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/1542351
THIRD PLAC€ lO4 Points ENG'INE KEY FEATURE* . Dual{Ege nrd inecton w/ tv/o injectors per cylinder . center-uP exhar6t . T|/o-sta€e ranFair s/stern The Honda took second place in our stpotout lasr yar, a lot of whi.h had to do with *le CBRS excellent sEee( rnanners and sEfft subiecu\€ ratints. The sarne can tle said ofttE bike this y€ir, but wi$ an adfu rwist. lnstead of i6 rnediocre ffdr-place hp time a year ago at $e Streets of Vvillow sprin8s, it crusH the competition widl the quickest omcial lap tirie of *le day at Bmtorwilloll/. Sorensen managed to click of a l:59.53 on $e Honda despite it havir8 less dis- placerrent than three of the others and rnakinS dre least horsepower of any in the test. The. torque ouput b the same as on our'05 CB& but h wBs dolvn 1.5 horsepower - bfi not a big deal, because it was on a difrerert 4no. Another bi8 surpnse was that the Honda did the third quickes tirne d the drag $rip. h was real- t eas/ (o lalndr and pulled $rough fi€ rev rarEe hirv quick. despite only making 100 horses. The CBR600RR is a solid package frorn top to bocom; it nray not have tle mff8e$ engine rn th€ 8roup, but it puts the power to d|e Sround very effcien+ The CBR h6s deceptive speed - it never realt feels like it's dld agr€ssive, but when you s€e the hp times, lhey speak for themsetvec. "The CBR has a somewhat linear powerbart - almos( electrlc," Sorensen said. "h has tood bottom-€nd grunt, blJt seerns flat as it goes $rough the revs." The fuel-iniecdon response on $e CBR isnt dle sweet€st of dle bunch de5pite havnS th€ Min-injector setup. Sure, dp tvro injectors per q/linder allow the bike to make okay power from its 599ccs, but we wish drc delivery w?s a litde srnoother. At Buttorwillow *|e Hffda seemed to I turde a bit when gettir8 back on the throtde exit- irE sorne of tfle stupidv ti8ht corErs, such 6 off-Ramp, and Cotton Corners on dle east loop of ttE E.ack On $e sgeet f€ Honda \ras excellent in terms of usatilit/, but it was ohvioGv dowtl ofi power compared to a cotrple of the other bikes. The friendty nature of dre CBR mak s it a favorite amorE lesters. Wrth a slick+hiftin8 trdnsrnbsirn and predictable nEnners, ers'yone feels ri8ht at horne on ttl€ bike. "lts a cornplete streetbikc and so eaty to shift," Baird said. "lt har a racy feel, and you are realt in tune with $e road ard tike - very eas/ to jump on and ride, with zero-hamirE curve." The bottom line is *Et d|e CBR does a wfiole lot wifi what hs tot. CHAETEIS/}IANEILINGl KEY FEATURES . Radial-rnourt froit caliPers . Unit-Pro Unk rear susperEion . fully adiustabh 4 I mm inverted fo{k The CBR600RR has a lot going for it in $e chassis departrnent, irduding tlE Unit-Pro Unk rear sus- pension tllat helps put *te Honda s power to the gound in the rno6l effcient rnanner possible- On fle fack $is transhtes to b€ing able to open dle drrotde sooner ard pour it on strorEer At fle drlg srrip it meaft ge(irE the most out of iE lim- ited horsepow€r ln tl€ company of supeEized middleweights, that is extremely important, becalse in a so"igh-up fight, the 599cc enSine on rhe CBR is at an obvbus disadvantage to all of the o$er bike6. Th€ RR h6s one of the s\reetest chassis in this te5t. The way it goe6 about its busin€ss is toEly diferert feeling dran the Yamaha Ka\Maaki or SLrzuki, but k works. The Honda's riding positbn perches the rider on top oI dle bike instead of down in iL This is different than rnost of the odF ers, but is easy to becorne accustomed to. "This as dle hke I aut my fastest lap tirne on, and it didnt Eke a lot of efforf" Carruthers said. "lCs fart. handles well - no headshake her€, at lE n for me. Ard ks comfortabh to ride. h has realy good balanc€ and stabiliy I never got out of shape on t or feh dreatened by it in any wqr Nice, all-rourt pdcl(age. I got a lot of feeling from the front oo thG hke, ard it was cornfortinS." Comrnents like tlEse \,vere echoed I every- one. lt's instanty comfortable and perforrrs e)qctt as expected. Feel from Sle front fork was very good, Pro- viding excellent feedback both at {ull lean, under hard braking or while flickms h in. The suspension raes worked very well for everyone. "The fork is \rery plush when set up proP€rl/ for the bumpy saclq" Sorersen said. 'iA}$ou8h th€re wasn t a lot of positive feel and feedback VITAL STATISTICS Measured wet weight: 429 lb. Peak horsepower: 1OO.9O hp Peak torque: 43.07 ft.-lb. Weight-to-power ratio: 4. 25 lb./hP Fastest lap time: 1:59.53 (Sorensenl Ouarter-mile time: 1O.78 @ 129.78 mph Price: $8999 frorn the front end, there was tood fo*-to-tire feedback. gMng some sense of how hard the tire was beirE pusH." As we mentioned eatiie'; $e Unh-fto Link srr'intarm does its job very well as does the r€ar slrcck. 'Good ard rigd feel, not tquish,, and it se€rn€d to keep $e llar tire hooked up wifi lit- tle to no wobble under power:" Sorersen said of tll€ r€ar end. As for $e brake6, dr€y rate right in dle middle of the pack - not as good as the Ducati's, but excellert nonethelegs. I 34 APRil" tz,2oo6 . CYCLE NEt lS - i-u., -i Mtlri fowori= 163i96 TdIqiiGF f3;U tii 45tr ,m o 4go .: 450 .t' oo 3.o q o Itr HONDA CBF6CORFl r6 6 o lltr 10Il En ine Speed {RPM x 1000) D Least horsepower Front-end feel could be better Smooth engine Great ergonomics Great balance between slreet and tmck PCtStrtvEsi (L.a IV L. 'q -,F \ \.4* HONDA CBFIEOOFItr E- T I * r,t t '\ rl I t -/a NEGATIVEST