CBR 1000RR FireBlade is the best seller among domestic 1000cc super sports bikes in Japan. It provides over 100ps for the first-ever in the history after the voluntary self-restraints of horse power was lifted. You cannot resist the temptation to try it.

The CBR truly betrayed us, of course in a good way. What we want to call the CBR is actually not a “Super Sport” which Honda put their prestige on the line. We would rather call it “Gentle Sport” according to the specification.

Our editor, Nakamura was accompanied with the test drive on a regular road in Japan. He rides his mini bike and sport model on the circuit, but is a typical bike fan who enjoys riding on winding road. He said he would like to ride with me to see the difference since we are not in the same generation and we also have different carriers.

“It got smaller, first of all. Even the difference in the size is a few millimeters, it seems smaller since how it curves and the balance of the weight have been changed.” (Nakamura)

The handlebar is positioned this side and the foot pegs are forwarded to offer a better riding position. It does not have a center-up exhaust any more, and the position of the mass is centralized so there is no wonder it feels lighter than it is supposed to be.

However, the engine is powerless at the first 2000-3000rpm. It does not rotate quick enough when I open the throttle. Honestly, I am not entirely satisfied.

“But it might not be that bad when I need to open or close the throttle in case of traffic congestion. It does not start up aggressively. I can feel at ease. It feels like 118ps when the rpm goes up over 6000.

CBR shows its real power when it is over 6000rpm. It stops increasing at around 12000rpm, but that is CBR’s real exertion. It feels so good when I feel the power increased and it picks up the speed along with it. (Photos: Hideaku Togashi, Writer: Shunji Yashiro)

The front cowl is short-nosed to show off the new design. The slant part is now close to center of the body and the body has multi reflector head lights on it. Blinkers andrunning lights are located in front of the rear mirrors.The newly designed engine aims to increase the power and reduce weight. The bore is enlarged by 1mm to have 999cc of the displacement and reduce the weight down by 2.5kg. It provides 118ps out-put. CBR 1000RR FireBlade is the only model in Japan which could achieve it after the voluntary self-restraints of horse power was lifted. The front brake which has φ320mm and 4 piston radial mount calipers works a little bit too good. (Yashiro) The front fork is adjustable. You can adjust rebound / compression dumping force steplessly.Right/Left swing arms and the center part have different elaborated design to prevent the interference between the exhaust and other parts. The rear suspension has Honda’s unique Unit Pro-Link® system which does not require a top frame mount for the shock.

It feels like the body is down-sized, and offers a very good steering ability. The suspension ‘s outstanding mobility brings pitching at the front and the end of the body, and it leads to smooth turning.

However, when you accelerate the speed, it seems like the front Fork “sinks in” too quickly , so the front wheel and the rear wheel are not turning together. Ordinary, the front suspension needs to be set up properly, and I think this is a good thing that people felt the necessity of adjusting their suspensions themselves. I used to feel like there is no need to set the suspension up myself since the stock condition was good enough to make it work properly. Those who want to ride at high speed tend to have experience and know what to do to have what they want, so they can customize their bike with the adjustable functions which come with it.

We rode on a winding road for 2-3 hours, and we to felt about the quality of CBR. Very tolerant machine, whoever could ride on it. I’m still bit concerned that it does not have that much power when it is in the range of regular rotation. But there is a sequel to the story about the power of CBR. Nakamura told me that he rode this CBR on a circuit.

“I did not feel the powerlessness of the middle rotation at all! I didn’t have any doubt like, “Wow! This is great, but who on earth would ride this?? I did not feel like it at all.

Gentle sport for everybody. This is the CBR. (Photos: Hideaku Togashi, Writer: Shunji Yashiro)

Emblems of CBR are made with 3D metal. They are not stickers or done with paint. You can see that they are focusing to manufactures high quality products, not volume. They are available in White/Black, Red/Black, Silver/Black and Tri-Color will be added at a later date.The meter is greatly down-seized. The displays shows a dual trip meter, a odd meter, a water thermometer, a low fuel indicator, an instantaneous fuel consumption indicator, an interval fuel consumption indicator, and a shift up indicator which you can set up yourself.A center up exhaust is eliminated and it has a single exhaust on the right side only. It has a built-in “Chamber-like-box”, and features an ECU unit, an exhaust valve for a servo-motor. It also has a catalyzer for exhaust control.Accesorries of the new CBR will be sold from Honda Access and HMJ at the same time. The items shown in the image are a screen which is 40mm higher than normal, a tank bag, a tail bag, and a comfort seat for a long ride.

Original Source [Autoby] (*Japanese)

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