2008 Honda Fireblade - Mossy Rides

Words/pics by Chris Moss/Double Red and

Honda

Racetracks are the only real place to test road-going superbikes these days. Their huge power and speed dictate that no other environment is sensible enough to sample them to the full in any sort of safety. That’s clearly what Honda thinks too, and the Losail MotoGP track was the venue chosen for the press to ride its new 2008 Fireblade.

Set in the middle of a desert, the superfast circuit lets you use a bike in a way that no public road ever can. Save the TT course, and only when it’s closed, the track is a perfect place to examine the ultimate performance of the Blade. I know some riders think they might be getting right to the edge of a bike’s full capability on their favourite roads. But believe me you simply don’t have the space and safety to go anywhere near that speed zone on the public highway.

At Losail, you can do 180mph or more down its long straight and up to 130-140mph round a fair few of its many corners. If your name is Jonathan Rea, Leon or Ron Haslam, Guy Martin or Cal Crutchlow (racers also present at the test,) then you’ll be able to go even faster. It’s important to put this into context because although the Honda is a street-legal bike that anyone with the necessary £9,300 can buy, it’s also more than capable enough of putting in some very impressive lap times at Losail. In real terms that means it can perform just a strongly as a fully fledged BSB bike could just a few years ago, and take you down to the shops with comfort and ease as well. And that’s nothing short of remarkable.

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Honda claims the new ‘Blade has been built to be not only better than the current model, but also to challenge for the honour of being the best superbike on the market. Honda has used the same engineering philosophy it applied when it built the original, all-conquering ‘Blade way back in 1992, and instead of just concentrating on sheer horsepower, has instead focused on power-to-weight ratio to allow the bike to deliver its speed. We’ve only got Honda’s word to rely on when it says it’s achieved that by making the Fireblade’s wet, and ready to ride weight significantly lower than the opposition’s, but there’s no doubt the bike can perform brilliantly on track. Only time will tell if it can lift the ‘best superbike you can buy’ trophy, but in the meantime there’s plenty to be had by having one.

There aren’t too many areas where the new bike is significantly superior to the old one, but overall it’s appreciably better and even easier to use at the limit. With fewer kilos to accelerate, steer and stop (Honda’s claiming it has reduced wet weight by four of them) there’s a greater feeling of manageability and this is obvious as soon as you get the bike rolling. Physically smaller than the old bike, and a little bit more agile, the 1000 feels more like a 600 and that advantage grows as the speed of the bike increases. Losail is a very demanding circuit because of its high-speed and very similar-looking corners. It’s very easy to get a little lost on the long and featureless track and there are places where if you do that, you’ll be in some pretty serious trouble. Even so, within a short time I felt at home there and as the day progressed so did my ever-increasing faith in the bike. It’s a highly impressive piece of kit, and even though it’s not faultless, it’s one of the easiest bikes to ride hard that I’ve ever tried.

The precise feeling chassis is the primary reason for the peerless poise and confidence the Honda can generate. There’s not much it can’t do really well. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re considering the steering, stability, braking, ability to change direction, or general feel of the bike, for most of us it’ll be a maximum score. It has that special feel to it that the exceptional CBR600RR does, and it lets you find your own personal limits as soon as you know where the track is heading.

For some odd reason, the first session was done on standard tyre and suspension settings. Neither adjustment will let you get the best from the bike on track, proved by subsequent positive changes to them, but Honda wanted to give us an impression of the bike as it leaves the showrooms. In that trim the bike is generally composed for most of the lap. However, given the circuit’s speed and the pressure it puts the Blade under at times, it was clear from the slightly vague feeling in some corners that some tuning would be needed.