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Friday, 20 September 2002 |
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Toothy grin by Mike Emery ~ Glorious Technicolor by Kevin Wing
It's no secret Honda had the crap beaten out of them in Formula Xtreme last year. The Gixxer-one- thou' turned out to be the proverbial Daddy on the track. But what about the streets? That's where you and I live. Is there some respect to be given if we show up on the new Honda CBR954RR? We'll that is an unequivocal yes. But like any storyteller should, best I start from the beginning.
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Tadao Baba is that beginning. I've always wanted to meet the man that was responsible for the original 900RR. I wanted to look into his eyes to see if his rabid enthusiasm for creating mad-hatter motorcycles could defeat the obvious language barrier. Baba San knows few English words, but confirmed a unison of that universal language when he zipped up his leathers and joined us out on the track.
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You know, I remember when the first 900RR came out and it was an absolute bitch to ride hard. Industrial size steering damper anyone? It was the first real lightweight, heavyweight. An oxymoron? Not really - It was an open class motor wedged in a 600 weight chassis and offering some 20-25 more horsepower over those middleweights.
At the time, I had a new found respect for my favorite road racer and figured any more weight shaved off and with any more beans on a street bike, is going to mean that you'll have to be on top of your game to ride hard and well. That original bike was both fast, twitchy and demanded 100% commitment in order to achieve rapid forward mobility. Know what? This bike is lighter, puts out over 35 more horses and it's a pussycat. I kid you not. You can ride this bike as slow or as fast as you like, one wheel or two? It matters not. Isn't life, technology, motorcycles, Honda, the weather, grand: Zippity doo dar zippity day…
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The basic impetus for this redesign is the fact that Honda is experiencing the strongest growth curve for sportbikes in the last 10 years. This seems to be a rollover from the cruiser and standard buyer boom. Those moneyed people who came in through the sit up and beg seating position bikes, are finally crossing over to some sportier tackle.
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