Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127983
Honda CBR900RR FireBlade Evolution (Left) The gauge package is replaced with the tach front and center and an LCD readout below. (Above) An Ohlins shock works in the trick single-sided swingarm. (Below left) The most significant of the RS Performance alterations to the CBR900RR are to the powerplant - 150 hp is claimed at the rear wheel. Kelhin flat-slides are part of the package, as are high-lif1 cams. revs, For sure, the customer bikes will have over 150 bhp at the wheel, but it's the power curve that's so attractive: We have 88 bhp at 7000 rpm, 107 at 8000 revs, and 122 at nine grand, It's a lovely, progressive delivery that is like milk until 9000 rpm; then after that it becomes cream!" Well, casting aside Savory's dairyman day job, savoring his tuning talents from the hot seat confirms this mission is accomplished as far as Honda hardware is concerned: It's an Rl wrapper. That's once you've persuaded the SuperBlade to light up from cold, not so easily accomplished on a bike equipped with what are essentially a set of racing flat-slides, but once it coughs into life accompanied by the trademark clatte from the FCR Keihins - get ready to be impressed, This is a long way from the somewhat oversanitized road-burner that the stock FireBlade has now become: Now, once again, it's a devil in disguise, Throttle response is bTU tal in its effectiveness: Though not so sudden it'll unhook the back wheel on a damp surface, it is extremely vivid and, says Savory, helps the Evolution leave a stock Rl they've been testing it against standing, en rou te to a top speed trapped at 176 mph - so far, "Once we get some proper gearing and refine the ~pecification, there's no doubt we'll have a 180-mph street bike," he says, Okay - maybe so, and time and a side-by-side shootout will confirm who's king, but for street-bike customers, the big bonus is the Evo's awesome acceleration, arguably the best I've yet sampled on a motorcycle with a license plate, From 7000 rpm up, the Evo comes aligh t, picking up engine speed much faster than a stock CBR, as the needle on the computerized Stack tacho unit (incorporating a three-way choice of readouts as well as a basic telemetry package) rockets toward the 12-grand redline, Suddenly, above the glorious howl from the Micron exhaust, you're aware that the digital speedo is registering 150 mph - and you're still in fifth gear! Equally impressive is the rollon performance, especially between 60 and 100 mph in fourth gear, when the Evo sets new standards for muscular picku p cou pled with instant throttle respon e, Just think about twisting that wri t, and you'll see an extra 40 mph on the dial instantly, Sorted! The stock FireBlade's performance will grab your attention - but this is a step beyond, How come? "The biggest performance restriction on a standard CBR is that they don't breathe enough fresh air," says Russell Savory, "Being designed in the pre-airbox days, with just a small gap above the radiator that everything has to flow through, it's hard to get enough cold air to the carbs, And no matter how much potential performance you deliver via tuning parts like cams or ignition, if you can't get cold air to feed the engine, it doesn't work. So righting this by installing an airbox was one of the main reasons for developing this bike," This means that John Keogh's work in restyling the 'Blade also played a critical part in its power-up engine performance, based as it is around the provi- sion of two large-diameter ram air ducts flanking the screen, feed ing the largevolume airbox (not sealed, though) via the curved ducting leading to the tank shroud. This hides the larger 6.2-gallon alloy fuel tank fitted as standard, which now drops down behind the cylinder block, necessitatin,g use of a fuel pump. This provides the key to the Evo's altered riding position compared to a stock FireBlade, where the fatter rear section of the gas tan.k invites a kneesout posture that is not very aerodynamic and becomes tiring after a while. Keogh has, however, retained the more upright stance of the stock 900RR, which is also therefore more comfortable, compared to the RI's racer-style crouch, and has carefully reshaped the Evo's tan.k so that your knees are no longer splayed out but are now tucked in, in turn giving more of a sense of control, while the single sea t (no passenger option) is also narrower, making it easier to move about and hang off around turns than on the wider stock saddle. The fairing has also gone on a diet widthwise and now incorporates a fulllength aerodynamic bellypan tha t also contains an oil tray for racing, which on street bikes will have holes cut in it to let rainwater and stones escape. Together with the slimmer screen, the result is a bike that feels narrower and more nimble than the stock motorcycle, with a riding position that surely delivers a more wind-eheating stance. Part of this comes from the dent in the tank between the two airducts, which allows you to tuck your helmet right down behind the screen, while the ducting isn't as intru ive as I thought it would be at first - you get used to it quite quickly, though it takes longer to come to terms with the fact you can't see the switchgear, and must operate it by feel. The tucked-in riding position definitely helps make the EvoBlade feel more agile than the stocker, but RS has main tained the standard chassis geometry, for a good reason. "The basic FireBlade chassis is brilliant, even compared to the GP-derived geometry of the Rl:'ยท says Mick Grant. "So apart from going to a I7-inch front wheel simply because of the bigger choice of tires that delivers, there was no need to change anything except the bolton hardware. Even then, the standard forks are really good, as we've proved in the IT and Powerbike this season, but as much to satisfy customer expectation as anything, we're fitting upside-down Ohlins up front as well as their rear shock, but using the same fork offset and rear link as the standard bike, Reducing the offset by 5rnm for more trail, as Honda did on the '98 'Blade, really transformed the handling, so we've stuck with it." This includes the wheelbase and weight distribution, which remain unchanged even with the installation of the cast Marchesini single-sided swingarm which comes as standard, though the wheels from the same company fitted to the prototypes will almost certainly be replaced by Dymags for production, Ditto the AP six-pot calipers on one bike I rode: Customer versions will have the Brembo front-brake package I tried on the other bikes - and will be all the better for it compared to the stock 'Blade, whose flaccid braking performance was the only thing I found to moan about when I rode Moodie's IT winner, Same as on any Ducati or Bimota (and aided, by the reduced half-dry weight of 402 pounds - with oil/water, no gas - compared to 416 pounds for a stock CBR900RR), the four-pot Brembos on the EvoBlade deliver progressive yet potent stopping power that's a big improvement over stock. It was a good move fitting them; ditto the grippy Dunlop D207 rubber on the prototypes which hooked up well even with all that extra power - though Metzeler and Bridgestone are also in the frame for OE supply. A nice touch for every customer will be the provision of a eparate race stand for each machine, as wt:ll as a personalized bike cover and riding jacket. All added value - but maybe the most vital part of the EvoBlade entity will be provision of two sets of baseline settings for geometry and suspension settings for riders of a given weight, one for the roaq. with treaded tires, the other for the race track and slicks - so the customer who gets hopelessly confused with the myriad of adjustments at least knows how to return to Square One, Magic. Really, that last little touch says it all about the EvoBlade: Honda Britain and RS Performance have combined to produce a real-world hyperbike with significant added performance that's also user-friendly - a power-up version of the world's leading sportbike that may be a racer-with-lights, but is also a street bike supreme, A British Bimota? No more a hotted-up Honda, built in Japan, but refined in Europe. It's a good idea whose time has come. Full marks to Savory and Grant for concocting such a potent yet ridable ,response to the Rl rocket ship, which puts the performance ball firmly back in Yamaha's court. CIII