Australian Road Rider — August 2017

STORY: PAUL McCANN

PHOTOS: FURPHY MEDIA

H

ave you ever been “that guy”? You

know the one I’m talking about —

the guy who stands out from the

crowd for all the wrong reasons.

Perhaps you downed a few too many ales at a

work party or dropped the F-bomb at a kid’s

birthday just as the music stopped. Or maybe

you just got caught with your pants down

(we’ve all been there). Well, Honda’s CBR1000RR

Fireblade was very close to becoming “that

guy” in the superbike class.

Street-legal superbikes are peaking at the

moment and any model that doesn’t have

the full gamut of electronic rider aids simply

gets le for dead ... or dacked in this case. For

consumers, it’s bliss. We’re reaping the benefi ts

of millions spent on race engineering and

development as manufacturers try to keep

pace with the constantly moving goal posts of

MotoGP and WSBK, but for the marques it’s a

tough pill to swallow. And there’s also the ever-

tightening European emissions regulations to

contend with.

Just a few issues back we saw Suzuki pull

out all stops to resurrect its ageing GSX-R1000

with a fresh breath of variable valve timing

to meet Euro 4 head on. It certainly needed

it, but this unveiling put Honda squarely

in the spotlight as the sole remaining

superbike without a comprehensive suite of

electronic rider aids. It’s been on autopilot

since delivering the lean, mean Fireblade of

2008, which was the ninth version of a model

r The hero in the Honda range now resembles a 600cc supersport with its slimmer and more aggressive styling.

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