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/128635
lritierrnot: 2000: Part; /I Las Vegas pre ce d enc e - a curious appr oa ch to the ir key German market, th e ir second in the world after t he USA and o ne in wh ich bot h models shou ld be big sellers . Hav in g m is s e d Pre s s Da y, that me ant th ey no -sh o wed in m o s t E u ro p e a n p ress repo rts .. . . Bu t a ll pres ent a nd c o rre ct wer e th e two uprated vers ions of Honda 's CBR600 , no w boastin g PGM -F ] fu el . inje cti on for th e first tim e a fte r two years with carbureto rs, and ava ilable in two distin c t g ui ses in a n effort to gra b ba c k some of the Supe rsport track cr edit th e existing b ike has found it hard to eam anywhere in the world e x c e p t Amer ica , wh er e t h e Supersport rules are rather d iffe re nt th an els e wh e re , a nd especi ally so compa red to world level. T h a t m e an s that the in j e c t e d CB R6 0 0F i now co mes in a b a s e m od el g uise wrapped in more swoopy and a ggress ive- loo ki ng sty ling - but then is a lso avai la ble in a more ha rd edged Sport ve rs ion wh ich not only we igh s in t wo pound s le s s at 371 po u nd s d ry comple te with a ll street equipment (th e World Supersp o rt we ight limit is 3 67 .5 pounds , a nd th e black-pa inted frame is just ove r three poun ds lighter than th e '0 0 model' s , thou g h ev e n stiffe r, sa y Honda ), but also has m ore tun ing potentia l th an th e stock ve rs ion , with s tiffe r valve spring s for high er rev s , a long e r inta ke tract to improv e midrang e on 20 O CTOBER 18.2000ยท c u e th er down the capacity scale. Honda in trod uced the 250 J a zz scoote r to Europe, com plete with AISS - o r Auto Idle Stop Syste m . T his o ve rrides th e tickover whe n the m ach ine is stoppe d for m ore than ten s econds , a nd stalls the e ngi ne a uto matica lly to e liminate e m issio ns at sta ndstill - just as Swiss mot orists, and bikers, ha ve been do ing volunta rily for years, when stopped at a red light or leve l crossing .... 9. the shortest-stroke engine (67 x 42.5 m m ) in the S upers po rt paddock, la rg er valves , differe nt camshafts. a ligh te r flywheel , be efier clu tch a nd a larger airbox , cou pled with a reprogrammable engine mana ge m ent system and close r rat ios for fifth and s ixth gears . Price differential between the two is likely to be minimal - about $300 - but Honda remain ed tight lippe d at Intermot as to the precise m e c ha n ic al differences be twe e n the standard CBR600Fi - whic h goes on sa le al most righ t away - and the S po rt version, likely to be avai la ble only in Febru ar y. Th is al ready had so me cynics est im at in g th a t Honda wa nte d t o wa it un t il it s a w th e new Suzuki b efo re fina lizing th e s pec of th e new perfo rman c e m oto r, bu t both ve rs io ns in sto ck gu ise a re cla imed to deliver 4 bhp m or e than the pre vious c a rburetted version , meaning 120 bh p at the I e n e vv so crank at the 14 ,2 50 rpm rev ceili ng. Wheels and forks are ligh ter tha n on last year's bikes , t he Spo rt chass is has been strength e n e d aro und t he eng ine mounts and steering head b u t apart fro m t h e EFI , t he main improvement of the bike is likely to be measured mo re in tuning potential than actual performanc e . Ho n d a ' s biggest surprise was res erved for the boo ming scooter market, one in which large r capacity fourstrokes have a ll but dis placed the ringding two-strokes, for reasons to do as m uch with riding pleasure and cost efficient transpo rtation, as for environ menta l ca uses. Honda topped out the tre nd toward power-up feet- forw ard devices wit h t h e twin -c ylin d er 600c c S ilve r Wing, a luxur y to ur-sc oot powered by' a d erivation of th e CB500 e ig ht-va lve motorcycle e ng ine , but fitted with fue l injection, ai r injectio n , a ca ta ly s t exha ust a nd CBS integral bra king . Fur- Yam a ha , of cou rse , had alrea dy go tten the re first with a mega-scooter, in the for m o f the 5 0 0cc T Ma x lau nch ed in the s um mer and a bout to go on s a le in Euro pe - bu t alongside this a n d t he R l-derived F ZS100 0 Super Faz er a lrea dy described in these pages, the company also la unched at Intermot what was for many observers the tr ue star of the show - t h e FJ R1300 sports -tourer. Of impos ing appe a ranc e and sleek but full-e nclos ure styling , the ne w model ai ms to pic k up th e m antle of th e well- loved old ai r-cooled FJ 1200, which died a death back in '96. Thi s. too , is an inline four, but feature s a fue l-injected liquid -cooled 1298cc pow er un it mea suring 79 x 66.2 rnrn a nd derived in ma ny ways from the Rl engine , with side- mounted cam chai n , plat ed cy lin ders a nd a lightweight one -piec e c ylinder b lock and crankcase . With tw in balanc e shafts to e lim inate vibrati on , the FJR1300 produces 14 5 bhp at just 8500 rpm plus a he fty do llop of torqu e at 6000 rp m, and has a sha ft final drive wit h a wide-ratio five -speed gearbox . We ighing an impress ive 521.4 pounds - light for such a h igh -spec touring model - the FJR is fitted with a c a s t alumini um frame and sw ingarm. 48mm conve ntio nal forks and remotel y -adjustab le two -stage rear sh ock , a nd m an y thoughtful d etails such a s bu ilt - in pannier mounts that don 't stick o ut like scaffold ing when th e luggage is detached , an electrically adjustable Windshield. indiv idua l rider and pass e ng er seats with d ifferent grades of paddi ng fo r greater co mfort, and so on. Yamaha has obvio usly taken a close loo k at t h e Ho nda ST1200 Pa n Europea n, and set out to bui ld th e next genera tio n bike in the class , just as they did to the CBR900 FireBlade th ree years ago, with th e R1. Any bets what's next o n their agen da - like for Milan or Paris 2001? CN