Honda CBR 600RR

"The guiding theme of 'Innovative Wonder' extends to every facet of the new CBR600RR's design, and was conceived to provoke a deep sense of wonder and amazement at every sensation felt in savouring the high-performance results of the intensive research and development that energise its design."

Huh? If I didn't know better, I'd say that the battle for Supersport supremacy seems to be taking place within the pages of the manufacturer's respective press kits rather than on the race tracks of the world.

However, after some serious translation of the PR-speak followed by some even more serious sampling of the product in question I can confirm the following.

One, Honda's latest CBR600 sports a state-of-the-art diecast aluminium frame.

Two, the 2003 CBR600 gets an all-new engine.

Three, the bike borrows heavily on the styling of the all-conquering RC211V MotoGP racebike.

Four, everything about the CBR600RR is miniaturised, compact and centralised.

Five, it's been given the RR designation because Honda reckons "Innovative Wonder" will allow the bike to kick arse on the world's race tracks.

Given that the 2002 CBR600F4i won the Supersport World Championship with Fabien Foret, plus the Australian Supersport Championship with Shannon Johnson, then opposition teams have every reason to be shaking in their boots...

NOT NECESSARILY BETTER
Of course new doesn't always mean better, so the opportunity to attend the world launch of Honda's eagerly-awaited CBR-RR at Portugal's Estoril circuit a couple of days before Christmas and find out for myself what the RR was like was an opportunity not to be missed.

Hold on, hadn't I sampled a CBR-RR at the same venue 12 months previously? I was having a serious case of deja-RR-vu.

The previous RR was of course Honda's 2002 CBR954RR FireBlade, so heading back to the same track held distinct advantages, least not knowing which way the tight and technical 4.182km Estoril layout went. And having ridden the 'Blade there previously gave me a good reference point to compare the CBR600RR with.

Secondly, as it was a world launch it was an opportunity to quiz the Honda engineers and factory personnel who'd be present and see if there were parallels in development between the current 'Blade and heavily revamped CBR600. And boy, are there ever.

Honda has seemingly done an about face over the past couple of years, and the new CBR600RR continues that new direction. No longer does the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer build motorcycles that it believes we should have: "This is what's good for you, so take it and stop complaining."

No siree. Honda is now building the sort of motorcycles that customers demand - sharper 'Blades, and "Innovative Wonder" CBR600s.

That's a formula Yamaha twigged to back in 1998 with the YZF-R1, and then with the WR400F. Now Honda is doing likewise - and that's bad news for the rest, but good news for us.

BOLLOCKS
Take the new 600. You can't tell me that fairing offers much protection. And what chance has a pillion got of getting comfortable on that pissy little seatpad? And why put smaller indicators on a bike when safety is paramount? And what about the aggressive riding position - how user-friendly will that be after a couple of hours in the saddle? And how does a strapping bloke like myself, all 187cm of Aussie manhood, fit on the bugger without having limbs akimbo.

Bollocks I say. Who cares. Honda's engineers don't. The world's top Supersport racers don't. And believe it or not, Honda's customers don't.

You see, like it did with the CBR954RR FireBlade, Honda went to its customers to find out what they wanted, and the research came back the same, if not even more narrow-focused.

Honda's research showed that potential CBR600 buyers wanted a "lightweight design", a "racing image", and a bike that left an "exciting dynamic impression". And boy, have they got it!

RACER LOOKS
Other than the domestic market NSR250 two-stroke with its spunky looks and single-sided swingarm, the 2003 CBR600RR is the closest yet Honda production bike that looks like one of Honda's racebikes (overlooking actual racebikes like RC30s, RC45s, etc). Honda makes no secret of comparing the RR with The Doctor's RC211V - and in this case beauty is more than just skin deep.

The 'looks' are achieved via a new fairing which features a sharper nose and a much lower windscreen. As the Honda PR blurb openly admits, it's "a form geared much more to the needs of the circuit than to the comforts of the street".

Add the stretched-out bellypan design and the upswept exhaust with underseat trapezoid-style muffler and the link to Mr Rossi's rocket is just about complete.

Just about? If you believe Honda, the lessons learned in the development of the RC211V have been applied to the CBR600RR. For example, the fairing's large, forward-facing intake ports are now positioned outside and below the new headlights to help ram plenty of oxygen into the bigger airbox. However, extensive wind tunnel and track testing found that such large intake ducts tend to impart a vague resistance to rapid changes in direction at full racing speeds - sort of like missile lock-on I guess.

To counteract this phenomenon, the RR's inlets are made in a simple twin-layer design, with holes punched through the outer layer to allow air to ventilate through and break the 'grip' of the airstream. Honda reckons the difference it makes on the RR's high-speed handling and 'flickability' through a race track's chicanes is positively breathtaking.

I can't vouch for their outer-level warp-speed effectiveness after my day in the saddle at the cool and slippery Portugese venue, although I can admit to emerging from Estoril's Mickey Mouse uphill chicane intact - which is more than can be said for Fonsi '360-degree' Nieto at 2002's wet 250GP race!

Other features that link the RR to Rossi's racebike? You can throw in the isloated rear shock mount and fuel tank positioning (that's a cover, not the tank that you can see) to make the association even more credible. See, racing really does improve the breed...

FREE SPINNING
Gunning the RR out of pitlane the first time I couldn't help but notice how free the engine felt. Instant response at the throttle, a slick and positive gearbox (less notchy than the '03 ZX-636 I'd sampled a few weeks previously) and controls and levers that felt light, classy and well, typical Honda.

With the track still damp in parts (as well as foggy!) for the first session, it was an ideal opportunity to sample the RR's user-friendliness rather than its outright performance. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of on/off jerkiness at the throttle at low-rev openings, usually an annoying trait of fuel-injected bikes, and especially so of bikes with lightweight engine internals like the RR.

The other thing that caught me by surprise was how tractable the RR was for a 15,000rpm 600 - I could tool around in top (sixth) gear at 3000rpm and suffer no transmission snatch or hesitation when opening the throttle to accelerate. And there were no discernable dips or kicks in the power delivery all the way through to the 13,000rpm power peak (117 claimed horses).

BRILLIANT BRAKES
The challenging conditions also accentuated the brakes, which in a word are brilliant. We're talking the same stoppers as the CBR954RR and and VTR1000SP-2, so enough said. In the dry sessions later that morning, their power was stunning. Feel and power in massive doses - you can't get better than that.

Speaking of power, the engine's a cracker too - as mentioned earlier, it's a free spinning unit that revs cleanly where ever, when ever (with apologies to Shakira).

After my Estoril sampling I reckon it's a smoother powerplant than the ZX-636's mill, although it's hard to split them on top-end power. The 636 seems a tad more torquey, but we'll have to get them together before finding a 'winner' - along with the new YZF-R6 and GSX-R600 of course. Can't wait...

By lunchtime the track had dried, and the Michelin Pilot Sport rubber the RR comes fitted with could be put to good use - enough to feather up appreciably. As the pace was upped I found the RR's front suspension a bit soft for my liking, with the rear-end getting loose under hard braking. Mind you, I do weigh around, err, 94kg. For the afternoon sessions the Honda technicians stiffened the suspension via minor preload and damping adjustments, and the difference was immediately obvious. That's good - minor tweaks bring results.

TOO COMPACT?
Truth be known, as bikes get smaller I don't, and the RR is in fact a bit, err, compact for me. Nevertheless, there was ample room for me to move around, and the narrow tank allowed me to drag myself forward to weight the front end for corners, like the fast righthander on to Estoril's front straight.

It's damn hard to find things to fault with Honda's CBR-RR - other than the fact that it won't arrive in Oz until May. Price is yet to be set, but with the F4i priced at $14,890, I'd be guessing at mid-$15K for the RR. (The ZX-636R was released in January at $15,190.)

There are plenty of practical touches on the RR, such as good mirrors, a comfy seat, and an easy-to-read tacho. Build quality was excellent on the pre-production bikes we rode, too. Oh, and I reckon the RR looks horn.

Make no mistake, Honda has built this bike with one thing in mind - and that's to dominate Supersport racing. The days of Honda's user-friendly CBR600 appealing to a wide range of riders are long gone.

The strange thing is though, I've no doubt that Honda will actually end up selling more CBR600s now that it's gone the race-replica route.