2008 Honda CBR1000RR Review

[admin]

Ah, a new Honda literbike. Lighter, of course. Faster, too. And with a bit more than 110 horsepower making its way to the rear wheel, this CBR is a rocket!

"Huh? Dude, the 2008 CBR1000RR better have more power than that!"

Indeed it does, but I was flashing back a decade to the first press launch of my motojournalist career. The changes made to the 1998 CBR900RR made it the best big CBR ever, and I was awed by how fast yet controllable that new scalpel was.

Now, a little more than 10 years later, I’m again in the seat of the best literbike Honda has yet crafted. Compared to the RR I rode in '98, it weighs less and has nearly 50 additional horses.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was the estimable location this time around, and my day lapping the historic NorCal circuit proved this clean-sheet-design double-R performs at a level beyond its two-year-old predecessor, never mind the seemingly docile 10-year-old one. I came into this sessions already thrilled with the stellar new ZX-10R Kawasaki I rode last month in Qatar. To even rank in that league, the CBR needed to be something special. It is.

More: 2008 Honda CBR1000RR Review on Motorcycle.com

[heidy_james]

Honda's superbike has won consecutive Motorcycle USA shootouts, so what changes come for the 2010 model? Have any info?

[jgos929]

Originally Posted by heidy_james

Honda's superbike has won consecutive Motorcycle USA shootouts, so what changes come for the 2010 model? Have any info?

Non whatsoever just color changes thats all. Its been the clear winner in just about every comparison since 08 so why change anything. All the others have since come out with all new bikes for 2010 and still cant perform as well as the 08 CBR.

[SubSailor]

Reportedly Honda has slightly changed the exhaust but increased the crankshaft inertia by 6.5% to prevent spinning the rear too quickly.
Honda said the advantages of the new R1 had more to do with the increased inertia of a heavier crankshaft and counter-balancer (due to the cross-plane crank's torsional and balancing needs) rather than firing order.
Honda just upped the crank inertia by 6.5% and said we're good to go.

The economy is wrecking havoc in motorcycle sales worldwide.
Nobody is spending any R&D cash in order to stay afloat.
Last year was the best time to buy as this year the models are hardly changed except paint, and the prices have been raised substantially.

[brettmvh]

There really is no other reason to upgrade it yet. It puts out 155hp at the wheel (at least mine did). Weighs 10lbs more than a 600 supersport and does 155km/h in first gear not to mention how quickly it gets there. It is ridiculous. Almost to much. As much as i loved mine, it parished with myself very close to the same fate and it was a tough call between getting a new one and the RC. RC won cause it's my all time favourite bike and i decided to do a large reno to the house that required extra funds which the insurance paid for. Either way it's an amazing bike. WAAAYYYYYYY faster than the RC. I raced my brother on his GSXR600 and when he had hit 200km/h i was already crossing the 250 mark.