Test drive HondaCBR 1000 RR Fireblade
Despite the all-out war between manufacturers for every additional “hp,” Honda remained true to its own philosophy. So: no matter how radical and powerful the company’s sportbike may be, it must always remain friendly to its owner.
Long before my hard journalistic fate brought me to Qatar, to the Losail track, where Honda presented its vision of the company’s flagship sportbike for 2008, spy shots of a new product with a rather, let’s say, peculiar design appeared on the Internet. Thank God, the motorcycle made a much more pleasant impression “live” than its pictures.
Although, in general, the company’s designers did not give up on their avant-garde ideas - they are brave people, because by nature, even the consumer of a sportbike is conservative to one degree or another, and just like that, right away, they may not accept something radical. And this is exactly how I would probably characterize the design of the 2008 Honda CBR 1000RR. However, the more (even negative) discussions and responses about a new design, the more it eventually “hooks” the public. Which, in the end, only means that the model was a success...
Losail
Distinctive features of the track in Qatar are very long straights and high-speed turns. This is one of the fastest tracks in Moto GP, if not the fastest. Fortunately, I already had a chance to visit here last year, at the presentation of the Yamaha YZF-R1, which made piloting somewhat easier and allowed me to focus not so much on the track itself, but on the motorcycle. And here I am again, but this time testing Honda, which is quite symbolic, because whatever one may say, in essence, these are two direct competitors.
How time changes not only people, but also motorcycles! When Honda introduced the first generation Fireblade in 1992, it was a sensation, a real breakthrough. Moreover, it was not a matter of absolute power, but rather its relationship with weight and compact chassis, which ultimately allowed the model to reign supreme on the market for a very long (by sportbike standards) six years. And it was Yamaha, with its YZF-R1, who succeeded in dethroning the model, which again is very symbolic. But this is true, by the way...
In its latest incarnation, the CBR 1000RR, alas, will no longer be able to blow up the motorcycle world with unprecedented characteristics or something that competitors were not aware of. Moreover, from some angles the model generally gives the impression of being a little damp, reminiscent of a prototype.
I suspect that design will be the main topic of discussion for the next year and a half. And then, as usual, “people” will calm down and get used to it. But there are things where the company has undoubtedly succeeded. In particular, I am referring to the second generation electronically adjustable steering damper.
In general, the design of the 2008 CBR 1000RR is on some other level, and the model looks especially advantageous in cherry color (see the title of the article). Obviously, this is why the organizers provided motorcycles for the test exclusively with this color scheme. There were also advertisers here. As a result, the banal “cherry” turned into Candy Glory Red. The guys obviously didn’t watch German films of a certain kind, otherwise we would hardly have seen a title that amused the cynical journalistic public so much, which also caused a lot of obscene comments. Moreover, for the most reckless colleagues, the process was also accompanied by a corresponding soundtrack. However, you can talk about design for as long as you can talk about women, that is, almost endlessly...
No debauchery!
…Besides the endless straights, the Losail track is famous for the sand it gets in some of the corners. So at first I was a little cautious. And there were reasons for that. The first half of the test involved “civilian” suspension settings and “civilian” Bridgestone BT17. For the second part of the test, the organizers prepared uncompromising BT002 and racing suspension adjustments.
This was done quite deliberately, because according to information from Honda, the latest model of the famous Fireblade compares favorably with its competitors in that it can feel wonderful not only on the track, but also during normal city use. The company even offers a number of frankly touring accessories, such as a pannier for the passenger seat or a small bag for the gas tank. I don’t know what, exactly, such a friendly attitude towards the pilot consists of, I never understood. Either I’ve somewhat lost my sense of smell over the winter and gained extra pounds, or my professional instinct doesn’t deceive me - riding the 2008 CBR 1000RR seemed to me no more comfortable than, say, a Yamaha YZF-R1, and certainly less comfortable than on the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K7, where, just for a second, the driver’s footrests have three adjustment positions! Honda, alas, does not offer such “debauchery”, just as it does not offer a gear indicator. But the visibility in the mirrors can be envied by other, “purebred” city motorcycles. Yes, and under the tiny tail blotch called the passenger seat, oddly enough, there was a little free space. True, you shouldn’t delude yourself too much, if you have something larger than an ordinary wallet (I emphasize once again – an ordinary one), then you need to think about some additional containers.
As soon as it seemed to me that the rubber began to hold the motorcycle well, I began to get to know it very closely. What does this mean? Now I will try to explain. We need to look at things as soberly as possible - no matter how good a sportbike is on the track, on the Ukrainian market future buyers will have slightly different priorities, where performance on the track is unlikely to be in the top five most important advantages. Because we don’t have this track...
Theory of relativity
The second thing that, as a rule, interests domestic “liter buyers” is absolute power. Moreover, sad as it may be, such a ratio as “power/weight” does not bother anyone. And here the newest CBR 1000RR loses a little to its opponents.
However, this is where the fun begins. While my colleagues rushed past me at cosmic speed (obviously, a huge prize awaited them at the finish line, and I missed something at the press conference), I examined the engine for elasticity and ease of traction control. And you know what, at low and medium speeds this is, without a doubt, the undisputed leader among modern liter sportbikes. Enormous thrust at low and medium speeds, most likely corresponding to a volume of 1200 cm3 - bravo to the engineers responsible for the development of the power unit!
Sometimes it seemed that the throttle control was connected directly to the nerve endings sending impulses to the right hand (Lieutenant, keep quiet!). Moreover, purely to understand the elasticity, several obligatory wheelies in second gear did not require any additional clutch assistance (slipper, of course).
Neither the Yamaha YZF-R1, nor even my beloved Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K7 are capable of such tricks. True, above 10,000 rpm I would add a little more “health” to the engine. Subjectively: the competitors there are a little more powerful. If we assume that the Yamaha and Honda speedometers “screw up” by approximately the same amount, then at the end of the long straight the CBR 1000RR was about 10 km/h behind its opponent (292 km/h and 282 km/h, respectively). But, cleverly dodging in advance (this is my job) from the poisonous arrows of criticism regarding the dubious legality of such a comparison, I will once again emphasize that this is nothing more than a virtual assumption. What professional test pilots are interested in first of all, in our case falls into the sphere of interests of possible buyers of liter sportbikes only in third place (I mean handling).
It is in this category that I would unconditionally give the palm to the company’s newest model. This is by far the best handling Fireblade motorcycle ever produced in general, and Japanese-made liter sportbikes in particular.
In some places on the track where I needed to instantly reposition the machine to change the trajectory as quickly as possible, the CBR 1000RR did it with such unexpected ease that a couple of times I found the front wheel dangling in the air. Just at this moment it would have been nice to have a little more speed in the electronic brains of the steering damper, which frankly “hung” and allowed me to land with the steering wheel turned slightly out. Not the most pleasant experience, it must be noted! I am sure that in such a situation the “good old” Ohlins would have worked much better.
On the other hand, it would be he who would “stifle” such a lightning-fast reaction and the speed of changing trajectories. At times I even got the impression that the CBR 1000RR in this category could easily compete with absolutely any “six hundred”.
If we remember that in our homeland the most accessible karting track for everyday training is (at least at the moment - and only for residents of the capital), then it is simply impossible to wish for anything better. I am almost sure that in the coming season, as soon as I get my hands on a “live” motorcycle, I will easily be able to set my own lap time record on it (karting track, of course).
I would like to sing a separate eulogy to the brake system of the device. This is where the engineers gave it their all for a little less power than their competitors! Six-piston monoblock calipers worked so well that even the usually eternally dissatisfied Englishmen unconditionally recognized their highest efficiency. Perhaps this is the first time in my practice when I will not habitually bore that, they say, it would be nice to install reinforced hoses - they really are of no use here. For example, I have never managed not only to overheat the brakes, but also to simply approach this limit. Each time, before the next turn, it turned out that I had underestimated their effectiveness, and I had to roll the remaining meters shamefully slowly.
On the other hand, once I was a little greedy with the speed, I really delayed the braking, but... (here, according to the framework of the genre, there should be a heart-warming story about the miraculous salvation of the author at the last second solely thanks to his outstanding skill).
...So, realizing that at this speed I would end up anywhere but in a turn, I overdid it with braking and brought it (a bad thing - a simple one) to the point of blocking the front wheel. However, the process proceeded so predictably that I could only weakly state that it would still be a good idea to release the brake and turn it. Already at the very turn I thought that, in general, it was not worth braking so much...
And it shouldn’t have been any other way! Because, in fact, at that moment I was very far from the actual limits of the 2008 CBR 1000RR.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about the comfort of the suspension on normal roads - this was not included in the test program. All that remains is to state that in the combat mode of driving on the track, their work seemed to me quite adequate and did not require any intervention. Moreover, even in the civilian version of the settings, and even in the racing version, one could only find fault with oneself.
Obituary
I'm afraid that this particular headline option may be the most accurate for competitors. It’s not for nothing that Honda proudly bears the title of manufacturer No. 1, which the Japanese have successfully proven in the new Fireblade.
Yes, it cannot boast of the most powerful engine among its classmates, but the overall combination of qualities of the new product is a very serious weapon (a formidable katana), raised above the heads of competitors by the experienced hand of a ninja who has already killed more than one hundred enemies. I wouldn’t be surprised if in comparative tests of Western colleagues, who, as usual, will be able to do them a little earlier than us, the Honda CBR 1000RR will emerge victorious. In any case, all the prerequisites for this exist.
The motorcycle market is very quickly becoming structured and, in the struggle for buyers, is becoming more and more similar to the civilized Western one. Yamaha was the first on this path, but the gentlemen from Honda seem to have seriously taken up the challenge of catching up lost ground. And the newest CBR 1000RR will become a very serious weapon for them, even if its cherry version has such an ambiguous name. After all, there is also a black one, called Graphite Black. And for some of the competitors it may well become a death knell.
Text: Vladimir Zdorov
Photo: MotoReview
