cbr Articles
Without traction control and down on power, can the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR still compete?
It’s easy to feel a bit sorry for liter bikes as 2011 slowly becomes 2012. They’ve reached some sort of pinnacle — without exception the entire class is now so impossibly fast that the bikes have become distinguished not by power or handling, but by the efficacy of electronic rider aids. Even while technology progresses exponentially, model cycles are stretching longer and longer and cash-st...
Dec 18, 2011
Dailies
Learn to go fast on a Honda CBR250R
So you want to go fast on a motorcycle, huh? Well, you could do what all your peers did and buy a brand new liter bike, crash it and either hurt yourself badly or never ride again. It'll probably end up being both. But what if we told you there was a third way? Instead of looking for the bike to do the speed for you, learn to speed yourself. Do that and a whole new world will open up to you, you'l...
Oct 01, 2011
Dailies
The CBR1000RR's Balance Free Rear Cushion explained
So far as a defining mechanical unique selling points go, "balance free rear cushion" isn't exactly the most evocative description. Not only does it evoke pillows rather than greasy parts, but it just lacks the pizzaz of terms like "EXUP," "Deltabox," and "SRAD." That's too bad, because the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR's neat new trick is actually seriously neat. Here's how it works. First, here's wha...
Sep 29, 2011
62 high-res images of the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR
Bad cell phone shots of the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR leaked last month. But, here's the real deal; 62 high-res studio shots of the lightly updated model. "Lightly updated," you ask? Same frame, same engine (it's supposedly a bit smoother now) and similar styling from the new fairing. The big differences appear to be in the wheels, which are now a more rigid 12-spoke design, and the suspension, which a...
Sep 23, 2011
Dailies
How to steal a GSX-R
Five seconds is all it takes for this cop to hot-wire a CBR. A GSX-R isn't much harder. Snap the steering lock, plug in a "pigtail," and off you go. This video, which appears to be from 2007 (judging by the bikes), was uploaded two weeks ago and shows just how easy it is to steal a bike. It's just as unnerving now as when it was shot.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwtMQLnT7k&sns=fb On January f...
May 02, 2011
110 high-res images of the Honda CBR250R
The Honda CBR250R promises to be the most significant bike of 2011, representing not only Honda taking the American youth market seriously for the first time in decades, but the product of low-cost, Far East manufacturing being imported to the US by a major manufacturer too. If it can prove as big a sales success here as the Ninja 250 (fifth best selling bike in the US in 2009), then it should als...
Dec 29, 2010
2011 Honda CBR600F: a faired Hornet
It seems like Honda’s big idea for 2011 was to repurpose existing or old models into brand new ones. First, the VFR800 turned into the 2011 Honda Crossrunner and now the Honda Hornet gains a fairing, transforming it into the 2011 Honda CBR600F. A simple approach, but is it an effective one? The gap in the market for the CBR600F was created by this century’s trend towards ever more track-focus...
Nov 02, 2010