Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade RR-6/7
Arguably the best-looking Blade ever and certainly the best 1000cc version, the RR-6/7 has a lot of love to give.
Next year this beautiful Blad e turns 15, which makes it eligible for classic status – we say get in there now! So, ostensibly the RR-6/7 versionn of the mighty Honda Fireblade was a mere updatee, but the changes were more than skin deep.
This was the second generation oof the ‘full litre’ CBR1000RR which debuted in 20004, and while a cursory look makes you think it’s the same, the double-take reveals all-new bodywo rk to make the bike look sharper, leaner, lither…
In the motor, 450g lighter cams, re-shaped combustion chamber (more compreession from 11.9 to 12.2:1), new shaped intake portss and bigger exhaust ports helped shift the redlinne by 550rpm to 12,200rpm. The under-seat exhausst was altered, too. Power was supposedly the same or around three horses up to anything from 170-1733bhp, depending on whose spiel you believed. Either way, in the real world and at the back wheel we werre talking around 150-155bhp.
The 2004/5 Blade tipped the scaales at 179 kilos and Honda said they’d shaved a furrther three kilos off that for the RR-6. Larger diametter (but thinner) brake discs meant that it stopped bbetter for less weight, too. With a slightly lowered gearing and two mm less trail, the bike got off the line better and (according to Leon Haslam) that traail change could be felt in better turn-in.
Honda did it in great, crisp colou rways: ‘Iron Nail Silver’, a butch black, the red/ blackk, a saucy tricolour scheme and a Repsol repli ca.
An RR-6/7 is a good choice as a rideable r classic because the bike was enough of a le eap ahead of the previous version and it looked bette er, too. Bookended by the (flabby in compa rison) RR4/5 and the bulbously ugly RR- 8, in litre- cla ass Blade terms it’s never been bettered aesthetica lly.
It even won a World Superbike Championship C in the hands of our own James Tosela and in 2007 and two back-to-back British Superbike titles with Ryuichi Kiyonari in 06-07.
As new it came in at £8839. On the used market people know that these models are great bikes, so – while you can find a high-mile r at under £4000 and lower-milers near £6000 – you’d be best served checking the small pr rint as to how well the bike’s been looke ed after and what the service history is lik ke. You won’t be
disappointed.