By Richard Fairbairn and 
Kei Nashimoto

HONDA?S all-new SP-1 is as sweet-handling as a 250 GP bike, as torquey as an RC45 World Superbike and so rider-friendly you can crack the throttle open mid-corner with little fear of it spitting you off.

But this isn?t the verdict of Honda?s top riders, Aaron Slight and Colin Edwards, who are contracted not to say a bad word against the firm.

No, that?s the verdict of one of the first independent testers to ride the 1000cc V-twin.

Japanese domestic series superbike rider Kei Nashimoto who, like Slight and Edwards rode a RC45 this year, is also a journalist, and he?s given us a fascinating insight into the most eagerly awaited bike of 2000 after he rode one in Japan last week.

Nashimoto?s comments coincide with recent Honda tests at Phillip Island in Australia, where Slight and Edwards put a revised version of the bike they will use in WSB next year through its paces. It features a host of changes over the "stock" bike which will used by every team other than Castrol Honda. But even in its standard trim, Nashimoto said the SP-1 is already way ahead of the RC45, especially in the handling department and at giving feedback from the front tyre.

He said: "What surprised me most about the SP-1 is how light it feels compared to a four-cylinder machine, despite being the same weight (Honda is still in the process of cutting weight).

"The whole chassis is so well balanced that it handles like a 250 GP bike. It?s more comfortable to ride than the RC45, and even on my first time out I felt completely at home.

"The SP-1 is totally dependent on the front tyre when it comes to cornering. It feels like a very "front-end" type of bike. This means that it turns very sharply and naturally, almost without any effort from the rider. Some people won?t like this, but I think it is very positive.

"This also means you get a large amount of feedback, which was very helpful for me when I rode in the wet. It actually made riding in the rain fun, because it was so confidence-inspiring. The Showa suspension fitted to the bike I rode wasn?t as good as the set-up which will be used on the factory racers, but it still gave me a lot of information about what was happening under the tyres."

Nashimoto is also one of the few men on the planet who can compare the new VTR1000 SP-1 with a race-spec version of the FireStorm.

He said: "I rode a VTR built just for racing by Moriwaki, and I can tell you the new bike is in a different league. The FireStorm had a very harsh throttle response which was sometimes too abrupt to handle, but the SP-1 is nothing like that. The fuel injection system is very smooth and you don?t get any of the sharp pitching forwards and backwards when you open and shut the throttle like you did on the old VTR.

"It means there?s little to fear when you open the throttle. You know the back tyre wants to push you forwards, not snap sideways. The bike feels very torquey compared to four-cylinder bikes, so when you open the throttle at low revs it really wants to accelerate. There is no delay in acceleration waiting for revs to rise like there would be on a four."

Though Nashimoto says it?s a big improvement over the RC45, he still thinks it could be better.

He said: "There are negative aspects to the new bike. Because it?s a twin, it feels like it runs out of power much earlier than a four. The initial huge surge of acceleration tails off as the revs rise. Also, the clutch is not so good. It feels like it has far too much play in it, and it feels a little vague under engine braking. This needs to be modified because the engine braking is far stronger than on a four. Even if this was a road bike, the clutch would feel bad. But these are minor faults and I think the VTR will be very competitive against the fours."

Slight and Edwards? bikes are likely to have more power because they will be in a higher state of tune. Their bikes will also get power-boosting and weight-reducing parts from the factory before any other team, and many of these are still being developed. A Honda spokesman said: "The test went well, but there is still a lot to do. We are working hard to get more power from the bike, and also to cut weight. It is about 4kg over the 162kg limit right now."

Nashimoto?s assessment will be music to Honda?s ears. This is the machine which will race in Britain next year, as well as many of the other domestic superbike championships.

But that hasn?t stopped HRC, the racing arm of the factory, changing several aspects of the bike to ensure it?s more than a match for Ducati?s dominant 996 in the world series.

The bike has already been fitted with an all-new exhaust system which sees both pipes exit on the right. On the standard bike, there?s a can on either side. The exhaust has been swopped to allow the fitment of a different swingarm, which appears far more substantial than the one it replaces.

HRC has also ditched the Brembo brake calipers which are fitted to the standard SP-1 in favour of six-piston Nissin items identical to those used by Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga. Both Edwards and Slight didn?t get on with Brembos last season.

The brakes are attached to 47mm Showa forks, which are heavily revised internally from those which will be use on the British superbikes, as is the rear shock and the linkage. This has been done as much out of Edwards? and Slight?s personal preferences as anything else.

Edwards? best time at the test was an impressive 1:33.6, just 0.6s outside Troy Corser?s lap record from this year?s Australian WSB round, despite the surface being dusty and lacking in grip. It was also nearly a second quicker than his best time in early tests of the bike at the same track last year. Edwards crashed twice because of the conditions, but escaped injury. Slight was marginally slower.

The pair were also able to compare how fast their bikes were next to some of the machines they?ll line up against next season. Haga was also at Phillip Island, and his R7 was faster than the Honda.

This shows just how different the V-twin SP-1 is from the old V4 RC45, and how Edwards and Slight will have to ride it differently. From riding a bike which was regularly the fastest in a straight line but not the quickest on lap times, the pair now have a bike which may lack outright top speed, but puts in fast laps - like Ducati?s 996. If during the winter Honda can get more than the 170bhp which the bike is said to be making at the crank now, Ducati should start worrying.

Courtesy Motorcycle News

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