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Saturday, 07 September 2002 |
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Taking a barking mad 900RR engine, fuel injecting it, dropping it into a sturdy box frame and adding a tasty high and tucked away exhaust system, had my palms sweating in eager anticipation. Is this the one? Lemme' go see. |
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To their credit, Honda got pretty creative with some aspects of this bike. It features a monocoque-style box frame that forms a solid backbone that wraps around the engine fore and aft using the engine as a stressed member. The swingarm seems plenty beefy enough and holds a decent looking 5.5-inch rear wheel - that in turn holds a 180/55 tire, thank you very much.
Up front, a pair of 43mm cartridge forks has been sourced from the Honda parts bin but due to the interaction of the bean counting department are nonadjustable with no preload, rebound or compression adjustments… so no fiddling there then. The rear did, however, offer an easy ramp-style adjuster for preload.
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| The engine is a direct descendant of the later version of the original 900RR. It's been subjected to the usual modernization program, fuel injection being the most prominent and offering 3D mapping for fuel mix and ignition timing. The motor features a revised cam and the Honda blub states that the tuning is enhanced for low and midrange power. Compression is also down from 11.1:1 to 10.8:1, not a whole lot, but I don't like the way this is going. |
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Due to the limitations in airbox location (it's moved rearward instead of the traditional above-engine locale) the tank sits high. The shape is extremely good though, if not attractive. The useful five-gallon unit is very sculptured and your knees aren't in the wind, rather they are tucked in reasonably tight. The overall color scheme got mixed reactions from fellow riders, I liked it though, and it fit the bike.
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The seat is one of the most comfortable around; it's shaped right for this particular British arse. Passenger accommodations were adequate with a decent size grab rail. Underseat storage is sadly lacking though, due to the airbox and battery. However, I did manage to get a rain jacket in there, even if it did impede the seat latch a little. Instrumentation is old school, but good, they are prominent as are the basic array of idiot lights. So no complaints there either. Cosmetically the bike had some well thought out and nicely made pieces.
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So what's it like to ride?
Oh dear - The bike comes stock with a set of Michelin TX25/15's, now I'm no GP rider, but even I can feel the advances that the tire manufacturers have made over the years. The TX felt like a fossil, maybe they'd been left out in the sun too long... If you like a little more sport in your sport tire then look no further than Michelin's own Pilot sport or Metzler's sporty Sportec M1 to repair this defect. |
| The frame has the usual Honda "tuned flex" and I'm hoping that a set of tires would cure the wobbly wobble that I'd experienced with this thing under pressure. I'm into a do-it-all motorcycle, that's why I like the streetfighter genre. If I want a relaxing ride to work, it's here - but if I want to do battle on a Sunday ride: then that needs to be do-able too.
The bike is nice and composed up to about 7-10ths, from there on up it takes a little coaxing to help keep its composure. All talk and no walk? Not exactly, but it's not as angry as a streetfighter should be. However, (I'm going to show my age here) the bike has qualities that far outweigh any negativity.
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| For starters it has a real and proper size gas tank. It takes a full five gallons of Saudi's finest and endows the bike with great long distance riding capabilities. I had been doing a 40 miles commute, morning and evening, on this bike and it's both frugal and comfortable in equal proportions. The bike does nearly 200 miles to the t(h)ank full at a cruising speed in excess of 70mph. The seat is bum shaped but still allows for a little movement to avoid a numb bum on longer journeys. Slap on some soft luggage and you could be chasing down the sport-tourers, minus the ground clearance problems that they usually suffer from. |
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I would probably swap out the bars for some with a little less rearward sweep. I kept having to pull myself forward for comfort and for some aerodynamic efficiency.
The stock bars are acceptable for the masses, but I'm a fussy, cantankerous old geezer set in his ways. They felt a tad too narrow with too much of that rearward sweep. I like to ride with my elbows up and a new set of bars would cure my only ergonomic complaint.
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