Honda Super-Twin On the Way

HONDA SUPER-TWIN ON THE WAY

ROUNDUP

GOOD AS HONDA'S VTR1000 Super Hawk is-it won CW's 16-bike sportbike shootout and was named Best Open-Class Streetbike of '97—company mucketymucks have always hinted that the best was yet to come.

It may be here.

Circulating in Japan are fuzzy illustrations and murky spy photos of the VTR1000R,

a hotted-up, high-buck version of Honda's sporting V-Twin. From what we can tell, the Hawk's truss-style alloy frame is gone, replaced with a beefier, perimeter-style unit. It will, however, retain

Honda's "pivot-less" design, with the swingarm anchored in the engine cases, though this setup also appears to be of stouter construction than

Ofl tile V 1K. Upside-down forks are fitted, adjustments all the way `round.

Reportedly, the engine re ceives a rash of changes, in cluding a pressurized airbox and electronic fuel injection. A good guess on horsepower would be 115 at the rear wheel, up 10 from the VTR's output. The exhaust system will kick up higher than the current bike's, and twin, side-mounted radiators are retained.

Apparently, the bike will be sold only in full-fairing, solo seat form. Expect the R-model to debut at this fall's Munich Show, carrying a $ 13,000$15,000 price tag. And, yes, the bike will be raced-Honda is already hard at work on Su perbike-spec VTR-Rs.

David Edwards