Honda 919
Honda 919
Yellow Peril revisited
MARK CERNICKY
New Rides 2002
PICTURE, IF YOU WILL your favorite sportbike backroad. Twisting, perfect pavement, not a ripple, sealer stripe, pothole or bump to be found. Are you with me? Good. Now take a deep breath, we are going to our happy place, where there’s no traffic to slow us down, not even an oil stain on the perfectly manicured macadam that stretches to Never-Never Land...
Hey, snap out of it! Listen here, Peter Panhead, now that I’ve got you Captain Hooked, remember that we don’t ride in Fantasyland. Road conditions are rapidly deteriorating. Adding to the breakdown of our transit infrastructure is the rising tide of roadway saturation, a product of the world’s overpopulation. Construction to house the masses brings pebble-pelting semi-trucks, dropping portions of their loads that are then kicked up and delivered with stinging accuracy to you and your bike alike.
Maybe it’s time for a superbike for the not-so-super world.
Honda’s new naked roadster, the 919, is that motorcycle. Don’t consider it a compromise, just think of it as being a step higher on the evo-ladder.
Visionary Honda R&D man, the late, great Dirk Vandenberg, recognized the need for such a bike. It was “Dangerous Dirk,” the closest thing to a moto-hooligan ever to be put on Big Red's payroll, who in 1994 green-lighted Project “Yellow Peril,” Cycle World's nasty naked concept bike (see “Standards on Steroids,” April, ’94), and saw to it we got the parts needed to complete the caper. That bike began life as a repliracer CBR900RR, then was stripped of its fairing and clipons and equipped with a set of bolt-on tubular handlebars. Paint, pipe, carb, cam timing, geared down for grunt and stunts-if ever there was a hooligan bike, this was it.
HONDA 919
$7999
Ups GREAT riding position BUTTER-SMOOTH shitting MORE fun than Naked Twister at the Playboy Mansion
Downs No centerstand, boo! Down on bhp compared to Yam FZ1, Kaw ZRX1200R Not mine!
The Arrest-Me-Yellow machine was an absolute wheelie-monster-and still is. now that we’ve borrowed it back from Honda R&D for old time’s sake. The Peril’s short, 55-inch wheelbase and abrupt power delivery let it hold the front wheel hostage from the asphalt through all six gears. Sick! For Dirk, it was love at first third-gear power-wheelie.
The 919 evolved from there. Granted, it’s been tamed a little, with a slightly less wheelie-prone 57.5-inch wheelbase, but the beautifully syncopated relationship betwixt the gear ratios and the torquey power curve is uncannily similar, like déjà vu all over again.
We’re not hallucinating; the 919-all 453 pounds of it, give or take a tankful of fuel-is the most compact, tight and light combination of parts in the super-standard class.
Not so sure about the paint, though-or lack thereof. The matte-black coat shouts, “Don’t look at me!” Of course, it can also be seen as an excuse to ride the 919 hard and put it away wet, playing up that no-flash, leave-the-shine-behind persona, which extends right down to the toned-down castaluminum wheels. The black paint also hides its rock-chip wounds better than brightly painted plastic.
Color choice aside, not letting the motorcycle get in the way of the riding experience was the theme here, and Honda nailed it. The seating position is comfortable, with deep knee cutouts in the 5-gallon gas tank that make for a slender, almost dirtbike-narrow feel. There’s a soft seat, an easy reach to the handlebar and the controls are so effortlessly operated you almost can’t believe it. How can shift action be so light yet positive, even under a serious power load? And the flawless PGM-FI electronic fuel-injection and digital ignition never stop thinking of ways to smooth your romps through the six-speed gearbox.
The 43mm cartridge fork is in on the plot as well. Though non-adjustable, it does a good job of keeping you on Cloud Nine-One-Nine. Suspending the hindquarters, including the bitchin’ high-and-tight underseat exhaust, is a single Showa shock with seven-position-adjustable spring preload. There’s no compressionor rebound-damping adjustability, which leaves room for improvement-and maybe another project bike? Yes, puhleeez!
Brakes, this baby’s got brakes to spare. Constantly consistent stopping power, with never a sign of fading, is brought to you by dual 296mm discs clinched between four-pot calipers, enabling long, steep stoppies with nothing but air under the 180mm rear Michelin TX25 HiSport radial. The 240mm “anti-loop device” (otherwise known as the rear brake) got a workout around here. Great for initiating lurid-long hackers going into comers, as well.
High bars are like pry bars, and make for easy, quick changes of direction. Your line of sight also tends to be higher, letting you look farther up the road.
No, the 919 doesn’t make as much peak power as the Peril, but it doesn’t have that hot cam hit, either. We’ll take smooth-as-glass delivery over a brutish power punch, especially in commuting mode, though the project bike’s extra 20 bhp would come in handy while playing tag with Yamaha FizzyOnes or Kawasaki Z-ReX 1200s.
Also missing in action is the RR’s alloy frame, replaced by a steel “mono-backbone” unit from which the engine hangs. Less cool, but also less costly, an important consideration in this class.
Anyway, good to have a naked 900RR among us. We’ve known since 1994 how good a bike like this could be. It’s a little late, but the 919 delivers. Sadly, Dirk Vandenberg is no longer around, killed in a racetrack testing accident four years ago. But his bike is here, ballsy, blacked-out and ready to wheelie.
