In 1987, the wind of change blew across the sport bike landscape like a hurricane. And it would forever alter the way sport riders the world over defined performance.
Honda's Hurricane 600 was the quickest and most powerful middleweight ever made, and it blew away the existing standards of the 600 class. But that wasn't what made the Hurricane so special. Here was a machine that balanced the disparate demands of the street and the track with a finesse no sport bike had before.
The formula was unbeatable. Honda's Hurricane topped the sales charts, and won every single AMA 600 SuperSport race in its debut season. The remarkable CBR®600 would become the winningest 600 in the history of AMA racing, and the best-selling middleweight sport bike ever made.
Technology has changed since the Hurricane first blew away the competition 15 years ago. The very best of Honda's technology once again redefines the upper limit of middleweight sport bike performance in the radical new 2001 CBR600F4i.
Packed with innovations, the CBR600F4i wraps its aluminum chassis around a potent fuel-injected inline-four engine. Yet despite the F4's class-leading performance, this CBR is forged by the same philosophy that guided the original Hurricane 600 and the entire line of CBR600s that followed: that it provide all-around ability and street civility to match its incredible performance.
With the all-new CBR600F4i, Honda once again strikes the perfect balance of poise and power.
1987
Originally named the Hurricane 600, the CBR600F debuted in 1987, the same year that saw the beginning of the AMA's 600 SuperSport class. The Hurricane made it a clean sweep, winning all nine races and easily taking the title. SuperSport Champion Doug Polen set the class' first win record, with seven victories in a row.
1988
The Hurricane blows through the 600 SuperSport field once again, winning six of the series' nine events--including the season opener at Daytona--and finishing second overall in the class.
1991
The introduction of the all-new CBR600F2 meets with instant racing success; the new bike cleans house in the 600 SuperSport class with victories in all nine events. Class champion Miguel Duhamel takes his first 600 SuperSport title, winning seven races, including five in a row.
1992
The F2's domination continues, as Honda pilots fly to eight victories in the nine-race 600 SuperSport series. Class champion Tom Kipp wins three events.
1994
In its last year, the CBR600F2 shows it still has what it takes, winning six of the SuperSport series' 10 races with rider Mike Smith on board. Smith places second overall in the class.
1995
The new CBR600F3 follows the pattern set by its predecessors: new bike, total domination, another title. The F3 wins all 11 races, taking Miguel Duhamel to his second 600 Supersport Championship with the Honda team, and third of his career. Duhamel also starts his historic run of 10 consecutive race wins, taking eight in a row.
1996
Duhamel and his F3 snare another title, his second consecutive one and the fourth of his career. CBR600F3 riders win eight of the 11 races, with Duhamel taking six events, including three consecutive wins.
1997
Miguel Duhamel bags his third consecutive 600 SuperSport title, the fifth of his career, and the CBR600's sixth. The F3 romps to victory five times with Duhamel in the saddle, including three wins in a row.
1999
Following an injury-shortened racing season in 1998, a still-on-the-mend Miguel Duhamel guides his new CBR600F4 to an incredible last-lap-pass to win the 1999 season opener at Daytona. In the hands of a young but amazingly talented rising star, Erion Racing's Nicky Hayden, the newly christened Honda F4 surges ahead to win five more races and capture the 600 SuperSport title.
2000
The heat gets turned up higher in the hotly contested 600 class as yet another young lion, Kurtis Roberts, earns the pole position in 2000 at Daytona on his Erion Racing F4 Honda. He then squeaks out another nail-biter victory with the same last-lap drafting maneuver Duhamel had used the year before. Robert's flair for drama--and his nose for the checkers--continues through the season and into the final race, where a last-lap, last-turn pass gives Kurtis the victory at Willow Springs and the 600 SuperSport Championship for 2000.