ln last
year's
Open-Class Sportbike
Shootout
in
Cycle
News, the
one word that
continued to come up when it came to
Honda's CBRI000RR was weight. At 465
pounds
wet,
it was...
well, a bit on the
rotund side. And it wasn't a coincidence
that the two bikes that finished ahead of it
in our final shootout results were both
lighter - the Suzuki GSX-R1000
(441
pounds)
and
the Kawasaki ZX-|0R (435
pounds).
While the CBR was far from
being BrobdinSnagian, Honda still didn't
wait
(no pun
intended) long to
put
the bike
on a serious diet. The result: a loss of 17
pounds,
with the newest model tipping the
scales at a claimed 448
pounds (wet).
That
puts
the Honda right in the ballpark
weightwise, sefting;tself up
as a
favorite
to
seriously contend in this year's
shootouts.
But wait
(sorry!),
there's more.
ln
addition to complainin8 about the bike's
bulk. we also found fault with the bike's
power
lt was, for the want of a better word,
a bit lethargic when compared to some of
the other bikes in the shootout. That too has
changed. Honda has bumped up the com-
pression
on the CBR I 000RR, increased rpms
and added some oomph in
the
form of a 3-
percent
horsepower
gain.
The bike re\.s
quicker
and makes
more power
- and
it pro-
duces that
power in an
area that
gives it plen-
ty of spunk. Goodbye lazy, hello lively.
And Honda didn't stop there. To
go
along with the extra
power
and lighter
weight, enSineerc opted to make it a bit
livelier in the handling department as well
26
JANUARY ] ], 2006
.
CYCLE NEWS
re.lity show
"The
BiSgest Loser," After all,
the
Honda
didn't
have
that
much fat to lose-
It did, however, have
plenty
to
gain,
and
.hances are
good
that it's done
iust
that by
shedding enough weight to make it a serious
contender for class bmgging rights when this
year's
shootouts
are
completed-
y no means should we confuse
last
year's
Honda CBR l000RR
with Maft Hoover. the man who
made himself
"famous"
by los-
ing 157
pounds
to win NBC's
2006 CBRIOOORR
-'!
I
il .
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