FIRST RIDE
P60
2014 HONDA CBR1000RR SP
The author rode
the new SP at the
Losail Grand Prix
circuit in Qatar.
of sportbike owners continue to
choose the CBR en masse over
glitzier, more track-focused models, both Japanese and European, all of which offer a greater
array of digital rider aids than the
electronics-lite Honda.
But the CBR1000RR hasn't
exactly disgraced itself on the
racetrack, winning 37 World Superbike races to date, as well as
21 Isle of Man TT races and eight
Suzuka 8-Hours, plus the 2007
World Superbike title.
Now Honda has responded in
its own special way to the increasing demand for track-day friendly
hardware by subtly improving the
standard CBR for 2014, but then
adding an SP version on top of
that with several track-focused
enhancements.
Most notable of these changes
is the adoption of fully adjustable
Öhlins suspension front and rear
– the first time that any Honda
streetbike has ever come fitted
with something other than Showas, and the culmination of a development process that started in
2009, according to the Swedish
suspension firm's technical boss
and former World Superbike ace,
Anders Andersson.
"Honda asked us to begin
working on this bike with them
over four years ago," he said.
"But they had very specific re-
quirements, which we worked
hard to satisfy, even if it meant
adapting our off-the-shelf parts
to create something special for
this bike, as we did. So the suspension components fitted to this
bike are unique to it – no other
motorcycle has them."
It tells you something about
Honda that even at the start of
the worst economic depression
in living memory, it should already
be thinking about how to make
its existing Superbike best seller
even better. And now it has.
In Japanese culture, to give
something 'edge' is to add extra
refinement and polish, without
sacrificing the qualities already
