2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade revealed

Honda’s new-for-2012 CBR1000RR Fireblade was officially shown to the world at simultaneous unveilings over the weekend, at the Imola round of WSB and Le Mans 24-Hour. Not surprisingly the bikes displayed turned out to be the same machine that MCN highlighted after details were released on a Hong-Kong Honda dealer’s website.

Official Honda press information underlined MCN’s details of the bike and these are:

• No traction control
• Revised upper fairing and headlights
• chin-type air spoiler located under the nose cone to prevent high-speed lift and improve stability
• C-ABS system tweaked to allow greater degree of rear brake application before the front brake activates
• New 12-spoke cast aluminium wheels
• New slim line tail section and mid-section fairing panels that incorporate ‘dual-layer’ panels to improve high-speed stability, reduce turbulence for rider comfort and speed up venting of engine heat
• New LCD instrument panel with four-way adjustable-to-read bar-graph tachometer, manual lap timer, gear shift warning lights, and the usual accompaniment of fuel use and warning lights
• Front forks are now Showa Big Piston Forks (BPF)
• Rear shock is an all-new ‘balance-free’ unit by Showa and shares the same build technology as used in the front BPF-system – compression and rebound adjustment is located on the same adjuster body

Although the new Fireblade puts out the same claimed 175.7bhp and 82.7ftlb of torque – the lowest output figures of the top five manufacturers – Honda has changed the fuel injection system to improve throttle control.

Honda claims the revision is particularly noticeable with 25% throttle opening, especially at low speeds and eliminates the slight on-off sensation felt with throttle use at low speed.

With all the detail changes comes a small penalty of an extra kilo on the kerb weight figure for the standard Blade (now 200kg) and C-ABS model (211kg).

Three colour schemes will be available for 2012 and each will carry a decal commemorating the anniversary of 20-years of Honda Fireblade production.

No prices for the new models has been announced but a Honda spokesperson claimed the prices will not raise significantly above the 2011 prices presently set at £11,175 for the standard bike, and £11,675 for the C-ABS model.

Deliveries of new models to UK dealers is earmarked for early 2012.