All Tests – With C-ABS, Honda CBRs put the brakes on the competition! – The eternal debate: shorter or shorter?

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With C-ABS, Honda CBRs put the brakes on the competition !

All Tests - With C-ABS, Honda CBRs put the brakes on the competition! - The eternal debate: shorter or shorter?

Resolutely focused on safety, Honda ignores prejudices by equipping its CBR 600 and 1000 sports cars with sophisticated electronic ABS (C-ABS). A daring bet in a category where performance takes precedence but which seems poised to be won… Test !

The eternal debate: shorter or shorter ?

To better understand the benefits and sophistication of its advanced system such as "revolutionary", Honda France has chosen to review the operation of its current ABS and CBS, which still prove devilishly effective – especially combined – in all conditions. Honda statistics show that an experienced driver could brake shorter in the dry without ABS only … but rarely the first time !

This research also shows that an average rider would need six tries to match the performance of a good ABS in the dry … Main cause already observed in cars: without adequate training, a driver blocks the wheels of his vehicle in the event of emergency braking – increasing the distance needed to stop. Or on the contrary, it does not apply enough brakes for fear of a blockage and does not manage to stop in time to avoid the obstacle….

This is why motorcycle schools teach avoidance control as soon as the license is passed: rather than uncontrolled braking on a slippery road, slowing down followed by a sudden swing to the side often makes it possible to avoid the worst ! Often, but not all of the time…

As a result, Honda is determined to introduce ABS to all bikers, even the most athletic among them: "Honda believes that everyone should have access to high performance and safe braking, regardless of the motorcycle used", says Bruno Skotnicki, head of training at Honda France (see our video interview top right).

The whole challenge to take up to integrate an effective ABS on a sports car (and therefore triggering sufficiently late and gently so as not to disturb the entry into a curve standing on the brakes!) Lies in the weight-height ratio of the center of gravity of these motorcycles tilted forward, with a fairly short wheelbase (around 1,400 mm).

Characteristics which singularly complicate the management of mass transfers: the decisive factor, according to Honda, for successful braking. However, to control the attitude of the motorcycle and make the most of the rear wheel to slow down the machine, at the same time avoiding excessive braking constraints on the front wheel only, Honda had until now had its proven ABS system. + Dual-CBS, which continues to prove its worth on the 800 VFR V-Tec, the Varadero, the Gold Wing 1800 and the ST 1300.

Operating thanks to a delay valve which sends hydraulic pressure from the rear brake to the front left caliper when braking only from the rear (and vice versa), the device developed exclusively for Honda by Nissin will however prove to be too heavy. during the first R&D studies on the feasibility of assisted braking on CBRs.

Above all, this excess weight considerably increases the unsprung masses of the machines, due to the use of a three-piston caliper and a secondary master cylinder in charge of creating brake pressure to balance the front forces. back. Increasing the unsprung masses also amounts to straining the agility of a motorcycle: an unacceptable consequence for Honda, which prides itself on offering some of the lightest sports cars on the market (184 kg fully loaded on the 600 and 199 kg on the 1000).

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos Stan PEREC and David REYGONDEAU

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