Honda CBR600RR
If the thought of an 11-grand 600 makes you feel a bit faint, then fear not – the used market is still buzzing with high-revving bargains
Honda CBR600RR 2003-2016 > £2750-£8000 >118bhp >196kg >599cc inline four
HONDA’S ORIGINAL MOTOGP replica. We take the bike for granted today but in 2003, the CBR600RR was a shocking and massively exciting change in direction for the beloved CBR dynasty. The friendly, useable CBR600F had mutated into an Rcv-styled, hard-edged, firm-seated, wrist-heavy, underseat-piped track weapon, with no sign of a practical centrestand or sympathetic pillion grabrail to be seen. The RR predated the 1000cc Fireblade and, in some ways, single-handedly set the course of supersports bikes for the following decade.
The CBR600RR fundamentally still used the same frame and engine even in its latest – and almost certainly final – form in 2016. But there are still plenty of detail differences between the years. The original model lasted for two years, before it gained upside-down forks and radially mounted front brakes in 2005. It also had new bodywork (not that the difference was obvious), gained a touch of midrange and shed a mighty 6kg. Despite there being no evident flab left to trim, another ‘all-new’ CBR600RR arrived for 2007 with even more weight cut off, a shorter wheelbase and a more compact frame. An optional C-ABS system was offered from 2009 – an anti-lock brake-by-wire system so smart that you couldn’t feel any pulsing through the lever, and designed to intervene late enough that you could use it on the racetrack. The only problem with the system was that it weighed the bike down by a whopping 10kg. The last model update came in 2013, which added a distinctive snub-nosed fairing, Big Piston Forks and new 12-spoke wheels.
Don’t get too bogged down by model specifics, though – condition and care is far more important. Evidence of track use isn’t a problem, but there’s a big difference between an owner doing occasional track evenings in between fastidious oil changes, and a knackered track hack. Check wheel rims for signs of frequent tyre changes, and inspect sump bolts and oil filler caps for tell-tale lockwire holes.