2017 HONDA CBR1000RR AND CBR1000RR SP
FIRST TEST
P74
disappears and drive is restored.
It's a wholly frustrating experi-
ence because it doesn't need to
be like this, and strange because
considering the Honda runs an
IMU—the same as many other
manufacturers—they seem to have
deliberately altered one on the
IMU's inherent strong points in
having wheelie and traction con-
trol separate and independently
variable.
The only way around the anti-
wheelie issue is to go old school
and turn the system off complete-
ly. But turning the anti-wheelie
off means you also turn traction
control off, and while it's nice to
drift and slide a superbike, having
that protective net of traction and
wheelie control removed is not a
great thing.
Another electronic issue rears
its head in the braking depart-
ment. Remember when I said the
ABS was pulsing badly? Well, this
is due to the Honda Rear Wheel
Lift control algorithm. The sys-
tem uses the IMU to determine,
via acceleration in the direction
perpendicular to lift (take a pair
of scissors and open them 45°,
imagining the lower blade end is
the front wheel and the top blade
is the top of the fairing), if the rear
wheel is in danger of coming off
the ground under braking.
Under hard braking like the
downhill turns of one and five at
Portimao, the system would pul-
sate pretty violently, so much that
on one corner entry it knocked
the pads back enough for me to
blow the corner.
A simple fix would be just to
Yay for Honda! It's
about time the new
CBR1000RR came
to dealer floors.
cont. on page 76
