Honda waves the wand over the 2007 CBR600RR

As development progressed and initial drawings graduated to prototype production, other concepts came into play. The idea of achieving “Ultimate Fun on Winding Roads” played a big part in guiding the team’s efforts in minimising extraneous weight and more effectively centralising the new Super Sports machine’s overall mass. The concept of “True to Function” also played an decisive role in the complete redesign of the new CBR’s chassis extremities and bodywork to achieve not only a visible sense of lightness and speed, but also the most focused and competitive performance ever, leading to the concept and goal of creating a CBR600RR that is “Fastest on the Track; Fastest Everywhere.”

The pursuit of lighter weight everywhere was certainly the fundamental key to the new CBR600RR’s design, and the results reveal themselves in the most compact inline-4 engine to ever power a middleweight Super Sports riding machine. With a targeted 8 kilogram reduction in overall weight, engine components were lightened by a combined total of over 2kg, the frame was trimmed by a remarkable 4.5kg, other chassis components took away a further 1.2kg, and even the CBR’s electronics were lightened by a small but significant 400g. No part, however small, was overlooked in the process of trimming weight for the desired advances in performance. The end result is lighter weight that translates to sharper acceleration and swifter, smoother handling.

Although the current CBR600RR is aggressively oriented toward high-rpm racetrack performance, the new model was designed to improve on these features while also making the machine’s full performance potential more easily accessible to a wider range of riders. While the team certainly sought to improve on-track performance and handling for experienced riders on familiar roads, one of their main goals was to also improve the ability of less expert riders to fully enjoy the thrill of the curves, especially on unfamiliar winding roads being travelled for the first time, thereby expanding the CBR’s range of riding enjoyment while dramatically increasing its full performance potential.

Factors considered in the determination of the best way to achieve this enhanced winding road riding enjoyment were of course the engine’s feel of power and acceleration, particularly through a wide midrange, and quick, linear response to every input. Also, handling that provides an almost fluid response that reacts smoothly and instantly to rider inputs, which has been achieved through a 22mm shorter wheelbase, enhanced mass centralisation and the addition of a new HESD (Honda Electronic Steering Damper) system. Overall fit and finish also play a big part in the CBR’s enjoyment factor, as does the exterior design’s sense of aggressive style and overall attractiveness, which sets a new standard for audaciousness in the middleweight Super Sports class.

With its impressively designed new compact form, new smaller and more powerful engine, new lighter weight Fine Die-Cast aluminium frame and a host of other dynamic features like its new HESD, the 2007 CBR600RR sets the stage for another generation of world domination on the road and on the track, and everywhere the electrifying thrill of riding makes the pulse quicken.

Styling

From its compact, sharply angular nose to its sleekly curved tail, the new CBR600RR exudes the look of a future champion in the making. Every curve in its startling new form is the direct result of a new ‘True to Function’ design theme that guided its development team in stripping away everything not directly applicable to pure function and measurable improvements in performance. From nose to tail cowl, every piece of bodywork and related hardware was refined and redesigned with the goal of achieving unprecedented advances in mass centralisation and air management, not to mention improvements in the CBR’s power-to-weight ratio, for maximised overall performance on the street and on the track. The result is a total combination of chassis and bodywork design that has been dramatically lightened in look, positioning of mass and actual weight in the creation of an incredibly lightweight and compact new Super Sports leader.

Dramatic New Airfoil Styling

...continued