be honest , at this early stage the Honda felt nice and pleasant and perfectly useful , if a little underwhelming . At that point I didn ’ t know how wrong I could be . I met up with Geoff , KR ’ s photographer in Orewa where the pictures were taken and got chatting to a retired surfer . He was excited by the looks of the Honda and reminisced about his early Norton Commando days , the beauty of ICE engine vehicles and his loathing of the Greens . A true , good old boy .
NEW ENGINE COMES ALIVE On the way back , it was my opportunity to really
hit the twisties . The Hornet ’ s all-new engine has a 270-degree firing order and produces 91hp at 9500rpm . Peak torque hits at 7250rpm and measures 75Nm . Those numbers seem high in the rev range and they correlate well with the wildly over-square bore and stroke ( 87mm x 63.5mm - when the bore is bigger than the stroke , an engine is considered over-square - Ed ), but not so much with the grunty nature of the power delivery . Power is strong from low rpm right through the rev range until the limiter is hit . As I mentioned above , the motor is all new and rather sophisticated . Two balance shafts have been shoe-horned inside to keep it vibration
KIWI RIDER 31