Honda CBR 600 Hurricane

The 1987 CBR came in one of two color schemes: Pearl Crystal White with Fighting Red or Black with Monza Red

The "HURRICANE" logo on the white bike was white while it was black on the black bike
The wheels were red, The exhaust system was 4-into-1, The engine was a 598cc DOHC 16-valve liquid-cooled inline four linked to a 6-speed transmission, The serial number began JH2PC190*HM000001.

Some motorcycles raise the bar. Others rewrite the rules. In the 1987 sportbike game, Honda's CBR600F, better known as the 600 Hurricane, was clearly one of the latter.

Introduced along with its big brother the CBR1000F, Honda's 600 Hurricane was a revolution. The reason was clearly visible in the Hurricane's aerodynamic, full-coverage bodywork. Less visible was the technological paradigm shift that blew away every other middleweight sportbike on earth and forever changed the way sportbikes were designed and built.

Honda engineers wrapped the Hurricane's engine and chassis in full-coverage, interlocking bodywork for more than aerodynamic reasons. Beneath the Hurricane's slick plastic skin, engine and chassis surfaces appeared unfinished, almost industrial. Development dollars saved on hardware beautification were spent instead on components that would redefine sportbike performance.

While the Hurricane's double-downtube, box-section steel-tube frame may have looked plain, the balance of agility and stability provided by its 54.6-inch wheelbase and racy 26.0-degree rake was beautiful. The Hurricane's trio of disc brakes were the best in the business, and at about 450.0 pounds wet, the bike was 20.0 pounds lighter than its nearest rival.

Power came from a dramatically oversquare, liquid-cooled, twin-cam in-line four-cylinder engine. With half the cylinder and head castings of the 500 Interceptor's V-4 engine, the in-line CBR mill was less expensive to produce. The Hurricane engine redlined at 12,000 rpm and cranked out 85 horsepower at eleven grand—enough power to make the Hurricane the first 600cc sportbike to cover a quarter-mile in under 11 seconds.

As the magazines of the day discovered, no other sportbike could match the Hurricane's marvelously balanced, accessible mix of horsepower and handling at any price, let alone the Hurricane's affordable sticker. The esteemed Cycle magazine dubbed the Hurricane "The best Japanese motorcycle we have ever tested" in its May, 1987 issue.

The Hurricane's humane ergonomics and compliant ride proved that track-sharp handling didn't have to hurt anybody but the competition. Backed by Honda's investment in one of the richest contingency programs in history, Hurricanes filled club-racing grids all over America, launching 600 SuperSport racing into the limelight as one of the most popular and hotly contested road-racing series in the world.

Perhaps more powerful is the enduring and endearing nature of Honda's original CBR concept: the same basic concept found in the current CBR600F4. Other ideas have come and gone, but CBR600s have been the best-selling sportbike in America since the original Hurricane. From rookie sport riders to 2000 Daytona 600 SuperSport winner Kurtis Roberts, no sportbike has ever provided such exceptional versatility as Honda's revolutionary CBR600.

Superbike magazine review 1987

If pushed you could sum up ^1 Honda's CBR600 in just one |"l word —smooth. Smooth Ul power, smooth handling and | J an undoubtedly smooth ■ shape. The CBR presents a performance package that's not just rounded— it's bloody spherical. It offers a licence shredding 140-mph with 50mpg economy and handling sweeter than a field of candy floss. All this from a bike that has its roots firmly planted in the fields of traditional motorcycle design. No fancy engine layouts, just a basic motorcycle that has been painstakingly refined to unleash previously unrealised potential. In fact there's nothing particularly new in essence about any part of theCBR600.

The engine's a conventional in-line-four, the frame's derived from the VFR 750 and the suspension could have been grafted off any one of a number of bikes. The only innovation relevant to the CBR is its unprecedented level of achievement. Every aspect of the Honda's performance is better, or at least equal to, any of its similar sized siblings — including the much vaunted GPZ600.

The fact that it has taken Honda nearly two years —an eternity in Japanese motorcycling terms  to come up with a suitably superior design, says quite a lot for Kawasaki s design prowess. It also speaks volumes about the public's acceptance, and Honda's further interest, towards their V4 engine design when you consider that the big Aitch have reverted to a conventional layout in order to achieve their goal. With the arrival of the CBRs, Honda's claimed commitment to the V4 looks like it's gone down the tubes faster than a bowl of greased sushi. A race proven spin-off (though I can't remember the NR 500 ever winning any races) that has lost its momentum and will no doubt stop altogether before too long.

The reasons for this reversion to a more orthodox engine design are all-too-obvious when you look at how the V4 lump has fared in its short-lived existence. The biking public, however short-changed in the grey matter department, have memories that rival an elephant's when remembering past mechanical misdemeanours of a particular marque.

Thus, although the inherent problems are now mostlysolved, if one such lump had been fitted to the CBR (apart from playing havoc with the Jap's system of model acronyms) it would have burdened the bike with a questionable pedigree and could have jeopardised their performance on the showroom floor. Once a punter's had his fingers burnt as savagely as with the early VFs, he's going to be somewhat circumspect about letting himself in for a second dose of similar problems— however remote the factory may claim the possibility to be.

So it seems that the CBR has been designed to short-circuit any past memories of Honda's mechanical shortcomings and to reassure doubtful purchasers that Honda's new design is purely more of what they (the punters) already love and understand.

But however conventional the concept of the CBRs may at first appear, you can bet your bottom silver dollar that there's been some pretty unconventional hours spent poring over the design brief in order to deliver the required balance of performance and price.

Honda used two routes of development to achieve the desired GPZ-beating performance. Although the engine is in a relatively high state of tune, there must have been the temptation to tweak the lump so high it almost chirped.

This situation was knocked on the head when it was realised that it could lead to an unwanted and potentially ruinous headache of more warranty claims. So in order to achieve the consistently high level of performance they required, Honda developed a superior system of aerodynamics.

Thus, however cute and cuddly the CBR's rounded edges and soft bulges may appear at first, they're not just a styling exercise, but the result of Honda's extensive research into creating the most efficient design possible within the constraints of noise, power and comfort required to produce the new class leader.

Apart from the aerodynamic angle, the all-enclosing bodywork manages to kill a couple of other problem birds with the same solitary stone. Whilst undoubtedly improving the airflow over the bike and rider, the extensive plastic also removes the costly problems of tarting up the engine for public display, and keeping noise emissions to a level acceptable to the ever-hungry government noise meter.

Although it has been mooted that the CBRs weren't the first bikes to use this concept of fully enclosed engines, I reckon that Honda's need for the plastic veil is far greater than their Italian cousin's. If you take a look under the sides of a CBR and then do the same to a Paso, you'll see what I mean. Under the Honda's flanks lurks a powerplant with enough external plumbing to satisfy even the most tripped-out Heath Robinson junkie, whereas the Duke looks almost as pretty with or without its sides in place  such is its classic design.

Just as the exterior of the CBR's engine is rather unsightly, the inside is mechanically beautiful. Large, unrestricted spaces are apparent on either side of the forward-inclined engine, all engineered to offer the least resistance to air flowing into and out from the 12,000rpm redlined engine, and assist in the engine's overall efficiency.

These internal aerodynamic refinements are joined by a plethora of mechanical revisions, which together create one of the sweetest mills on the market. In order to reduce the engine's power loss from internal friction and inertia, Honda have studied every component, shaving each one down to give the finest balance of performance and reliability. Nowhere is this development more apparent than when you look at the width of compression rings on the CBR's lightened pistons  at just 0.8mm wide they could hardly be called wasteful. Other changes include individual rocker arms and waisted valve stems running in lighter valve springs, which it has been possible to use as a result of the substantially lightened valve train.

The decision to return to an in-line-four powerplant must have heralded a massive sigh of relief from Honda's frame designers. As, although the V4 was an efficient design in isolation, its top heavy weight biasing — a result of having two separate heads and valve gear — caused all kinds of weight distribution problems for them to try to cover up.

The CBR's conventional, compact, short-stroking engine has allowed the frame designers to mount the engine very low in the diamond frame, without restricting ground clearance. This in turn has kept the bike's overall height as low as possible which has had various beneficial knock-on effects.

The first of these is that the rider can now sit "in" rather than "on" the bike's seat, thereby keeping as much of his/her anatomy tucked in out of the wind and maintaining the high level of aerodynamic efficiency. The other benefit of the low-slung engine is that it has lowered the CBR's overall centre of gravity, thereby creating a very compact and quick-handling machine.

Riding the CBR crystallises Honda's homework into a statement of performance and efficiency that underscores their commitment to building the ultimate road sports bike. In the light of the extreme demands placed upon the CBR you could be forgiven for expecting a bike with a racer-hard ride and an engine with merely a trace of low end power. It's the very fact that the CBR hasn't either of these traits that makes it so exceptionally attractive to any size and style of rider.

The handling, power and general civility contrive to inspire confidence and tempt you to explore its almost unlimited fun capacity.
The bike's user friendly appeal starts from the moment you hit the starter switch — the plumbing humming into life with all the drama of a cancelled opera.

This civility continues up to around 5000rpm, whereupon the exhaust emits a very satisfying howl (reminiscent of the 400-4's) as the engine's stable door is smashed open and 83 very well-fed horses make a dash for freedom via the four-into-one's single orifice. You're really going to have to plead provocation if you get stopped on this one. With over 140mph on tap and a fairing that makes cruising at highly reprehensible speeds seem quite normal, you're going to get plenty of practice explaining the joys of motorcycling to the jam sarnie brigade if you tempt fate too often.

Apart from helping the engine push the CBR up to an oversuited, chin-on-tank, speedo-indicated 145mph, the bike's efficient aerodynamics endow the Honda with the ability to return truly astounding fuel consumption figures. Just under 50mpg was the lowest figure we recorded in the whole two weeks of thrashing the CBR senseless to, from and on the test track. Truly impressive figures for any bike, let alone a hyper sports 600. Rider protection afforded by the bodywork was also good considering the sporting orientation of the CBR. Even the rider's hands and feet are relatively well protected  a luxury not available on some bikes marketed as tourers.

Despite the CBR's light weight, it has been fitted with three of the best disc brakes to be found on virtually any make of bike — Nissin four piston calipers biting onto three heavily drilled discs. This set-up allows the 600 to stop almost as fast as it accelerates. It was this trait in particular that I was deeply grateful for when I was confronted with slow thinking, quick talking Mrs Myopia pulling out of a side junction on the way back from the test track.

Avoiding tactics were out of the question, so all I could do was slam on the brakes and hope for the best. The bin turned out to be a small dent in the CBR's lustrous plasticwork, not a scratch on yours truly, but a large amount of grief for the attempted murderess in her metallic box. I'm sure that if I'd been riding almost any other bike I'd still be walking with the aid of crutches.

The brakes are so powerful and controllable you can keep them on the brink of a full lock-up situation and still not lose control of the bike.
The CBR's streamlining has even extended as far as the rear view mirrors which, whilst having all the attraction of a pair of melted wellies, are quite superb in informing the rider of other banzai pilot's attempts to pass the Honda's slippery flanks — something few bikes can achieve due to the unerring neutrality of the Honda's handling.

This agility and stability are another result of theCBR'sthorough refinement programme. Via the use of heavily drilled discs and light weight
wheels, Honda have been able to keep the CBR's unsprung mass to an absolute minimum, thereby creating what is without a doubt one of the best handling production bikes ever to have made it to our murky shoresi The only criticism in the chassis department was that the forks felt slightly overdamped in normal road use.

This foible could no doubt be ironed out by showing the CBR to a racetrack, but for everyday usage a modicum of air and/or oil changes should sort the forks out once and for all. Apart from this small glitch, the Honda negotiated everything I could throw at it with nary a squirm from the fat Dunlops mounted on the CBR's S-section spoke 17in wheels.

As you might have ascertained by now, I was very impressed with Honda's new entry for the middleweight crown — a claim I think it justly deserves. The only possible doubt that can be cast over its plastic livery, is just how long the CBR will be able to retain this heady status?

 Early reports of the cheaper FZ600 have shown that it excels in the handling department, but lacks the engine refinement of either the CBR or GPZ. Whilst these rough edges won't bother the dark visor and taped knee brigade  it could ultimately detract from the FZ's marketability something the CBR excels at. As, although it's unquestionably a sportsbike, first and foremost, the Honda is far more domesticated than the Yamaha, and thus, warranty claims allowing, may have a wider appeal.

Whether or not this will prove to be the case is something I'm looking forward to finding out in the near future. But until then don't hold your breath  the CBR is one beaut of a bike that should give any other 600 a good, if not better, run for your hard earned ackers. PD