VOL. 51 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 7, 2014
there. And that's exactly what the
CBR1000RR SP has been given:
Total Control with an extra edge.
"In creating a Fireblade
[CBR1000RR] that's ready for the
racetrack, we made it our priority to keep the model's good balance," says Honda R&D's chief
engineer of large bike projects,
Teishiro Goto. "This is the core
value of the Fireblade, so even
though we could have developed
more extreme performance, we
didn't. We believe the Fireblade
SP appeals to more sophisticated customers who have experience of other different high performance Supersport models,
and prefer they should personally
remain in control of the motorcycle for best riding pleasure, not
replaced by the ECU. Of course,
Honda has the capability to produce such an extreme model,
based on our MotoGP-winning
technology. But we believe in
making a bike with more enjoyable performance that is smooth
and easy to access. The Supersport market is going down, but
I don't want to see Honda withdraw from this market. So we
must continue to offer a model
with traditional Honda values,
only expressed with even greater
performance for the customer. Of
course, the Fireblade has been
in production for 21 years, during
which time we have constantly
tried to refine the bike, in order to
give it even more character."
So while on the surface the SP
P61
might appear to be just a stock
CBR with some trick suspension
bits bolted on, it's been developed to be much more than that.
But in typically understated Honda fashion.
Besides the Öhlins suspension
front and rear with a forged upper
triple clamp, it carries Brembo
M4 Monobloc front brake calipers, Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa
SP tires, a blueprinted engine
with carefully matched connecting rods and pistons, a lighter
subframe, a firmer and grippier
seat, and C-ABS braking with
unique-to-the-SP settings.
The chance to evaluate the
new CBR came at the Losail MotoGP circuit in Qatar, and right off
the bat you notice the SP's riding
The new Honda
gets a blueprinted
engine, suspension
upgrades and a
racy look for 2014.
