BRUCE ON TRACK

On paper the ‘Blade’s right up there, with good tech, brakes, weight and power figures, but it means nothing until you dial into the Blade’s focused DNA. I tested it on its launch in Qatar, where it made good sense, but at Teesside it initially felt awkwardly slow out of corners, accelerating as if it only had two cylinders working… and even those felt like they were in limp mode. What had happened to the headbanging racer I’d tested just a few months back? The one that had made me realise the Fireblade had finally come of age and was set to be a genuine contender among 2020’s rich plethora of insanely potent and sophisticated sportsbikes. The answer was there all along, and after a quick breather and change of attitude, the time came to grow some balls and ride the Honda in the way it needed to be; all out! With the rider aids tweaked down to their lowest settings (quite easy to do) and my head calibrated to use a gear lower than what would come naturally (the gearing’s exceptionally tall), the ‘Blade transformed quicker than a guest on Stars in Their Eyes. Cracking the throttle, with the revs up over 7000rpm, would ensure a kick to the kidneys as the rear wheel’s drive launched me forward with relentless potency, slickly shifting up the gears with the integrated shifter that was married to a top-class blipper that took care of the deceleration side of things. The Stylema calipers were first class and the thing that really won me over was the plush, confidence-inspiring front end that meant I could take the piss on corner entries and simply trust in the brilliant RCV-derived chassis, and Öhlins suspension, to get me through a corner, ready for the rush of the exit that saw the Blade’s audacious motor fire me forward like a rocket, with incremental interjections from the minimal set torque control that stopped me high-siding to oblivion. This bike had gone from zero to hero, and with the latter character in play I was lapping up the experience, indulging in the raucous-sounding exhaust that boomed a heavenly note as the motor screamed across its rev range. Ridden hard, the Honda made perfect sense and showed it had the full package of tech and torque to get you around a race track quickly, made all the sweeter by the best front end feeling in the business. It might not suit everyone, but it works for me.