HONDA CBR1000RR-R SP - FIREBLADE

So much has been written about Fireblades over the years and decades that still being able to ride and write about one - and be able to say that today's version is properly badass - makes me very happy.

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It lost its way sometime after 2010, when everyone else was moving the game on with fairly big steps. Yamaha went all 'big bang' with the R1, BMW dropped the S1000RR, Kawasaki came up with the new ZX-10R, Aprilia switched to the V4, and Ducati went mad and came up with the frameless Panigale 1199. They were very exciting times for the sector, and Honda chose to persist with polishing and tweaking its 2008 Fireblade right up until 2017.

The 2017 Fireblade still wasn't really a new bike as such, more of a major updated one with a 10bhp power increase and 14kg weight reduction, but the big talking point was its new electronics suite with a ride-by-wire throttle for the first time and a very crude five-axis-only IMU. The result was electronics which were crude at best, way off what the competition was doing, and at worst they were noted by some - me included - to be inconsistent and unpredictable. In many ways, the extra kick in power and huge diet that Honda put it on back then made for a really great bike. I ran one as my long-termer during my time at Performance Bikes Magazine and loved how it handled. It had really accurate steering, but the electronics ultimately took the shine off it. Big bloke, little bike... but it somehow works a treat. In 2020, along came the first all-new Fireblade from the ground up since 2008 and what a step change it was. By far the most extreme version of them all so far with wild horsepower, massively aggressive chassis, some aero and finally some modern electronics. The Fireblade rejoined the race to be the best and was ready to start winning races again after a long time in the wilderness.