Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 17 APRIL 29, 2014 P89 ter the outright power advantage of the 1000cc fours it's competing against. I'm sure the RX will satisfy real-world expectations, espe- cially when ridden low down in the rev range. That's because of the combination of its muscu- lar torque peaking with 101.6ft-lb available at 8200 rpm, that flaw- less mapping with its sweetly delivered low down throttle re- sponse, and the all-new exhaust system's quarter-wave resona- tor system, which considerably enhances bottom end and mid- range torque, and thus rideability. EBR's software engineers who were responsible for dialing in the settings for the Synergec ECU have really got the throttle response dead right, especially the pickup out of an apex from a closed throttle. There's no trace of any brusqueness, just a pre- cise, controllable response. However, once again I found the new EBR to be grossly over- geared, as was its RS prede- cessor – the overall gearing at 16/41T is just way too long, and it needs at least an extra three teeth on the rear sprocket. It's hard to figure out why this should be, if not for passing the EPA's ride-by noise test – but the result is you have to use first gear more often than you should. And this will be a pain in the neck for real world use on the RX, especially riding through towns where first gear and heaps of clutch slip will be a fact of life most of the time. However, the gearshift is crisp and sharp, even if the hydraulic FCC oil-bath vacuum-operated slipper clutch has a very stiff ac- tion, presumably to harness that hefty torque - this will likely cramp up your left hand when riding in city traffic, especially with such rangy gearing. However, its de- gree of slip has been dialed in just right, with some residual en- the case since it's offered as an accessory, it should be included as stock. But when all's said and done the star of the show is that great motor. It's been designed to de- liver heaps of trademark twin-cyl- inder torque to the sound of de- liciously meaty, muscular music, even if it sounds a little higher- " THE NEW 1190RX REPRESENTS THE FIRST STEP IN THE CREATION OF A NEW GLOBAL MOTORCYCLE BRAND. " gine braking to help take advan- tage of the twin-cylinder architec- ture's meaty pistons in slowing without chattering the rear wheel on the overrun, while still remain- ing stable on the brakes. But the new EBR has one thing in common with Honda's latest and greatest CBR1000RR SP sportbike in that it badly needs a wide-open power-shifter. And one should have been provided at this price level as on the Panigale with a similar price tag - espe- cially since the good-looking thin film transistor dash's color display (that's extremely easy to read) is apparently already plumbed elec- tronically for such a device. At least the RX should have a set of shifter lights, preferably a progressive style one as stock on the Panigale, and if indeed the dash contains the software to provide this, too, as it seems is pitched at speed than a 90-de- gree desmo V-twin. There's also no significant vi- bration thanks to the triple coun- ter-balancers, and while the en- gine sounds nice and lusty at low revs, as soon as you get it turn- ing above 7000 rpm, the thunder becomes a howl, and the EBR picks up engine speed very fast, yet also very smoothly. This is an extremely emotive-sounding mo- torcycle, and a potent one, as well. While it pulls smoothly away from just over 2500 rpm up- wards, this 106 x 67.5 mm over- square motor picks up engine speed very fast once you reach the 7000 rpm threshold to seri- ous power. It'll pull cleanly away from rest with very little clutch slip, but won't accept wide-open throttle with zero transmission snatch until the revs pass the

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