CLASSIC!!!

"Honda, the most boring motorcycle manufacturer in the world, has
managed to launch only old models with the addition of ABS for the
2009 season. And, in true Tokyo Motor Show comedy fashion, the big H
has managed to show the world the most ridiculous concept model ever!
If this animated comic book plastic concept is a hint of how far Honda
are in developing a refreshing and cool V4/V5 powered super tourer
then it's merely a laugh! Is the credit crunch really that bad over
there in Samurai land that this V4 concept bike is all they can afford
to show the world? Honda are not winning MotoGP races, Honda are not
winning WSBK titles and no decent racer is willing to stay with them
for too long. No doubt, Raptors & Rockets will probably join both
Rossi and Hayden in not being allowed a Honda ride any longer. I
personally dislike any large corporation that doesn't listen to nor
care of its individuals. Then, when an individual, like Valentino
Rossi steps up and becomes bigger than the machine he's riding then
the ugly corporate head rears it's head and ***********and it claims
it will destroy that person*********[WHEN?]. I guess when you sow that
sort of seed into people's minds, there'll be repercussions. So many
of you out there ride Honda's, and we are merely reflecting on the
disappointment and yawning over new Honda model launches. At least in
the past Honda were able to copy the successful Italians*******[YES WE
KNOW, THEY STILL DO]****** and make good race bikes.*****[LOL 3 MOTO
GP WINS bawahhhhh]***** Here's what Honda need to do to get back: Make
the V4 or even better the V5 VFR or another RC model. Then bring back
the SP superbike. Then do as you always have, make cheap copy's of
European motorcycles. It's as simple as that, but Honda's un-
enthusiastic board of executives must have thought it could survive on
cheap 125's in the far East only. We feel a bit sorry for the 2008
Intermot organisers in all of this. All the big four Japanese have
shown all their stuff way in advance on time-wasting pre-event press
conferences or by releasing all their news online. There's not much
left for the investigative journalists out there apart from strategic
leaks. Oh how boring it has become! Meanwhile, we are looking at the
big EICMA show in Milan later this Autumn for some real news and
excitement. Sayonara! TS"

http://www.raptorsandrockets.com/news.html

 

You've got to stop smoking that shit

....but yes it seems that Honda is currently an acronym for boring

 

be nice if they were to release that cb1100r model they showed around last
year

 

Yeah; there was 1968 when they put a disc-brake on a cheaped-down
double-CB350 attempt at an MV-Agusta copy and there was 1982 when they made
a V4 version of the V2 XZ550 Yam......
That's all I can think of. Can you think of anything else that wasn't an
almost-as-good version of what the other manufacturers had produced 12
months earlier or a megabuck stretching-the-rules-to-the-point-of-cheating
race-special?

 

Well, nobody else has yet produced a bike with a top shock mount on the
swingarm, while Honda have been doing it since 2003.

Took a full decade for anyone else to make an alloy-beam-frame
motocrosser after the 1997 CR250.

Took six years for another litre bike to bridge the 30kg weight gap to
the FireBlade.

 

pop in for look from time to time

 

I prefer Twin shock bikes!

Alloy frames on dirt bikes are a silly idea, dirt bike frames often get
bent and alloy frames can't easily be repaired.

That's true, but the fireblade was early 1990's... what have Honda done
since then?

Well... there is the Rune I suppose


G-S

 

Mmm and some people still buy pushrod V twins, that doesn't make them
technologically better

JL

 

I never claimed it made them 'technologically better'... I was implying
that the technological 'improvements' were a matter of 2 steps forwards
and 1 backwards and not the be all and end all that people were
implying. And further that not all developments that improve race
performance also improve the road riding experience.


G-S

 

Even if I made lots of money I wouldn't buy a Rune!

It's the crown lager of bikes...


G-S

 

Are you suggesting that twin shocks give a better ride than a
monoshock ? Not in my experience.Although in all fairness there's
probably a big technology gap between the "rest of the bike" as well
as just the shocks, so perhaps not apples with apples...

JL

 

I have 3 bikes with pushrods, 1 with overhead cams and one half way betweem
the 2.

Boxer

 

Other things being equal (similar spring rate and length of action) a
twin shock bike will give a similar ride to a direct action single shock.

However the twin shock system will generally be easier to maintain,
cheaper to replace and easier to adjust.


G-S

 

Damping doesn't come into it?

How is replacing two sets of bushes, seals, shims and damping valves an
easier job than replacing one set?

How would two rear shocks cheaper to replace than just one of equivalent
build quality and spec level?

But if a linkage monoshock takes twice as long to adjust as one of a set
of twin shocks, by the time you've walked around to the other side of
the bike... and even then, how much time does one spend actually
adjusting rear shocks.

I have to part company with you on this one, Geoffro.

 

Is the last one a pushover ?

 

No doubt cheaper to manufacture than what the others were doing...

I'll have to take your word for that since I know absolutely nothing about
anying offroad newer than my old Elsinor.
(What were the others using for frames from '97 to '07?)

Took about the same time for the Honda to actually become a "litre bike".
Beside [Shrug] is being a lighter and smaller version of someone else's bike
an "innovation"?
If you want lighter and smaller (and more powerful) then surely Suzuki laid
that template with the revolutionary GSXR750 and Yamaha blew all contenders
away with the FZR1000.
The only thing new or interesting about the Honda was the holes in the
fairing....

 

[applause]

 

Seems improbable to me (even ignoring my own experience of
them).Although if you're toodling around on a tourer you'd probably
never know the difference

Firstly you are going to get a greater unsprung weight from twin
shocks of equivalent damping and spring rate capabilities. The main
reason that most(1) twin shocks aren't significantly heavier is that
they are generally not of equivalent capabilities (more flimsy and
less adjustable). That's going to have a negative impact on ride.
Secondly one of the other main advantages of the monoshock system
(aside from weight) was the ability to create a stiffer swingarm and
shock combination, again that makes a positive difference if you're
hammering; 2/5ths of bugger all at low speeds and small lean angles

Well that doesn't make sense - if they're equal specs then there's
unlikely to be a cost saving over a mono, if they're cheapies then
they're not going to be a better ride.

Is this like "the music I grew up with as a teenager is the best pop
music ever, nothing else is worth listening to ?"(2) The bikes I
wanted as a young bloke had 2 shocks so that's the way they should
be ? (3)

JL
1 yes not all - a pair of good aftermarket ohlins twins won't be
flimsy and non adjustable but they'll be heavier than an equivalent
monoshock I'm betting
2 ie MMM and their locked into the 70's / 80's pub rock setlist. I
mean OK, The Angels and etc were decent songs but it doesnt stop there
3 In which case monoshock is the only setup worth having so there - no
need to be rational ;-P

 

Are you being a bush lawyer GS I just noticed that "direct action
single shock" are you trying to exclude rising rate linkages or
summat ??

JL

 

Not a lot in it John as far as weight goes, but Ohlins twin shocks are very
expensive at least for the fully adjustable ones last set I sourced for a
R90S was about $1,650. A fully adjustable rear mono Ohlins is in the order
of $1,450 (with the exception of a specilist shock like the rear on my
R1200GSA with a retail of over $2,000).

Boxer