They are. And they won’t. Nor would we randomly attack a Chinese military base like the video shows.

Meh, it’s about like our video games like Battlefield or COD where we go and fight some shadowy threat in some nameless Asiatic country, but it’s pretty well implied that it is China when they’re screaming at you in Mandarin. Same goes for any random middle eastern country...

Fuck yeah, 360° Noscope!

Get some Mountain…

What better way to commemorate and honor the victory against Japan than by making a video of invading Japan? How solemn is your jingoism? How respectful is your hypocrisy about imperialism?

Wow, I didn’t know that they’d been hit that hard for that. At the same time, those were pre-installed maps, while the Honda passes emissions upon importation, and it’s a “Race Kit” that’ll get you the big numbers.

Most people who buy expensive limited edition vehicles don't modify them with grey market parts. They put them into storage or on display and don't ride or risk molesting them. You are kidding yourself if you think most of these will end anywhere other than a rich persons storage facility with 1.5 miles on the odo.

Because Honda made it a point to say the Sport Kit was not available in the US?

Have you ridden a RSV4 and drank deeply of the sweet V4 exhaust note elixir? I bought one and I don’t ever really wanna go back to an inline 4, it’s that sweet.

That was the best worded dig at the power restriction I’ve seen yet. Hilarious.

ITS NOT 101HP!!! Saying this bike is 101HP is like saying that nobody is going to drink more than two beers out of a six pack because it says drink responsibly on the pack.

In order to meet noise restrictions without a large muffler it’s limited to about 9000 rpm out of 14000. The “sport kit” just disables the limiter basically.

“...engine rpm is reportedly limited to 9400 rpm on the US model in order to pass noise emissions standards .” (From: http://www.sportrider.com/2016-honda-rc2…)

the CBR 1000 has become irrelevant. Actually for a few years now. Honda should have a new CBR to compete with the new R1, S1000, Pani etc before spending all their time on this bike.

Why is it limited to 101 hp in the US? Quite a few other bikes have higher hp.

Lindsay, since you’re the same size/weight as me, I’d love to hear more about ergonomics in general. Like is the bike good for 3-4 hour road trips?

even worse, I ride a ratty BMW R1100R with 65k miles on it. so I am definitely a no-fun douche, with zero skill and a hatred of all things that bring joy to the world.

that was simply the first picture that came up when I googled “motorcycle through car”. I am sure with just a little bit of effort I could find dozens…

The bike as a whole is great. The Achilles heel of the new R1 are its brakes. Sure on their own, they get the job done. But ride it back to back with an RSV4 or a Panigale and they feel quite wooden and lacking. Then again, brakes haven’t exactly been Yamaha’s strong suit. I also dislike the headlight ‘jowls’ that…

As a club racer, thank you for such a great, in depth article with a variety of opinion. Everyone rides differently and the characteristics of each person really helped classify how this bike reacts. This is the type of journalism I was hoping to see - keep it up Lanesplitter!

If one of the riders can answer, do you…

I don’t mind the long reply - that was explained perfectly. I’ve done many track days at Buttonwillow, Big Willow and Streets. The fact that you were within a few seconds of your race pace on a stock bike with less than ideal setup speaks volumes to its capability. I appreciate the in-depth perspective from you and…

A 1980’s kawi can do 120mph, that’s a silly anecdotal argument. I know about 15 people personally that can ride an R1M without writing any checks their ass can’t cash, pretty much with one arm behind their back. If you’re a street rider it’s not really for you but try some track days and maybe you’ll be up for it.

Track days dude, also self control. Plenty of people ride these things on the track and safely on the street. Are you really worried about dumb kids on fast bikes more than you are dumb drunk kids in 3000lb cars?