2007 Honda CBR1000RR Repsol | Factory Fresh Stretch

It’s not often you find a numbered race replica with an extended arm, nitrous and reworked odds and ends. Investigation into its origins turned up a shop story (see sidebar) just as interesting as the collector’s item displayed in the Vonn Cycle showroom. Among a gallery of refined rides and award plaques, a character-rich 2007 Honda CBR1000RR sits on display for pure bragging rights: “We were trying to make a bike that nobody has ever seen before. Repsol is a sought after bike and we wanted to put our own kind of twist on it but keep it as close to factory looking as possible. You’re paying a premium for that theme so we wanted to stick with it,” said Claudio Segreto, founding Vonn Cycle member.

Canyon carvers and bench racers tout the Repsol RC212V in MotoGP podium talk every scheduled meeting; and for good reason when considering what top world riders like Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner have done with the factory Honda. It is no wonder, the number of stretched street Repsols are more rare than a pride of Ligers—precisely the reason it was tasked for the challenge.

Part promotional piece and part shop employed dragster, the reaction at each side of the spectrum fired up conversation. Sticking to the bike’s race soul meant forgoing over-the-top aspirations. Chasing quality ETs without losing the look led to a single-sided 10-over stock C&S swingarm that aided in rubber-down launches. The stock rear rotor wasn’t adequate at slowing the large 250 Avon Cobra tire, important for a safe post-run shutdown, so a wave rotor took its place: “It’s hard to stop that rear tire and it heats up quickly on a stock rotor; the wave rotor helps keep it cooler. That bike has a lot of horsepower, and when you’re going down the track a stock rotor makes stopping kind of difficult,” said Claudio.

Out of the box, the Repsol came prepped for competition but that didn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t room for improvement. The Showa forks were laid on the operating table where they were revalved and outfitted with heavier springs to better suit the intended function and rider weight. Lowering links and forks dropped 1.5-inches through the triples combat hard start wheelies instigated by a twist-sensitive HRC quarter-turn throttle kit. Then, aftermarket rearsets were added to help position ergonomics for speed. With the stance enhancements in the bag it was the motor’s turn for a little love.

“We take it drag racing but you don’t put many miles running up and down the track. The bike runs a 9.40 with a small 15-shot of nitrous on it.”

Canadian Trendsetter
Vonn Cycle made a name for itself as the shop that brought the stretched scene into Canada, as Claudio Segreto explained: “We started the stretch shift in Toronto and were the first Canadian distributor for Roaring Toyz and C&S Custom. We were the first to bring in stretched swingarms and big tire kits around ten years ago.

We started off building our own bikes just for ourselves, not stretches, just customizing in general. When people saw our shop bikes that were stretched, they just wanted something similar so they started asking us to build them something. It trickled into that. The whole stretched sportbike theme is coming more into Canada every year. It’s been big in the U.S. for awhile, but around here it’s growing.”