2004 CBR1000RR FireBlade
Alot had happened in the space of four years. The 929 was increased to 954cc in 2002, but it wasn’t until 2004 that Honda decided it needed a full ‘litre’ Fireblade to hand it to the likes of the R1 and Gixer brigade (or at least try and hand it to them, anyway). Honda’s trump card was their bonkersly successful MotoGP pairing of the RC211V and Valentino Rossi, which they (apparently) took as much inspiration as possible from when developing the new, 1000cc, under-seat exhausted CBR1000RR Fireblade.
You could tell just by looking at that the 2004 Blade that it meant business. In fact even now, 15 years later, the first ‘under-seat’ Blade has stood the test of time in the aesthetics department. It still looks great.
Staring you in the face when you throw a leg over the 04 blade is a big, and reasonably ugly looking, electronic steering damper,
which is a welcome addition after the flightiness of the 929 that I had just jumped off. The dash is also a strange-looking affair, but does appear to be more modern than that which adorned the previous bike.
Sparked into life, this Fireblade seemed to have a much deeper sound. The exhaust seemed more audible, yes, but the induction noise was definitely a lot more noticeable.
It looked good, and it sounded good. So far, so good. But pull the clutch lever in and all is not so rosy. For some reason Honda decided that a hydraulic clutch was the way to go with the 04 Blade, but it felt heavier than the cable-operated jobby on the older bike (and the newer bike for that matter). It didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
I also struggled with the power delivery, just as I had done on the 929 previously. The first crack of the throttle felt way more dangerous than it ought to be, and caused the bike to lunch forward almost uncontrollably, particularly in the lower gears. I had recently ridden a mate’s 2004 Fireblade and had put this harshness down to him faffing with the fueling, but it’s become quite clear that it was something that Blades of the era suffered with.
As the 929 had been,on full song, the 04 bike was a real weapon. It sounded great and didn’t half get a move on when you wanted it to. In fact, the power at the top end didn’t feel that dissimilar to a modern litre sportsbike – just not quite as frantic. The 2004 model’s modern(ish) feeling engine really made you notice the absence of a quickshifter, and other fancy pants electronic aids which we have grown so used to.
The chassis too, made you feel as though you could be riding a proper modern bike. At slower riding speeds, it was sporty and would turn very well indeed, but when you got the
thing motoring, it was awesome – the bike stayed so smooth and never faltered.
The perfectly balanced chassis made riding the bike fast so easy – it didn’t seem to matter how fast you wanted to go, or how bumpy the road got, it stayed beautifully stable the whole time.
Less good were the brakes. Whilst it was great fun pulling ABS-less skids and stoppies, and whilst there was ample power in the front and rear anchorage department to engage in such immature activities for a short time, it wasn’t long before the brake fluid (up front) started to give up the ghost and cause the lever to come almost back to the bar. I’m sure that had I not abused the brakes, they would have been fine for normal riding, but I wouldn’t have liked to risk it on a trackday.
The 2004 Bade was the first truly modern feeling Fireblade, and whilst it might have had a lack of electronic gismos, if you ask me, that added to the bike’s character. 2004 Blade; what a bike!