HONDA’S HERO
Next time you stroll up to a Fireblade — or if you’re lucky throw a leg over — spare a thought for the “father” of the series, Tadao Baba. The project leader on the first ’Blade, and many subsequent models, comes across as the sort of nutter we’d all like to spend a bit of time with.
We’re talking of a gent with no formal training beyond high school, but who joined Honda when it had been going just 10 years and worked his way up through the ranks. A bloke who started off machining engine cases for CB72s, he managed to turn the sports bike world upside down through sheer bloodymindedness. The first Fireblade really was that important in its day.
Why? Because it was the size and weight of a 600 (okay, four kilos heavier than Honda’s own CBR600) with the straight-line urge of a litre-class machine. Over the years, the ’Blade grew its engine in small increments and became more powerful and was comprehensively swamped by the opposition. It would be a bit of a stretch to say it lost its way, but certainly it was up against much stiffer competition and, at times, was no longer at the head of the pack.
