diito

 

Well i know the older bikes were called just CB whatevers and when the sport bike craze came about, they added the R to stand for... you guessed it, Racing. So its a cb race model. What CB stands for I have no idea

 

CB= Citizens/civilian bike
just a guess? hey, they named a car "civic"


[Modified by RioNinja, 11:27 PM 1/19/2002]

 

Civic Bike Racing? Sounds good to me

 

Crazy Bike Rider......?

Crazy Bike fo Realz....?

honestly i dont know.

 

It stands for nothing, its just cbr..just like gsx-r, yzf r6 or zx6r...it doesn't mean racing. Mnfctrs just added because it is a different line, and possibly it sounds sporty.
It was a huge debate on the cbr list many times. Several list members who are in the industry confirmed it means nothing at all.

 

well at a minimum it stands for a racing version of the old CB bikes. R usually stands for racing 9 time sout of 10. And given that Cb used to be the older bikes. Chances are that CBR stands for CB Racing edition or something. The R i definatly think is meant to designate racing. It was used that way in the early and mid 80s for the actually R versions of the old CBS which had the racing package added onto them.

 

Well, I cannot sway your opinion if you want to believe so. But take a look at a magazines for example, the R is never refered to as a racing designation. It is just an assumption that people make that the R must be racing. CBR is not an acronymn, it never was.
It is never refered to as such in any mnfctrs information quotes or websites. In fact, if you could point me to a piece of evidence that states R means racing, I will gladly believe you. But since R does not stand for anything in CBR, I think you would be unable to find any indication or proof that it means so.
As I said, several members of the online cbr list (the largest cbr list around) work in the cycle industry, and they have directly asked honda reps if it means anything, the answer was an emphatic "no".




[Modified by bob, 2:34 AM 1/28/2002]

 

i never said there was an written proof. I also work in the industry and have asked my rep the same thing. I got the same answer.

So you just think its a coincidence that the sport bikes are named CBR when the older early 80s bikes were called CBs and the race package then was CBR? Thats all just coincidental. They just said Hey, that R looks great on the end of our CB designation!!! Lets call our street legal race bike a CBR because it looks and sounds really cool!!!!! Come on. Im not saying that CB stands for anything, but its too coincidental that the mid 80s CBs with racing packages were refered to as CBRs and the new race ready bikes are refered in the same way.

Im not attesting to CB or YZF or ZXR or GSX mean anything. But the GSX-R is really the racing version of the GSX, wouldnt you agree? And the YZFR6 and 1 are the racing version of the YZF. And the ZX-R the racing version of the ZX. All of he bikes exist without the R designation and the sportier race versions all have the R attached to them. That leads to me to believe that the "R" in all cases stands for Race edition of race ready or something with the term race in it.

Foot notes
CB= standard bike
CBR= race ready
YZF= standard bike
YZFR6 or 1= race ready
ZX= standard bike
ZXR= race ready
GSX= standard bike
GSXR= race ready

Coincidence that all bike models exist without the R and the R verisons are really sporty track bikes for the street? I think not.

 

Your response is the same one people try to use as reasons for the R meaning race.
Coincidence? No, they use the r on purpose. Since it sounds sporty. Does it mean Racing, NO. As I said before, look it up, research it. You will find in no material do any of the mnfctrs claim that R affixed to those motorcycles means Race.

Like I said, R does not stand for anything. R is just a sporty sounding letter, much more so that x, b, or w. And it is added on as a seperate model designation.

Vtec for example means something, the mnfctr tells you so. Ever see a mnfctr say, now we introduce the new "RACE" version of the yzf 1000, the R1!
It has been debated many a time. But again, if the mnfctr won't acknowledge the "R" as meaning racing, what makes you so sure it must be true. As I said before, I cannot sway your opinion, and you are allowed to believe what you please.

 

R is a sporty letter? R is a "sporty" letter because 9 out of 10 people will associate R with Racing. Its all subliminable.

They dont admit to R meaning race because it drives up insurance costs all because of the word "race." Just like Honda wont admit to the Type R meaning Type Race.

Its all a marketing tool.

Well it all just seems a little too coincidental that all of the bikes exist without the R designaition and also with the R designation. That with the fact that the R designated bikes are faster and are the basis for the race bikes leads me to make and educated hypothesis that while CB, ZX, YZF and GSX do not mean anything, the R at the end stands for race edition.

I also direct your attention to the Mille and Mille R. Coincidence the R is set up for track and competition better than the standard AKA Racing? Same with Ducati. 998S and 998R?

Whether or not the companies admit to the R meaning racing, their ultimate goal is to use the subliminal thought of R=racing to make a faster sounding bike. Ultimatly I think that if they could admit it without any trouble, I think they would say that R stands for racing. But it will cause a huge problem and negative publicity for the company. Selling race prepped bikes for the street? Well I never!!!!! Thats what all the liberals would say. We can not allow our kids and citazens to be riding a "race machine" on the road.

 

"R is a sporty letter? R is a "sporty" letter because 9 out of 10 people will associate R with Racing. Its all subliminable.
They dont admit to R meaning race because it drives up insurance costs all because of the word "race." Just like Honda wont admit to the Type R meaning Type Race.

Its all a marketing tool."

Now you are just saying what I already said. You're right, they DON'T say it means racing, because it does not mean it. It just sounds good, and people associate R with performance. Does it acutally mean race? No. Just a implication, or so we assume. Once again, you are just now parroting back in more words, what I already have been tryng to tell you. Read the first post in this thread, and now read your last post. You answer is now "No, R does not mean RACE per say, it just sounds sporty and is a marketing tool." Which is what I already said.

"i never said there was an written proof. I also work in the industry and have asked my rep the same thing. I got the same answer."

What was that answer, since you just said the mnfctrs won't ever say R means race model, the legal reprecussions are fierce.....So what did this "rep" say?


One again, R does not mean anything....it just sounds sporty, people think performance when they see and hear "R", period. There really is not anhything to debate. If you find proof of what R in CBR means, post it. I implore you, but I as I stated before you will find it tough to do so, since none exists....


[Modified by bob, 5:12 AM 1/28/2002]

 

So why does R sound sporty? Thats what I want to know. The rep said the same thing all the others said. It doesnt mean anything persay, but he did agree with the implied racing idea since all the bikes have a standard and a hot version with the R attached to it. Like me, he thought it was just too coincidental.

However, Aprilia is more than happy to admit that their Mille R stands for racing edition. However, it has completly differnt suspension, upgraded brakes, carbon fiber and a different sub-frame which can not carry a passanger.


[Modified by B-DIDDYR2K, 12:34 AM 1/28/2002]

 

"So why does R sound sporty? Thats what I want to know. The rep said the same thing all the others said. It doesnt mean anything persay, but he did agree with the implied racing idea since all the bikes have a standard and a hot version with the R attached to it. Like me, he thought it was just too coincidental."

I have no idea either, I guess its just the boys in marketing. I agree, to me R sounds like racing. But I suppose that is the whole reason they use it, it's in our conscience. "S" for some reason seems to imply "Sport". Why is it that "R" is often also in Red and also in a different font than the rest of the letters? The mnfctrs alyways make it have style and look flashy. It all has to do with marketing. The same reason Toyota is called Lexus here, and the cars have alpha numeric names.

 

so basically we agree the that implied meaning is that R stands for racing no matter what the companies say

 

'R' means racing mmmmm, weird though that it seems that if you put an R after things it would sell. Why not GP, that would make more sense. In keeping with the ridiculous lettering that Japan is fixated upon you get things like CBR994GPRRRRSPRX. SP used to be the one when i were lad, have heard ST or supertouring is now the new one.

 

It's all marketing and perception of meaning. The manufacturers *want* people to think that R = Racing, because it will help them sell more bikes (or cars), because Racing = Cool, especially when bench-racing. But they will never admit to it, mostly for liability reasons. They don't want beginners out there trying to be Freddie Spencer just because they thought they bought a 'race bike', you know!

But an "R" designation does not mean the bike/car is truly race-ready out of the box. It just means it is "sport-tuned" and/or "race-inspired". I dare you to show me one of those bikes/cars that is raced in 100% stock, showroom condition (down to tires and brake pads and fluids) because it doesn't happen.

Same thing in the car world. Integra Type R is a "sport tuned, race-inspired" version of the Integra. Sentra SE-R is a "sport-tuned, race-inspired" version of the Sentra. Miata R is a "sport-tuned, race-inspired" version of the MX-5. Neon ACR and Viper ACR are "sport-tuned, race-inspired" versions of the Neon/Viper. But they are all *much* more modified when actually raced, even in "Showroom Stock" type classes.

My favorite illustration of marketing/nameshifting was from Ducati in the early-mid 1990's. What started life as the "900 Supersport" (a very fast-sounding name) became the "900 Supersport Cafe Racer" (half-fairing) and the "900 Supersport Sport Production" (full fairing). There were some other small differences between the bikes, but in general they were using very racy-sounding names to help them sell the bikes IMHO.

Jon
who rode an 89 CB1-CR-TypeR yesterday and enjoyed it thoroughly

 

( stupid shiet editted out )

FAWK IT!!!! who cares anymore... aye Figment..my R is bigger than your R dawg..hehehe




[Modified by groomwerkz, 9:24 PM 2/1/2002]

 

Well, it was pretty much covered up in the other posts,but here is some more fuel to the fire....

Example" yzf600R and the yzf600 R6. Both have R on them. (although the yzf's were raced before)

Example" cbr 900 RR.. thats 3 R's. The cannot all mean race? cbRace, 900Race Replica...?

a few more cents from me.....

 

i am under the impression that RR stands for Road Race. Why? Dont know, but ive never seen sport bikes go in a circle before. I also asked a guy who has been in the industry longer than most reps and he thinks it could mean something in Japanese that has been lost over the years, or that it is some onsode joke or something.