|
Thursday, 18 September 2003 |
|
Page 1 of 4
|
2003 Honda CBR600RR
A Ripping Yarn by Mike Emery ~ Artsy Stuff by Kevin Wing
|
| The current crop of Supersport 600cc class represents a set of sport bikes that have been involved in a perpetual conflict for the last 15 or so years. Luckily for us, this prolonged battle has seen some evolutionary changes that for some companies have meant race championships under their belt and for others, sales domination. |
|
|
Honda is looking to head those particular food chains with the current rendition of the revered CBR600. A bike, Honda would like to politely remind you, has sold very well, thank you very much and a bike that won all nine races of its first season back in '87. The common denominator of that first Hurricane and it's subsequent F2, F3 and F4 championship winning brothers, was that it was a street bike from the very start - converted to a race bike to dominate at the track near you. |
|
| Well, the new RR is different from the above successful family; it has been designed as race bike first, and shares technology direct from Val Rossi's GP bike, the current MotoGP dominating RC211V. Take a look at the rear swinger - look familiar? That's because it's the same setup on the RC211V - more on that later. The new 600RR also shares a common fuel injection set up as the RC, with duel fuel injectors injecting. |
 |
Now, lucky for us, Honda have seen fit to continue offering last years excellent F4i, to those who don't need or want the latest and greatest race rep. However, if you want to be on the cutting edge of sport bike technology, this RR is for you. Sure, it's not unusual to see racetrack technology trickle down to the street, but when was the last time you saw this years race innovations on this years street bikes? Never, my sporty and feisty friends - This bike is as advanced as it is focused. |
| Obviously this 600 class is a gossip filled cauldron and all I've heard over the last couple of months from the Supersport faithful is "inverted" this, and "radial" that. Sure upside-downies look good but Conventional forks can offer advantages over inverted types, especially when you're talking about the beefy 45mm set on the new RR, up two mill' from last year and the biggest on any production Honda 600. However the most innovative part about the RR is the rear shock set-up, now to be referred around the land as "Unit Pro Link". |
|
|
|
Honda have taken a complete 180 stance over this side of development, they realized that most problems with current motorcycle geometry come from the rear not the front. On a conventional rear set-up the rear compresses under acceleration, specifically whilst twisting the loud handle out of a turn, this compression is using valuable shock stroke and should you encounter a small dip or bump, loss of traction can occur due to the aforementioned compression. The result? Highside City, and you are the Mayor. - An inverted fork set-up couldn't possibly save you from this one, tough guy. |
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>
|
