Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

body jus t let most of the ai r out of the front tire, causing the bars to wag around a bit as well as a sud den halt to all the information about the track that had previo usly been traveling from the tir e to your hands - very vague and confide ncesapping . Back off a bit an d all was well. With the '98, this was not the case. Go as fast as your ability "ill take you , and the new d ou ble-R will do nothing to stand in your wa y. In fact, Honda had enough confidence in the new chassis to let u s loose on the Speedwa y 'S high banks with Bridg eston e-racing-slick shod 900s, in addition to running th e DOT Bridges tone Battlax BT56 radials (with special stiffer sidewalls) with w hich the bike wi ll be supplied . In either case, there was no ne of the vagueness, all of th e quick nes s, an d a measu rable degr ee of increased stability thr ough the faster sweepers. Also, on the abrupt transition on to the bank ing, the new bike was much easier to handle. So the new CBR is defini tely better on the track. How is it on the street? That's be tter, too . With the s tock suspension setti ngs, the 900 has a very compliant ride, if somewhat busy-feeling at the rear in bumpy turns with our heavier teste rs on boa rd. The suspension's ad justability ran ge is su ch that this was easy to com pensate for. A couple of clicks up on the se ve n- positio n rea r-sp r in g pre load ad jus tme nt (tool p rovided in the kit ) and a little more com pression and rebound damping sta bilized things considerably. Although the position ing of the han dl ebars ha s chan ged slig h tly , .a nd th e foo tpeg brac ke ts are coun tersun k into the frame and thus 16mm close r toge ther, the bike feels like the same ergonirnically frie ndly mach ine the 900 beca me with its last major redesign . Improved is the p rotec ti on from th e n o w -big g er (tho ug h someho w more aerodynamical ly efficien t) upper fa iring, with a new ve n t u nd erneath th e headlight a nd a front fend er sa id to encourage air flow behind the windsc ree n to decrease negativ e pressure there - and thus incre ase rider comfort. Though peak pow er from the 919cc in -li ne four isn 't any more th an you would get from a hot 750, the beau ty of the extra dis placemen t is in the delivery. Midrange is abund ant, wi th a smooth, au tho ritative ' pull a ll the way through the 11,OOO-rpm red line. Ho nda says tha t a lt ho ugh the powerplant is fundamentally the same as last year, 83 percen t of the parts we re altered for more d urability, mor e hor sepow er or freer rev vin g . Weight was sa ved with the use of new aluminum / gra phite / ceramic-composite cylinders. In addition to the wei ght benefit, tighter tolerances with the special "L UB-Coa ted" piston s can be held due to th e fact th at th ey d istort less w hen heated . What is LUB-Coat? Screened-on ' mo lybdenum on the pis ton skirts. Heat dissipa tion and resistance to wear in the new, extru ded cylinders is also said to be better than in the steel ones. Both the intake and exha ust ports, as well as the combustion chambers, were altered to provide b e tt er airflow and thus im proved engine respo nse. On the intake side, the 38m m CV carburetor s (jetted spo t on) are fitted with b ig g er pistons fo r q u icker throttle respo nse, w hile a new, s ta in less-steel exhaus t head er and 18-ou nce-lighter aluminum can is ter hand le s pent gasses . . Claimed horse power is up three ponies to 123 bhp, Fra n kly, the '97 bike seemed a bit more crisp in its resp on se, though, as mentione d above, it had considera bly more mileage on the clock than our fleet of fresh , low-mileage '98s. Let it suffice (Left) Power Is up to 123 bhp In the 919cc Inline f.our, the resu lt of a hos t of eng ine refinements , inclUding new, composite cylinders and more efficient port design. (Below) Rear suspension, like the front, is fully adjustable. The s ingle s hock's linkage ratio is stiffer tha n on tast year' s bike. (Left) New front brakes are 31Omm fully floating discs with Nissin fourpiston calipers . tha t the oversquare, 71 x 58mm motor does not rev slowly. A sma ller, lig h ter, ca b le -ac tua te d eig ht- plate clutch is fitted, using a new mat erial th a t Hond a says makes it as durable as th e 10-plater it repl a ce s . Clu tch feel was exce llen t, and cou p led with the strong midrange, hard lau nches we re easy work. Rati os in the beefed-u p six-s peed gea rbox were changed to both increase acceleration (lowe r fi rs t a nd second gea rs) and increase top-speed po ten tial (taller fourth, fifth and sixt h). Gear shift s we re su perslick and very pos itive. Brakin g from the red esign ed , fou rpiston N issin calipers at the fron t proved more than ad equa te on the track, wit h go od feedba ck and plen ty o f p o w er w hile still prov id in g go od initial bite. The piston s feature a new nickel coating that is said to provide more consisten t lever pull over the life of the pads. Sensitivity to lever input is excellent at ligh t lev er pressu re s, m a ki ng m id co r ner speed adjustme nts easily accomplished with one finge r. Brakes like these ma ke you wonder if six-piston cali pers aren't jus t a bit of overkill. Disc size is up to 310 m m fr om 296, tho ug h u nsprung weig h t has d ecrea sed due to the new , lighter wheels. Wh at's hard to quantify is the over: a ll feel of the new bike . The word balance comes to mind, becau se despite its hard -core na tu re, the new CBR900RR is a bike w e happily stra pped sof t lug gage o n to to u s e fo r a wee kend getaway, go ing a solid 150 o r so m il es with a restrained throttle ha nd befor e we hit reserve. The 70 mil es we spent on the trip d ro n ing a long on the in te rs ta te wasn't particularly unpleasant consid eri ng the outright performa nce capability of the bike, and when the going final ly go t in teresting, th ere was no th in g th at detracted from our enjoyment of th e road . Wha t Honda has d on e with th e chassis impro vem ents and engine refinemen ts is mad e a bik e that is simply eas ier and mor e confidence -inspiring to ride - a ha rd-core sportbike for the masses. So , yes, Honda 's 1998 CBR 900RR truly is a better motorcycle than the one it replaces , wi th im provements in ha ndli ng and power d elivery that make it a better mot orcycle for every rid er skill level. And that' s good, because this year, 1:\ it's going to have to be. • (Left) With the new, st iffer chassis and sw ingarm also heavier than the otd one , weight had to be lost elsewhere. The gauge package - featur ing dual trlpmeters - Is half the thickness and weight of the one it replaces, a sav ings of nearly a pound. (Above) Under the hinged, spring-loaded passenger seat Is a 6-lIter "tru nk," accessible with the ignition key. 1998 CBR900RR Specifications Engine Displacement Bore" stroke Carburetion Ignition Transmission Final drive Suspension Front " Liquid-cccl ed in-line four-cylinder wi DOHC and fo ur valves per cylinder 919cc 71 x SBmm (4) 38mm flat-slide CV Solid state di9ital wi 3·0 mappinq .Six-speed #525 a -ring HMAS 45mm cartridge fork w/ stepless preload. rebound- and compression-damping adjustability; 4.7 inches travel Rear HMAS single shock w/ rising-rate Pro-Unk linkage and seven-way spring preload and stepless rebound- and comp ression -damping adjustabil ity; 4.9 inches travel Brakes Front .Dual 31Omm full-floating discs with opposed four -piston Ni ssln calipers Rear .single 220mm fixed disc wi sinq le-piston N issin cahper Wheels/tires ' Front Five-spoke, cast -alommurn 3.5·inch-wide Honda rim wi 130/70ZR16 Bridgest one Battlax BT56F radial Rear Five-spoke. cast -aluminum 5.5-inch-wide Honda rim wi 180/55ZR 17 Bridgestone Battlax BT56R radial Wheelbase 55 .1 inches Rakeltrail 24°/95m m Seat height 32.2 inches Dry weight : 396 .8 pounds Fuel capacity A .8 gallons. including .8-gallon reserve Warranty 12-month. transferable. unlimited mileage ' Suggested retail price $9999 51

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