The Honda 919 is a great bike - you sit up straight, it's comfortable to ride, and you can carry your friend or your stuff on the back. You can ride on a trip without your back or butt hurting. It's a great bike, just a little lacking in power.

The 919 is basically a CBR900RR engine with a few differences. The 900RR is a rocket - really fast, great top-end power. But the 919 is toned down a bit... a bit more "civilized". The 919 has smaller valves, lower compression, and cams with less duration and lift. These changes were made to increase lower-rpm power (torque), but do sacrifice high-rpm horsepower. Riders say that the fuel-injection system is responsible for the power decrease, which is just not true. The fuel injection itself doesn't reduce power, but the smaller diameter throttle bodies do. Smaller throttle bodies cause increased air velocity at low RPM...this coupled with fuel injection system provides a better mix of air and atomized fuel at low RPMs - more torque. This is exactly what you need just putt-ing around town in a "civilized" fashion. But if you want a fast bike....well... the 919 just doesn't cut the mustard.

So, if you want a bike that's comfortable, has good low-rpm torque and is fun to ride, then the 919 is the bike for you. But if you want the same good features of the 919 , but with 50% more power and torque, then you need a 919T.

The 919T is a "stealth bike" - kind of like the saying "Walk softly and carry a big stick". The turbo is mounted up where the airbox used to be, and can't be seen unless you bend over and really look closely. The bike looks stock from 15 ft. away.

People say that turbo bikes are hard to ride - they're scary and have explosive power. We've all seen the internet videos of the Yamaha R1 Turbo - the rider opens the throttle, the revs come up, and nothing much happens until around 8000 rpm when the turbo spools up, and up comes the front wheel. This is because that particular turbo system is built for maximum power - the turbo is just too big and has a lot of turbo lag. Great for top-end HP, but not very "rideable".

The 919T is properly designed - there is no explosive power. You open the throttle, boost comes up right away, then you think "...you know what...I'm going pretty fast here!". It just feels like the same bike with a bigger engine.