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/1542268
2006 Hondo CBR1000RR Thq CBRIOOORR lofts itr frcnt wheel ot Buttonwillow. to flicking the bike from side to side. While last year's bike took some effort on initial tum in, this one dives into corners with ease, Pick a line and hit it. Piece of cake. lt feels--. well. it feels more GSX-R-Iike. And the power now seems to have a hit to it - a real snappy feel that also makes the bike more fun to ride than the old model. Though you could do good lap times on the old bike, you never really felt like you were. You iust had the feeling you weren't doing much more than droning around. Where's the excitement in that? On this one, you're going farter and you know it as it lofts the front wheel without nary an effort in all the right places at Buttonwillow. A€ain, that seems like a good thinS to us. Excitement - good, bor- in8 old fast lap times - bad. Like last year's bike, the fuel-iniection sys- tem on this CBR|oooRR is without peer. lt's so flawless that you really forget it's there. You pick up the throttle and it goes without any hesitation or annoying hiccups. There's no denying that when it comes to ECUS, the boys at Honda have it ligured out. While Honda boasts new transmission gears and a new clutch-needle bearing designed to improve engagement feel and durabiliry, those changes weren't noticeable to us at the racetrack. Again, we've alwa)s found the CBRs to shift well so if they say this one is even better, yoL, won't get an argument here. We do know that after a long day and four zillion laps at the race- track, we can report that we didn't find a single false neutral or miss even one shift. While most of that can be pointed directly to phenornenal riding skill, we'llgive Honda a bir of credir here for getting it right agarn. The suspension on the CBR remains basically the same as last year, thouSh the front 43mm HMAS fork now features new - (l.eIt) Ihe fronl .owl- ing is dightly qltered for 2006. (Rishr) Tho front distc ore bigger, but thinner ond lighrer. (8q,nom lefi) Ihe rwingorm on thir yeor's model ir q tod rhortc. ond lha ovcroll whcclborc ir lgr. (Bottom right) Ih. cockp of Hondo'r nGwGrl CBR. t CBR IOOORR LtsT PR1CE................................$r 1,299 DISPLACEMENT..----,....,..............998cc ENGINE TYPE ................Liqlid-cooled, in-line four-cylinder BORE x STROXE ..............75 x 55.5mm GoMPRESS|ON RAT|O,,.,,.,,,,,... r 2.2: r CARBURET|ON........,.....,.Dual staSe Fl lGNlTlON,,,,,,,.........Di8ital W 3-D map TRANSMlSStON....................Six-speed STARTING SYSTEM ................Electric FUEL CAP4C|TY........................4.8 gal. WHEE1BASE ..............................55.2 in. RAKE/IRA|L ..................23.45'llO0mm SEAT HE|GHT............................32.3 in. FRONT T|RE.......................... 120t70- t 7 REAR TtRE.............................. r90/s0-r 7 FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL...........-4.7 in. REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL ............,,5-3 in. FRONT BRAKE...-.......--..-..-.....Dua1 disc REAR BRAKE ..................................Disc FINAL DR|VE..............---..--..........Chain CLAIMED WET WEIGHT ........448 lbs. SPEC!FICATIONS 28 JANUARY ] I, 2006 CYCLE NEWS Ir I I l \ ! o. 1 / t I o), El \ ir \' / I .-.--- a I { \ 0\ r. A \ 7 .+ ) ,9 1"' \:./ n 7- () -.t] 4 ., l