72 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS September/October 2019
engine specification,” he said. “On its
own each was maybe quite small, but
together they gave a major improve-
ment in performance. Compared to
1996, we had about 10 horsepower
more, giving more than 180 horsepower
at the gearbox at our 14,750rpm power
peak. This is more powerful than our
World champion NSR500
Grand Prix machine!” I won-
der how Mick Doohan felt
about that?
Indeed, such figures used
to belong to 500GP 2-strokes,
and helped explain how the
4-stroke Superbikes had so
greatly narrowed the perfor-
mance gap with GP racing.
The main factor in Honda’s
horsepower hike was adapt-
ing twin injectors for the
72mm x 46mm 16-valve V4
engine’s PGM-F1 electronic
fuel injection. Combined
with larger air intakes and a
bigger airbox, revised valve
and ignition timing deliv-
ered a significant power
increase from 10,000rpm
upwards.
“We use the first injec-
tor only till 8,000rpm, then
the second one comes in
as well, to give maximum
fuel flow,” Nakamoto said.
“We can change the point
at which this happens, but
so far we haven’t done so at
races, only in testing. But it
made a big improvement to
performance.” This helped
fill the midrange trough in
the power curve which had
previously necessitated the
bulky system of variable-
length intake trumpets.
While Honda’s main
development for their
championship season went
into the engine, the chas-
sis was changed very little, Nakamoto
said. Hopping aboard Kocinski’s bike,
I immediately discovered the same
jacked-up GP-style stance as on his
works Ducati I’d ridden a year earlier.
My body weight was in the middle of
the wheelbase, but it was still a surpris-ingly spacious riding position. Kocinski
sat farther back on the RC45 than
Slight, who loaded up the front end
with his weight.
On the Kocinski bike, this allowed
me to tuck well down behind the screen
in a straight line, yet still slide for-
ward a little when sitting up for turns.It felt good. But jacking up the rear
end steepened the effective steering
head angle from its 24-degree static
measurement, and this, combined with
John running the shortest swingarm
and tightest wheelbase possible on the
bike, delivered a machine that steeredquickly, turned sharply and handled
nimbly. The RC45 had a variety of dif-
ferent swingarm lengths ranging across
a 27mm span. Slight usually went for
the longest option, Kocinski the short-
est. This helped him counter the effect
of the Honda’s fairly high center of
gravity. Using the beefy midrange to
powersteer in corners, the
shortened wheelbase and
rearwards weight transfer
lightened the front wheel,
and helped him turn the
bike on the throttle. He’d
used a similar technique to
win 500cc GPs with Cagiva.
Without pretending to
emulate JK, I could feel
this setup in two ways. The
shorter, steeper Kocinski
bike turned in more nimbly
than Slight’s RC45. Then it
waved the back wheel in the
air when I squeezed hard
on the brakes, even with
my extra weight compared
to JK’s. Partly this was due
to the shorter wheelbase,
partly to what felt like soft
front suspension settings,
and partly to the raised rear
ride height, all combining
with the extra weight trans-
fer to lift the rear wheel.
I noticed just one more
handling glitch, namely
understeer while on the gas
exiting corners. The Hondas
ran 17-inch Michelins at
most rounds that year while
many rivals were on 16.5-
inch Dunlops. Still, Honda
won that World Superbike
title with a bike that was
simply the best. Kocinski
took full advantage of sev-
eral wet races, using his
peerless rain skills and the
RC45’s flat torque curve.
But he also excelled in the
dry. Anyone who watched him catch
the pack and pass them to win at
Assen knows he deserved the World
Superbike title.
But if JK hadn’t done it, there’s a
good chance teammate Slight might
have instead! MC“Still, Honda won that World Superbike title with a bike that was simply the best.”
Cathcart squares up a corner at the Sentul International Circuit.