The 08 Honda CBR 1000 RR and Sport Bikes in general - my experience

I wrote this article not only to talk about the 08 Fireblade, but a little about sport motorcycles in general, their advantages and disadvantages relating to other bikes. The lure of sport bikes is tremendous especially for young and inexperienced riders. They are beautiful bikes, and what they offer is all easily translated in numbers (hp, 0-60 times, top-speeds, circuit lap-times, etc) and visible performance on the races, on TV. These features, however, are only a part of the riding experience. I've bought the 08 Fireblade around February 2008, without ever having tried a 1000cc (1k) sport bike so this is what I think about it and sport bikes in general:

Regarding the looks, the 08 CBR 1000 RR aka 08 Fireblade has a difficult look. It’s difficult to like it especially at first sight. The nose of the bike looks like it was “punched in” like some say (a change that was made to improve the high speed cornering related to aerodynamics). But as you spend time with it and you examine the details you’ll probably slowly start getting used to it and possibly even end up loving it. When I look at other sport bikes now I find they are too pointy and have exaggerated angles, as the lines on the 08 Fireblade are very subtle and almost classic like. It’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing heheh.

The Fireblade is, as all sport bikes, a machine built almost exclusively for performance, speed and maneuvering. As a result, comforts that come standard with even the cheapest of bikes are almost nonexistent on this one: There is no support for luggage racks for example. It’s not that it would be more expensive to build these bikes with these supports. It’s just that the main purpose of these bikes is circuit performance and, anything that gets in the way of that, was cut off the bike to shave weight and improve aerodynamics. So if you plan to carry heavy stuff around on a daily basis you should consider installing one of those after-market bag systems like the “Ventura system” (This kind of system is very good in the way it holds lots of stuff and a great deal of weight) or other more simpler options like the Kriega rucksacks or even the Honda optional tail-bag, though there's always the problem you can't leave these soft luggage systems unattended on the bike, like you would if you were dealing with typical hard-luggage. If it's light stuff it's more simple as you can just carry a backpack. If you don't see yourself adopting these solutions and want typical hard luggage I think sport bikes are maybe not the best choice. This was my experience at the time. In the meanwhile there might appear some kind of hard-luggage system that takes care of this problem.

I was also a bit frustrated when I found out it wasn’t going to be simple to mount a GPS device but I’ve already seen some pictures of a Garmin Zumo successfully mounted on this bike. If you usually ride with a pillion, you might also want to reconsider getting this bike (or type of bikes) unless he or she is relatively agile and can sit in a cramped position for the duration and doesn't mind sitting on a rock solid seat with no hand holders. Even the rider’s seat isn’t as plush as you’ll find on naked or touring bikes. You can get that one replaced though because there’s a factory “e-cushion” seat which really makes the difference or so I read. If you’re lucky, your girlfriend doesn’t mind the punishment of that back seat. But there’s another thing. The suspension of sport bikes is anything but soft. I mean, for track standards it is actually soft because they softened it up for the road as much as possible, but it’s still hard as rock, and you’ll definitely want to stay clear of potholes and such because it will hurt. If you live in a place where the roads are in really good conditions, you will love the suspension. If you live in a place where the road is full of patches, potholes and irregularities in general, then you might want to reconsider choosing a sport bike because it’s a little like riding one of those bicycles with no suspension: you feel every little thing on the ground. Your comfort in sport bikes is also affected in the riding position, which is very much advanced. If you have back problems it can be an issue especially after an hour riding it. It’s also hard on your wrists especially at the beginning because they are constantly on a position which is not ideal and they support the weight of your upper torso when braking (later, with experience, you’ll get used to deal with this by using your back muscles to support this weight and relief your wrists so it gets easier). Your neck also suffers because you are constantly “looking up” in this position. It’s always good to stop riding after one hour or even less so your body doesn’t get strained. If you’re on a long trip for example, you really need to pay attention to this as if you exceed a certain riding time without breaks, it doesn’t matter how long you rest afterwards because you’ll only recover with a good night’s sleep.

One thing I’ve noticed is that, if you exercise regularly, riding these bikes is a lot easier on your body than if you don’t. It really makes a huge difference. The gear ratios on this bike (and probably all 1k sport bikes) make it a pain to follow slow cars or riding in slow city traffic. Be ready to have an aching left hand in heavy traffic situations (even using all fingers on the clutch which is direct and not hydraulic) This is not the ideal bike to be used in those situations. Not this one, not any 1000cc sport bike. Sport 600cc’s differ in the way their lower power and different gearing allow for more ease at slow speeds but then they also lack the power at slow revs… Also, the 08 Fireblade comes with a stock exhaust that has a system which cuts a lot of exhaust noise while you’re below 4000 rpm. For me, this is great because I’m not a big fan of loud exhaust unless it’s an occasional vehicle.

Ok, now that I’ve warned the possible buyer about the comfort and practicality issues of this kind of motorcycles I’ll get on with the good stuff. Sport bikes offer handling like nothing else, and the first time I rode one I was leaning down for a turn in the same way I did with all the other bikes I rode before but I got a scare because I was turning way too much and almost hit a car on the lane to the right. What I noticed right away is that it takes half the effort to turn these bikes than the effort you have to put in turning bikes of similar weight. This is because sport bikes have a low center of gravity. The result is, you can charge like a lunatic to a corner and, at the last second, start braking smoothly and it will turn very easily with “scalpel-like” precision and control, without any complaints (you place the bike where you want in the turn with little effort). It is truly exhilarating to ride it hard when the situation calls for it (and allows it). Also, like many of its type, is very very stable: at speeds, cornering, accelerating and braking, it never shakes or stuff like that. The main sport bikes are the 600cc and the 1000cc, and while the 600cc are lighter and more agile, they lack power in the low rpm and so, to ride them fast you have to rev them considerably, and that’s where the 1000cc come in: they have power all over the rev meter, so every little input on the throttle will translate in a surge of power (a smooth one in the low rpm's) to the rear wheel , but they’re heavier. This is where the 08 Fireblade plays some cards. It is said it is so small and light, it almost feels like a 600cc on steroids. I didn’t actually feel this because I never rode another sport 1000cc, only a 600cc (a Honda CBR 600 F Sport) but I can say there isn’t too much weight difference between the two. This difference is especially noticeable when you’re man handling the bikes. Because the 1k sport bikes are so powerful all over the revs, the tires (namely the rear tire) have to be in very good condition because worn out rear tires will slide very easily under acceleration and the bike will fishtail. Also watch out for gravel, dirt and water on the road when accelerating even with good tires.

The dealer folks used to scare me with horror stories about the 1000cc sport bikes on which many young guys get killed these days. I even talked to a guy at the dealer shop whose friend was lost in an accident on a brand new Fireblade some years ago. They advised me to get used to a 600cc for some time and, only then, moving on to the 1000cc but having tried my friend’s 600cc for some months was enough to experience the 600cc.

You see, whenever you’re riding a 600cc around town or even on the motorway, if you’re riding on low rpm's, (this is bound to happen because you don’t always want to hear the sound of an F1 engine while you’re cruising and you sometimes want to have a smooth ride and save gas) and you suddenly need to accelerate, the bike practically doesn't move, and that can be inconvenient in some situations.

Now that I think of it, I consider the 600cc sport bikes more dangerous bikes than the 1k because they only accelerate decently at high revs, where all bikes are very nervous and sudden, and where it’s much easier to slide the rear wheel under acceleration or lock it while downshifting (which happened to me countless times on the 600 F) and because these 600cc usually don’t come with slipper clutches (which would prevent the rear wheel from locking while downshifting) they really require a smooth and precise input under penalty of crashing. Edit > This, together with their F1 style rpm range, does make the 600cc more adrenalin packed to ride. The 1k sport bike, on the other hand, will put a smile in the face of the ones who prefer absolute and omnipresent power with the least fuss. < edit.

The 1K sport bikes are much more complete bikes than the 600 in many aspects and the price difference (If you're choosing between the two) is worth it in my opinion. Also, I really consider sport bikes to be safer than other bikes because they handle so much better and have the power and braking power to get out of situations. But this is only true if you don’t adjust your carelessness to what the bike can take and if you ride responsibly.

Edit > If you're an experienced rider you'll probably want to skip this entire paragraph: I think it would be irresponsible of me not to emphasize how difficult it is for someone new to motorcycles to be careful or responsible enough on a sport bike, after passing the initial stage of fear and caution (some riders are actually very careful even past that stage, but not most riders, especially not sport bike fans). When you're new to motorcycling there are a lot of dangers on the road that you're still to meet. And it takes time, experience, to progressively adapt your riding to these dangers. At the beginning, you are especially vulnerable because you're prone to make critical mistakes either by dangerous maneuvers, excess of acceleration or by lack of awareness of possible dangers on the road. Put that together with a very fast bike and you've got a recipe for a serious accident which will probably result in you getting seriously injured or killed. This is a limited list of stuff that is going to happen in your riding experience: oncoming vehicles including fast bikes cutting the turn or completely in your lane (while dodging or passing another vehicle for example, or just simply driving recklessly); someone swerving a car for whatever reason getting in your way right when you're about to pass them; someone talking on a cellphone and passing a red light crossing in front of you; someone entering your lane fast without looking; dirt, oil, water, bumps, big pot holes, manholes without covers, trees, children or a dead animal right in the middle of a turn, and many more. These are all things that happen frequently. Almost all have happened to me, and more than half of them several times already, luckily I wasn't going too fast and I was able to dodge them. Many of these things are going to happen to you on your riding experience, probably when you least expect them. It's just a matter of time as every seasoned rider knows. Motorcycles are especially vulnerable in the rain. Road lines or vegetable matter diluted in the water for example, is all it takes for a motorcycle to slide off in a turn and be ran over by oncoming vehicles. To be truly prepared for a sport bike, one needs first hand experience to really open one's eyes to these dangers. Until you are sure you genuinely understand the reality of the dangers on the road and weigh every risk factor before you roll the throttle in any given situation. Until you expect the unexpected, and you count not only on the dangers of your own riding (like if you were on a track), but also on external dangers, then you better play safe and get a bike that's moderately powered to cushion the consequences of your mistakes. In most cases, less speed equates to bigger chances of surviving intact. You can still get in a lot of tight-spots with a 56hp CBF 500 (which is a typical example of a beginner's bike) if you're not careful enough. This is not about sport bikes being difficult to ride. Although uncomfortable and, sometimes, downright painful, they are actually easier to ride and respond better than other bikes when thrown around. Due to their extreme handling, stability and more advanced components (like rigid lightweight frames, advanced suspension, better brakes, steering damping, better tires, etc) they are more forgiving than most bikes. They had to be more forgiving, reaching speeds like that, except that, the speed they allow for, is all but forgiving. The problem here is excessive confidence coupled to lack of experience. Continuing with the article. < edit.

The first thing I noticed with a 1000cc was the power was all over the rpm range. From the moment you engage first gear, you gently accelerate and the bike will show its immense power, although the best part (or scary part for me heheh) is still at the end of the rev meter nearing 11000rpm (I’ve rarely been there). That’s when you really have to hold on to the bike. Let’s just say, it has more power than you probably wanted when you got it but this power only comes out when you tell it to. One of the qualities which were attributed to the Fireblade was the smooth power delivery. I couldn’t check this myself since I don’t have experience with other 1000cc but it works for me. Unlike its predecessor, it has a slipper clutch, so you can relax while downshifting and you can choose whether to blip the throttle or just to make a smooth downshift. It’s always more efficient to blip the throttle though, especially if you’re on a track. edit > Note that if you're riding in a relaxed way, with cruising speeds and light braking, you really don't need to blip the throttle on this bike < edit. The brakes work very well. I only use one finger on the brake and it's all it's needed. You must exercise caution using the rear brake though (I think this applies to all bikes without abs). It is set up in a way that makes it harder for you to lock the wheel because it requires a little effort, but my recommendation in an emergency braking is to leave the rear brake alone because, although in controlled conditions you would brake better also using the rear brake, in an emergency situation, you usually have an instinctive reaction and you'll very likely step on it too hard and instantly lock the rear wheel and crash. To make this even worse, when you're braking hard, the weight of the bike is transfered to the front leaving the rear very light (too light) and the engine braking itself can be enough to lock the rear wheel (not so much on this bike because it has a slipper clutch but even so), so no rear braking upon surprises. To sum up, the bike has a very smooth power delivery and also smooth and stable braking (the 09 Fireblade even has a sport ABS system that automatically brakes the best possible in each situation (including rain and surprises), which I would love to have in my bike, but I’ve contacted Honda and they say the procedure would be too expensive.

The bike is, as expected, tremendously fast. It makes any road look like it only has turns because you’re going through the straights so fast. It demands very watchful eyes and concentration because it feels like it takes less time to accelerate than to brake. The good thing is, because it has the power in the low rpm's, it encourages a softer, less frantic riding (unlike the 600cc). The top speed of sport 600 bikes is around 161/ 170 mph (259 to 274 km/h) and they’re slow to reach that final speed, and the top speed of 1000cc sport bikes is around 186mph (300 km/h). This makes it very natural for the Fireblade to cruise at insane speeds on the highway. It’s even very quick and easy to reach speeds like 155mph without realizing you’re going so fast, the good thing is it’s also very easy and fast to return to lower speeds when you start seeing cars for example. It’s highly advisable to keep an eye on the speedo because you really don’t feel high speeds on these 1000cc bikes; you just feel the point when you’re starting to go faster than 60mph but after that it’s a little difficult to tell. It’s very advisable to start decelerating and/ or braking with a good safety margin when you see traffic up ahead, because of this. Just take your earplugs because the wind will leave your head buzzing in the end. One thing you can do is get the optional higher windscreen (there’s a clear one and a tinted one) and it really makes a difference.There are even better after-market options (like Puig for example) that offer better visibility with less optical distortion. It’s not going to eliminate the wind completely (far from it) but it really helps. And be ready to clean the mosquitoes out of your helmet (you really have to have a good full face helmet that's well fitted and has a dense liner because of the wind speed) and your bike at the end.

One of the good things about the Fireblade is it has an onboard computer that tells you the instant and average fuel consumption and, also, the spent fuel. This is really great as it gives you a real option to choose your type of riding. You’ll find that the fuel spent depends completely on the way you use the throttle. An example: If you’re going 50 mph (80km/h) you’ll be doing around 47mpg (5L/100km), if you’re going 124mph (200 km/h), you’ll be doing around 27.67 mpg (8,5L /100km), if you’re going full speed, which is around 186mph (300 km/h) you’ll be doing around 17.42 mpg (13.5L/ 100km). When the fuel reserve activates, you have 0.79 gallons (3 liters) (almost sure) left to get to a gas station, and an additional "spent fuel" indicator will come up and count up from zero so you know how much fuel you have spent since the reserve was activated. But I found out it’s very easy to make an average of around 39.2 mpg (6L/100km) if you ride the bike in a relaxed way (it announces an average of 47mpg (5 L/100km) in the onboard computer but I’m not convinced . I’ll have to make the math one of these days. So it’s a very economical bike although it’s a serious powerhouse.

Regarding maintenance, I don’t do the maintenance myself but it has been relatively cheap. I even broke one of the mirrors which has the turn-signal incorporated and it was surprisingly cheap to replace the whole part. But I’ll be more knowledgeable in this department in a few years. Until then I will trust what is said about Honda’s reliability heheh.

To sum it all up, the 08 Fireblade is not a great looking bike, at least at first sight, but you grow fond of its different design. It’s an uncomfortable bike (as with all sport bikes) and definitely not recommended for bad roads, slow traffic situations; or for people who have body posture issues. (It helps to exercise to improve the comfort though). It’s not an ideal bike to tour because it doesn’t carry hard-luggage (you have to get an aftermarket bag type luggage system) and also because it doesn’t offer an acceptable level of comfort needed for long travelling distances. After like 60 miles of riding in normal traffic (or just less than 10 miles in heavy/ slow traffic) or one hour of normal riding on it, you’re totaled. Riding it slow is excruciating, and the wind protection is scarce. This bike is for the ones who ride for the adrenalin and want to feel their heart throbbing and that ride for fun or for sport. It's especially recommended for the ones who plan on frequent track-days. Outside the track, it's never completely in its element and it painfully reminds you about it each time you ride into a less perfect road or traffic situation. Like all sport bikes, the 08 Fireblade handles brilliantly. It’s a 1000cc but it feels like "a 600cc with a nitrous oxide system". It’s very powerful though it can be very cheap to feed. But it's definitely not for everyone.... If you're not willing to sacrifice your riding comfort, your pillion, a decent luggage capacity, capability to ride or cruise slowly, and versatility; if you're not willing to have a limited choice of routes based on the quality of the asphalt, then you're better off with a more civilized motorcycle (although it's said the fireblade is the most civilized of the 1k sport bikes) Unluckily for me, when I bought this bike, I didn’t consider these handicaps very well. It turns out what I needed was a different type of bike. A sport-touring model probably...

EDIT: I've recently test rode the new Honda VFR 1200 and, to put it simply, it's a much better bike for the road than the fireblade and without loosing any adrenaline or significant power (on the road). First thing I noticed is the bike feels almost as light as the fireblade! I don't know where all the announced weight went, really :). You only really feel it when cornering, so you have to slow down considerably more before a turn, but you'll recover the previous speed very quickly. On the track, the fireblade is a better bike because it corners better and it has more top end power, and all the road going issues are inexistent there, but that's only on the track. The new VFR is, like they say, a road-sport bike (it feels so light, it really couldn't be called a sport-touring bike.): It has all the power you need without sacrificing all the comfort and convenience a bike should have on the road. It has plush seats, a much more upright riding position and a much more comfortable suspension (these three alone make a huge difference in the ride quality) It also has hard-luggage supports, and it's best acceleration is tuned to take advantage of road speeds (the power is where it's most needed for road use) It's much easier to accelerate fast from a standstill with it's wonderful V4 engine. Unless you're in racing mode, revving the engine and all, you'll actually find it easier to accelerate faster from a traffic light with the VFR than with the Blade. But It's also a very easy and enjoyable bike to cruise slowly with, unlike the Fireblade or other supersport bikes. So, unless you're definitely going to use your bike on a track very frequently, take my advice: If you're thinking about getting the blade, definitely test ride the VFR1200 first! In my limited experience, It's the best fast bike I've ever ridden on the road, by far.