VOL. 50 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 27, 2013
2013 Honda CBR600RR
eling on the Honda is so exact,
it's uncanny. There are no surprises. No hiccups. No lags or
hesitations. It's about as refined
as a 600 inline four can get.
"First thing I noticed was how
responsive the throttle was. No
lag whatsoever," says Nathon.
"The motor felt strong with power
that felt like it pulled through all
the way through each gear."
Adey agrees, saying: "Honda's
power delivery came with no surprises. It is super linear and predictable, inspiring confidence to
twist the grip on unfamiliar twisty
roads."
On the top end is where the
Honda starts to suffer, but that's
more an issue on the track than
on the street. That said, the CBR
holds its own during acceleration
tests. A 3.74-second 0-60 isn't
notable, but the 11.12 quarter-mile
bests all save the true cheater in
this shootout, the GSX-R750.
Honda's engine benefits from
the improved mid-range, no
question, but doesn't offer up
much character. Compared with
the playful triples and gruff Ducati
twin, the Honda Four is bland. It's
not quite so bad compared with
its Japanese rivals, but tester's
still deem it the least inspiring engine in the shootout.
The Honda transmission runs
counter to the argument that a
3
P93
RD
PLACE
quickshifter and slipper clutch
are must-have specs in this
class. Some test riders mistakenly assumed the Honda has a
slipper, it's such a smooth shifting ride. Ignorant or not, they
don't penalize the CBR for not
having one, as the Honda rates
equal to the Kawasaki and Suzuki transmissions – both of
which source a slipper clutch.
Nathon says of the Honda
drivetrain: "It's just so smooth.
I mean Honda does everything
right. The clutch felt supple,
with smooth power off the bottom and a strong pull to midrange and its sweet spot between 6-8K rpm."
In the past we've loved the
CBR's handling, but this time
around it falls to third behind the
Triumph and Kawasaki. Again,
it does nothing bad, the redesigned Triumph and Kawasaki
simply excel. In fact, the new
