36.The Gixxer Vs The Street Fighter Vs The HD 48- Rishab Gulshan

As some of you might have picked up from my previous entry, I'm super fortunate to own three awesome super-bikes – a HD 48 (2011), a Suzuki GSXR 1000 (2011) and a Ducati Streetfighter S (2010). Each of these bikes is unique in its own way and when people ask me which is the best among them, I am truly at a loss of words.



Since I mostly get to ride on Sunday mornings, I rotate among the three bikes. But a couple of weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to ride all three of them back to back over three consecutive days. And each of these was a good 100 km+ run. When I talked about this with Vijay (the creator of this wonderful blog), his immediate question was "bro which one is the best?" Now as I said before, that question is a very difficult one for me answer as I truly believe that each of these bikes is special in its own way. I did promise Vijay that I will write my honest opinion about each of them for the blog….so here it goes. This is going to be a long post, so get your coke and pop corn ready 





I am an analytical sort of guy, so I like to put a structure to most things. I will attempt to do the same here as well. I will try to describe each of these bikes using the following 10 criteria –



1. Looks

2. Sound

3. Acceleration

4. Handling

5. Braking

6. Comfort

7. Features

8. Reliability (and ease of maintenance)

9. Overall riding experience

10. The X factor



Before I get into the details, let me briefly introduce my bikes to you. I will not get into their tech specs here (as that is easily available from the company websites), but will describe the modifications I have done to them, so you have a better idea about them.



1. HD 48 (2011)



The 48 is an iconic HD world-famous for its "stripped down bobber looks". I believe this is a HD that has been in production in some form or shape for over 50 years. Mine is a 2011 black on black. The modifications I have done include a Screaming Eagles exhaust, air intake and spark plugs. Other than that the bike is bone stock.







2. Suzuki GSXR 1000 (2011)



"The litre bike that feels like a 600"…is the best way I can describe the Gixxer. Mine is a 2011 white on blue. The modifications I have done include an Akrapovic full system exhaust with a K&N air filter. There are a few other cosmetic modifications I have done to enhance the look of the bike.







3. The Ducati Streetfighter S (2010)



"A naked 1098" is how the Streetfighter was introduced to the world back in 2009 (the first year it was produced). Rumor has it that Ducati had moved its super-bike engine to the 1198 and had a bunch of 1098 engines lying around. A junior designer came up with the idea of producing a naked 1098 to utilize those engines and the rest as they say is history. Mine is a 2010 black on gold, S model (I will explain in more detail later about the S). The modifications I have done include a Termignoni exhaust, with a Ducati performance air filter and racing ECU. Like, the Gixxer, there are some cosmetic modifications I have done to customize it to my taste.







Enough about the bikes….lets start with the comparison





1. Looks



They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As clichéd as this sounds, it is actually very much true. Looks are definitely subjective.



The HD 48 is a no nonsense street bike in terms of looks. It has a beautiful low profile that is accentuated by the small peanut shaped tank and the fat front tyre (the font tyre is almost as fat as the rear one). The circular headlight further adds to that street bike look. I love how HD have kept most of the bike black (to add to that mean look), yet given it just the right amount of chrome accents in a few places (engine rocker panels, wheel spokes etc). I also love the old school spoke wheels on the bike. All in all it’s a beautiful retro looking bike. I just simply love its low slung profile.



The Gixxer is your typical litre bike. What stands out about its looks to me is that gorgeous front-end that looks like Optimus Prime from the Transformers and the beautiful while on blue color scheme. Though you can't see this very clearly in the pictures, the frame of the Gixxer is painted a deep blue that looks simply stunning in daylight and really enhances the overall look of the bike.



The Streetfighter S looks like an alien has descended on earth. It looks stunning from each and every angle and there are way too many beautifu physical attributes of this bike to list out. The few key ones that stand out are – the front end with the crazy led lights, the single sided swing arm, the exposed L-twin engine and the super lean overall profile of the bike. The other thing super cool about the "S" version is that it comes with a few panels (front bumper & engine covers) in carbon fibre. That really is a nice touch and adds to this already extreme looking machine. The Italians certainly know how their design. Every time I lay eyes on the Streetfighter S, I am mesmerized….and I discover a new feature about its design. If looks could kill…I'd die every time I lay my eyes on this bike.



So this one is easy…to me the Streetfighter S is the best looking bike in the whole world, let along my small collection.





2. Sound



Now this is going to be a tough one !



The HD 48 has the characteristic Harley V-twin sound. With the Screaming Eagle exhausts, the bike really roars. It's loud enough to scare most fellow two-wheeler commuters on the road when you are putting it through its paces.







The Gixxer with the Akrapovic exhausts sounds almost like a F1 race car. The combination of an inline 4 engine and the Akra carbon fiber can is just incredible. The best part is that the more you rev the bike, the louder it gets. And if that was not enough, the Akras have a deep bass that simply sounds amazing.





The Streetfighter S has an L-twin engine (similar to V-twin, but the cylinders are at about a 90 degree angle) with a dry clutch. When idling, it sounds like a bunch of skeletons trapped in a tin can and trying to break free…but when you start to rev it, that cacophony of noises transforms into a powerful symphony that symbolizes raw aggression. I really can't do justice to how the SF sounds in words. You have to hear it in person.







So which one comes up trumps here….well like I said, this one is really tough. Each of them has a very distinctive sound due to the combination of the engine and the after-market exhaust system and honestly I love them all….but if I really had to choose one it would have to the Gixxer…this is closest I am ever going to get to owning something that sounds like an F1 car.





3. Acceleration



The HD 48 has oodles of torque given its V-twin engine. Further since the 48 is relatively light (by HD standards) weighing in at about 260 kgs, it is a reasonably fast bike. Twist the throttle and the bike plunges ahead with aggression. Since it has a cruiser type riding posture, your arms get pulled out of the shoulder sockets when then bike plunges forward. However, given the heavy weight of the bike and the cruiser style seating position, one does not feel very comfortable ripping this bike.



The Gixxer is really incredible on this dimension. Twist the throttle and the bike rewards you with unbelievable acceleration….in 1st gear, before you hit 6k on the tacho, you're already touching 120 kmph…and it has 5 more gears and another 7k rpm before you hit redline…so you get the picture. It is incredibly fast. Since my bike is new and the engine is still not fully broken-in, I have been relatively careful with how much I push it. But every time, I twist the throttle..it goes like a bullet. The light weight and aerodynamics of the bike further add to the sense of speed.







The Streetfighter S is the rowdiest bike on this dimension. It has loads of torque across the entire rev band and because of its light weight, it pulls like a freight train. Every time I look down at the speedo I see that I'm going faster than what I think I am. There is just something about the Ducati that masks speed. This is the only bike that I have red-lined on a number of occasions due to its phenomenal acceleration. Because the Streetfighter S is a naked bike, it does not offer a lot of wind protection. It is therefore tough to go beyond 170-180 on this bike as the body really begins to hurt beyond that.



On this dimension, it would have to be the Streetfighter S….it is just phenomenal the way it goes !





4. Handling



The 48 is a cruiser and therefore not really the best in this department. Its weight, longer wheelbase, fat front tyre and relaxed sitting position all contribute to its relatively poorer handling (compared with the other two)….this is not a bike you can lean…or cut through zig-zag traffic. It's meant to be ridden in a straight line and that's where it is at its best.



The Gixxer I would argue is among the best handling litre bikes of the current crop. Suzuki have spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars in perfecting the chassis of this bike. It has Showa big piston forks upfront and an electronic steering damper that make it incredibly well balanced even on our bumpy roads. The engine is extremely compact so as to reduce the wheelbase. Plus there is the advantage of it being light. All of these make it a great handling bike and something you can rip through in traffic or enjoy leaning on a twisty road. It truly has the handling of a 600 with the power of a litre bike. I remember Doc (Dr Arun) once telling me that he managed to go from GK to Punjabi Bagh (about 40+ Kms) in peak Delhi traffic on the Gixxer in about 45 min flat.





The Streetfighter S is also an incredible handler. It is lightest of my 3 bikes, has the shortest wheelbase and Ducati has loaded it with the best suspension money can buy (Ohlins – both front and rear)…the combination of all this is lethal and give the Streetfigher S razor sharp handling. The steering is even more direct than the Gixxer and bike gives you incredible levels of feedback….it's almost as if you were sitting on the front wheel of the bike….it's incredible. Another thing which makes the Streetfigher S shine on this dimension is the Ducati Traction Control system. It has 8 levels (which you can choose depending on how much you would like the system to intervene)….it works really well…e.g., once I accidentally pulled the throttle right as I was getting onto a speed breaker….the bike would likely have lifted on the front wheel and I might not have been able to control it, but the TC system sensed the front wheel going up and cut power to the rear wheel thereby stabilizing the bike…worked really well. Now I am told that if you set the TC system to its lowest setting, you can pull wheelies etc…but I am not into that kind of stuff and am more than happy keeping TC on the highest setting.









So in this criteria, it would have to be a tie between the Gixxer and the Streetfighter S. The former is a fully faired litre bike…it is supposed to be a good handling machine…and it is. The latter is a naked bike…it is not supposed to be the best handling machine…but trust me, it's as good if not better than most fully faired litre bikes.





5. Braking



The HD 48 has decent braking. It has a single disc upfront and a single disc at the rear. The brakes are good but a bit spongy. So once again they are great if you are riding at 100 or 120 and need to stop immediately. I am not sure they would be as good if you were on faster speeds….but I guess that is consistent with that type of bike the 48 is.



Braking is probably the Achilles heels of the Gixxer. It has the regular 2 disc up-front with 4 pot calipers and 1 disc in the rear with a 2 pot caliper. Having ridden most of the other litre class bikes (R1, CBR etc), I must say the braking of the Gixxer is just about acceptable. It also does not have ABS, which most of the litre class bikes are now offering. Maybe a brake system upgrade is on the cards in the future.





The Streetfighter S is again simply incredible on this dimension. It has Brembo brakes where the caliper is machined out of a single block of aluminum (as opposed to two pieces that fit together). These brakes have planet stopping powers…..it is very easy to pull a stopple or fishtail the Ducati if you are not careful with the brakes. But they also inspire so much confidence, that even a conservative rider like me feels comfortable ripping the bike when I see an empty stretch of road. Again, like the Gixxer, an ABS system is sorely missed on the Streetfighter.







I guess it's obvious…on this one it’s the Streetfigher S.





6. Comfort



Now this one will be interesting as all three bikes have completely different riding postures.



The HD is the most relaxed of them all. You sit upright with both your feet and hands ahead of your torso. That is how we naturally sit, when we are at work on in a social setting. So it’s a very comfortable position. The handle bars and foot pegs are well designed and extremely comfortable for someone like me (I'm about 6 feet tall). Perhaps the only thing uncomfortable about the 48 would be its seat..it has very limited cushioning and given the slammed bare bones suspension of the bike, your backside really starts to suffer after about 100 Kms. I believe HD makes a spring seat to address this issue. I'm looking to get that soon.





For a litre bike, the Gixxer is extremely comfortable. Litre bikes (or super-sport as they are technically referred to) have a pretty aggressive seating position. You sit in a crouched up posture, with your hands in front of your torso and your feet behind it (kind of like you're climbing up a tree or riding a horse). That position puts a lot of strain on your wrists as the wrists are pretty much supporting the weight of your upper body. So if the seating position is extreme then the ride can become really painful. The other critical part is the seat. A broad, well cushioned seat makes a hell of a lot of difference to the comfort of riding a super-sport (ask all the Busa owners !). The Gixxer optimizes both of these quite well and the result is a riding position that is not too extreme on the wrists (like the R1) or too hard on the buttocks (like the Ducati 848/1198). I can easily see myself doing 2000+ Km trips on the Gixxer.





The Streetfigher S belongs to the category of naked bikes and it sort of mid-way between a super-sport like the Gixxer and a cruiser like the 48. So its seating position is also sort of mid-way. You sit quite like you would on a super-sport but for the fact that the body is more upright (it has a proper handle-bar and not clip-ons like the super-sports). That makes the seating position significantly more comfortable that a super-sport. Ducati is quite miserly with the cushioning they provide on the stock seat, so I have replaced that with the Ducati Performance touring seat and it has made a huge difference. So the way my Streetfigher S is set up…it is super comfortable. What goes against the Streetfigher S is that it is a naked and beyond a certain speed, the wind drag makes you really uncomfortable.







It's tough to pick a winner in this category as they really are all reasonably comfortable. But again if I had to pick one, it would be the Gixxer.





7. Features



The 48 is a pretty basic bike and as such does not come loaded with too many features. The one thing I really like about it (and I guess this applies for all HDs) is that it had separate switches to activate the indicators with an auto-cancelling feature…its really intuitive and easy to use.





The Gixxer has a few noteworthy features. First are the ride modes – it has 3 ride modes A, B and C that alter how much power the engine makes and also the throttle response. A is the most aggressive with C being the most docile. This is a pretty nifty feature and you can toggle between the different modes at the press of a button (even if you are riding). I find this a useful feature as when I'm starting up in the morning I keep the bike in C mode (as the tires are cold) and then slowly move to B and by the time I reach the highway I'm in A mode. Similarly if I get stuck in heavy traffic, I switch to B or C modes. It has a few other features such as a lap-timer and sequential rev shift indicators (a string of lights and not just one light…that looks pretty cool…kind of like a F1 car). Another great feature of the Gixxer are the Showa big piston forks and an electronically controlled steering damper. Both of these really improve the handling of the bike on bumpy Indian roads.







The Ducati is just loaded with all sorts of features and technology. As I have mentioned before, it has Ohlins suspension and Brembo brakes. It has neat carbon fibre panels all over. It has traction control with 8 settings. It has a lap-timer and the coolest ignition switch (like that of a fighter plane ready to launch a missile). Another cool gadget it has is the DDA (Ducati Data Analyzer). It is basically a USB based device that plugs into a contraption at under the tail cowl and can extract all sorts of data about the bike. It's something you can use to alter the set up of the bike to get better performance out of it.







So I guess this one will also have to be shared by the Gixxer and the Streetfigher S.





8. Reliability



All three bike are relatively new and have not given me any trouble thus far (touchwood !). Am hoping things stay that way.



In terms of maintenance, the regular servicing for all three is roughly similar in terms of cost. My sense is that spares are similarly priced. If you need any major parts then they will be more expensive and will take longer to get.



The one thing that really worries me is the fact that Ducati have shut down their dealership in Gurgaon and do not have any facility to service the bikes in NCR – it’s a real let down by them and I hope they rectify this issue soon.





9. Overall riding experience



The HD is the least stressful big bike I have owned and ridden. It is adequately powered, super comfortable to ride and has decent braking. It’s the bike I can take anywhere and everywhere. It allows me to take in more of the surrounding ambience when I am riding because I am a lot more relaxed. I remember the first time I rode the 48 back from the showroom to my house, with an open face helmet….I could see more, hear more, smell more….so in a way it has opened up another dimension of the joy of motorcycling for me. I can't wait to take it out in the winters.



The Gixxer is a whole different ball game. The joy of the Gixxer is in pulling it though its gears and hearing those Akras scream and of leaning it at a twisty corner and smirking at oneself when you look at the speedo and see the speed at which you just took that turn. I can't wait to take this one up to the mountains and see how she does there. But like with every super-sport, you have to be extremely focused and alert while riding this….you simply cannot get distracted as it only take a fraction of a second for something to go wrong and you have even lesser time to respond.







The Streetfigher S is simply a hooligan. It is so wicked and wild that if you don’t treat it with respect, it will slap you so hard that you won't know what hit you. But if you play to its tune, it will reward you with an adrenalin rush that I have not experienced on any other super-bike. If the HD 48 is the most relaxed bike I have owned, the Streetfigher S is the most involved bike I have owned. You need to keep it in the right gear…you need to be careful with the brakes….you need to be aware of the ingress and egress speeds at a sharp turn…you need to be careful with how much throttle you twist….you have to be one with the bike to get the most fun out of it..and boy is it worth it. This is the bike has really taught me the nuances of riding a super-bike.





10. The X factor



I found this part of the post most challenging to write. I can't really describe what this "X factor" is, but there is something beyond the looks & features of these bikes that make them who they are and contribute to the overall experience of owning and riding them. Maybe for the lack of a better term, let me call it their personality.



• The HD 48 is a macho machine….relaxed & with an old school charm. If I were to think of a movie character, I would describe it as Client Eastwood playing one of his cowboy roles.





• The Gixxer is a lean machine…agile to the core. It reminds me of Jackie Chan doing his mind boggling stunts in any of his action flicks.







• The Streetfigher is a mean machine….sexy yet aggressive. Batman in his Dark Knight avatar would probably best describe it.







All three are different ! They have their pros and they have their cons. But I feel incredibly lucky to own them. Every time I ride them…I feel I've on top of the world. Every time I clean them…I feel a deep sense of joy. Every time I work on them…I feel I have accomplished something big. Every time something goes wrong with them….I feel sick. Every time I get them fixed….I have a grin from ear to ear.



These three bikes are part of my family and I hope we continue to be a happy family !!