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/237705
FIRST RIDE P62 2014 HONDA CBR1000RR SP position is different – less street focused, more sporty. A lot like the riding position on the Pata Hondas ridden by Johnny Rea and Leon Haslam in the World Superbike Championship. It's a stance that sees you leaning further forward, semi-prone along the tank of the bike with your feet further back – we're only talking a few centimeters and degrees here, but it's amazing how much difference this makes. True, there's more weight on your wrists, but not to the extent that this becomes unduly tiring. But it comes with the benefit of being able to load up the front wheel a little more with your body weight, plus it makes it easier to tuck away behind the screen as on the very legible and classylooking dash smashes the 170 mph barrier down the long Losail front straight. As you do so, you realize that there's noticeably less wind buffeting, especially around your helmet, thanks to the SP's revised screen, and my shoulders also seemed better protected. The SP felt so planted and stable in a straight line it was hard to believe I was going so fast. Everything about the SP feels very Honda, from the way everything is in its right place to how all the controls are so light and precise – it's a true smooth operator, and this applies to that lovely engine's power delivery as well. I'd be fibbing if I told you I noticed the three horsepower more that Honda says this new bike has over the old one, but what you're definitely aware of is the good drive from low down out of a slow bend, after letting the engine drop as low as 4000 rpm in second gear rather than waste a couple of extra gear shifts and use first. The extra torque that Honda rightly claims to have found with the 2014 engine mods helps you use one gear higher in many corners without sacrificing exit speed, although it was noticeable there's a pretty brusque pickup from a closed throttle in first and second gears - a jerky response that isn't repeated in higher ratios. But then get the digital tach running over the top of the dash showing above 7000 rpm, and that's your gateway to serious extra punch, albeit delivered smoothly rather than sharply, just very, very insistently. With maximum torque peaking at just over 10,000 rpm, get ready for a power-wheelie if you shortshift around 11,000 in second or third, though the electronic steering damper swiftly takes care of any shakes if you land the front wheel slightly crossed up. That makes it best to watch for the strangely anonymous grey shifter