BLADE SHARPER THAN EVER
But is it too much for the road?
The all-new Fireblade is the most extreme version of the 28-year-old icon to date. Its main purpose in life is to win races and Honda aren’t messing about. Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at the headline numbers. The engine has gone all MotoGP with a massive 81mm bore and diddy 48.5mm stroke, which means it makes loads of power and revs like mad to 14,500rpm. A visit to a friendly local army base (prelockdown) with a disused runway reveals that its gear ratios are good for 114mph in first gear, 144mph in second and an indicated 187mph
in fifth. Then there’s the riding position. Compared to the previous Blade, the 2020 version has bars that are 17mm lower and pegs set 21mm higher and 43mm further back. It’s now such a focused bike that once upon a time, it might have been given Honda’s hallowed “RC” badge and taken its place alongside the RC30 and RC45, as the latest Honda race bike for the road.
The less said about the riding position, the better. It’s cramped which is OK so long as the road has plenty of corners and therefore chances to move about, but a brief motorway journey felt like purgatory after just a few minutes, especially for a tall rider like me.
Feed it some revs
Miles away from a racetrack the CBR1000RR-R SP might not be in its natural habitat on the road, but that doesn’t make it unfit for purpose. It’s true that if you try to ride it like a more conventional litre bike it doesn’t pull as hard at the lower end of its rev range and thanks to the wild first-to-third gearbox ratios, you need to use at least one gear lower than you might normally. Personally, I don’t mind that the new Fireblade needs a few more revs and a few more gear changes to make it shift; I like the interaction, but I’m sure plenty won’t agree.
Like every Fireblade since 2008 there’s a torque spike at 6000rpm when the exhaust flap opens and as before it’s still irritating, but after that the power just builds and revs faster the higher you go and makes a noise that can probably be heard miles away. Latest generation Blades aren’t quiet and this one is no different and that could be a problem at all but the noisiest of trackdays. This SP model sits on Öhlins Smart EC2.0 semi-active suspension, which I had in A2 mode (Sport by any other name) for my few days with it and only fiddled with the settings to see what difference they made. Honda have added a reset function to all the electronic interfaces, which means you can experiment to your heart’s content with all the suspension parameters via the switch gear, without even
‘Once upon a time it might have taken its place alongside the RC30 and RC45’
having to take your gloves off, safe in the knowledge that hitting reset restores the base maps.
Get set to experiment
Having the safety net of being able to put everything back to standard with one push of a button will give owners the confidence to experiment. Simple, helpful, brilliant.
The forks, in particular, are excellent and come into their own when braking over bumps. The first part of their stroke is smooth and supple, then if a bump comes along you can actually feel the damping subtly change its action and keep the front of the bike supported. There’s a road near to where I live that has constant corners and crests. It’s perfect for showing up any weaknesses in a bike’s fuelling and guaranteed to give a strong clue to just how refined any rider aids are. It’s all negotiated on a partial throttle, with neither throttle stop being touched for several miles just small movements enough to lift the bike out of one corner and transfer weight to get it to turn into the next.
The Fireblade has a completely new engine management system, from the ECU, to the six-axis Bosch IMU (replacing the previous Blade’s five-axis item), sensors and the software that makes all the decisions, and it shows. The fuel injection and throttle connection are as good as anything out there. While there’s no danger of bothering the (now more trackfocused) traction control on the road, the crests do trigger the anti-wheelie, but the abrupt cutand-release of the old bike’s system has been banished, which is great because blunt anti-wheelie can take all the gloss off a fun ride on a superbike, especially over crests. Now there’s a subtle cut from the electronics – a generous hold and gentle release that adds to the ride rather than taking away from it. But the new Fireblade is compromised as a road bike due to its lofty racetrack ambitions. The gearing, elongated power delivery and racy riding position don’t do it many favours and might make the bike’s character unrecognisable as a Fireblade, however, there are a lot of things about it that do make it a lot of fun to ride on the road and the chassis is the star of the show.
Chassis is pure Fireblade
It has a completely new frame with more vertical and torsional rigidly, for stability under hard acceleration and braking and less horizontal rigidity for feel at high lean angles. But the 2020 Blade still has the same chassis DNA that has been passed down through the generations and it turns and changes direction better than a litre bike has any right to. It’s light anyway (202kg, fully fuelled) but it feels lighter still, most likely due to having a fairly high centre of gravity, and a very generous 53% of its weight on its nose.
‘It’s compromised as a road bike due to its lofty race ambitions’
MotoGP inspiration
‘The wings create the same force as the one on the 2018 GP bike’
Honda make a lot of comparisons between their 2015 RC213V-S MotoGP replica and new Fireblade, including the geometry, but that’s a tiny bit misleading. The Blade moves it a long way from the old bike’s measurements with a higher centre of gravity for better agility and longer swingarm and overall wheelbase for stability. It’s closer to the RCV’s layout, but it isn’t exactly the same.
Not only is the new Blade
SP more track-focused than ever it’s pricier, too, but you get the full array of electronics and new colour dash, electronic Öhlins and Brembo Stylemas. You also get stacks of wings out front, which Honda claim generate the same amount of downforce as the ones on their 2018 MotoGP bike. There’s no way of ever knowing if that’s true, but on track they say it helps to control highspeed wheelies and keep things more stable under braking.
A £19,999 base model is also available, which still isn’t cheap. It’s basically the same bike with all the chassis, engine and electronics goodies, but has mechanically adjustable Showa suspension, Nissin brakes and you’ll have to do without a quickshifter or autoblipper.
It’s hard for me not to enjoy riding the roads on a bike that’s so manoeuvrable and makes such an epic noise above 6000rpm, especially when it’s got such high-quality suspension and fuel injection. However, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea due to the responsibility it puts on the rider to earn those smiles. However, as long as Haslam and Bautista are smiling in WSB, Honda will be happy.