Hyper-Fast Honda On the Way

HYPER-FAST HONDA ON THE WAY

HONDA WILL TAKE AIM AT Open-class performance honors with its CB-XX, a light, extremely powerful 1100cc sportbike designated for production in early 1996, say European and Japanese sources.

In some overseas markets, Japanese manufacturers have claimed more than 150 horsepower for their big-bore machines. Honda will apparently top them all with an expected 160 horsepower from the XX’s inline-Four, which is rumored to breathe through a ram-air system.

That engine will propel a motorcycle said to be lighter than anything in the class. Weight-shaving lessons learned from creating the CBR900RR will apparently be used in developing the new machine, making for an anticipated weight of 440 pounds.

Rumors suggest Honda will also draw upon its experience for the bike’s styling, which is said to be heavily based on the oval-pistoncd NR750. No specific pricing information was released, but a source said,

“It'll be expensive.” A U.S. Honda spokesman said he was not aware of any such motorcycle.

Robert Hough