INTERVIEW
2017 HONDA CBR1000RR SP PROJECT LEADER MASATOSHI SATO
P94
titanium gas tank and battery.
But that is only half; the other
half is about redesigning and
lightening virtually every single
part of the bike. Fasteners, nuts,
bolts, even the drive chain is
now lighter. We went through
and redesigned almost every
component.
So how much of the CBR is
actually new and not carried
over?
Over 90 percent of this CBR
is new; if you touch any part of
the bike it will be a new part.
What was the hardest part
of the project?
From a technical aspect,
working with titanium to make
the silencer and gas tank was
very hard, but overall the hardest
part was getting over the effects
of the earthquake in Japan. In
April this year the factory and
R&D area was hit, and to over-
come the huge amount of dam-
age and to get the CBR project
back on track and in Germany
for the Cologne Show on time
was a massive achievement by
the whole team.
You claim 189 bhp for the
CBR, but rivals claim 199 bhp.
Why is the CBR not matching
them in terms of power?
If we decided to make a bike
with 300 bhp we could. If we
wanted to make one with 200
bhp we could. But to be honest,
you couldn't use a 300 bhp bike
and people can't use all of 200
bhp! What do you feel first on
a bike? The first time you lean
it over, its agility. A 33-pound
weight reduction makes a bike
that is far more fun than a bike
with 300 bhp. We are convinced
this new CBR, which is 33
pounds lighter than the outgoing
bike, will be far more fun than
if we had just been fixated on a
power number in order to simply
match rivals.
How does the new engine's
characteristic compare to
your rivals'? Does it keep the
CBR's traditionally smooth
power delivery?
It has become even smoother
due to the new electronic
controls that are taken from the
RC213V-S. This feeling is accen-
tuated even further by the bike's
reduction in weight. CN
"A 33-POUND
WEIGHT
REDUCTION
MAKES A BIKE
THAT IS FAR MORE
FUN THAN A BIKE
WITH 300 BHP."
Honda is
claiming 189 bhp
for its new CBR,
which is a huge
step up from the
2016 model.
