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/128075
l 1999 Milan Motorcycle Show To p ro vid e th e basis fo r hoped -for Superbik e su premacy, Ho nda has tak en a leaf out of Ap rilia's Mille SP boo k and short-stro ked th e SP- I / RCS I eng ine, which no w m ea sures 100 x 63.6 mm (ra ther than the 98 x 66 mm of th e VTR and Du cat i 996!) for extra revs and thus mor e power . The VTR's cha in cams haft drive has also bee n replaced wi th gear drive t o th e DOHC cv li n der h e ad s . Ins tead of th e VTR's so upbowl carbs, the SP-l is no w fuel-injec ted like the RC4S it esse ntially repl aces - except that unlike th e ou tgo ing V-four Superbike, it has twin injectors per cylinder in stree t guise, and boa sts an integ ra ted eng ine management sys tem inco rpora ting both fuel -injection and ignition fun ctions. Delivering a claimed 136 hp a t 9500 rpm a nd over 10 .7 kilograms a t 8000 rp m in street guise, the SP-l is not only a lot more p otent than t he 108 -hp FireStorm , bu t the ran ge of HRC tuning kits Honda plan s to offer will unlock a lot more performan ce, too . The chassis hou sing the uprat ed Vtwin en gine is all- new, cons ist ing of a s turdy twin-spar, tr iple- box ex tru ded alloy fra me w hic h unlike th e old VTR chassis, extends down at the rear to provide a locator for th e co m po site alloy swingarm, wh ich also pivots in the rear of the horizontally split eng ine crankcases . Th e dist inct iv e " fa ce" of wha t appears as a com pac t, 250 GP-size bike, recalls a Ducati Supermono-on-stero ids, with a sim il ar triangular air intake between th e twin headlamps. This provides a straig ht bla st of air to the centra l airbox by m eans of innovati ve cast ducts By Alan Cathcart Photos by Kyoi chi Nakamura he Italian m otorcycl e industry ' s biennial blitz of new models got seve rely up staged a t t he 199 9 Milan Show that opened on September 15. In fac t, it go t hijacked - by Honda. For alon gsid e the lineup of Italy's latest and greatest was an array of five new Mille niu m models from Ho nda, mo torcycles tha t comp let ely overs hadowed anything else a t the show . Esp ecia lly co nsid ering that Su zuki and Kawasaki w ere ' h o ld in g the ir new m od e ls for release at the Par is Show on October 1, and Yama ha had little new of note. Fig hting for front -row a tten tion a t Milan we re Ho nda's two very d ifferent new sportbikes. One is Hond~'s answer to Ducat i's continued success at the top of the World Superbike totem-pole - the VTRl000 SP- l V-twin. The o ther" is the long-awaited 're p la ce m e n t for th e wo rld 's best-selling hypersports mod el of the decade now ending, the all- new CBR900RR FireB lade fo ur (called the CBR929RR for the U.s.) . Two mo re contrasting means to a common end would be hard to find - bu t each bris tles with new tec h no logy a nd in novative enginee ring, delivered to the marketplace at affo rdable cost. Ho nda Europe would like you to know th e new V-twin as the SP-l , but eventually the RCSI tag the bike will be b ran ded as Sta teside will surely be the la b e l it' ll even tua lly en d u p bei ng known as once th e 2000 Wo rl d Superb ik e seaso n kicks off. It ' s ra th er a stra nge marketin g decision that 's bound to lead to co n fusion, as w ill th e RVT Ra ci ng em b le m em blazo ne d over th e A merican- ma rke t m od el ' s fa ir ing , in contras t to th e Eu ro-version's VTRlOOO d esignation - a label that is now almos t redundan t. This is, af ter all, essentia lly an all-new motorcycle owing little to its m ore humbl e Fir eSt orm pred ecessor, bey ond th e s ha red 90- degree V-tw in eight-val ve engine format. T rD Q; .c o U o 34 (Top) We first showed It to you two Iss ues ago , but Honda 's VTR1000 SP-1 V-tw in was st ili big news in . Europe, head lining the Milan mot orcycle show. The bike will be known In the States as the RCS1. (Above) While th e RCS1 is an answer to Ducati, Honda's SP-1 borrowed an Idea from another Italian company. As Aprllla did with its Mille SP, Honda short-stroked the Superbike eng ine for hi gher revs.