In the air, the Honda felt light and
responsive, and both the fork and shock
soaked up the landings and square edges
extremely well. Just for kicks, we played
around a bit with the suspension clickers,
but we went right back to the stock settings. The track we rode on for this particular day wasn't extremely rough, so we are
quite anxious to get our permanent test
bike on something a bit more demanding
and really put it - or more specifically the
chassis - to the test.
As for the motor, however, we left the
track with no questions: It runs really
well. The motor hits hard off the bottom
and just pulls and pulls and pulls. Last
year, the CR won our 250F shootout,
which had a lot to do with its powerful
and useable motor. And for '06, it got
more powerful and even more useable.
What else can we say?
Otherwise, the Honda feels a lot like it
did last year - but that's a good thing. The
brakes are strong and predictable, it shifts
well, it's supercomfortable, and it just plain
feels good.
So far, the dual-exhaust system seems
like a pretty good idea. Our only concern is
the expense. Cartwheeling the Honda
down the straight might be an even more
costly expenditure now that you have
twice the aluminum to bend. Plus, we
don't even want to think about what an
aftermarket pipe might cost.
For us, however, the Honda runs plenty
good just the way it is.
eN
