The deep and mulchy course played
in our favor, as we put the updated
Honda engine to work. The previous
generation motor was good but seri-
ously lacked bottom end, forcing the
rider to feather the Honda's clutch and
play with only a small window of power
near the rev limiter. As a result, the mo-
tor demanded a lot of effort by the rider
to keep it in that productive but narrow
high-revving power zone. Honda ad-
dressed this issue and it shows.
Second and third gears now are
noticeably livelier, there's more power
down low and it builds better as RPMs
increase. Also, by re-working the gear
ratios to match the new power output,
the bike feels more rideable while con-
suming less energy from the rider.
The Oregon track featured a hand-
ful of jumps with short run-ups, which
proved to be no issue for the new
Honda. The bike sports solid pull off the
bottom and didn't scream for a shift like
it used to. Rather, it carries momentum
nicely through midrange and continues
to build speed as the revs rise. Simple
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 P105
Going back to the single muffler design reduces
weight and helps make the bike feel slimmer.
