It was early morning before traffic had really started to build up when two commuters had a serendipitous meeting that resulted in much nodding, hand waving and, I'm hoping, a bit of mutual admiration.
I was on my way to Red Star Raceway, my preferred destination when I need to get a feel for any bike with sporting pretensions. My bike was Suzuki's latest GSX-R1000, a thinly disguised racing machine made legal for the road with some lights and mirrors.
I came across my new friend on the highway out to Emalahleni, and he was in a hurry. Fortunately for him he was also in a Porsche 911 Turbo, probably on his way to buy a mine or prune his hedge fund. He wasn't driving recklessly, but the speeds were reaching "throw-away-the-key" levels, so I passed him.
This obviously came as a surprise because the rearview mirror in a Porsche Turbo is, I imagine, largely redundant.
I slowed to allow him back past. He in turn slowed to make some indecipherable hand signals, which can't have been road rage because he was smiling.
So I did the decent thing, dropped a couple of gears and wrenched the twist grip back as far as it would go. When the car eventually caught up, his smile was even wider and he looked like he was conducting an orchestra with his trousers on fire.I ride superbikes for a living, but I am still surprised by how outrageously fast today's performance bikes have become.
Numbers alone can't truly inform you of a vehicle's overall abilities, but they do give you a good idea of what to expect. So, if you like your car stats, read these and weep. 0-100km/h in under 2.5 seconds, the quarter-mile in under 10 seconds, a top speed in excess of 300km/h and a power-to-weight ratio that tops the Holy Grail of one horsepower per kilo. For Bugatti's Veyron to reach the same ratio you'd have to double its already gargantuan 1000 horsepower (745kW) and not add any extra weight.
SUZUKI VS HONDA VS KAWASAKI
Peeling off the highway just after Delmas, I rode straight onto the circuit and banged out a few laps on the Suzuki, before doing the same on Kawasaki's ZX-10R Ninja and Honda's CBR 1000 RR Fireblade.
All three are made in Japan, all three feature one-litre in-line four-cylinder engines good for 200 horsepower (149kW) and they can all comfortably match those barely believable performance stats.
And yet, despite the similarity of the basic ingredients, they have distinct characters that result in differences in the way they feel while melting your brain.The Kawasaki feels the largest; slower to turn, more stable and happiest at full lean with big speeds dialled in. The engine is perhaps the best, thanks to a monstrous top-end rush accompanied by an otherworldly howl from airbox and exhaust.
The Suzuki is more refined and a touch more lithe and agile. The engine isn't quite as raw as the ZX-10R's but it delivers the same knock-out punch across a broader swathe of the rev range, thanks to a clever new variable valve-timing system.
The Honda is the most grown-up of the bunch. It's a superbike that's been to finishing school and is all the better for it. The Fireblade is the smallest and lightest, but the good news on the handling front is blunted by it having the least horsepower.
In reality the performance of each bike is almost identical and there's simply no way you can exploit everything they can offer. The limiting factor is the rider.Our Japanese trio is also similarly priced around the R240,000 mark, and all have enough electronic rider modes to satisfy the geekiest of bikers.
THE VERDICT?
Given the task of deciding between them based on performance or features, any decision is likely to come down to the little details.
I'd go for the Honda. It's more beautiful, has a colour instrument display and feels like it's been screwed together better. But if you ask me tomorrow, I may have changed my mind - they really are that closely matched...