is a near match if not identical save for engine characteristics to the SB8R, which overlapped it in production.
What is much more apparent when it comes to contrast between the two is the engine. The SB6R I bought off the Net at a very low price but in excellent condition (2800 miles) had been sitting too long and needed a carb rebuild. The local MV/Ducati/Suzuki dealer has a tech who worked on Bimotas when they had the franchise and set the bike up on the dyno with a readout AT THE REAR WHEEL (the only place where it counts) of 136.82. The GSXR-1100 engine was never much of a slouch in its day, the chassis just too heavy and the handling not wonderful, but put that in a sub 400 pound Bimota, add changes to the SB6 airbox to improve and increase the breathing, change the exhaust system from Suzuki specs and then watch out. The SB6R pulls from fairly low rpm with a smooth and powerful response, and there is no need to go into the red zone, as it pulls like a train from 3 to 4,000 rpm, and then goes damn near up the rev ladder like a skyrocket until it ends up in the red zone. Easily the fastest Bimota and nearly the fastest bike I have experienced, period. I was running along quite easily with a friend on Saturday with his 1098S. Again, the same engine, but without the larger airbox etc in the SB6 was much more 'peaky' in feel.
A great pair, and last generation from Bimota before its current iteration. And my DB5 just keeps getting better and better as the engine breaks in, I might add.
Dave
Linear Mode
