Honda Hurricane: The Storm That Changed Motorcycling

Some motorcycles raise the bar. Others rewrite the rules. In the 1987 sportbike game, Honda's CBR600F, better known as the 600 Hurricane, was clearly one of the latter.

honda cbr600f hurricane

Introduced along with its big brother, the CBR1000F, Honda's 600 Hurricane was a revolution. The reason was clearly visible in the Hurricane's aerodynamic, full-coverage bodywork. Less visible was the technological paradigm shift that blew away the competition and forever changed the way sportbikes were designed and built.

Honda engineers wrapped the Hurricane's engine and chassis in full-coverage, interlocking bodywork for more than aerodynamic reasons. Beneath the Hurricane's slick plastic skin, engine and chassis surfaces appeared unfinished, almost industrial. Development dollars saved on hardware beautification were spent instead on components that would redefine sportbike performance.

While the Hurricane's double-downtube, box-section steel-tube frame may have looked plain, the balance of agility and stability provided by its 54.6-inch wheelbase and racy 26.0-degree rake was beautiful. The Hurricane's trio of disc brakes were the best in the business, and at about 450.0 pounds wet, the bike was 20.0 pounds lighter than its nearest rival.

Power came from a dramatically oversquare, liquid-cooled, twin-cam in-line four-cylinder engine. With half the cylinder and head castings of the 500 Interceptor's V-4 engine, the in-line CBR mill was less expensive to produce. The Hurricane engine redlined at 12,000 rpm and cranked out 85 horsepower at eleven grand—enough power to make the Hurricane the first 600cc sportbike to cover a quarter mile in under 11 seconds.

As the magazines of the day discovered, no other sportbike could match the Hurricane's marvelously balanced, accessible mix of horsepower and handling at any price, let alone the Hurricane's affordable sticker price. The esteemed Cycle magazine dubbed the Hurricane "the best Japanese motorcycle we have ever tested" in its May 1987 issue.

From calm to hurricane—CMSNL has the genuine Honda parts to weather any ride!