2006 Honda CBR600RR Initial Impressions

Honda have rarely made a bad bike and it was unlikely that the 8 time World SuperSport Championship winning CBR600RR was going to be the lemon in their lineup. So when I decided, quite randomly, that I was going to buy a supersport, the Honda was near the top of my list. I’ve always liked the clean, angular look of them and the fact that they were very reasonably priced just made it a no-brainer. So I bought a 2006 CBR600RR, on a hunch really, as I’d never ridden a 600cc supersport bike ever in my life and I only test rode this one round the block.

This CBR had 50 thousand kilometres on it and it revs to 16 thousand RPM. That is a lot of revolutions per minute. The kind of stresses placed on an engine revving so frantically are enormous. But, based on a cursory inspection and a quick ride, I had no hesitation in handing over my hard earned. Such is the confidence that Honda inspires in me. Sound design and reliability is just a given with Honda.

I’ve since done a 500K day with plenty of twisties and commuted through traffic on it. Here are my initial impressions of this bike.

I reckon it looks bloody sensational with the Rothmans GP replica livery.

You get on it and it’s very compact. The seat is fairly high (not as high as an R6 though) and the clip-ons fairly low so it’s a full-on racers crouch. As I get into position to ride, my chin is over the top of the wind screen and I’m in no doubt as to the purpose of this bike. This is no all-rounder. Before I even start the bike I know that this is an uncompromising race bike with a single reason for its existence. Go fast. Everywhere.

The bike’s got a Yoshimura exhaust so I’m pleasantly surprised that it’s not too loud when I fire it up. I don’t like my bikes to be unnecessarily loud. The idle is fast (not loud) and this gets annoying after a while. I will back it off a bit. The take off is remarkably smooth. Clutch engagement is the best I’ve ever experienced on any motorcycle. As a result, its really smooth getting off the line. Acceleration is where it gets a bit confusing for me. The bike’s a screamer. AT 7K RPM I think the bike’s doing 12K and at 12K I think I will soon be engulfed by hot oil and bits of flying Honda engine! I think I will get used to this but it’s a bit intense if you’re not used to doing 60KMPH with the engine screaming like you’re doing 160!

Not to say that the bike is slow. Far from it. But there is a definite power band. Below 8-9K RPM the bike is actually really easy to ride. Very linear, smooth power and no kick in the pants stuff. But keep twisting the throttle and at the point where the Tuono is signing off, the Honda is just starting to get interested in it’s surroundings. After 9K there is a ferocious kick and the scenery starts to blur pretty rapidly. The noise is like the wailing scream of a tortured soul and the whole experience is a bit surreal. For a second I drift off and think I’m on a racetrack but suddenly snap out of it to find I’m doing 150 in a 60 zone and people are starting to turn around and stare.

And the best part is that this is not a 1000cc superbike where if you’re doing 9K RPM, you’re almost guaranteed to be at odds with the law (and make the cover story of Today Tonight if you’re lucky), regardless of gear. On a supersports, 9K RPM in second gear while tootling around town will not send you to jail. Yeah, you’ll get the stares but more for the noise than the speed. 

I’ve read a lot of about the handling of the supersports. How they’re supposed to be very light and flickable so I was a bit disappointed when I hit the twisties and didn’t find the CBR to be significantly easier to tip in than a modern litre bike. This says more about modern litre bikes than about the CBR. But I found that the slight reluctance to turn-in disappeared with the slightest, positive body movement. Typically, I don’t move around on the bike at all. I sit and deliver, so to speak. But on this bike, moving around feels very easy and natural. You sit on top of the bike and as you approach a corner, just stick a knee out in the direction of the corner and slide over half an inch. Immediately, the bike’s reluctance to turn in disappears and it leans over nicely and progressively. You lock your opposite knee into the smooth tank, relax your grip on the bars and rail through the corner in a smooth arc. Get on the gas hard and early as it doesn’t really have the torque down low to highside you and scream it out the exit. Most enjoyable! 

On faster corners, the bike is rock solid, certainly as composed as any litre bike I’ve ridden. Which is remarkable because it’s definitely smaller and lighter than a litre bike.  The suspension is firm and the bike was getting knocked about a bit on potholes. Might have to play with the clickers, of which there are many. At both ends.

All bikes ride better when you’re on the throttle but I found the CBR to be particularly responsive to positive throttle input. I started getting on the gas very early in the corner and the suspension really settles and it corners beautifully.

What else?

Umm yeah, Brakes! Outstanding! Really powerful, good feel for the grip on the front while braking. Because of the firm suspension and low weight there is not a lot of dive and weight transfer while hard braking and this is confidence inspiring on corner entry.

Now for the bad. Hondas are practical aren’t they? It’s almost refreshing to see how impractical this bike is! The ergos are cramped. The seat is impossibly thin and hard. It drinks fuel like a parched Bedouin in the Sahara. Cruising on the freeway at 130KMPH, the engine is in a constant scream at 7K RPM.

This is not a practical motorcycle. It has one agenda. And one agenda only. Go hard or Go home.

I think I will go hard. I have a good feeling about this bike. We will see.

A glorious sunset capped off that day of brilliant riding for me

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