WHY WAS 1992 A SPECIAL YEAR? Because Honda launched the now legendary CBR900RR Fireblade, of course. A year the sports bike landscape changed forever.
I remember catching sight of a ’Blade in numerous magazines—its 16-inch front wheel hoisted joyfully in the air in most pictures—and later at the NEC bike show when I was 16 and just starting my lifelong journey on two wheels. Even then, I could see that this machine redefined what a road-going superbike should be.
While the competition was searching for more power, producing bigger and heavier bikes or purpose race reps for the track, Honda, with Baba san, the creator of ’Blade at the helm, chose a different path with lightness and handling being the key. The ’Blade was designed for the road, to work in the corners, and relatively unconcerned with peak power and torque figures. It could not match the grunt of the competition but it rang rings around them in the bends.
That original ’Blade has rightly gone down in history because it set a new benchmark for roadgoing superbikes. Over the years, Honda were forced to
