Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The 599 's Chassis and Styling The frame on the 599 is based on a Japanese domestic mark et bike called the Hornet 250, which was the inspiration behind the Hornet 600 . The frame is composed of rectangular steel tubing that forms the mono-backbone structure. The backbone goes from the steering head to the back of the engine cases, which are used as a stressed member, and th e swinqarm pivot and di e-ca st alum inu m pla tes that secure it all together. A conventional, preload-adjustable, damping -red fork in the front handles suspension duties . Out back is a linkless rear shock. which bolts direct ly to th e swingarm and has provisions for preload adjustability . The bike's relationship with the tarmac is facilitated by new 3.5 x 17-inch front and 5.5 x 17-inch rear rims. with I 20/70ZRI 7 and I 8O/ 55ZRI 7 radial tires respectively. The 599's headlight is as much a part of its styling as its function. The new unit uses a polished die-cast aluminum reflector with a lightweight polycarbonate lens. Inside are two single-filament 55w HI l bulbs instead of the traditional twin-filament bulbs. Honda claims that the upper low-beam projects light that covers 70-percent more area than the traditional setup. while the lower high-beam covers 60-percent more area. The bulbs are also supposed to last 400-percent longer than a traditional bulb. Th e in strument cl uster is co mpletely new on t he 599 and features an analog speedometer and tachometer with white faces, in addition to the LCD displays for coolant temp. odometer, twin trip meters, and a digital clock. bureted aro und town . O nce in M a libu a nd o n famil i a r roads, it was t ime to see if the bi k e had wha t it takes to m ak e an impres sio n in the han dlin g and acce leration depa rtments. Most of the roads that we rode the bik e on wer e rea lly tight and twisty . In other words, they we re roads that ca ter ed perfectly to the 599. The bik e can be flick ed deep into a c orner with amazing ea se and then flicked back th e ot he r way in a nanos econd . The handling is l ight a nd extreme l y responsive and offe red solid st ability in th e fas te r swee pe rs . My o nl y co m plaint would be that th e suspensio n is fairl y taxed when p ushed ha r d . T he dam pi ng rat es are actually quite good for such a simplis tic set up, but som e add it ional adj usta b ility an d heav ier spri ng s wou ld be nic e for tho se m ore spi rit ed ri des. One negative cha rac t e r i st i c was that th e 59 9 li ke d t o st an d up on th e bra kes wh en tra ili ng them deep into a corner. Th e so lution was to get th e br ak in g ove r with well b efore t he ap e x a nd th en let th e swe et st eering do its job . O ne of th e ot he r side effec t s of try in g t o trai l brake all t he wa y to t he ape x was a hint of ch att er fr om t he fr ont end , though it was nothing to be too co ncerne d abo ut. Speaking o f th e brak es, I gu ess Honda has its br ake -pad co m po unds a n d rotor mat erials figur ed ou t becau s e p in-s lide calip ers nev er worked this well before. The twin twopiston c alipers and twin 296mm dis cs offered very good feedba ck and plenty of stopping power on th e front side of th e bike . Out back t he single-piston c ali per and th e 220mm disc did their job j ust fi ne as well. Th e motor in t he 599 is bas ed o n Honda's CBR600 F3 mill, which, as I m en tion ed be for e, I wa sn 't prepared to be ove rly im pressed w ith. Howev er, t ha t outlook soon changed. In th e c anyo ns th e bike needed to hav e it s n ec k wrun g a li tt l e bit, but at th e sam e tim e it offe re d a n impress iv e amount of pow er fr om th e top-end of the motor. Wh at makes t he m oto r so good is th e f act th at th e m idran g e pow er d elivery is not onl y smooth , but there seems t o be m ore of it than I rem ember an F3 having - th ough I wonder if I c an ac t ually remember th e Th e 5 9 9 ' s e xhaust canister tu cks up a nd o ut of the w ay so c learance won't b e a n Issue. fra ct ion of a second tha t th e ca r b stumbles. It's just clean ac celeration . It's too bad that a lot of fu el- inj ect io n systems don't wo rk this well. Honda has st y led the bike in wha t I wo uld call a low-key and yet still fairly ag g ressi ve- looki ng appea ran ce . Th e bi k e may not look lik e a bad boy at fi rst gla nce, b ut i t o ffe rs sharp . ang ular sty ling that looks purpo sefu l. One are a in part ic ula r that loo k s real ly cool is t he asy mmet ri ca l exha ust th at t ucks u p and under th e rig ht side o f th e ta il sec tio n , out of t he way. Everything else has been desig ned to lo ok fresh and new, without a hint of retro thrown in - which is on e thing tha t I've alway s hated about o t h e r naked bikes . Retro is just an exc use to sa ve m oney b y u sin g c he ap and o ld -look ing components. T h e 59 9 can be a lot of d iff er ent things to a lot of d iff erent riders, whi ch is what m ak es it such an im p res sive bike. N ot only can it fill t he rol e of an entry-level bi k e. bu t it's a b ike tha t the owner won't get bored of right away. It ca n fill the role of co m muter, c anyon ca rve r and track -day ca ro user. It will be ava ila ble in two colors. Yel low or As pha lt. The only thi ng t hat the 599 has goi ng agai nst it is th e pric e. wh ich at $ 7099 is o ve r $ I 00 0 m o re tha n a Suzu k i SV650 and $600 m ore than the new Yamaha FZ6 - two of the bike's primary competitors. Is it worth it? It depends on your taste, bu t I think a lot of people will like t he simplicity of the 599's appearance, and I can assure you that m os t w ill be happy w ith its CN performan ce, as well. The rear shock is a li n kless design, attaching d irectly to the swingann. It has provisions for preload adjustment only. HONDA 5 9 9 T h e p i n - slide twin-piston c a lipers do a g ood j o b of getti ng th e 599 sl owed down in a h uny, last time I rode a F3 . The bike isn 't V-twin -like, so wh en I talk about m id rang e punch , tak e it with a grain of sa lt . But fo r a 60 0cc inli ne -four it' s decen t. Th e m ot orc ycling un i v ers e r e v olv e s a ro u n d fue l injecti o n t he se day s, which it should , but don 't yo u miss backfiring in tunne ls ? Ok ay , so that is n' t really th e c arburet o r's best attribute - it' s just a little ic ing on th e cak e. On e t h i n g that is ins tant ly noti c eabl e - on the str eet, as I m en ti on ed - especially in th e cany o ns, is th e c arb's sm ooth fue l del ivery . Pick ing up the throttle whil e cranked way o ve r in a corner doesn 't upset th e bik e in an y way at al l. Th er e isn't a LIST PRICE DISPLACEMENT ENGINE TYPE BORE x ST ROKE COMPRESSION RATIO CARBURETION IGNITION TRAN SMI S SION STARTING SYST EM FUE L CAPACITY WH EELBASE RAKE/TRA IL SEAT H EIGHT FRONT T IRE REAR T IRE FRONT-WHEEL T RA VEL REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL F RO NT BRAKE REAR BRAKE FINA L DRIVE CLAIM ED DR Y WEIG HT.. cycle $ 7099 599cc Liq uid -cooled , in -li ne four-cylinder 6 5 x 45.2mm 12 .0: 1 Four 34mm flat-slide CV t ype Digita l Six -sp eed Elec tric 4.5 g al. 55 .9 in . 25 ' / 9 8m m 31.1 in. 120/ 70 - 17 180/ 55-17 4 .3 in . 5.0 in . Dual 296 m m discs w/twin two-piston ca li pers Single 220 m m dis c w/single-piston ca liper Chain 4 0 1 lbs. n e _ sa • O CTO BER 15 , 2 0 0 3 35

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