Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Test 2000 Honda X11 toge ther with th e low 79Smm se a t height allows a 6-foot rider to cruise at 100 mph without an y undue "rind-bl ast causing you to cling for dear life to the handleb ar s, with just a sligh t forward tilt of your head su fficien t to get the airflow run nin g up and over your helmet. This is a ne at id ea , tha t lea ning you r head off-center really wo rks, even wit hout the sma ll aftermarket flyscreen from Ho nda 's catalog of Xll ad d-oris. The red- faced instru ments are sharplooking and clea r to read , too - though the lack of a di git al clock is surpris ing, and with such a massive fuel tank, it'd be better to ha ve a ga uge to keep you abreast of its contents, rather than jus t a warning light. An add ed factor in high -speed performance, says Honda, is the Xl T's sin- say a good set of aft ermarket upsidedowners would be top of the list for an y XII customer. You d on't need mor e compliant forks to d ial ou t a ny undu e front-end dive that happens wh en you exp loit the Xl l 's exce lle n t brak es to thei r und oubted p otential - be cau s e th ere isn 't a ny . That's because this so n-of-Blackbird has the sa me Dua l-CBS linked -bra king sys tem as featu red on the CBRl l O XX, wit h O the thr ee tripl e-pi ston ca lipe rs, proportionall y co nnecte d bet w een th e twin . fro n t 3 l0 m m s tee l d is cs a n d s ing le 2S6mm rea r, d eliverin g bal an ced and extre mely powerful braking. A favorite top ic for bar-room bant er, I know ther e are those wh o reject thi s sys te m for usurpi ng the rid er's fun ction in d ecid ing how m uch of whi ch brake to use, and w hen - but I'll only say that on this kind of bike (and the Super Blackbird ) I th ink it ' s an idea l fea ture tha t work s very we ll on the XII. Wit h an integr ated anti-theft system that helps resist me chanical tampering, th a t ca nn ot be bypa ssed b y e it he r hotwirin g the ignition or exchanging the ignition-switch module, a nd also detects an attemp t to start the bike with a non encod ed key, thus s hu tting d own the ems 's ECU, Honda has mad e a laudable effort to enha nce the Xl I's security, with a lockable sto rage space und er the sea t for a U-lock a nd chain, as well as anv sma ll essen tials. All this is perha ps wi th ' half a n eye o n its most likel y habita t, nam ely, city streets, mixed with cou ntr y-lan e capers on a Sund ay mo rni ng . How e ver, the su rprisingl y re s tricted steeri ng lock makes turning aro und a bit of a fag , a nd the XII la c ks a center sta nd . But this is no dog of a bike : It's a serio us, well-thought-o u t atte mpt to rein vent the naked bike, as well as Maxou t Yamah a ' s m us clerod , a lbei t with som e Zlst-century styling 'that may take a bit of getti ng used to. But then that's wh at we w ere sa yin g 15 yea rs ago , when the V-Max was launched . eN (Above) Style meets function : The scu lpted bac k of the instrument binnacle acts as an effective wind deflector at speed. But where's the clock? (Left) The Xl l reta ins the same bas ic twin-sp ar alloy-beam frame as the CBRll00XX. (Right) A powerful motor deserves powerful brakes , which the Xll has , as well as the XX's linkedbraking system. Honda X11 gil' most obtrusiv e styling statement, the giant plastic shroud to the twin oil and w at er rad iat ors . Th is not o nly len ds character to the ap peara nce in a jowly sort o f way - th ough if thi s particular tw o-wh eel ed Rottw eil er ev er s ta r ts slavering a t th e mouth , it'll be a s ig n y o u hav e a radiator le ak ! - it also im proves coolin g via the same low-pressu re extraction system that Honda uses on the VTRlOOO's side-mou nted rad iators , and in addition is claimed to gener. ate a d ded downforce vi a th e angl ed sla ts in the face of th e shrou d , furth er improving front-wheel grip. These may ~ be a pa in to cle an of all the road d irt ::Ii thro w n up by the front wheel in wet 11/ weather ridin g, but a fte r h earin g !!Ii Frankie Chili 's g ra phic d es cription of ~ how the mass ive water radiators on his ~ works Su zuki GSX-R7S0 Superbike ... cause the front end to ge t ligh t in fast Q turns, I hav e to adm it there could be a ~ sound basis for Honda 's changes: Won Q d er if we ' ll s ee a sim ila rly shrou d ed Suzuki - or VTRlOOO Sr-l, a.k.a. RCSI on the Sup erb ike scen e next seaso n?! en Whatever the cau se, there's no doubt ~ the com bine d eff ect is a p os iti ve on e, Q; because the XI I se ts new sta nda rd s in .g handlin g a n d p e rf orman ce for the (j naked-roadster class. The precise, lighto action clutch help s you di al up plent y of 8 moti on from the meat y motor off th e m line. And the fact that this is suc h a grea t tool to stage off traffic light s makes one wo n de r a ll th e m ore wh y H ond a d oesn 't se ll th e XII s ta tesi de, wh er e such a bike is in its elem ent - thou gh I'll ad mit that af ter blowing o ff the thi rd Por sche in a morn in g, you s ta rt to get blase: It' s not even much o f a co ntes t, really. . From just over 3000 rpm, th e fuelin jec ted mot or co mes in reall y ha rd , w it h a mu scu la r m idrang e u p to s ix gra nd, but it delivers sea mless but significant pow er all the wa y to the 9000rpm power pea k. After that, it fall s off s teep ly a nd it ' s tim e to g rab a no the r g ea r on th e fi v e-speed clu s ter: Ye s, that 's right, on e less rati o on this all-new gea rbox (b u t no t the chea pska te Tri umph op tio n o f leavin g ou t top gear) than the six-speed Super Blackbird , and quite right, too . All the extra torque on the XI I mak es more ratios th an fi ve red undan t, and in every day rid ing yo u ten d just to stick it in top and ride the torque-curve everywhere, wi thou t a ny need to kick it down a gear to ge t the motor on the boil fo r a n ove r ta king maneuver . Ju st twi st th e throttl e in a straig ht line at al most any rev and the re sult is th e s a me - a lo vel y , liqu id . power deli very that shoves you ever so fast d own the street, us ua lly wi th the front wheel hovering just off the grou nd if you gas it wide op en in a low er gear, crouched as far over the fro nt wheel as the fat fuel tank will let you . There's a grea t feeling of exhilara ting excess that' s pa rad oxicall y contro lla ble when you accelerate hard on the XI I. It gives you a bu zz, in more ways than one. Tr y doing th e sa me thing ex iti ng a turn, a nd after cop ing with the slightly jerky pickup from a closed throttle that's so typi cal of most fu el -inj ected b ikes, you ' ll understand why the rear Showa rnonosh ock - adj us ta ble o nly for preload, in se ve n positions - is re la tively har d -sprung, as the link less rear sus pe nsion comp resses and puts all that power to th e tarmac. The Ma cadams d eli ver eno ug h g rip to cope in normal riding condition s, tho ug h if you ge t overexcited with the right hand w he n cra nked over, yo u can feel the rear tire s tart to walk quite read ily some time befor e you get a full-blood ed slide. But that serves as an effec tive ea rly wa rning sys tem, and there's no dou bt tha t with grip pier rubber the stiff chassis is capable of handling even more power quit e com pe tent ly . Fork se tt ings o n th e che a p o 43mm cartridge Sho was a re quite soft , thou gh not es pecia lly com plian t: Co up led w it h the stiff rear sp ri ng ing, the XII tend s to ju m p over bumps rather than absorb' them, and with no ad jus tment of any kind a t the front end , I'd Specifica!ions Liquid-cooled in-line Engine fo ur-cylinder Valve gear ..DOHC. 4 valves per cylinder Bore x stroke 79 x 54mm Displacement 1137cc Compression ratio Carburetion 1 1:1 Electr onic fuel injecti on Ignitio n Computer-controlled Transmission digi tal transistorized w / electronic adva nce Five-speed Wheelbase Seat height 60 inches 31.8 inches Suspension Front .43mm cartridge fork. 4.8 inches of travel Rear ..Gas-charged monoshock damper with 7·step adjustable preload. 4.8 inches of travel Tires Front . . . . . . .' 20170 ZR17 Michelin Macadam 90X Rear ... . . . . . . . .. '80/55 ZR1 7 Michelin Macadam 90X Brakes Front . . . . .Dual 31Omm hydraulic discs w/three-piston calipers and smte red-rne tal pads. Rear .. .. .Sinqle 256mm hydraulic disc w / three-pis ton cali per and sinte red-rnetal pads. Fuel capacity 5.7 gallons Cla imed dry weight .488.4 pounds

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