Honda Cbr600 Gets Injected!
HONDA CBR600 GETS INJECTED!
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FINALLY! ENDING WHAT seems like years of speculation, Honda's aging CBR600F3 will eschew its steel-perimeter frame for a twinspar aluminum infrastructure reminiscent of that employed by the CBR900RR. What's more, the all-new machine will be outfitted with a two-stage, ramair induction system and electronic fuel injection, a la the VFR Interceptor.
Slated for release this December, the 1999 CBR600FÍ will push 600cc sportbike performance to an even higher level without forsaking its predecessors' excellent ergonomics and ride quality. As such, the aggressively styled bike will have a relatively upright seating position, passenger accommodations and compliant, streetspec suspension, with a CBR900RR-style, right-side-up fork and remote-reservoir shock absorber. The brakes are also due for an upgrade, from twinpiston front calipers to more powerful four-piston units grasping larger floating rotors. As noted, electronic fuel injec tion will be standard equipment, making the CBR the first Japanese 600cc sportbike to be so equipped. Spent gases will exit through a 4-into-2-into1 exhaust system capped off with a single, large-volume, stain less-steel muffler.
American Honda will not acknowledge the bike's existence, but the writing is on the wall, especially in racing circles. "The CBR600F3 has made a very good account of itself for quite a long time, but the challenge is greater than it ever has been," says an American Honda spokesperson. "Certainly, the time is getting nigh to see a new version of that machine."
Multi-time AMA 600cc Supersport Champion Miguel Duhamel continues to win races on his factory-backed CBR600F3, but his job isn't getting any easier. Reportedly, the advent of Dunlop's D207s and the added grip and performance that those tires offer have given the F3 its biggest challenge. "The additional loadings brought on by the D207s have pushed the F3 to the limit of its capability in the hands of people like Duhamel," says the spokesperson.
The proposed new chassis would certainly help the cause. "We've learned so much from the CBR900RR," he admits. "As long as you can control costs, which are very important in the 600 class, I think it's log ical to assume that might be the next step."
Price is the mitigating factor. Thanks to favorable dollar/ yen exchange rates, the CBR600F3's chief competition, Kawasaki's ZX-6R, retails for $300 less than it did last year. "Right now, with top-line 600s nudging $8000, we're really close to a barrier for that class," the spokesperson says. "I think we've come awfully close to what you can expect buyers in that niche to pay for a bike. We have to be cautious because the 600 class is one of the largest-selling classes worldwide, certainly one of the strongest sellers for us."
With Yamaha's YZF-R6 also in the offing, the 600cc class is about to go nuclear.
Matthew Miles
