T
he Honda CBR1000 is no longer
the sleepy old man of the super-
bike class. Now in CBR1000RR-R
Fireblade SP (to give it its complete
name) form, Honda has taken the 'Blade
and made it more a racer-with-lights
than anything coming out of Japan right
now, and damn near more so than any
-
thing from Europe, too.
That's not necessarily a good thing
for many who buy this bike.
At a time, Honda would create a sports
motorcycle for the street and turn it into a
racing bike. But, in recent years, Honda's
hand has been forced into making this
racer-with-lights by the sheer onslaught
of European performance, especially in
the homologation specials like the BMW
M 1000 RR, Ducati Panigale V4 R, and the
Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory.
I don't think Honda themselves want
-
ed to go down that path, but the results
in WorldSBK speak volumes. Honda
has not won a WorldSBK race since
Nicky Hayden took the gold for Ten Kate
Honda in a wet race in Malaysia in 2016,
a year before his tragic passing.
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P95
A little power wheelie never hurt
anyone. At this 9000+rpm range,
power comes on really thick.
