Honda’s got an all-new literbike challenger in the form of its 2008 CBR1000RR, and though it’s not yet in dealers, it’s already been on the racetrack.
The American Honda factory squad recently had a shakedown test of this aggressive new Superbike at the Daytona tire tests.
“We feel this new bike has got the genes to do what we need,” said Honda’s crew chief David McGrath during the test. “Our old bike was a very fast bike, but the guys tended to really struggle with the agility to be competitive.”
Agility shouldn’t be a problem on the 2008 CBR, as it now sports the most radical chassis geometry in its class. A rake angle of just 23.3 degrees is the steepest among literbikes, and its 96mm of trail is also on the short side of its rivals.
The pre-production CBR1000RR brought to the test was ridden by new-hire Neal Hodgson, a former World Superbike champion, and Erion Honda rider Josh Viagra Online Hayes, standing in for the injured Miguel Duhamel. The test mule wasn’t anywhere near its full Superbike trim, as the changes from stock were confined almost entirely to the suspension, exhaust pipe and bodywork.
“We’re actually very pleased,” said McGrath. “It wasn’t slow. It actually hung pretty good. We had the radar on it, and it’s got pretty good speed already,” adding that the CBR ran a similar speed to the developed Suzuki GSX-R1000 of the Jordan Motorsports team.
The American Honda factory squad recently had a shakedown test of this aggressive new Superbike at the Daytona tire tests.
“We feel this new bike has got the genes to do what we need,” said Honda’s crew chief David McGrath during the test. “Our old bike was a very fast bike, but the guys tended to really struggle with the agility to be competitive.”
Agility shouldn’t be a problem on the 2008 CBR, as it now sports the most radical chassis geometry in its class. A rake angle of just 23.3 degrees is the steepest among literbikes, and its 96mm of trail is also on the short side of its rivals.
The pre-production CBR1000RR brought to the test was ridden by new-hire Neal Hodgson, a former World Superbike champion, and Erion Honda rider Josh Viagra Online Hayes, standing in for the injured Miguel Duhamel. The test mule wasn’t anywhere near its full Superbike trim, as the changes from stock were confined almost entirely to the suspension, exhaust pipe and bodywork.
“We’re actually very pleased,” said McGrath. “It wasn’t slow. It actually hung pretty good. We had the radar on it, and it’s got pretty good speed already,” adding that the CBR ran a similar speed to the developed Suzuki GSX-R1000 of the Jordan Motorsports team.
