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.

[BikerTrash]

LOL! Glad Joe's alright.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Mine was dogpuke orange and I put the bigger 750 headlight so I could ride it outside the city at night. It also had a disc brake on the front which probably saved my young life a few times. I had the front wheel balanced but it didn't help.

[BikerTrash]

After three months, I was convinced the front forks were made out of aluminum foil.

It wasn't just the forks. I had a '73 Mach III that I put 6" overs on from Forking by Frank, (remember him?), and extra braces. I do believe the frame itself had a noodle or two in it.

Also went with Denco expansion chambers, cut the pistons, air cleaners, etc. Remember the power band of the Mach III? This made it worse. It went from 2 rear wheel HP to about 80 like a light switch around 6000 rpm. It was a high speed wheelie machine fer sure.

Amazingly, in almost 100,000 miles, I never wrecked it, not even so much as laid it down.

Still more amazingly, I seen somebody out riding it around about 10 years ago, still had the 6" overs on it. Same paint, no perceptible dog-legging, that bike must have come with it's own guardian angel.

[blackie]

My wife and I are going to see the movie and when the DVD is available, I'll buy it.

[Lee'sGhost]

A doc I know calls the bikes "donor cycles." Hehehehe. . . I like it.

[Poser]

"It wasn't just the forks. I had a '73 Mach III that I put 6" overs on from Forking by Frank, (remember him?)"

I had some of Frank's forks on my '48 Panhead. I replaced the entire front end. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to post the picture again.

[BikerTrash]

That is one clean, beautiful Pan!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I cut the silencer horn off the air intake like everybody else did. When the tach hit 6000, the combination of air rushing and three pipe smoking sounded like a glass jar of bumblebees.
I remember someone trying to weld something to the frame of a Japanese bike back in those days. The steel in the pipe just evaporated. We were sure the frames were made out of ramen.

[MarkL]

I had the 1970 model of that bike (the black one). It was a rocket with no brakes. It was the worst death trap I have ever owned.

Yeah, but I'll bet you had one hell of a grin on your face while you were accelerating, before it turned to a grimace of fear, and you started screaming like a little girl, when you wanted to slow down and turn!

Don't feel bad, everyone did that on that bike! But look at it this way... At least you have an idea of how Kenny Roberts felt when Yamaha shoehorned a TZ750 motor into their dirt track bike for him.

Kawasaki has a long history of shoehorning the biggest, most powerful motor into a frame that really has no business in a bike like that... They did it with the Z1 (900cc motor in a frame perfect for a 650, and the KZ-550, which had a frame designed for a 350cc bike). Both bikes, by the way, were a real blast to ride. So were the H2 and H3 bikes (as long as you didn't really want to turn or stop).

Mark

[SFC Chromey]

...and of course the newly redesigned ZX10R! Yes I think all the manufacturers have new bikes this year. WOW what a year it will be!

www.superbikeplanet.com

[SFC Chromey]

Only for noobs.

[taxed2death]

re:post 86.

I'm jealous. Nice bike....that's a keeper for sure.

[Poser]

Thanks. I've got 5 bikes and that's the only one I plan to keep forever. There's something about an old Panhead that's just so beautiful that you can't part with it. I looked for this one for 30 years and I'm hanging onto it.

[BraveMan]

Bring it on. I'm ready . . .
My secret? The 'off road' pipes!

[BraveMan]

Kewl!!

I had the 1975 version. It got 15MPG and wiggled in the corners like nobody's business. Wheelies on command; just add throttle.


I miss that bike . . .

[BraveMan]

Bike porn . . .

1978 Kawasaki Z1-R

[archy]

I have yet toown a Jap motorcycle, automobile or truck, though I've clocked quite a few miles on my fiancee's Honda VFR 500. I'll give the CBR1000RR a try when my local dealer [or his nearest college-town competitor] gets one in, and maybe it'll be the bike that breaks the habit. I had considered a CB750 Four when they first came out, but the dealer holding his demonstrator bike for me unfortunately had it wrecked, and so the deal fell through.

[xsrdx]

Interesting analysis.

I've always thought These Fellas were a pretty skilled bunch of bikers...

[r9etb]

The whole Organ/Tissue Donor thing is so hackneyed and trite that it's painful...

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.

[reagan_fanatic]

For myself, I miss the days when bikes were affordable means of transportation. I obviously don't speak for the majority - seems most bikes sold cost as much as cars, and either a) weigh as much, or b) are meant for travel at 100+.

Same here. I used to ride (before the Wife told me no more) and all I had was inexpensive Kawasakis and Hondas, which I would go for leisurely drives on everyday that there was decent weather. They sure were a helluva lot of fun!