’97 CBR900RR-V

PLEASED the Blade was still outperforming its nearest rival – Yamaha’s Thunderace – Honda again took a step back for a year.

The only change to the 1997 bike, aside from paint updates, was an aluminium silencer that replaced the steel one from the year before. As a result, weight dropped 1kg (2.2lb) to a new low of 183kg (403lb).

Though the bike was still the most desirable in its class, market conditions were rapidly changing.

Would-be owners in their 20s were beginning to get silly insurance quotes, meaning born-again riders became the target of manufacturers’ marketing campaigns instead.

Official Honda UK-approved dealers also faced competition from the new phenomenon known as parallel importers.

They sourced bikes directly from abroad, brought them into the UK themselves, then sold them at knock-down prices – something they were able to do because the profits of the middleman didn’t exist.

The price of a new Blade dropped by up to £2000 overnight. Of course, buying a parallel meant you had to be wary of inadvertently getting a machine from a horsepower-capped country, and you invariably ended up with a kph instead of an mph speedo. The colours might have varied slightly, too, but the downsides were few compared to the substantial saving.

Honda quickly brought legal action against the parallel dealers and an agreement was reached a couple of years later, behind closed doors, whereby the dealers consented only to import bikes from Europe.

Secondhand prices vary from £3200-£3900.