2007 Honda CBR600RR

The cockpit of the 2007 CBR600RR.

Stoppies, anyone? the CBR's front binders will have your tail in the air if you grab a big handful.

Even in factory form, the 2007 Honda CBR600RR is still up to the task of track duty.

It's not every day you get an open track and an AMA Supersport bike to turn laps on, so when Motorcycle USA's Adam Waheed got the nod to ride the 2007 Corona Extra Honda CBR600RR, it was game on.

Hey, where do I put the key in this thing?

2007 Corona Honda Extra Light CBR600RR

A single finger pull of the adjustable Active folding brake lever slows the Corona Honda with amazing voracity.

When you're on a bike the caliber of the Corona Honda, the temptation to light it up cannot be denied.

Motorcycle USA shook down the 2007 Corona Extra Honda and a factory '07 CBR600RR at California's Willow Springs.

The dual discs of the 2007 CBR600RR have no problems reigning in the power of the inline-four powered rocket.

It's a travesty that a wonderful piece of machinery like this sat idle in a garage most of the 2007 AMA Roadracing season.

On the race-prepped Corona Honda CBR, gone are the switch gear, mirrors, horn, keyed gas cap and an ignition key.

The rigid ride of the Corona Honda translates every bump, crack, and pavement ripple directly through the controls to the rider.

While the stock brakes on the CBR are already excellent, Galfer steel-braided lines make the race bike's brakes even better.

The raspy wail from the Corona Honda CBR's underseat Ti Force muffler will put any rider on the verge of sensory overload.

Riding the two Honda's back-to-back made our testers realize how good the 2007 Honda CBR600RR is direct from the factory.

We ride the 2007 Corona Honda Extra Light CBR600RR back-to-back with a stock '07 CBR600RR to see how much more the Corona Extra Honda Racing team squeezes out of its AMA Supersport rocket.

2007 Corona Honda Extra Light CBR600RR video graphic

Ohlins 25mm supersport cartridge internals hidden in a 41mm Showa fork give the Corona Honda a definite edge in the corners.

Nothing like scraping pucks and pulling G's at your favorite local racetrack.

Hutch couldn't let young upstart Waheed have all the fun, so he threw a leg over the AMA Superport bike and spun a few laps around Willow too.

I've got him in my sights. Permission to fire.

The 2007 Honda CBR600RR is crisp right out of the box, but upgrade to race-spec suspension and Jett-Tune the engine and it's time to race.

On the Corona Honda Extra Light CBR, you are able to get on it a little earlier in the corners.

Spend a week stripping off the unnecessary OEM gadgets, tweak the motor, suspension, brakes, top it off with a set of premium race rubber and voila, you have a motorcycle that is miles away from ordinary.

Even without all the performance upgrades, the 2007 Honda CBR600RR is still a capable bike.

The factory 2007 Honda CBR600RR did its best to hang, but the Corona Extra bike's high performance Jett-Tuning, sticky race rubber and race-spec suspension meant the deck was stacked against it.

Press down on the gearshift lever (GP-shift) through gears four and five and witness the precise-shifting glory of the Dynojet Quick Shifter, which facilitates throttle-to-the-stop, clutch-less upshifts.

As you can see, the keyed ignition on the stock '07 CBR has been removed on the race-spec Corona Honda.