2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP Review | First Ride

Honda delves into its racing DNA, creating an all-new superbike that’s more MotoGP than not—yet more manageable than ever. Cycle World attends an exclusive test of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.

It’s a magical, almost surreal feeling to slipstream three-time world champion and grand prix icon Freddie Spencer aboard the 2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, the long-awaited redesign of Honda’s open-class superbike. But while tucked behind the bubble and letting the powerful inline-four rip toward redline across Losail International Circuit’s front straightaway in top gear, it somehow feels just right.

Honda’s history is deeply rooted in racing, and this bike exemplifies what the company has learned through years of handcrafting works machines. Sure, Big Red has created countless millions of more utilitarian motorcycles over decades because that’s what pays the bills. But Honda has never lost a sense of what it is: a company that has tirelessly tested itself and its technology in racing from the very beginning.

Which is what makes this motorcycle feel so pure. Everything about this Fireblade is built to strive for the perfect lap and reassert Honda’s domination in the World Superbike championship. It’s got all the right maximums, all the right minimums, and a heck of a lot of technology derived directly from MotoGP. It feels as if it was hand-built on the workbench right alongside the grand prix bikes. In fact, Honda says the performance benchmark for the new model was the $184,000 RC213V-S MotoGP replica racer of 2016. The difference is, it’s much easier to own a Fireblade, which is scheduled to be available stateside in June of 2020 in very limited numbers for $28,500 as a 2021 model.

What you get is a bike that Honda proclaims as the most racetrack-focused and powerful Fireblade ever created. In fact, the claimed 214 hp at 14,500 rpm and 443 pound curb weight for the Euro model (fully fueled and ready to ride) is said to net a 9.7-percent power-to-weight ratio improvement over the outgoing model and a whopping 79.5-percent gain compared to the original CBR900RR of ’92. When the Fireblade lands stateside, claimed peak output to suit US regulations will be 186 hp at 12,000 rpm.

I traveled to Doha, Qatar, as the exclusive American motojournalist attending the international press launch of the all-new Fireblade SP, sampling the Euro-spec machine in four 25-minute sessions at Losail International Circuit, site of the 2020 MotoGP season opener. If you had any doubt about Honda’s intent, consider the tires used at the launch: Pirelli staff was on hand looking after the Diablo Superbike (yes!) racing slicks fitted to our bikes.

Settling onto the thin, narrow seat, I found the Fireblade’s cockpit to have an authentic racebike feel. Engineers achieved a neat design via a solid aluminum triple clamp and keyless ignition (the CBR uses a proximity fob and ignition button located next to the dash), while a 5-inch, full-color TFT dashboard provides vital information—nothing more than the necessities focused on speed.

The ergonomic triangle has been made significantly more aggressive too. Footpeg position is raised by 21mm and pushed back by 43mm, creating a more athletic lower-body stance that I sincerely favor while hustling the CBR around the racetrack. The handlebars have been repositioned, too, but not to my liking. They’re now 17mm lower and angled much farther forward, motocross style. The result for me is excessive wrist pressure under heavy braking and a feeling of constantly using arm strength to “climb” back onto the bike during the Fireblade’s mighty acceleration. It was exhausting by day’s end, no matter how fit you are. Thankfully, it’s an easy aftermarket fix.

And there’s zero doubt the Euro-spec CBR possesses impressive acceleration and personality that we come to expect of a modern-day superbike, enhanced by a sophisticated ride-by-wire electronics package including nine levels of Honda Selectable Torque Control (otherwise known as traction control) and five Power Mode levels. I began in the most intrusive and least powerful settings, methodically toggling through each until settling on Power Mode 1 (the most direct/powerful) and HSTC 2 (9 being the most intrusive). I found this to be the system’s optimal setting to quickly and comfortably usher the Fireblade off the corner, without numbing the connection to the throttle.

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