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Of course, we all know that Al Gore invented the Internet, but a little known fact is that it was me that invented the Streetfighter? It's true I tell ye.
My own personal venture into the US naked bike field was through a brand new 1996 ZX7R. I loved this bike - it made a nice honest 110+bhp to the rear and with 40-odd pounds of black plastic removed from the frontal area and with my favorite set of Renthal jet ski bars installed, a nice bike (in my eyes), was created.
Twas' about this time that Suzuki joined the fray with the venerable Bandit. However, there was a certain something missing. Sure, by using the old tried and trusted GSX-R1100 motor and a revised (and lighter) frame, it had the potential to be the king, but it lacked the arse-kick that the original Gixxer 11 had. It had also been neutered for an enhanced midrange rush and it lacked the top end that made the Streetfighter class exciting.
Next up was Kawasaki's own ZRX1100. Had they been peeking over my garden wall? Nope. Again revised cam timing and smaller carbs saw an engine reduced from the ZX1100 based flame-thrower, down to the equivalent of a Zippo lighter. Moderately fast? Yes - Streetfighter scary? No.
It was left to me to continued the crusade. My next project saw me attacking the legendary scary, 97' Suzuki TLS. Again I dumped the plastic, added my bars, a quality damper and took off on one wheel. That was me - happy for a while, it was still a tad heavy but it had bite. I later improved my odds still by taking a 98' Yamaha R1, adding the aforementioned gear and living happily-ever-after on a steady diet of 150 mph wheelies, super light weight and great ergo's. Rubbing my nose in it still, Yamaha proceeded to develop and market the FZ1. True, it had more power than the previous OEM naked's, but it still lacked the angry attitude that I'd found in my own streetfighting R1.
So this (finally) brings us quite nicely around to these two entries, the Honda 919 and Kawi's newer Z1000.
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