All posts in Sportbikes

Times are tough for everybody, which is why we’re seeing more OEMs lengthening the product cycles of even their most high-tech sportbikes.

Honda’s CBR1000RR hasn’t seen a major update since its 2008 introduction, and 2012 won’t see a ground-up redesign, but to celebrate 20 years since the class-crushing CBR900RR was introduced, Honda’s flagship sportbike gets new suspension, wheels, instruments, body panels and other changes.

The big news is probably the suspension. In front, the 43mm HMAS unit is replaced with the Showa 43mm Big Piston Fork that we liked so much on the Kawasaki ZX-6R we tested in 2009. To match it, Showa and Honda’s engineers developed a new “Balance Free” shock for the Pro-Link in back. What does “balance free” mean?

It means the rear shock now uses two tubes instead of one (one inside the other), which allows a larger quantity of damping oil and more consistent, smoother damping and travel, “particularly during the transition from compression to rebound,” as the press release puts it. It also puts the damping and rebound controls in an >> Read More