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/128012
Honda will attack both the AMA Superbike and World Superb ike Series with an all-new superbike in 2000 - the RC51 . Purposefully designed as an affordable superbike racer, the s treet vers ion will cost jus t under 510,000. Naturally, the RC51 that the DuHamels of the world will race willfeature HRCrace kits. The bike Is powered by a 999cc fuel-injec1ed V-twin (above) an d s its in an aluminum chassis that weighs just 25.8 pounds (below). By Pa ul Ca rrut hers NEW ORLEAl'\S, LA, AUG. 8 o nda b e gan w ha t it calls a "three-year path to ma rket do mination" when it showed its 2000-year lineu p of motorcycles to its d ealers and mem bers of the press in a typically lavish introd uct ion held at the New Orl eans Convention Center. With its motorcycle sales up some 15 pe rcent over a year ago, Ho nda doesn't plan on sit ting still - a fact made apparen t by its in troduction of four completely new motorcycles. And , acco rding to Honda officials , irs only the beginning. The "we are the lead ers" com p any has promised to obta in its "market domination" by - among other things - speeding up new -model d e ve lo p m e n t and increasing production over the next three years. Based on what they introduced in New Orleans, it's difficult to doubt their word . Leading the way for 2000 is Hon da's only a ll-new dir t bike - the long-aw ait ed and mu ch talked about XR650 R. The biggest an d baddest member of Honda' s pou nd s less tha n last vear' s CBR900RR). XR line, the 650R gets an all-new, waterThe CB R also ge ts ,; new chassis - a cool ..d four- val ve 649cc powerp la nt twin-spar aluminum frame that features (we ighing in at on ly 88 pounds) for '00, a pivotless swingarm design that uses a with the four-stroke engine nestled into cas t-alu minum bra cket attached to the a n all-new aluminum c hass is., Dry swingarm pivots. The fu el-injected 929 weight on the XR6S0R is claimed to be also u se s Honda's Variable In ta ke / 277 pounds and th e bike will carrv a Exhaust Management System (HVIX) suggested retail price of 55699. Ii is and H o nd a Titanium Exh aust Valve expected to be available in December, (HTEV) to manage its in ta k e and 1999 and w ill rep lace the XR600 in ex haust charges. The bike also gets Honda's off-road lineu p. red esign ed bodywork that sets it apart If hig h-per formance sp ortbi kes are fro m pre vio u s 9005, using a side-byw hat you' re looking for, Honda has two side, three-headli gh t design, a narrower new ones for the coming year. Leading ga s tank a nd a on e-pie ce tail sec tio n. the way is the CBR929RR - a motorcycle The CBR929 RR will carry a su gges ted the company claims is both fas ter a nd re ta il price of $9999 and will be avail li g h te r than Ya m a ha' s R l. Co m in g able in March of next vear, seven vears after the int roduction of the With the RC45 being laid to rest for fi rs t C BR900 RR, the ne w CBR929RR 2000, Team Hond a's Migu el Du Ha me l p ro d uc es a claimed 150 horsepower at and N icky Hayd en will be armed wit h 11,000 rpm, a nd ca rr ies <1 claimed drv RC5}s for the 2000 racing season .' Their w_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~_ _999 c_c_DO .......;C, eight-valve, 90-d eg ree V eig ht of ju s t 374.8 pounds (some 20 _ __ _H _>_ _ยท- G=D Honda's newes t cruise r is the allnew Shadow Sab re. Featuring a 1099cc V-twin, the shaft-drlven Shadow Sab re features plenty of ch rome, valanced fenders and cas taluminum wheels. Honda will retail some 50 different parts to accessorize Its new cruiser. twins w iII obviouslv be fit ted with on e of three HR C racii1g kit s tha t will be available - but the u n-kit ted superbi ke will sell for under 510,000. No t bad for a potential Ducati killer. Honda claims that t he RCS1 produces 130 horsepower at 9500 rpm and 71 Ib./fl. of torque at 8000 rpm in its street-legal guise. The fuel-injection sptern uses two injectors per cylinder and e lectronic digital igni tion to maxi mize power output and throttle res po nse. Th e powerp la nt w ill nestle in to a new tw in -spar al u mi n u m fra me th a t weighs jus t 25.8 pounds, featuring a swi ngar m pivot tha t incorporat es both the eng ine crankcase a nd fram e-mounted pi vot points. The fra me si dep la tes ex te nd underneat h th e sw inga rm and jo in to form a Dvsha pcd sw in g a r m mounting enclosu re. The fo u r t h all- new Honda i nt rod u ced in New Orleans is th e Hond a Shad ow Sabre - the h ighest p erformance V-twin cru iser in Hond a' s lineu p. The 1099cc V-tw in features a low, 27.2-inch seat heig ht , chrome fork -leg covers , valanced fen ders and cast-aluminum whee ls. The shaft-driven cruiser wil l retai l for 58199 (black) and 58399 (twotone), and Hond a will have some 50 parts available to accessorize the Shadow Sabre. . "We've been feeling the hea t from some of t he competition:' sa id Rav Blank, American Honda's vice presid en t of sa les an d operations, to his asse m bled dealers in N ew Orl ean s, "It's clear thev ar e trying to take wha t's ours. We kno w Yamaha and Polaris are gaining ground in a coup le of segments. So it's lime to p ut them in their place again ... O ver the next 36 months, Ame rica n Honda will once agan revolu tionize the industry by seting new standard s for per form ance and .....:::.....:.;..--:.:.... engineering." _ ....;~ N- N Q; ..c E '" ii '" Ul 19