Bike Trader

Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade 2008 review

28 January 2008
Reviews image Sharper looks, stronger performance and astoundingly responsive control. From its compact new proportions to its breathtaking response to rider input, everything about the 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade stakes out a new standard in motorcycle performance and design aesthetics.

This is a bike that will stand as a milestone in the history of litre-class supersports development, much as the original CBR900RR did when it fired the first shot in the high-performance revolution 16 years ago. A winner both on the street and on the track, the CBR900RR FireBlade set a blazing standard for big bike performance for an entire generation to come.

The hallmarks of Fireblade development have always been stronger, more manageable performance coupled with lighter weight in the pursuit of total control. Each succeeding generation of the CBR has seen it dominate its class with a combination of race-bred technologies and easy, effortless control that inspires confidence and exhilaration in all who ride it, whether strafing curvaceous back roads or dragging knees in road racing competition.

With such advanced features as its mass-centralised fuel tank, Unit-Pro-Link rear suspension, radial-mount front disc brakes and revolutionary Honda Electronic Steering Damper handed down from Honda’s famed RC211V MotoGP champion, it should come as no surprise that the CBR1000RR Fireblade has also been a strong contender in World and AMA Superbike racing since its 2004 debut, culminating in the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR capturing the 2007 World Superbike Championship crown in the capable hands of veteran rider James Toseland.

Representing the next leap in this tradition, the 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade features an even more compact, mid-displacement-sized form, phenomenally lighter weight in the design and manufacture of its frame, engine and chassis components, and innovative performance-enhancing developments like a new underslung exhaust system and new ‘assist slipper’ clutch that make it faster than ever, easier and more comfortable to develop your riding capabilities.

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