Honda Comes Back Strong
Honda Comes Back Strong
Innovative Engineering to Semi-Custom Style; Honda Has Something For Everybody.
Just before Honda's rep turned on the movie projector and revealed the factory's new models, he said the sort of thing the reps are paid to say: “1979 will be the Year of Honda.” This is the second year for which Honda has introduced a range of in-fact-new models, for street and dirt, designed along similar engineering themes and styled in a family way.
The 1978 stars were the CBX. the CR250R. the CX500 and the XL250S.
For 1979 wc have a trio of new 750 Fours: a CB650 Four, an XL/XR500 combination. an off-road version of the XL250 named the XR250. an XL/XR185. an XL125S. and a replica-racer CR125R.
Updates for the year include two new models of the CX500. a stylized version of the Hawk 400 and an improved (quicker, even) CBX. tested elsewhere in this issue. The Gold Wing receives further refinement and the beginner Single grows into the XR80.
Quite a list.
This may well be the Year of Honda.
If so. it will happen at a good time. Honda has been the industry sales leader almost since the company arrived in the U.S. 20 years ago. That lead has been getting slim during the past few years, as the other companies expanded their model lines and correctly predicted public tastes. Honda lagged a bit; in performance bikes, motocross and pure dirt expecially. and the sales figures showed it.
Thus began the new campaign.
Honda is moving in two directions, not in opposition exactly but certainly not in the same direction.
One is traditional Honda, that is. engineering. The CBX. the new' 750s. and 650. the 500 Singles and the motocross machines are clear demonstrations of how much good w'ork Honda’s engineers can do.
Next, styling. Not so much the actual looks of the bikes, but in follow ing trends, something Honda has not usually done. Kawasaki introduced the LTD and sold heaps. Yamaha last year had the Specials, semi-custom, semi-chopped, fat tires and long front ends and small fuel tanks, just what Harley-Davidson does so well and just what the new' motorcycle buyer apparently thinks motorcycles should look like. Yamaha set sales records.
So along w'ith twin camshafts, fourvalves-per cylinder heads, counterbalancers and scientific knobby tires, Honda gives us teardrop tanks, fat rear tires and high handlebars. One can call it salesman-
ship, or one can call it giving the public what the public wants.
Honda’s new models for 1979 include:
CB750F AND CB750K
The new 750s are really that, the only holdover being that while the other makers are enlarging their Fours. Honda is sticking with the proven displacement established ten years ago.
The 750 engine is directly based on the endurance-racer RCB943 and RCB997 Fours, with double overhead camshafts working four valves per cylinder, one timing chain driving the exhaust cam and a second chain from the exhaust driving the intake cam. The 750 uses plain bearings and a wet sump. As a sign of improved breathing, the new 750 uses four 30mm carbs while the single-cam ’78 750s had 28mm units. Compression ratio is still 9:1. Without giving away the results of the CB750K tested this month, the new' engine is stronger than the old. emissions controls or not. The twin-cam 750 obviously shares much of the thinking from the CBX Six. but it differs in most details.
The 750s share a basic frame. It’s a duplex cradle, unlike the open frame/ stressed engine designs of the CBX, CX500. Hawk and XL/XR models. The 750F frame, intended for sport, has thicker tubes in places, and more bracing at the steering head and rear mount. Both frames have arched backbones, so the head can be removed with engine in place, and use demountable right cradle sections so the engine can be more easily removed for service.
Showa is supplying the forks and twostage shocks to Honda’s specifications. The F model has two front disc brakes, one disc rear, while the K has single disc in front and drum in back. As you’d expect from the designation, the K has four exhaust pipes and wire w'heels. The F uses a 4-into-2 exhaust and ComStar wheels.
For a third, semi-model there will be a limited production 750K. a Tenth Anniversary edition, with different stripes, lower seat and a 17-in. ComStar rear wheel.
XR/XL500
Got one right. Several months ago CW dared to look at the XL250’s automatic compression release and to predict a larger version of the dual-purpose four-stroke Single.
Here they are, in the form of the dirtonly XR500 and the street-legal XL500.
It’s the same basic bike as the XL250, scaled up. The engine has the four-valve head, single overhead cam and dual exhaust ports and pipes, and the clever counterbalancers, the stressed-engine frame and the 23-in. front wheel.
Dry weights are listed as 270 and 280 lb. approximately, or a lot less than the Yamaha 500 Singles. The big Hondas are serious dirt bikes, with leading axle forks, tilted shocks . . . shucks, if you read about the XL250 you can guess the rest. The 250 was a winner, best in class with no dissenting votes and the 500 looks to be the same, but with more power.
CB650
The 650 Four isn’t just an enlarged 550, despite apparent similarities. The 650 moves Honda in still another direction.
Call it budget sports. Motorcycle prices are going up and Honda figures to keep costs as low as possible. So the 650 shares only six parts with the 550 Four but can be built on the 550’s assembly lines.
The engine has a single overhead cam, for cost and ease of maintenance, we’re told.
From there it’s standard equipment for a sports bike, with ComStars, two-stage shocks, low-friction forks, chassis reworked for lower seat, and disc/drum brakes.
We’re told the 650 will produce power equal to the other 650 Four, and that the Honda 650 will weigh some 30 lb. less than its rival.
XR250
More quick notes here, as the XR is just like the XL250 except that because it needn’t carry as much gear or meet as many rules, the XR250 will weigh 10 lb. less and have more power. The dirt-only engine has a higher compression ratio: 9.6:1 vs 9.1:1 for the XL250, and a larger carb, 30mm vs. 28mm. The offroad carb can be jetted for best running. The roadalso engine needs leaner mixtures for emissions control, and that carb gets an accelerator pump to make up for it.
At any rate, Honda is using the fourstroke dual purpose models to move into the true enduro field, while Yamaha and Suzuki have come from the other side, with two-stroke motocross-based enduros. The XR250 and XR500 offer just about equal weight and power and suspension travel as the two-strokes in class. Be interesting to see how this works out.
XR/XL185
Another deft change here. The XL 185 is mostly an expanded and improved XL 175. It doesn’t have counter-rotating balancers, 23-in. front wheel and so forth. What it has is light weight, a claimed 232 lb. dry, and a good power-to-weight ratio. The XR version follows the theme, plus. It has a six-speed transmission. The XR gets the claw-style enduro tires, while the XL has standard trials tires and the larger XLs get the Honda-design super trialers. The XR 185 is listed as 216 lb. dry.
With the exception of the XR80, all the XR models come with enduro lighting, quick-reset tripmeter and tool bag on the rear fender. Serious stuff. As with the differences between the complex 750 and the more basic 650, the 500 and 250 Singles are technically advanced and the 185 is less so, with an eye to keeping down the price. Younger buyers have less money.
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CR125R
Not quite a replica racer, the 125 uses the RC-style frame, that is, like the CR250 with lighter tubes and gussets. The frame is revised to use a 23-in. front wheel and tire of Honda’s claw pattern.
The engine isn’t exactly a factory replica. The factory has had a selection of experimental 125 motocross engines for the past several years. The one picked for production has been around in various forms since 1976. It’s fitted with the wafflepattern reed valve, and a 32mm carb and is rated at 24 bhp at 10.000 rpm. Forks allow 11 in. of wheel travel and use the four-bolt axle clamp seen on the other dirt bikes. The swing arm pivot is 2.5 in. from the countershaft sprocket and has needle bearings. The steering stem has tapered roller bearings, the rear brake has a full-floating hub. From the specs the CR125 bears out Honda’s claim that they’ve kept out of the 125 market until they believed they could match the other factories, inch for inch and horse for horse.
XL125S
More of the same. It's an improved versiOn of the good ol' XL 125. with sixspeed trans. There are leading-axle forks. inverted shocks and more wheel travel. along with a 21-in, front wheel and regular trials tires. Weight is given as 229 lb. dry. The XL 185 is mighty close to this figure. Presumably because of that, there is no XR 125: why not get the same size machine with extra power?
CR250R
Billed as a new model, the CR250 is mostly improvements for 1979 and most of the listed 30-plus changes are minor ones, undetectable to the untrained rider.
Most important and useful is a new reed valve system. Honda has patented a grid pattern reed; picture a thin rectangular pancake with a waffle glued to it. Inspired by an insect’s wing, we are told.
What the design does is allow the reed to follow and control the intake pulses more closely. This makes the intake timing more precise. The porting has been modified to work with this precision and the result is one more bhp all the way along the engine’s useful rev range.
Suspension tuning is changed, with stiffer fork springs and rear shock rebound damping backed off some, for smoother action at lower speeds. The front axle is fastened with a four-bolt cap on the right; the designers say a firmly fixed and rigid axle does more for cornering precision than do thicker stanchion tubes. Thrown chains plagued the Honda team last season and the ’79 CRs have a guidance system near the sw'ing arm pivot and sealed-bearing roller wheels.
As a final touch, despite all the changes and despite the tradition that each model
CARRYOVERS
The largest. Hon’da is of course the Gold Wing, a success since it was introduced and not much changed since then. For 1979 there are some minor items moved about, and the exhaust has been revised back toward quiet and that’s just about the list.
For the record, the completely new' 750 would have required even more work if there was to be a semi-automatic version. The previous 750A was good engineering in the wrong place, for most riders, and there is no 750 w'ith two-speed and converter for 1979.
It’s a bit harsh to call the CX500 a carryover. New' last year, the completely different water-cooled Twin got off to a slow' start but is now selling well, as we alL have come to appreciate the sound machine beneath the unusual lines.
There were some running changes during the 1978 model year, mostly because of quality control problems, but the basic CX500 remains as it w'as.
There are two added CX500 models; ths 500D. with more steeply stepped seat, 16in. rear wheel and black-highlighted Com^ Star wheels, and the CX500C, with all the above plus a teardrop tank, shorty mufflers and pull-back handlebars. Both the added models leave off the standard version’s headlight nacelle and the custom sound^ uncoincidentally like the. er, other Vee Twin. ^
In the same vein, the Hawk 400s continue in basic, with drum brakes, wirewheels and kick start; the Type II, with ComStars and front disc and electric start; the CM400T. a styled Hawk with higher bars and 16-in. rear wheel and highlighted wheels, and the CM400A, the semi-auto-^ matic. This last has done well, as there are* buyers in the 400 class w ho appreciate the ease of clutchless shifting and riding.
The other real street bike is the CB 125S/ the four-stroke Single for the new. or young, or budget-conscious biker. Nicê little machine, as always. The XL100S is a smaller version, with dual-purpose provisions. that is. high fenders, trials tires, etc. The 19 and 17-in. wheels bring the XL 100 into the growing-child class as well. The-XL75 is the street-legal kid bike and the XR80 is the dirt-only kid bike, as reviewed* last month but with a bit more displacement. Styling here is to match the big XRs;*~ why don’t they give the kids a tool bag at least, do you suppose? ES
