2007 Honda Sport Ride on 2040-motos

First Stop: Reduced Weight

In planning the design of the 2007 CBR600RR, the first targeted goal was massive weight reduction. In a class where the lightest bikes are separated by only a few pounds, dropping more than 16 pounds from the CBR600RR required Honda engineers to rethink virtually every piece of the puzzle. A whole new engine features components that combine to reduce overall engine weight by 3.7 pounds, making it the lightest engine in its class. The new chassis weighs an astonishing 12.5 pounds less than the previous 600RR chassis. Even the CBR600RR’s electronics contributed to the weight loss, paring a pound off the previous components. No part, however small, was overlooked in the process of trimming weight for the desired advantages in performance. In completing this mission, the net result is class-leading acceleration at all speeds, a freer-revving engine and remarkably responsive, smoother handling.

Make It Light, Make It Small

Amazing as these achievements may be, weight reduction figured into only half of the equation for 2007; Honda engineers also targeted drastic reductions in size. And so the heart of the CBR600RR, the engine, shrank an amazing 27.5mm in length compared to the 2006 model, making its front-to-rear (459.7mm) dimensions by far the smallest in the 600cc class. This new-think approach tightens the distance from the engine’s crankshaft to the transmission output shaft by 1.2 inches (30.5mm), allowing Honda to have the shortest front-to-rear dimension in the 600cc class.

To accomplish this, the transmission main input shaft was relocated just slightly forward and upward when compared to the 2006 configuration. Given this extra bit of clearance, the transmission countershaft is now squeezed in much closer to the crankshaft in a more tightly triangulated configuration than before, which allows the reduction in engine size. This shortened engine length facilitates a drastic reduction in wheelbase compared to the previous-generation CBR600RR (which already had one of the shortest wheelbase figures in the class). The new bike places its axles 0.90 inch (23mm) closer together for a truly revolutionary wheelbase figure of 53.8 inches.

Changing the Chassis Paradigm

Given a substantially shorter wheelbase, conventional thinking would change the steering geometry to more conservative figures to add stability. Not so with the 2007 CBR600RR. In fact, the new machine has a steeper steering-head angle than ever before: 23.7 degrees from 24.0 degrees, while steering trail increased from 95.0mm to 97.7mm. So how did Honda get the stability required? In addition to a whole new frame, the CBR600RR features the next-generation Honda Electronic Steering Damper (HESD).