It has been awaited on the market for years, its absence severely tests the brand's loyalists who want to ride in a sports car, and it would do the manufacturer a good job in a WSBK category where it is vegetating in an indecent manner compared to its status as the world's leading manufacturer. Who is it ? From Honda. What is it about ? From the new CBR 1000RR. And this time, it really happens since Álvaro Bautista has signed a contract to ride it instead of a Ducati.
Certainly, the signals clearly indicate that Honda will launch a new generation of CBR1000RR. But what exactly do we know about the model before a presentation which has not yet been made official? We are waiting for it Tokyo Motor Show on October 24 or to the EICMA of Milan for the first week of November. And, on the circuits, she must succeed her elder sister who won in 2007 with James Toseland. Which makes a lease.
That being said, the long wait could be rewarded with a fireworks display of new releases. Thus, everything indicates that the new opus will have a variable distribution system derived from V-TEC that Honda uses in its car engines. Other brands, such as BMW or Suzuki, are already using their own valve timing management technology in their respective Superbikes with positive results.
The power figures that the 2020 Fireblade's engine will offer are a mystery. But, according to the Japanese magazine Young Machine, 212 ch will be offered. We would therefore be above the Kawasaki ZX-10RR (204 hp), the BMW S 1000 RR (207 hp), the Yamaha R1M (200 hp) and only below the Ducati Panigale V4 (214 hp).
Its configuration, although there have been rumors of a change to a V4, will continue to maintain the in-line four philosophy, a layout that Kawasaki and Yamaha welcome in WSBK. Electronically, Honda wants to make the new Fireblade the most advanced street superbike to date. To get there, it will be a matter of transferring the entire electronic package of the MotoGP RC213V. It will be accompanied by a state-of-the-art IMU (inertial platform) which will offer, among other aids, ABS Cornering, rear brake elevation control, electronic engine brake management, control traction and departure control.
The chassis will continue to be a double aluminum beam with a new design, closer to that of the MotoGP RC213V. The 2020 Honda Fireblade will be the first motorcycle to use retractable side spoilers, a solution similar to the DRS used in the Formula 1 World Championship. Initially, the wings are deployed by default, but can be hidden inside the fairing thanks to a servo motor that pulls a small cable and folds them. The IMU will be responsible for extending and retracting appendages based on the motorcycle's position and acceleration and centrifugal force data.
In terms of weight, there will be no big revolution. The current Fireblade already offers good data with 196 kilos in working order, that is to say with all the liquids. The Panigale V4, for example, weighs two kilos more, while the Kawasaki ZX-10RR exceeds 206 kilos. In any case, we must not forget that the Fireblade will have to adapt to Euro5, which involves fitting another catalyst. Honda will have to counter this extra weight by removing grams from other areas such as the chassis, the rear swingarm or the engine itself.
Unlike the current generation and its three versions – normal, SP and SP2 -, rumors coming from Japan only speak of two versions in 2020: a standard variant and another SP variant with a better part of the cycle and an engine already prepared with new competition components. We are now waiting for the presentation!
