Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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engine to help you slow down on the mate 'double-sump' version of the RC45 Superbike. But, of course, that 25 percent weight advantage isn't to be sneezed at. I had a graphic illustration of the comparative performance of the two bikes in my dry NSR500 session when I came up behind Hiroshi Maruyama aboard Colin Edwards' RC45 - and as a top- 10 Suzuka 8 Hours finisher, as well as Bridgestone tire tester and star of DOBAR racing on his With Me Honda naked bikes, he pretty much knows how to ride such a motorcycle. The lighter, and by now carbon brake-equipped NSR500, ate the heavier, steel- overrun. But it's the throttle's precise response and sense of controllability that most impressed in the wet, a vivid contrast to my last wet-weather foray on a Honda. In contrast, the next day at Motegi, in the Japanese winter sunshine, it was a different factor that found favor. Compared to the Suzuki, the NSR500 has a much bigger hit of midrange power around 10,000 rpm. This sends the rear Showa compressing, the rear Michelin gripping and the Honda rocketing out of a second-gear turn as if it had been shot from a gun. But it's all far more controllable that word again - than its rivals, with no need to use the overrev to keep the front wheel on the deck as you change up. And there is a better spread of top-end power than on the bikes I rode a year ago (when I tested the screamer and big bang back-toback for the first time). Now you can hold a gear to 14,000 rpm without the power falling off, like between the last two corners before the mai straight, just to save a couple of gearshifts. There's 500 rpm more than a year ago, and though peak power is delivered at 12,500 rpm, it ays to change gear at 13,000 rpm to rut yourself right back in the meaty f1lidrange zone as you hit the higher gear. It's worth noting that the NSR till doesn't have a power-shifter - et. "We have a system all ready to fit," Honda says. "But Mick-san didn't like it, s6 other riders don't choose, either But when Sete Gibernau bega riding Mick's bike after his llccident, he expressed a desire for this, because this year for the first ime, his NSR500 V-tJin had a speed shifte , and he liked it. Now we solved gear-shock problem okay, we are happy to supply this if riders ask." I think they should. Considering the bike's awesome acce eration an the body weight transfer it requires to keep the front wheel on the ground, having to twist your wrist even a little is unsettling as well as unnecessary. It's a waste of time when you could be saving fractions of a second changing gears while wide-open. The NSR500's drive out of turns is really fabulous, especially if you short-shift around 12,000 rpm in the lower gears to ride the V-four's meaty torque curve. There's another two percent more horsepower at the top end this year, according to Hondasan, as HRC engineers continue their fight back against the depredations of green gas. Only another three percent to go, guys - which means around 188 hp is now on tap at the gearbox, still a little less than the ulti- 22 FEBRUARV 2, 2000' cue (290mm ones on some circuits) stop the Honda brilliantly, and without fuss. There's no attempt to start sweeping the track with the back wheel, and you can pick a line for the turn you're stopping for firm in the knowledge that you'll be able to hit it. The Honda may be slightly heavysteering, but it's completely planted once you've laid it into the turn, running on rails as the Showa forks eat up the few bumps on the track's surface. In fact, Honda did produce a prototype for an all-new chassis - the first since 1990 - for testing at the start of the 1999 season. It's quite a must work hard on improving performance. For this reason, we developed two stages of spec for this year's ['99J engine. Alex likes the most powerful spec, but Okada-san prefers low-tune basic spec, with different driveability. But we know for next season [2000J we need big engine improvement, as well as better chassis handling." As part of this process, expect Honda to continue the war against unleaded power losses, which for 1999 saw revised cylinders, port braked RC45 alive stopping for Mote-r-~..j:=================; gi's turns. Although I could make a (Right) eriville stops his NSR500 with the decent stab at matching the Superaid of two 320mm Mitsubishl carbon bike on turn-in, the GP racer wouldn' discs and four-piston Brembo calipers. hold such a tight line on the way ou (Below) The author came away impressed after riding the NSR in both wet and dry of a turn under power. It absolutely conditions. couldn't be persuaded to cut insid him early, so I decided to try to straighten up sooner and out accelerate him down the next straight. Amazingly, once straightened up and flying right, there was nothing to choose between the two bikes on top end. I tried three or four times to pull out and pass the RC45 under power, but just couldn't manage it. Compared to Roberts' Suzuki, the Honda not only feels bigger and bulkier, it's also harder to lift up to get an early drive out of the turn - or to flick from side to side. However, it's considerably more stable than the Suzuki under heavy braking, where the quality cocktail of Brembo's new radial four-pot calipers and the meaty 320mm Mitsubishi carbon discs • • n e vw s different construction with the engine moved forward and upward relative to the wheel axles. The aim was to improve handling by speeding up the steering and reducing the understeer that Doohan and others have complained of for some time - but though it had improved turn-in, says Honda, understeer was no better, so it was soon jettisoned. And the modified airbox with bigger-diameter ducting that caused a 5 percent difference in weight distribution owing to a different fuel tank shape at the start of the season was also redressed after all the riders complained about it. "But we must try harder," Honda says, "because Yamaha and Suzuki are catching up, and we know we shape, pistons, cylinder head and combustion chamber design all adopted, as well as new curves for the ignition and RC-valve operation. A Stage 3 engine spec was produced mid-season to counter Yamaha's sudden edge in top-end performance, and though this apparently did the job, it was at the expense of acceleration, so none of the riders opted for it. Back to the drawing board and dyno room. And the same goes for the aerodynamics: the Honda's bodywork has been unchanged for five years, so expect some key attention in this area next season. In fact - after several seasons of technical stagnation, it looks like we now have an R&D race on our hands again. CN