The big bike offerings have been substantially better in the last 10 years than the 10 years prior. Not proper SBK builds, but in equal club racing trim. Ducati, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki have all made significant improvements and advancements on their big bikes. Honda now only appears (on paper) to be a generation behind, instead of two.
What makes this bike a generation behind? Not being argumentative, just curious (I haven't researched new bikes in years).
Why are they two gens behind? It seems to me that they've skipped over the last gen and are mostly current with the new Panigale and S1000RR, and maybe slightly ahead of the GSX-R, ZX-10, and R1. Don't all of those bikes have lower HP numbers?
81mm Forged pistons, short cam chain, dlc coated counter rotating cams (because of the extra gear), finger followers ,titanium rods.
That's some mechanical porn right there. My comment from earlier still stands though. The last SP2 model was supposed to be this weapon that you could unlock with HRC goodies, only to find out you couldn't get the HRC goodies, and even if you could, it didn't unlock anything. There was a lawsuit in the UK over it even. But assuming that is not the case, I would be all over this personally if I was spending Broome's water budget.
How long until aftermarket case covers are mandatory for racing that bike? And those covers are going to be expensive!
I don’t see how the cams are counter rotating here, it’s chain driven, the chain is going 1 direction. Maybe I missed something..a 3 gear arrangement would work except for the chain is literally engaged with both cam sprockets Also looks like secondary operation cnc port work on the bowls to blend the port to the seat, is this typical now on others?
Ahhh I see, both are counter rotating relative to crank position lol I was thinking counter to each other. Got it!
I have to put in a plug for the 85/86 GSXR750-1000. Those things were a big leap forward in the day, particularly for the price. Like the looks of the Honda, though. Starting to get that compact "genuine race bike" look (like the old RC-30s which could hide in the shadow of my GSX-R). But honestly, after having a close look at the Ducati V4 and the new BMW S1000RR, they are all getting pretty amazing. Beyond what ever limited abilities I ever had to fully exploit. I can only chuckle at the thought of me "reviewing" them to determine which was "best". Bike #1 - "Holy Shit!"... Bike #2 - "Arggggg!"... Bike #3 - "Jeeezus!"... Still, I'd be fun trying though...