Honda's Sweet New Sportbike (Motorsports ping)

Business Week ^ | 2/4/06 | Rob Doyle

[voletti]

Redesigned for 2006, the flagship CBR1000RR hits all the marks, trimming pounds but improving performance and looks

Whether on the track or on the street, Honda proposes the question: Was its new 2006 CBR1000RR redesigned to be the fastest bike for the ultimate rider or as a fast bike for the widest range of riders -- including those with a little less experience who are curious to get a glimpse of life in the fast lane? Honda (HMC ) claims to have done both with its new model.

I was invited along with a few other motojournalists for a firsthand experience of this newly redesigned motorcycle, Honda's flagship sportbike, on a track called Buttonwillow Raceway, located in Bakersfield, Calif. It was also my first experience of feeling like a MotoGP star. Not only because this particular model uses technology that has trickled down the R&D chain from Honda's definitive Grand Prix weapon, the RC211V, but also because of the royal treatment we received at the racetrack.

There were actually garages trackside, and four bikes in each stable. Plus, we had mechanics, tire warmers, and each got our own chair to relax in between riding sessions. Then, the icing on the cake -- each of the eight journalists there for the day got their names inscribed on the windshield of a bike.

[kAcknor]

crotch rocket

Nope. Donercycle.

[taxed2death]

IOM racers are a whole different breed. I have the old VCR tape of Hislop scraping his helmet against the rock wall on that island at about 160 mph.

Total nutters, the whole bunch of them over there....

[Blue Jays]

Hi r9etb-

"...It would be hackneyed and trite, were it not for the jackasses who ride these things like they want to test the organ donation system..."

---

The number of registered motorcycles is skyrocketing and the number of injuries and deaths has essentially remained static in comparison. The anecdotal injury information is that they are occuring to older riders rejoining the sport after a hiatus of several decades.

The simple fact-of-the-matter is that I have to use a stopwatch to measure the time from when a motorcycle article is posted to when a fellow FReeper is posting a boring and banal donorcycle comment. It's almost as predictable as the utterly lame "It's Bush's fault!" commentary.

What kind of motorcycle do you ride?

~ Blue Jays ~

[r9etb]

What kind of motorcycle do you ride?

I rode a moped to work for a while..... ;-)

My comment was based more on the idiots who ride their crotch rockets through traffic like they're invincible. I've got a few friends in the police dept. with stories of wiping that sort of guy off the road with a sponge. "Body parts all over the road" sorts of stories. There are a few every year, hereabouts.