Photo: Honda
In an effort to stabilize the slightly decreasing sales in the Asian markets (accounting for almost 75% of the total sales) Honda introduces a new 400cc engine which is derived from the 500cc unit powering the CBR500R, CB500F and CB500X machines.
The architecture remains the same, with a 67mm bore but with a shortened stroke, decreased from 66.8mm to 56.6mm. The 400cc and 500cc share a lot of features and they could be referred to as variations of the same power unit.
However, the new 400cc engine will still be in the vein of its larger brother, centered on a linear power delivery and less sporty performance. So those in search of a sportive character in a small-displacement package should be looking elsewhere, as it seems like the new 400cc unit will be “a bigger CBR250 and not a little CBR600”, as Hell For Leather put it nicely.
It seems like Honda is once again trying to cover as much categories as they can, at least for the Asian areas, where bikes in all sorts of intermediary categories are to be found. While the 400cc bikes could have some future in Europe, it's really doubtful they'd make it big in the US.
However, the new 400cc engine will still be in the vein of its larger brother, centered on a linear power delivery and less sporty performance. So those in search of a sportive character in a small-displacement package should be looking elsewhere, as it seems like the new 400cc unit will be “a bigger CBR250 and not a little CBR600”, as Hell For Leather put it nicely.
It seems like Honda is once again trying to cover as much categories as they can, at least for the Asian areas, where bikes in all sorts of intermediary categories are to be found. While the 400cc bikes could have some future in Europe, it's really doubtful they'd make it big in the US.
Google News