Roadtesting the new Honda Fireblade: Honda broke the mould back in 1992 when it unleashed the first Fireblade on an unsuspecting public. It was solely sports focused with a blindingly quick power plant and chassis to match.
The Fireblade was an instant hit and, with constant updating and refinement over the following years, managed to remain a serious contender. Over the past few years in its 954cc guise, the bike had evolved into probably the best supersports bike around. It offered a level of usability and control, coupled with excellent power delivery and Honda's legendary build quality, for both road and track use.
However, time moves on and with stiff competition in the supersports sector "the Blade" was due for another overhaul. Amid industry speculation on a name change, mainly due to the retirement of original designer Tadao Baba and its suggested links to Honda's MotoGP bike the RC211V, Honda unveiled the all new Fireblade in Arizona last year and it is "all new".
Many people are going to try and compare this bike to the previous models and rightly so, but this is a totally redesigned bike in every way. To be fair it should be judged on it's own merits and against the current crop of supersports machines being released on our shores this year.
We have been fortunate in being allowed to road test one of only two machines currently in the country and to say that we were salivating at the mouth at the prospect of this endeavour is an understatement. Could it possibly live up to the hype and the venerable name of "Fireblade" on the road at least?
From a purely aesthetic point of view the bike is beautiful. We had the two-tone red and black version and it is quite the head turner. Having ridden the CBR600RR last year we expected the bike to be tiny but it has the solid feel of the previous Blades especially at the tank.
The seating position is quite similar also but the bars seemed lower and the foot pegs felt slightly up and further back. This definitely made for a more race bred feel and although not uncomfortable it does induce the usual sportsbike wrist twinge after an hour or so. Pillions are treated to a slip of padding and a warm bottom from the nicely placed underseat exhaust. Obviously there is no underseat storage.
The screen was more then adequate for our testers 5ft 7" frame and kept the wind off at all legal speeds. The mirrors do a reasonable job and earn their keep. Build quality seems to be excellent but, truthfully, only time will tell.
The motor is a liquid-cooled 998cc in-line 16-valve DOHC four and it's silky smooth. Drive through each of the gears feels very linear with no dips and it is very quick. It's so smooth in fact you'd cruise quite comfortably at stupidly illegal speeds and not even know your doing it.
The front end never felt light under heavy acceleration although we're sure it could be lifted with some effort but this is a bike designed to keep itself on the road. We found that town riding, for what its worth, can be tiring on your clutch hand as it's used quite a lot. First gear takes a little bit of work and can be a bit jumpy sitting in traffic.
The engine heats up quite quickly but the fan kicks in to keep the motor cool. The 43mm inverted fully adjustable front forks and Unit Pro-link rear monoshock provide excellent and proven (in the CBR600RR) ride quality and again make the bike so easy to handle.
Some might say because of the sheer ease of use it lacks character but for us it made the ride more enjoyable because you never felt it could get away from you. Don't be mistaken though; this is one very quick bike and will catch out the unwary. We were also very impressed with the brakes. Confidence was at an all time high even in the wet with stopping power progressive and precise.
The Pirelli Diablo Corsa tyres that were on our test bike provided fabulous grip at any angle of lean and added to the package as a whole.
All in all this is one fantastic machine, as it should be. We were impressed.
Does it deserve the name of Fireblade? We think so. It's certainly a top class machine worthy of respect and admiration. Whether it will stand up to the competition remains to be seen but it's certainly a major challenger for the top spot.
Last week's bike review gave a wrong phone number for Bernard Brookes of Southport, Lancashire, who sells the Ural M11 military combination bikes. The correct number is 0044 170 450 0220