RR-EVOLUTION INRED
Honda’s first fully track-focused CBR600 remains a hell of a weapon.
Honda’s CBR600 range was always the sensible supersport, as capable of turning its hand to the race track as it was for popping out to do the shopping on. In 2003 this perception changed as the first all-singing, all-dancing, track-focused CBR arrived – the CBR600RR. With the RR standing for Race Ready. And Honda meant it.
Unveiled with lots of images of the RC211V MotoGP bike to accompany it, the RR was a totally new CBR and took the brand in a brave new direction of total track-focus. Which caused a bit of concern to Honda and for that reason the more relaxed CBR600F was kept in the model range. Why were Honda’s top brass slightly worried about the RR? This new CBR was nothing short of a full-on race bike with lights and could possibly have been a step too far for Honda’s traditionally conservative buyer. As it turns out they needn’t have worried, the RR was a smash hit and supersports fans the world over lapped it up.
Top of its class
There is no doubt that 2003 was the year of the supersport bike with Kawasaki returning to the fray with the new angular ZX-6R, Yamaha attempting to breathe new life into the aging YZF-R6 through fuel injection and Ducati unveiling the 749. But it was the Honda CBR600RR that deservedly stole all the headlines.
Boasting an RCV-mimicking fairing, ultra sexy underseat pipe and the kind of slim line figure that you would expect on a 250GP bike, the RR was certainly a looker. But far from being all show and no go, the RR’s handling exceeded expectations, if not possibly its motor…
As you would imagine from a company who were dominating MotoGP racing, the CBR-RR
THE RR’S CHASSIS HAS REMAINED VIRTUALLY Y UNCHANGED.
ticked all the handling boxes. Thanks to an all-new chassis and clever weight distribution that used MotoGP technology such as the Unit Pro-Link swingarm to get the CBR’s centre of mass in the optimum place, the RR was simply staggering on track.
Feeling every inch the race bike, this was a machine that could be flicked on its ear with amazing ease, accuracy and confidence while delivering the kind of feedback that wasn’t previously experienced by anyone other than top class racers on their multi-million pound steeds. But here it was on a supersport bike you could nip down to your local dealer and buy for just over £7000.
Sure, Kawasaki had got the jump on the Honda by adding radial brakes and inverted forks to the ZX-6R, but when it came to track ability, the RR was in a class of one. Not e everyone spends their whol le life on the track though and on the road the chinks in the CBR R’s armour started to appear. Grab a barga ain While Honda claim med the RR delivered 123bhp and 68.5Nm of torque, the fact of the matter was that all this power and the majority of the grunt was located right at the top end of the rev range. This CBR no longer offered a nice relaxed ride, it demanded to be kept on the boil and if you let its revs drop below about 10,000rpm you started to feel as if you may as well get off and push. And this, aligned with the fact the new RR was terrible for a pillion and had a very small and compact riding position, annoyed a few people. But only the people who failed to grasp the concept of a track-focused
bike – what else did they expect on a true RR?
Nowadays the original CBR600RR has dropped into the middle ground between future classic and old bike and as such its prices are pleasingly low. You can easily get a tidy RR for less than £3,000 in a private sale, and that’s a lot of bike for your money. While the motor has gained more midrange, the RR’s chassis has remained virtually unchanged over the years, proving just how right Honda got it the first time. If you want to experience one of the best handling supersport bikes of all time, and remember this is a machine that won the World Supersport title in 2003 and 2004 (and again in 2005, 6, 7, 10 and 2014), look no further than the CBR600RR. Just don’t complain about its lack of road focus. You don’t hear Marc Marquez bitching his RC213V isn’t very punchy at 3,000rpm or hasn’t got any underseat storage…