Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade + £15,225 + 999cc inline four + 189bhp + 196kg + 16L tank + 832mm seat Tester: Simon Hargreaves, contributor
RUNNING-IN USED TO be a masochistic pleasure; 800 miles teetering on the verge of a splendid experience. But modern sportsbikes like Honda’s revamped 2017 Blade are so prodigiously talented they’re breaking speed limits barely off tickover. Even running-in can get you arrested. So as I head out to meet the rest of RIDE’S test fleet, reining the Honda in is hardly a struggle. Anyway, the handbook’s running-in guidelines aren’t specific: “In the first 300 miles avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration, hard braking and rapid down-shifts; ride conservatively.” OK, if you say so.
First impressions of the Blade – which, without underplaying Honda’s sterling engineering work, is fundamentally a lightweight, computerised version of the previous model – are it’s smaller, more powerful and more digital than ever. The size doesn’t put me off from a comfort perspective – sportsbikes are ergonomically sound because bodyweight is supported equally between feet, bum and hands, and the point is not to spend long fixed in one position anyway; we’re supposed to move about (if a sportsbike’s uncomfortable, it usually means it’s being riding too slowly). But the Blade’s minimal frontal area exposes head, elbows and legs to windblast – there’s literally nowhere to hide. I anticipate that trackdays or long rides will be tiring.
Besides, making things lighter just by making them smaller is a con. The tank has shrunk from 17.5 to 16 litres, so less fuel load is responsible for 10 per cent of of the Blade’s claimed kerb-weight loss. I’d rather have the fuel range back because it’s 50 per cent more annoying to fill up more often – doubly so because the new bike’s otherwise pretty TFT dash doesn’t have a fuel gauge.
I’ve yet to experiment with the engine settings and modes. The next few weeks will be for recalibrating my head to litre sportsbike performance after a few years’ pottering on adventure bikes and middleweights. You can’t rush these things. Well, not until they’re run-in.