- The old adage of meeting the nicest people on a Honda continues through its modern mini-bikes, but that doesn’t mean the company is lacking in performance.
- With the standard style 2023 CB1000R and legacy nameplate 2022 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP still available, there is more than enough power and fancy electronics to go around.
- Honda is banking on unique, neo-retro styling and competitive performance to sell these bikes, but it’s the comfort and approachability that makes both of these top-end motorcycles worthwhile.
Performance driving is no longer a simple matter of cumulative hours of stick and rudder practice, at least not these days. With driver aid systems sporting acronyms like PASM, PSM, and PTV Plus stepping in almost unnoticeably, making your way through a set of curves is no longer a solitary effort. Driver and machine now struggle together for the common goals of precision, traction, and speed.
Safety tech for two-wheels
This technology has carried over to the two-wheeled world, as MotoGP and MotoAmerica’s SuperBike class use the latest and greatest in nine-level traction control, anti-wheelie, and engine braking maps.
Even comparatively lowly street bikes are more electronically advanced than your Harley-riding Uncle Brad remembers, with some boasting as much technology as Porsche’s illustrious 911 GT3 RS.
This technology works really well, too, as exampled by our recent test of Honda’s premier, be-all-end-all CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and its more pedestrian but still naked CB1000R sibling.
Coming off of 30 years of CBR heritage, the 2022 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP I rode was the 30 Anniversary Edition, with the Hiroaki Tsuku-designed graphics displaying this celebratory moment with pride.
And the 2023 edition CB1000R is a limited edition in its own right, at least according to Honda’s model naming which calls it the CB1000R Black Edition. It’s only color and variation of the standard, liter bike available, but it’s nice to make everyone feel a bit special, right?
Just because these two bikes share a displacement designation doesn’t mean they’re all that similar, especially not on paper: $12,999 for the CB1000R versus $28,9000 for the Fireblade; a 998cc inline-four with 11:1 compression versus a 999cc inline with 13:1 compression, a user-friendly fuel gauge versus an ‘oh shit I’m about to run out’ fuel light. The list goes on.
Even so, it’s worth examining these specimens together, and not just because I had the chance to ride them back to back. With so many 1000cc options on the market today, what exactly makes these two bikes special? Hint; it’s come down to who makes them.
How do they ride?
Rolling through the low hills in Minnewaska State Park en route to Monticello Motor Club, an approaching squall line was noticed and adjusted for by paging through the riding mode menu and selecting rain on the fly.
According to the full-color, 5-inch TFT dash, engine braking was now set to maximum, and throttle response was chopped, though the Fireblade’s 186 hp inline-four engine can move out at a moment’s notice regardless of ride mode or gear position.
The instruments don’t even display engine revolutions until 5000 rpm, meaning my rain-spitting cruise in 6th gear wasn’t displayed at all, save for the slight whine emitting from the titanium Akrapovic muffler.
But you’re not reading a motorcycle review to hear about its truly docile, comforting behavior on a freshly soaked road. No, you want to hear about my death-defying, speed-limit-disrespecting analysis of a world-class superbike, but I can provide only so much of that on the street.
Because of its racing heritage, the gearing of the Fireblade is, well, ridiculous. Honda says that first gear is good for 99 mph, a fact that I confirmed through a light-fisted, second gear pull to 10,000 rpm resulting in the fastest speed I’ve ever done on a motorcycle. And I was still 5000 rpm away from its 15,000 rpm redline.
Climbing above 5000 rpm is the sweet spot for both of the inline-fours fitted to these respective liter bikes, though doing so requires lots of open space.
From growl to wail
A guttural growl roars out if you twist up to 7500 rpm on the Fireblade (which shares the same bore and stroke as Honda’s RC213V MotoGP race bike), as the exhaust valve opens up for everyone lucky enough to be in earshot.
By contrast, the one cubic centimeter smaller, 143 hp engine of the CB1000R has a more typical inline-four wail and a bit more low-end torque, too. Part of this improved off-the-line grunt is in its shorter gearing, as first gear tops out at a more responsible 72 mph.
Handling
Fitted with a 43mm Öhlins NPX Smart-EC front fork as well as a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) and three-level Honda electronic steering damper, turning is more about thought than physical action on the Fireblade.
With my boots arched behind my butt and my chest laying on top of the tank, a light sway of my 150 pounds frame is all that was needed to hug my desired line.
It’s less of a conscious counter steer (the kind of turn-in they teach in Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses) and more of a full-body motion, making its handling personality distinctly different than its upright counterpart.
By comparison, maneuvering the CB1000R is all in a firm push of the wrists, particularly when putting around a Dunkin Donuts lot at full steering lock.
Light and limber
At 445 pounds fully faired and a touring-ready 467 pounds, neither the Fireblade nor CB1000R are particularly heavy anyways, making lateral movements easy and slowing it all down even easier.
Of course, this naked-bike limberness is partly owed to its Showa SFF-BP fork and rear shock with spring-preload, rebound- and compression-damping adjustability.
And the same sort of mind-reading character is present in the Fireblade’s six-speed, quick-shifted transmission. Hover your foot above or below the shifter and it actuates in your direction of choice with a featherweight of force—no clutch needed. As long as you’re direct with the shifter, it’ll be kind back to you, even at low speeds.
The same quick shifter is available on the murdered-out model, though the shifter tuning is less hair-trigger, making slipper-clutch-riding and gear-lugging in stop-and-go traffic a bit easier.
Stopping power
The ethos of treating motorcycles how you want to be treated continues with the Brembo Stylema four-piston front calipers equipped with lean angle dependant ABS and rear lift control, which bite as hard as you’re willing to squeeze the already stiff brake lever.
Notably, the standard CB1000R variant doesn’t receive such special hardware, instead relying on a softer pulling but still powerful set of four-piston Tokico brakes.
Of all the face-melting performance figures put down by both bikes, the most standout facet of both models was their relative approachability. Despite the groin-broiling 210-degree heat of the Fireblade, even a low clip-on handlebar, rear-set footpeg sport bike was relatively simple to ride, in true Honda form.
For real comfort, however, I can’t recommend the CB1000R enough, even over its 650cc sibling I reviewed last year. With an ever-so-slight lean towards the handlebars and enough backbend to relax my elbows, I’m certain I could withstand hundreds of miles of riding a day on the standard bike.
Plus you can pass whoever whenever in the blink of an eye.
Together, the pair represents two sides of the ridiculously overpowered, rollercoaster-like, peak-engineering machines that Honda offers today. One is built for the track and just happens to be vaguely street-legal while the other offers 90% of the fun at 45% of the price.
Best of all, both offer strangely accommodating comfort and intuitive riding behaviors, after all these are Hondas.
Have you ever ridden motorcycles on the track? If so, do you prefer it over driving on track? Please share your thoughts below.
Associate Editor
A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles. After learning to ride at 17, Emmet worked in the motorcycle industry before joining Autoweek in 2022. The woes of alternate side parking have kept his fleet moderate, with a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI and a 2003 Honda Nighthawk 750 street parked in his South Brooklyn community.
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