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/128354
The racetrack portion of the introduction too k place at central California's II Buttonwillow Raceway just outside of Bakersfi eld. I was able to spend ample time on not only the new bike, but also on last year's bike, for compariso n sake. The first thing that was noticeable was pO! tha t the bike acce lerate d much (.;;:; harder out of the tight comers . than last year 's bike. A lot of this is no doubt due to the bike's power-toimproved we ight ratio, but add in the improved midrange power, and t he bike rea lly jumps off of the corners. The one thing that t he CBR600RR has always boaste d is impressive to p-end performa nce . T he bike's use of two injecto rs per cylinder, including the shower-ty pe secondary units tha t kick in above 5500 rpm , make s the bike feel much quicker up to p than t he co mpe t ition . In o rde r to cure t he bike 's lack of midrange oomph, new injectors were fitted , the intake ports we re changed and the exhaust system now fl ows better (even after rece ivi ng a catalytic converter), in addition to new EFI and ignition mapping. Additionally, the C BR600RR has new sho rt-skirt slipper pistons, which have bee n impregnated with molybdenum to reduce friction and heat, in addition to the aluminum cylinders that have ceramic and graphite particles embedded in them . The result is a very noticeable increase in midrange torque compared to the '04 bike; no longer do you have to kee p the motor spinning in the upper echelons of the bike's 15,OOO-rpm rev range. O n the track , throttle response feels excellent with nary a hiccup w hen picking up the thrott le midcorner. The added midrange also gives the rider more gear options in the comers by not having to wring its neck all the time. I also had the o pportu nity to ride the CBR600RR in the canyons aro und Malibu, California, back to back with an '04 model. The midrange kick that I felt o n the track was even mo re pronounced on the street. The old bike just didn't have anywhere near the instantaneous response that the new bike had. Even in fifth and sixth gears the bike pulls very impressivelyfrom revs as low as 5500 rpm. The RR has always felt strong up top , but the added midrange makes the bike so much more en joyable on the street. The other area that I was surprised to see improved so much was the very low rpm power, which you'd notice pulling away from a stop light. The bike doesn't bog at all- it just has instant, smoo th pickup. Butto nwillow has a cou ple of tight corners that requ ire a bike that can be quickly flicked from side to side. The new C BR600RR was noticeably easier to transition through the comers than the '04 bike due to the bike's red uced girth, a lot of w hich was eliminated from components higher up on the bike. The '04 bike felt sluggish in comparison, especiallywhile trying to The bodywork on the new bike is all new and features ram-air intakes that are more integrated into the nose than on last year's model.