Honda CBR600RR

Confidence - it's what lets you wind the throttle on that little bit earlier, stay off the brakes that little bit longer and lean over that little bit further. Once you've got it, it's easy to take it for granted. Trouble is - once it's been shattered it can take a while to get it back.

After crashing on Eastern Creek's rain dampened Turn One at over 200km/h and shattering my right arm in six places two years ago, it'd be fair to say my confidence was in tatters. Two steel plates, a score of crazy angled screws coupled with being the wrong side of 45 will do that. Sure I got back in the saddle as quickly as I could, in fact I've been back to the Creek a few times since then, riding ultra-fast litre bikes - but I've always struggled to find that elusive rhythm. As for Turn One, no matter how hard I tried not to reach out for the security blanket of the brakes I just couldn't bring myself to commit. Proper scared. Until now.

The 03 CBR600RR was an utterly brilliant piece of work and lifted Honda's evergreen CBR600F onto a whole new plane of ability. Encapsulating lessons learnt with the MotoGP RC211V piloted by some bloke called Valentino, the RR rapidly established its credentials not just in the marketplace but also on the track in the hands of Chris Vermeulen, Josh Brookes and Adam Fergusson. However no manufacturer can afford to sit back and bask in glory and so, over the last two years Honda has been honing the blade to keep the CBR6-RR sharp enough to defend its position.

WHAT'S NEW?
At first sight there's little in the way of radical change, but there's more than first meets the eye. Despite the lack of obvious change, the subtle changes coupled with a clear focus on shedding the weight surrounding and within the sharper RC-esque style bodywork have had a profound effect. For starters there's an all-new, lighter, die-cast chassis with USD 41mm fully-adjustable forks that anchor the new radial-mounted brake calipers. The longer swingarm houses the top mount of the rear shock "allowing engineers to optimise frame rigidity" which must be true 'cos it says so in the press kit.

All of which provides a handy place to rest the ram-air fed DOHC 16 valve 599cc - 15,000rpm engine. Fundamentally the same as before, everything within has been eased, shrunk or modified using friction reducing coatings or clever machining. With the ability to spin up that bit faster, the Dual Stage Fuel Injection that features twin injectors per cylinder has a throttle position and rpm sensing ECU that allows the lower injector to handle low speed fuelling while the upper takes care of top end performance by joining the party from 5500rpm onward.

Honda claims the 600 has shed almost five kilos, which doesn't sound a lot, but try carrying it in your pocket for a day. However, combined with careful mass centralisation through positioning the 18 litre fuel tank low in the frame and shifting the rider slightly more forwards, the net result is that the 05 RR feels more compact and noticeably lighter than its forebear. Besides the performance-enhancing improvements there are, of course, the trademark host of detail items such as the Line Beam headlights that feature a three-piece reflector design. Which, should you wish to impress your friends is allegedly a global design first... zzzzzzz

YEAH-YEAH - IS IT ANY GOOD?
On first acquaintance, despite the proliferation of beautifully made componentry and the more faithful rendition of the RC211V body shape, I have to say, the range of colours and graphics disappointed me. With perhaps the exception of the classy and understated Blackbird blue version, the dated wing pattern does little to please the eye especially in the overly fussy red, blue and silver combo.

Okay - I accept that beauty is in the eye of the beholder so let's get to the important stuff. The first thing that I noticed on the sighting laps, other than the seat and riding position seemed a little less extreme over the earlier version, was that Honda's claims of improved midrange power are justified but not by much. There's still nothing that will rock your world, but at least the thing builds power in a linear fashion through to 6000rpm and beyond, with enough conviction to let you short shift along without holding more revs in too low a gear than you really feel comfortable with. Having acknowledged the improvement in the midrange though there were still occasions driving out of bends where you either seem to be in a gear too high or a gear too low. Maybe it's time Honda joined the party with a 650cc version?

Even so the engine is still capable of feeling and sounding racer-fast once you get used to dancing on the gearbox, winding the throttle right round and spinning the tacho to the redline.

The close-ratio gears are typically workmanlike Honda, in that they're functional but never really slick. Why is that? As for the injection, well I didn't really have a gripe with the way it was in 03 and it's certainly as clean to pick up now as I remember it being back then. Even comparing back to back with the 04 comparison bike supplied at the launch, I couldn't really determine any significant improvement, although had we tested on the road and in traffic, then maybe I would have.

GETTING STUCK IN
Once the 'getting to know you' phase was over and full use of both revs and gears was employed, the RR really started to work and the benefits of the other changes became clearer.

The old bike was always an agile and accurate device and the newer version has certainly inherited the ability to slice into bends with the same seemingly delicate precision. However I don't recall that the earlier version accommodated changes of mind and direction mid-corner with as little effort as the new one. But when it comes to tipping in and mid-corner confidence, the RR is undoubtedly superb. If there's one area where any rider of any ability will appreciate the benefits of the much-vaunted 'mass centralisation', it's in the 'moment of commitment' phase of cornering. That moment between selecting the apex, coming off the brakes and heeling the bike over. Feeling central and evenly distributed over the tyres makes the turn in easy and is a key contributor to building the confidence to lean right over and trust the tyres. If ever there was a clear case of racing benefiting the man or woman in the street then this could be it. 

Which brings me to the front-end feedback. I don't care whether some of the foreign journos reckon the USD forks are a fashion wank, what I know without question is that front end composure afforded by the more sophisticated suspension coupled with the mid corner grip from the stunning Michelin Pilot Power tyres hugging the lightweight wheels rebuilt my confidence faster than anything I've ridden to date.

While we're on the subject of confidence - let's talk about the brakes. Honda has probably been a little slow to adopt radial-mounted brakes on the 600, but now it has, the wait has been worth it. The four-piston calipers acting on the twin 310mm discs offer amazing control. I'm not convinced that there's any more power to be had over the old system but I am convinced that radial-mounted calipers offer a more direct line of communication to the contact patch of the tyre and so provide the rider greater feedback and modulation.

WORTH THE EFFORT?
It seems like I've been asking myself, "Can it get any better than this?" for years. The new CBR600RR just proves that, "Yes it can," and the effort spent making subtle improvements of something intrinsically good is as effective as starting over. This year's model is special in that the changes made have brought about a paradox. The new machine is undoubtedly more focussed, but somehow at the same time it has remained true to the Honda ethos of genuine rideability. It works although to be honest I wouldn't want to ride to work on one.

At the conclusion of the launch report of the 03 model I commented on how confidence-inspiring that model was. This year the CBR600RR has managed to be even more inspirational and in so doing allowed me to return to levels of confidence I thought I'd lost forever. No mean trick if you knew just how fearful I was. It's good to be back.