Both are great bikes, but I can see how the CBR won. Look at bang for the buck. First clue is they didn't bother testing it against the 1098 base. The 1098 is a great bike, but it's not the "best" bike. I can't grasp the mentality that if a magazine doesn't pick the bike you own, then it must be biased. They may be biased, but it's not towards Honda. Look how long the Gixxer thou reigned as the liter bike champ in the mags. They judge the bikes on lots of levels. And lets just be honest, there are a lot of things the 1098 isn't good at. Traffic? Not stalling at red lights? Fuel consumption? Range? Parts cost? Comfort? Don't get me wrong. I've owned several bikes from all of the Japa nese makers, and I love my Duc best. But I won't get my panties in a bunch when it loses shoot outs.
As for Kent being biased, I have to respectfully disagree there too. I vividly remember him writing for sport rider in the early 90's. The 916 came out and he was head over heels for it. He picked it in every shootout the Duc was in. And if the Duc wasn't in a shoot out, he'd still compare the bikes he was testing to the Duc. To the point that he got all sort of angry letters accusing him of bias. It wasn't until the redesigned 96 Gixxer 750 came out that he admitted the 916 had found it's match. For some reason, I remember things I read. Word for word. Kent may be an asshole (don't know him) , but he's not biased towards Japanese bikes.
Open any cycle mag, any of them, and in the letters section there will be a dozen letters from readers who are jacked over last months issue. "Cancel my subscription my bike lost the shoot out." Or they're pissed that their bike wasn't included. "I can't believe you didn't include the Kawasaki Concours in your 600 shootout." Ride what you like and don't put stock in what others think.
It reminds me a lot of the Harley thing. The Harley guys are convinced their bikes are "best". Try to convince one that his bike isn't the best even though the metric cruisers are lighter, faster, more comfortable, more reliable, better brakes, better handling, faster, etc. It's not always about specs on a paper. Bikes are very personal. Sometimes you like a bike for reasons that you can't figure out on a piece of paper. That's how I feel about my 1098. I don't care if anyone else likes it. My perfect ride would mean I was on a road where no one saw me. Paint the bike flat black and change the shape so no one knows it's a duc, and I'll still lovehow it feels to ride it. Screw other peoples opinions. And screw magazine tests. If yourbike wins this year, rest assured, it will lose next years. Always needing to own the winner will be an expensive yearly investment.
