Honda’s updated 2012 model CBR100RR will go on sale for $18,490 in February, with the ABS model an extra $1000.
The most dynamic change to the updated model has been to the suspension, which is renewed with the latest Showa equipment, including the de riguer and effective big piston forks. The bike also gets the suspension company’s first twin tube shock, a design similar in principle to Öhlins TTX, where the damping oil is circulated through a remote damping mechanism rather than shunted back and forth through a shim stack.
The styling has been altered too, the front fairing section gaining more conventional, aggressive lines in place of the blunt-nosed appearance of the outgoing model. There are also new 12-spoke wheels, a jazzed-up dash and the engine mapping has been revised, in particular to smooth out the power delivery in the medium rev range and match the engine output.
Like its predecessor, the new CBR1000RR is also equipped with the Honda Electronic Steering Damper (HESD).
Colours are Victory Red, Graphite Black or Tri Colour, while the ABS model will only be available in Graphite Black.
Team Honda Racing duo Jamie Stauffer and Wayne Maxwell have already ridden the CBR100R in stock form at Phillip Island (see video below), and it will be the turn of the Bikesales Network on February 3.