VOLUME 56 ISSUE 48 DECEMBER 3, 2019 P69
acceleration. I also couldn't pop
a proper wheelie, which, when
you have this much power, is a
real downer.
I get why Honda did such a
thing (because safety), but if you
have a system such as wheelie
control, you should be able to
turn it off.
An interesting aspect of my
time with the CBR was the
performance of the electronic
Ohlins suspension. The system
fitted to the 2019 CBR is the first
generation Smart EC (electronic
control), and since I've ridden
on the Smart EC 2 on a Ducati
Panigale (among others), it's
interesting to see how far the
system has come in such a short
time span.
The CBR gets six modes,
three auto and three manual
modes, and I left it in the stiff-
est auto setting (level one) most
of the time I had it. Over rough
streets the performance was
good, but when transported to
the track, the ride was different
altogether.
At Willow Springs in both the
stiff manual and auto modes,
the ride was not optimal. Willow
