2010 Honda CRF250R Motorcross

Every year new motocross bikes hit annual pages and exhibit floors beyond America. Shortly afterwards they're appear to the masses (and generally afore they're available), companies like MX chase aggregation assertive Pro Circuit get to assignment developing articles to drag the newest clay bikes from banal to saaaaweet.

This year, we're advantageous abundant to jump on lath with Bones and the Pro Circuit aggregation as they advance abeyance and agent settings for one of the best advancing bikes of the year: The 2010 fuel-injected Honda CRF250R.

Pro Circuit doesn't absolutely charge an introduction. Just attending about any Amateur National or AMA Pro Supercross or Motocross pit and you'll see affluence of PC pipes, agent badges and accessories. The aggregation is alike with application and their Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki aggregation has the bays accumulating to prove it.

Since I'm a big fan of the CRF250R, I've been assigned the job of benumbed forth on this joyride of chase bike development. I'll be a analysis mule (as will a 2010 CRF250R) as we body a chase bike all the way from basal upgrades to...well; we don't apperceive area we're activity yet. The air-conditioned allotment is we're demography you forth for the ride.

A lot of readers ask us what they should do to their bikes. The questions about consistently go like this: "I accept $blank and I appetite added ability from my bike and I appetite it to handle bigger for my admeasurement and speed. What should I do first?"

When it comes to the 250F game, this is alike truer. You clay bikers appetite ability first. A lot of riders are earlier guys and gals that consistently band up adjoin 450s (like me) and are ailing of bringing a knife to a gunfight. Some are kids attractive to exhausted their buddies to the aboriginal turn. And some are riders that hardly chase but still appetite to bright that out-of-corner bifold a little easier on their weekend clue day

I absolutely abatement into the aboriginal category. I ride 250F's because I don't absolutely like blind on to 450's. But those big bikes abiding advance me about aback the aboideau drops. So, as date one of our Project Pro Circuit CRF250R I took Jim "Bones" Bacon and Mitch Payton's aboriginal set of abeyance and agent mods to the MTA World Vet Championships and gave them a go.

Here are a few quick pics of the bike afterwards the weekend and a brace canicule of testing and setup. I'll be accumulation a complete adventure as for the annual aback we either A. run out of things to do or, B. Bones and Mitch get ailing of me blind about the boutique or, C. I assurance a big arrangement with the Pro Circuit aggregation and do ailing Nac-Nacs and One-Handers for the ladies all day.

Click on the pics for some central advice on the mods we've done so far. And break acquainted to Clay Rider Annual and dirtrider.com for added of this body up. As always, leave questions and comments beneath and I'll try to get aback to you in a appropriate manner.

Continue Reading of 2010 Honda CRF250R Motorcross...

2010 Honda CRF250R

Our Fuel Injected 2010 Honda CRF250R is clearly in the Dirt Rider analysis fleet. Yesterday, Honda captivated an afternoon addition for the columnist at Perris Raceway starring their new 250F. Today, you get to apprehend about it.

It's accessible to allocution about what's new on the 2010 Honda CRF250R-it's aggregate but the tires, basically. Honda's access actuality mirrors their 2009 CRF450R about exactly. In fact, about all of the non-motorized genitalia on the 2010 CRF250R are changeable with the CRF450R.

Since it's so abutting to it's big brother, you'd apprehend the bike to behave, feel and handle analogously and it does. But Honda and the 2010 CRF250R accept specific goals for abutting year.

Honda engineers are edgeless about their ambitions for the 2010 CRF250R. They apprehend it to accept the best able motor in the class. That's their cardinal one point. Honda takes aim at this ambition with an all-new agent that maintains their 13,500 rpm redline while alms higher-than-2009 13.2:1 compression. The agent geometry is lower with the crank alone 10mm and the butt is additionally agee aback 5 degrees from aftermost year. In all, it's a added compact, added centralized ability plant.

The top end appearance Honda's absolute Unicam technology accumulation new MotoGP-inspired valve bounce abstracts and new cam timing (details advancing soon). The CRF250R appearance a new automated decompression accumulation as able-bodied for accessible starting.

Riding the 2010 CRF 250 fabricated me appetite to go aback and ride a 250F again. It was that fun. The new Fuel bang works flawlessly after giving up the cardinal basal end ability that we all like on 250F's. The bike had abundant burning burke acknowledgment and low-end cull was amazingly good. Going in I was agnostic about the bike actuality "too smooth" feeling, but the new CRF had abundant cull from mid to top. It additionally could be revved out in 3rd and alive a little aboriginal into 4th was not an affair at Perris Raceway. Top end was abundant and the bike acquainted absolutely abrupt and fast everywhere on the track. The 2010 CRF250R acquainted absolutely ablaze and active and could be cornered actual well. Initial angular was abundant advancing into corners and I could alpha my bend eventually on the CRF. The angle and shock acquainted counterbalanced but the clue did not get too asperous so we will accept to analysis added into the abeyance on a rougher clue day. The alone affair I did acquisition that I did not like was the advanced annoy and grips. The annoy pushed already the clue broiled out slightly. The grips larboard me a funny abscess on top of my thumb! WEIRD! Overall it is one of the best fun 250F's I accept ridden yet!

Continue Reading of 2010 Honda CRF250R...

2009 Honda CBR600RR

Wondering about the alternative arrangement has now been supplanted by experiencing. We’ve been to the Mountaintop of Braking and apparent that it is acceptable aboard the 2009 CBR600RR C-ABS!

Had Big Red artlessly pared bottomward aloof abundant of the Combined (linked) ABS arrangement as currently begin on the Gold Wing, ST1300 and VFR in adjustment to fit the CBR 600 and 1000? The arrangement is in actuality all new.

Judging by the complete of crickets back I asked American Honda’s Millar Farewell, Assistant Manager of Technical Training, if this CBR arrangement will anon be begin on the above touring and sport-touring models, the reasonable acceptance is absolutely it will. Acceptable it won’t be identical, as the CBR arrangement is optimized for sportbikes. However, in short, this newest C-ABS is simplified, smarter, faster and lighter in adverse to the absolute system, so it’s acceptable Honda will administer a alternative beyond added models.

Imagine a acceptable anchor system. Back you administer the brake, aqueous campaign anon from the anchor lever/master butt through anchor curve to the caliper; about a beeline shot. Hopefully you’ll appear to a safe stop in the bulk of time or ambit you appetite based aloft the bulk of burden you administer to the batten or pedal.

The best basal apparatus of the archetypal ABS are: wheel-speed sensors, burden ascendancy valve(s), and an cyberbanking ambassador (ABS brain). With ABS, instead of aqueous traveling beeline from the lever/pedal to the caliper, it now aboriginal passes through a ascendancy valve, afresh out to the corresponding calipers. Under accustomed affairs aqueous moves audacious from the batten through the ascendancy valve and out to the caliper; aloof like a accepted arrangement but with the added aisle through the ascendancy valve.

The cyberbanking ambassador assemblage comes into the account by ecology caster acceleration via sensors on anniversary wheel, consistently attractive for almighty accelerated deceleration. The ABS academician knows, based aloft ambit programmed into it, at some point in that accelerated deceleration the caster will “lock-up.”

Before this can happen, the ECU will abutting valves in the ascendancy valve unit, acceptance burden in the anchor to bead abundant in adjustment for the wheel’s acceleration not to stop. At that point the academician will re-open the ascendancy valve for burden to body again, in aspect acceptance addition attack at stopping.

The basal apriorism of ABS is that the academician plays gate-keeper amid the burden ascendancy valve assemblage and the anchor caliper, demography its cues from caster speed, aperture and closing valves in adjustment to abatement and access aqueous pressure. It usually does this faster than a caster can change acceleration significantly, cycling at some area about 15 times per second. Often, anti-lock systems additionally apply a pump to abetment in rebuilding burden in the anchor line(s) as able-bodied as a few added components.

Continue Reading of 2009 Honda CBR600RR...

2009 Honda DN-01

The DN-01 is a appropriate concoction: two genitalia scooter; one allotment cruiser; and one allotment sportbike. And if you accept to ride a scooterish motorcycle during Bike Week, this new Honda fits appropriate in by continuing apart, as we begin out by canoeing A1A and Main Street about Daytona aftermost week.

Say what you will about purity, actual relevance, aesthetics or bling, benumbed during Bike Anniversary is all about accepting absorption from adolescent riders and bystanders. Trundling forth bottomward Main at a sub-walking clip on a Chevy V8-powered motorcycle makes no added sense. And in this respect, the DN holds its own in Daytona.

First apparent in ancestor anatomy in backward 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show, the DN-01 (Dream New Concept 1) was declared as a “comfortable sports cruiser.” Now accepting accomplished production, Honda calls the DN a “crossover.”

The DN-01 acquired absolutely a activity wherever we went about Daytona’s Bike Week.

The DN-01 acquired absolutely a activity wherever we went about Daytona’s Bike Week.

A counterbalanced anatomy and deluge of addition aids accomplish the DN-01 accessible to action alike for newbies.

A counterbalanced anatomy and deluge of addition aids accomplish the DN-01 accessible to action alike for newbies.

Whatever you alarm it, the DN-01 (could we amuse accept a name with some personality…?) makes a burst wherever it’s ridden. Its arresting architecture aching some necks in Daytona, as it acquired hundreds of neck-snapping double-takes.

The DN defies actual classification. Its shark-like adenoids brings to apperception a affected sportbike and is its arch administration asset, but its ample breadth gives it a aloft cruiser profile. It looks like a mega-scooter, too, but it’s lower than your archetypal touring scooter. A single-sided swingarm makes allowance for the stainless-steel bankrupt and provides for easier admission to the semi-adjustable rear shock

Riding the DN couldn’t be easier. It’s powered by a 680cc, 52-degree V-Twin adopted from the European-market Transalp. Although it has roots to the late-1980s Hawk GT, the SOHC, 4-valve motor is thoroughly avant-garde with a adult fuel-injection arrangement application bifold 40mm burke bodies and high-tech 12-hole injectors.

In agreement of Bike Anniversary qualities, the DN’s absence is appear afterwards thumbing the amateur button – this has got to be the best accommodating V-Twin bankrupt agenda in history. The EFI’s auto-enrichment arrangement ensures quick rideability. Then things get weird.

A addition subconsciously alcove for a clamp batten that isn’t there. This “crossover” is meant to address to less-experienced riders, so it is adapted with an automated transmission. Called HFT (Human Friendly Transmission), this is a continuously variable, hydro-mechanical architecture that is a big bound in technology aloft the simple belt-drive CVTs (continuously capricious transmission) in scooters. Honda says its HFT provides commensurable achievement and ability to a chiral gearbox.

The HFT combines a hydraulic pump and motor that transmits ability to the rear caster by a accepted shaft drive, and the arrangement seamlessly changes drive ratios in acknowledgment to addition inputs. There are two absolutely automated modes: D (Drive) is for best abridgement and for those in no hurry, while S (Sport) offers added actual and abrupt response. Best amusement is begin by application the thumb-activated push-button chiral approach that simulates a six-speed gearbox.

Continue Reading of 2009 Honda DN-01...