Spyshots 2017 CBR1000RR/Fireblade

I thought Honda were ending the Fireblade? Looks like McGuinness will be on an RCV at next years TT as the 'Blade was completely blown to dust by those Beemers this year.

I recently read an article in AMCN about the 2017 blade, bit of a speculation piece based on some info from contacts in Japan, so i'll believe it when i see it officially. The article speculated that the bike would keep the same engine with minor power increase and be Euro4 compliant, same frame, gain new electronics including torque control, engine braking control and TC package, suspension and brakes will be upgraded and styling changed.

What I found more interesting was the story about the 2018 RVF1000 which may be their future in super bikes. Link to the article is here, pictures are just for show obviously and in no way accurate.

I always take these speculation stories with a grain of salt, but I have heard similar rumours about this bike for some time. Not sure if everyone has already seen this or not so though I would share.

Honda?s top-shelf RVF1000 due in 2018! - Australian Motorcycle News

I was unable to find the 2017 Blade article from AMCN's website. I have taken some pics of their current magazine. Apologies in advance for the picture being sideways, no matter what I do I cannot get them upright. But they are legible when zoomed in on.

The bike shown in the article is just a rendered image of course, but there is some interesting information in the article about the new blades design and features. If these details are correct then I know many Honda fans who will be annoyed. Many I know have been hanging in for an all new ball tearer of a blade with a 200hp engine like the s1000rr and ZX10.

If its true that Honda are planning build an RCV213 engined RVF1000, I can see the financial benefits for Honda to not mess and spend to much with the blade. Sports bike sales are in decline after all.

I was out with the wife today dropping past a relatives place on the opposite side of town. On the way home there was a bike dealership I don't normally get the chance to drop into so we stopped.

The place was a Ducati, Honda, & Suzuki dealership, after walking in I was immediatley greeted by a young salesperson. Early 20's at a guess who said hi and started firing questions at me without warning. Whats your name? What are you doing today? Where did you just come from? What bike do you ride? What colour is it? Whats your tax file number? etc. All in the space of the first 30 seconds. Sure, the guy is doing his job but he really wasn't winning me over in any way at all with his technique.

We tried to walk away and he followed us to the Ducati's and proceeded to tell me all about them. Then tried to explain what torque was assuming he was the only person on the planet that had this knowledge. He then went on to tell me everything about my bike, how much it even weighed. Funnily enough I actually weighed my bike last week, he was wrong but i didn't really want to talk to this person any more than i had to so i just nodded. We listened and said thanks politely and walked away to a different part of the dealership where there was a Honda CBR SP edition displayed. Out of nowhere he returns and tells me all about it. Here we go again I thought.

I figured while I'm talking to this person i should query him on the 2017 blade to see what he knew, after all he seems to think he knew everything else. He told me about how all magazine speculation and rumours are all incorrect, but then told me he had been told nothing, so really he had no idea either (I know boats). He then asked if i had seen the spy shots of the bike online, which i had and this seemed to really got him going. I found this strange considering he had just finished telling me everything online about the new Honda is wrong wrong wrong, but anyway. I made a comment/compliment that i thought the front cowl design on the spy shot bike looked kinda similar to the Panigales to me. Well, you would have though I just kicked this guys dog with the response i got. Mind you, this is the first time I had met a salesman with zero social skills so it took me by surprise.

Seeing as talking to this person was like masturbating with a cheese grater, we politely said thanks and went to the upstairs section of the store in the same way you would escape from a nasty fart.

Does anyone else see similarities between the front cowl section of the Honda spy shot picture and the Ducati Panigale? I know it doesn't look exactly the same but more similar than other bikes do at least to me. Maybe its just me and I need to get my eyes tested, or have a subconscious Panigale obsession yet to be professionaly diagnosed.

Just came across this videos of the new 2017 Fireblade for those interested.

Loads of new electronics, suspension, traction, slide control, gyro based ABS (whatever that means), wheelie control, up/down quick shifter, colour TFT display.

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/honda/2017-honda-cbr1000rr-sp-and-sp2-unveiling.html

Looks great, so do we know if it will be in WSBK for 2017?

#22 said:

Looks great, so do we know if it will be in WSBK for 2017?

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It looks awesome. Not sure on its release date, I'd imagine early 2017 (going from what a dealer told me - April/May 17 going off the video), might be a little late for supers but who knows.

I have read another interesting article about an upcoming RVF1000 speculated to be their WSBK bike for 2018.

http://amcn.com.au/editorial/honda-rfv1000-2018/

Word from Japan is that the much-rumoured Honda RFV1000 superbike will be launched in 2018 as part of the celebrations of Honda’s 70th anniversary.

Many details of the bike have already been revealed in patents filed by Honda. They reveal that it uses the RC213V-S V4 engine fitted in a bespoke cast-aluminium monocoque chassis that doubles as the airbox, rather like the frame of Ducati’s Panigale.

Now it seems that the launch date will be dictated by Honda’s anniversary, with 2018 marking three score years and ten since the company was founded in 1948. It will also put the bike’s launch a year after the expected reveal of the new-for-2017 CBR1000RR Fireblade.

While the Blade will remain an inline-four, gaining a huge slug of electronic enhancement, more performance and a new look for 2017, the RVF will be a V4 based on the productionised MotoGP engine that features in the crazy-expensive RC213V-S. It’s also expected to be expensive at around AUD 60,000, but that’s only a fraction of the cost of an RC213V-S. Like the last RVF – the legendary RC45 – the new bike is likely to be made in fairly limited numbers but Honda is expected to churn out enough of them (500 at least) to gain homologation for WSBK racing.

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Interesting, but the V4 superbike rumour has been going on for years so I'm sceptical. Doesn't the CBR HAVE to be updated for WSK 2017 due to the current bike not meeting some technical changes? I'm thinking there was something to do with fly by throttles.

JPSLotus said:

The CBR600RR is getting ended in the European market because of the Euro4 standards coming into effect for 2017. The USA and other markets will still be getting the bike.

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Euro 4 isn't the death knell for European motorcycling, but it is a change of scenery. Euro 5 will be even more of a watershed though with a complete raft of changes ushering in the sea change. What pisses me off is not the emissions controls - it needs to be enforced, it's ........ enforced standardised regulations such as compulsory ABS...I mean do any of these people actually ride?

The manufacturers have had plenty of time to prepare and have known about the new regulations for years. Some will pull ranges or supersede certain lines for new variations and push different models. Others may concentrate their marketing on S.E Asia where no such restrictions are in place.

Euro 5 has been mandatory in heavy duty engines (i.e trucks) since the mid 2000's so I don't think it's going to affect motorcycling hugely.

#22 said:

Interesting, but the V4 superbike rumour has been going on for years so I'm sceptical. Doesn't the CBR HAVE to be updated for WSK 2017 due to the current bike not meeting some technical changes? I'm thinking there was something to do with fly by throttles.

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Your right the rumour of the RVF has ben going for some time. Since before the road going RCV bike even. When i heard the rumours of them building an RCV, a new V4 superbike and updating the CBR all happening in sucsession of one another with the publicised decline in sports bike sales, it sounded unrealistic.

Id love to see an new RVF but at a price where its affordable and sold in large numbers.

#22 said:

Interesting, but the V4 superbike rumour has been going on for years so I'm sceptical. Doesn't the CBR HAVE to be updated for WSK 2017 due to the current bike not meeting some technical changes? I'm thinking there was something to do with fly by throttles.

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There looks to be a special model of the CBR being released and sold in limited numbers to meet homologation requirements for SBK along with race kits.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2016/october/intermot-hondas-new-cbr1000rr-sp2-homologation-special/

Kawasaki have also released a new homologation spec bike for the SBK series called the ZX10rr, info below.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2016/october/intermot-2017-new-kawasaki-zx-10rr-motorcycle/

More details from the land down under.
2017 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP | MCNews.com.au