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/128600
------------ (Top left) The new chassis features a seml-pivotless design. (Top right! The front brakes are massive· 330mm. (Above) The CBR929 gets a 43mm inverted fork rather than the 4!5mm conventional unit that was used on the CBR900. (Left) The 929 gets titanium header pipes. refined than before. The fuel tank is 25mm narrower (though it still carries 4.68 gallons of fuel) and it's 30mm shorter from front to back. The tank is also 15mm lower. Also noticeable is the fact that pegs have been raised, along with the seat (10mm higher). while the bars are lower (5mm), creating a racier, more R1 feel to the bike. Taller riders may complain about the pegs being a tad too high, but those of us who are heightimpaired found the ergonomics of the bike to be perfect. There was plenty of room to move about the seat, and the relationship between the footpegs and the handlebars is ideal. Ground clearance on the bike is now 9mm less than before, though nothing but the peg feelers ever touched down during our day on the racetrack. Those peg feelers, however, proved to be too long for the racetrack. Midway through the first session it sounded like seventh-grade shop class as we ground our way around Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Needless to say, the feelers were removed during the lunch break when, at the same time, the Michelin race-compound Pilots were fitted. In a move that we always wanted but never thought we'd see, Honda has fitted the CBR929 with a 17-inch front wheel instead of the 16-incher ) bad lap times in Vegas. With the 929, there was virtually no way of screwing up the double-left badly enough to eliminate all the good that comes from the low-end throttle response that the fuel-injection system provides. On the 900, it was the complete opposite. I screwed up the double-left on the 900 and there simply wasn't the good throttle response (and added bottom-end grunt) to save me. Thus, I spluttered my way through the big left and could only watch as 929s drew steadily away. In addition to the extra displacement and the fuel-injection, the CBR929 also gets some of that lowend and midrange pull (not to mention added overall horsepower) from what Honda calls its Honda Variable Intake/Exhaust Management System (HVIX) and Honda Titanium Exhaust Valve (HTEV). While the HVIX valve in the airbox (which has grown to 10 liters for a 35-percent increase in volume over the 900) makes certain that there's a constant-velocity, variablevolume flow of air going to the injection system, the HTEV is basically a flapper valve in the exhaust system's collector. From 0 to 3000 rpm, the valve rotates 180 degrees; from 3000 to 7000 rpm, it becomes a 360degree system; and at 7000 rpm and above the gases go straight out, thus maximizing the scavenging system. The four-into-two-into-one exhaust system features a titanium header and muffler, and the total weight on the exhaust has been lessened by 6.6 pounds. The CBR929 now utilizes a pivotless frame (rather than a full twinspar) that weighs in at 2.3 pounds less than the 900. The chassis also provides 13 percent more rigidity, according to Honda, with the swingarm rigidity increased some 30 percent over the CBR900. Although it is a pivotless frame, Honda doesn't want us to confuse it with the frame on the VTR1000. Geometry on the new chassis is different from the 900. Since the crankshaft-to-swingarm pivot distance has decreased, Honda has used a longer swingarm to help increase stability. Still, the wheelbase on the bike is 5mm shorter than the previous model, and there is now 97mm of trail. Overall the package is smaller than before, and it's noticeable the first time you throw your leg over it. Although the first thing we generally say when we get to ride anew, lighter, smaller big-bore is that it feels like a 600, now I have to say it again - it feels like a 600. And that's always been the goal, hasn't it? The size and weight of a 600 matched with the power and speed of an open-class sportbike. It was something Honda strived for with the introduction of the CBR900 in 1993, and now it seems as though they've met that goal: The CBR929's dry weight is eerily similar to that of the CBR600. The seating position has changed, with the CBR929 much sharper and cue' e n e _ S • FEBRUARY 16. 2000 13