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'03 Honda?

35332 Views 78 Replies 34 Participants Last post by  johndale
Oh, Lawd! First the freakin' gorgeous new ZX-6R, than the drool-inspiring new R6, and now THIS???



What I wouldn't give to be 24 again, feeling immortal, with a 32" waist!



I envy the ***** outta' you young whipper-snappers!
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Re: New ZX-6R?

Check out the CycleWorld forums...
what years are you talking about? 2000 on??

thanks for the info......
Re: The new SV1000!!!!!

That is a beautiful bike! Can't wait to see more pictures/more info etc.

As an aside -- looks to me like moto-station must use an electronic translator, rather than an English-speaking human, to produce their English-language version of their site. Still, their English is better than my French ;-)
Re: Subscription errors!

And thanks again!
Eight new models. To bad they are all 2004s.
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

I have some doubts about Honda's two-bike 600 strategy. Yamaha offers two pretty distinct 600s, one a cutting edge sportbike, the other a borderline sport-tourer.

The Hondas are awfully close together in function. The new bike will almost certainly outperform the F4i, yet the F4i cannot be that much more comfortable than the RR. So why would anyone pick the F4i? Unless Honda plans to sell it at firesale prices (I'm talking in the $6K range), it seems like a sales disaster in the making.

Perhaps Honda should redesign the F4i, keeping the current powerplant and chassis, but giving it more comfortable ergos and a seat that is more than a vinyl-covered hemmorhoid. This would give buyers a reason to choose one bike over the other.
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

Actually, I kinda expect a Rossi replica paint scheme to be one of the options -- really capitalize on the RC211V styling influences.

Re the seat -- I expect one of these times someone will decide to make the seat "pad" from carbon fiber. On the track or in hard street riding, that might actally work. As an experiment with altered riding position, I once did a 200+ mile track day with the pad removed from my Ducati seat -- I sat directly on the fiberglass. The position did not work all that well (too low relative to the tank for room for my 52-year old belly). but the seat itself was plenty comfortable. In that kind of riding, most of your weight is on the footpegs anyway.
Re: NICKY HAYDEN TO GPS

Yeah! Two of my favorite riders on the same team!

Now that we know where Nicky will be, I bet the other slots start getting filled pretty quickly -- eg BBoz getting Nicky's old ride with Merlin Plumlee's AMA team.

I am now anxiously awaiting word on what happens in Honda WSB, and what other manufacturers will do in both World and AMA Superbike. Hope most don't bolt as threatened.
Just curious -- do you mean that as a compliment or a slam?
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

I've often wondered about that. On my bicycle I can't stand a saddle with very much padding. I ride a saddle that has minimal padding, but has support in the right places. On motorcycles, the biggest issue I have in terms of saddle comfort is the shape/support. A saddle that is too soft will be uncomfortable after an hour or two.
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

Hey -- the first pics I have seen for the US version indicate at least one color scheme (Yellow) without the Honda wing graphics. I kinda like the yellow, hope there are other colors sans graphics as well.
Re: NICKY HAYDEN TO GPS

As deserving as Nicky is of a shot at MotoGP, I am disappointed that Honda didn't give the slot to Colin Edwards. He has far more experience on the world stage and has more than proven his skill as one of top riders in the world, this year especially. Anything can happen at the last minute as this deal demonstrates, maybe Honda can still snag Colin from Ducati.
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

Europe they have been running the 2000 model F4 style and the F4I with the stepped seat. We'll know soon enough but I figure they will eleminate the stepped seat F4i and run with the regular F4 one piece seat. Then it would be more like the R6 vs 600R...
Well it will be emiting nasty smelling exhaust...
Re: NICKY HAYDEN TO GPS

He probably really feels screwed that Nicky got the hot seat and he didn't. BUt they are probably thinking long term and Nicky is a lot younger. He will probably definitely go to Ducati now. Question is, where is Eric Bostrom going?
Re: '03 Honda? Oh baby but Kawa and R6 look better

I'm impressed by the 70 mm extra room for weight shifting. The other race replicas pretty much lock the rider into shifting only upper body weight. On this one you can slide most of your weight forward over 2 inches more in a corner. Huge advantage while powering out during the transition.
Read the technical data in the honda-uk link provided above. They have a totally all new chain tensioner; quite proud of it, too.
Here's the skinny

"New Dual-Pivot Camchain Tensioner

At the howling top revs that the new CBR600RR's engine was designed to reach, concerns about precise cam timing and reliability come sharply into play. One main component that plays a crucial role in the CBR's valve drivetrain operation is its cam chain. At revs approaching 15,000rpm, not to mention the violent thrashes of acceleration and deceleration a motorcycle is exposed to over the course of a road race, the camchain comes in for especially hard punishment. Conventional spring-loaded camchain tensioners simply aren't up to job of maintaining steady pressure and tension on the chain under these conditions, so the CBR600RR's engine designers countered this potential problem with a simple yet ingeniously effective dual-pivot tensioner system.

Featuring a new two-piece configuration, the long standard camchain guide that extends upward from just above the crankshaft gear is now held by a short overlapping secondary guide that gives the tensioner preload spring much greater leverage to hold the chain steady under racing's violent stresses, and maintain precise valve timing throughout the new engine's ultra-wide power band."
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My MSF instructor was a 65 year old 929 rider--rode with him some time later, and wow, he was quickest old fart I'd ever seen with a big fat grin.
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