Honda took a big step forward with the Fireblade in 2008, by launching a reworked 16-valve four featuring snubnosed bodywork and dramatically improved performance.
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A new, more over-square 999cc four- cylinder engine increased the Honda’s peak output to 178bhp with no loss of midrange; and a more rigid aluminium frame with racier steering geometry sharpened the handling of a bike that was also I8lb (8kg) lighter than its already agile predecessor.
That powerful and supremely agile Fireblade won many plaudits as the best, sweetest-handling super-sports bike of 2008, but it was the following year's further enhanced model that brought a genuine revelation.
Both the Fireblade flagship and Honda's smaller CBR600RR four gained the option of a new anti-lock brake system. Honda had been offering ABS for years, but this was the first system that was sophisticated enough to benefit even an expert rider on a racetrack.
Honda's Electronic Combined ABS not only prevented wheel lock, it also linked the front and rear brakes - and crucially it worked well enough to be universally praised. Inevitably there was price to pay both in weight - about 22lb (10kg) - and cost. But the system added an extra level of rider safety, allowing the Honda's braking power to be exploited even on slippery surfaces. Some purists resented the rider's loss of control, but the ABS-cquipped Fireblade was a sign of super-sports bikes to come.
The revamped Fireblade’s snub-nosed styling divided opinion but the bike's performance met with widespread approval, and the Repsol race-replica paintwork option added a suitably aggressive look. The ABS version of the Blade used unchanged Nissin radial monobloc front calipers.
Honda's sophisticated Combined ABS system linked front and rear brakes electronically. The system was useful even on a racetrack, notably in the way it allowed the rider to apply a small amount of both front and rear brakes, using the front brake lever, when the bike was leant far over in a turn.
Specification Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade (2009)
- Engine Liquid-cooled dohc 16-valve four
- Capacity 999cc (76 x 55.1mm)
- Maximum power 178bhp at 12,000rpm
- Transmission Six-speed, chain final drive
- Frame Aluminium twin spar
- Suspension Telescopic front; single shock rear with ABS
- Brakes Twin discs front; disc rear
- Weight 462lb (210kg) wet (ABS version)
- Top speed 186mph (299km/h)
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