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Honda's publicity material hints that the SLR650 is an attempt to join in the 'Super Motaard' (sic) trend within Europe. Super Motards are created by taking and essentially off-road bike like a big Husky motocrosser and putting road wheels and tyres on the thing to mimic the "real" race bikes in the off/on road race series so popular in France and Germany. So you get your KTM or similar, put on 17 inch rims (as wide as you can get) with Hi-sports or similar sticky rubber, and then broadside round the nearest roundabout fully decked out in leathers with motocross boots. With Honda, however, the concept has lost something in the translation - so instead of a rip-snorting XR with 17 inch rims and indicators, they've taken a street bike (the Dominator) as a basis (a fine bike, by all accounts) and taken bits off it until you end up with the machine here. Unfortunately during the work they seemed to have got a bit confused, 'cos they didn't go with 17 inch rims (19 incher up front in place of the Dominator's 21) and they insisted on keeping trail tyres (Dunlop Trailmax) instead of road rubber. Then they added a strange chrome crashbar and a rack, and big black plastic sidepanels and alloy footrest hangers. So what have we ended up with? Looking round the SLR things seemed awfully familiar... of a late 70s/early 80s trail bike, actually. A black-painted steel cradle frame (with box sections) holds the RFVC single-cylinder engine, and acts as an oil reservoir too. The swinging arm is box-section steel (wot no alloy?) and the footrests are hanging from a humungous lump of alloy which competes with the Triumph Trophy for the title of Biggest Footrest Brackets in Biking. Up front the 19 inch wheel (laced with very nice alloy rim) sported Dunlop dual-purpose Trailmax tyres and braked by a Brembo disk and calliper, which looks like a gold jobby but turns out to be a sliding type (though it's sufficient for the bike anyway). This is evidence of the tie-up between Honda and Italy, started with the production of the NSR125, and continued with the SLR. The real retro bit is the headlamp, mudguard and clocks, which bring back fond memories of late 70s XL and TL trail bikes. The mudguard could have come straight from the TL250, while the headlamp is held into its shell with cross-head screws just like my 1979 XL185 - we didn't look, but what's the betting the headlamp shell contains a bird's nest of wiring just like the XL (once opened, never repacked correctly)? The bars are pretty low and narrow for a "trail" bike, and the seat height is lower than your average trailie, though it's still quite a bit higher than a conventional road bike. The seat's pretty hard, but once aboard all the controls are familiar, including electric start, push-to-cancel indicators and handlebar mounted choke (OK, so it's the 90s after all). On the Street
Grinding on the starter motor, the engine reluctantly fired up (glad it's not a kicker!) with a quiet putter. The bike seems particularly cold-blooded; on cold mornings it took several minutes (or miles) of running before the choke could be eased off - too early, and the bike would stall when halting at traffic junctions. Once warmed up, the carburation was fairly clean, if not astonishing. Winding the throttle open eventually gained an increase in speed, but there's a distinct impression that the engine is being strangled - there's neither the low-down grunt or mid range that you would expect from a big single, and I found I was changing gear more often than I would expect, just to get a bit more urgency into things. If I owned the bike I'd be sorely tempted to put on a lighter tuned pipe (say from an XR) and get the carburation beefed up to suit. Handling and Suspension
Putting long travel suspension on a road bike is a good idea in London - the road surface is atrocious, with potholes up to 6 inches deep on many city roads making a trailie ideally suited for the regular commuter routine. The SLRs suspension certainly handle the bumps better than a sports bike, but it's clear that they've been built to a price, lacking in damping at both ends, and giving a slightly harsh ride. It's also too soft for bend swinging, giving the bike a vague feel and not passing enough feedback to the rider. The steering geometry doesn't appear to have been modified from the Dominator's, and combined with the 19 inch front wheel means the bike steers very quickly - a little too quickly, to be truthful. This is not really a bike for the inexperienced road rider in bad weather, as the fast steering, lack of grip from the tyres (they're not full road rubber, remember) and harsh suspension didn't feel very reassuring, nor inspire confidence when cornering. On faster stretches the SLR accelerated to 70mph easily - above that the lack of fairing made hanging on hard work (especially in the cold) , but on a good day it should top 90mph. The front brake worked well enough, though the tyres and dive from the front forks ultimately determined braking distance more than the brake itself. At the back a heavy boot could easily overpower the rear tyre, and in fact that was one of the few fun bits about the bike - hare up to a junction, stand on the rear brake and watch the faces turn as you broadside up to the mark with a screech... Honda claim that the bike is 99% on-road, 1% off, so we took it onto the dirt. And fell off it. The bars are too low for motocross-style riding, though you can get away with some slow trials-type feet-up work. But they're far too narrow, and you miss the extra leverage and control you get with normal wide off-road bars. The tyres have too little grip and the brakes are too fierce for good off-road control, as I found out when locking up the front wheel and dropping the thing at about 5mph. Damage? Indicators and lever scraped, and a chromed silencer cover broken (it's plastic, not metal as we first thought). More damage to the rider, in fact.. Conclusion
It must be said that the SLR is one of the least inspiring bikes we've ridden, and yet it isn't a bad bike, it's just not all that good... The problems appear to stem mainly from an identity crisis - Honda have tried to take the Super Motard idea and sanitise it for everyone's consumption. Unfortunately this process has removed all the character and features which make the concept so attractive in the first place. Take a look at the KTM Duke, or the Gilera Nordwest for great examples of how to do it - these bikes have become more specialised rather than more generalised, and are better for it. The Honda's tyres aren't up to dirt use, yet lack grip on the road. The 19 inch wheel upsets the steering, but isn't small enough to use 17 inch sticky rubber. The brakes are fine, but the suspension isn't up to heavy braking and doesn't inspire fast cornering. What you end up with is a reliable, commuter-orientated bike almost totally devoid of character. No doubt it'll last for years (Hondas always do) and always look reasonable (though the blueing on the Brembo front master cylinder is worrying after 1300 miles) but I can't imagine anyone having a love affair with an SLR650. Give me the Dominator anytime. Engine: Air-cooled 4-stroke RFVC SOHC single
Bore x Stroke: 100 x 82mm
Displacement: 644cm3
Compression Ratio: 8.3:1
Carburettor: 40mm VE-type
Max. Power Output: 39.4PS/5,750rpm (DIN) (29kW/5,750rpm)
Max. Torque: 5.5kg-m/4,500rpm (DIN) (54Nm/4,500rpm)
Ignition: Fully transistorised electronic
Starter: Electric
Transmission: 5-speed
Final Drive: 'O'-ring sealed chain
Dimensions: (LxWxH)2,185 x 765 x 1,140mm
Wheelbase: 1,440mm
Seat Height: 845mm
Ground Clearance: 200mm
Fuel Capacity: 13 litres
WheelsFront/Rear: Aluminium rim/Tangentially Located (TL) spoke
Tyres: Front - 100/90-19 54S
Rear - 120/90-17 64S
Suspension:
Front - 41mm leading-axle telescopic fork, 190mm axle travel
Rear - Pro-Link, 170mm axle travel
Brakes:
Front - 276mm single hydraulic disc with dual-piston calliper and sintered metal pads
Rear - Rear - 220mm hydraulic disc with single-piston calliper and asbestos-free resin mould pads
Dry Weight: 161kg |
