BlackBird Facts

Here are some fascinating facts about the XX. Whether you’re new to The Beastthat  is the Super Blackbird or not, you may find yourself thinking “I never knew that!” .

Wind Drag               By designing the revolutionary and first ‘piggy back’ headlight, in which the high beam and low beam sit one above the other, it was possible to taper the the CBR-XX’s nose in both the horizontal and vertical planes, leading to it’s distinctive bullet like point. Similarly, the opening behind the front wheel is tapered inwards (if you look carefully) allowing the radiator to receive a precisely measured amount of air, but no more, as this would increase wind drag and turbulence . The remarkable result is an ultra-narrow frontal aspect and a wind drag coefficient lower than that achieved by the ‘WORKS’ Honda NSR250 GP-bike! Even the front fender was designed in a wind tunnel to counter the effect on wind on the front wheel!

Engine, Clutch and Transmission The engine is angled forward to push the centre of gravity downwards which improves the balance of the bike. To reduce overall bulk, the cylinder block was designed with the minimum of excess material, to keep it as light as possible. Even the valve angles were steepened to keep the combustion chamber utterly compact !!! In the interest of narrowness, the twin camshafts are driven from one end of the crank, and the other driving an ultra-compact generator. The bike has knock (detonation) sensors fitted to each cylinder to constantly monitor the combustion efficiency and optimise the ignition timing. This ensures that the engine is running at peak performance the whole time.For the ultimate refinement the CBR-XX engine is purged of every last vibration by the use of the unique Honda dual-shaft balancer system, which had never before been used on a sportsbike! It gives a final, creamy consistency to an already super-smooth power delivery. In fact, the engine of the Super-BlackBird  is so smooth that Honda bolted it directly to the frame without the use of rubber mounts , adding even greater overall rigidity while allowing the frame to be lighter. Honda even developed a special scissor-type primary drive to reduce transmission backlash and gear-whine. As far as the clutch goes, it was quietened down with a floating cover and rubber mountings.

Exhaust System In addition to the PGM-FI fuel injection system on the BlackBird, it also employs air-injectors at each exhaust port to encourage complete burning of any reidual fuel mixture on the exhaust stroke. Also, the exhaust downpipes have been specially shaped and designed to boost midrange torque, rather than just a way out for spent gasses which is typical of many aftermarket systems.

Mirrors The Blackbird mirrors are the exact same mirrors as fitted to the Honda NR750. That is the bike truly exotic Honda super-bike with oval pistons and a 32 (yes…32!) valve 750 V4 engine…that’ll be £24,000 please!

Passenger Grab Rail Did you know that the pillion grab rail is made of Nylon? Well it is…..Honest!

Mr Yamanaka He was Honda’s project leader for the BlackBird . He was also the project leader for the VFR750. The BlackBird project started in December of 1993 and the first BlackBird test bikes were being ridden in August 1994! His goals were to combine the power of a 1000cc-plus road bike with the handling of a middle-weight without building a race replica and to provide comfort. And you know what?..He did a damn good job of it., don't you think

Wheelie! Did you know The blackbird held the fastest wheelie record in 1999? "The fastest wheelie is 307.86 km/h on a Honda Blackbird turbo ridden by Patrick Furstenhoff at Bruntingthorp Proving Grounds, U.K (18/4/99)" .

BlackBird Riders According to the 2000 RIDE survey the average age of a Blackbird rider is 41, crash every 10 years, have an average of 16 years riding experience, 52% have had advanced training and on average meet a policeman every 2 years! (Oops! Sorry Officer..) and 78% of Blackbird owners reckon they’d buy another one. .

Alright For Some!               One Blackbird riding policeman has been flashed 22 times by a Gatso and never been prosecuted.

Are you aware of any interesting facts about the Blackbird?

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