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2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

  • More renders of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade are going viral.

  • One is aggressive, the other an evolution of the current model.

  • The new bike may be unveiled at EICMA 2019.

It’s probably blasé to say that many are anticipating the arrival of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

While the world held a collective breath and anticipated its unveiling at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, it was a no-show. The only other big show event would be EICMA next Tuesday.

Then, pictures of a prototype howling around the Suzuka circuit began circulating the very next day. We could see a number of revisions although the prototype was wearing a camouflage. Even then we wondered if all those changes will end up on the production bike.

Photo credit n_mode_log

Now there two renders by artists have shown up and going viral in social media ahead of EICMA.

One was posted by BikeThrottle. It’s apparent that the tail section and exhaust pipe arrangement mimic Marquez’s RC213V.

As breathtaking as it is, I feel that it may be stretching the truth a little too far. For one, Honda confirmed that the 2020 CBR1000RR will continue to have an inline-Four engine, thus the “stacked” exhaust system makes no sense. Why do you need to route another exhaust under the tail when there’s no Vee engine configuration? Certainly, Honda could do so like in the CBR600RR, but I think the need for simplicity and compactness would overrule this concept.

2020 Honda CBR1000RR render – BikeThrottle

Apart from that, Honda prefers to design bikes that are pretty by having curvy and clean lines. But we would like to point out that the new bike will feature “aerobodies” on both sides of the fairings, instead of winglets. Those aerobodies were clearly seen on the prototype.

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Next, Japanese motorcycle magazine, Young Machine rendered this image below, ahead of its anticipated launch at EICMA. Young Machine had always provided renders that closely match the production bikes. The best example was the 2020 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R which was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Their rendering shows a bike that is a evolution rather revolution of the current bike. The profile of the nose, air intakes and windscreen matches the Suzuka prototype closely. The aerobody is also present in this rendering. However, the gills at the bottom of the fairing are missing.

2020 Honda CBR1000RR render – Young Machine

You can read up about it here if you are Japanese literate.

So which one can we believe? I pick Number 2.

Anyway, there are also rumours that the new bike’s engine will produce between 212 to 220 bhp. Honda took the direction of having lower horsepower on their road bikes somewhere along the way. There were those days when they built the fastest street bikes. But it’s time that the manufacturer consider more ponies especially in this, their flagship sportbike. I hope it dawns on them that it’s time to stop getting owned in superbike racing, and that great handling alone isn’t enough to bring home the silverware.

Rumours and renderings of a new CBR1000RR have been running rampant almost more than any other motorcycle. It shows just how popular the bike is. Besides that, you can just sense the hope for Honda to produce a revolutionary new bike to regain its superbike crown.

EICMA 2019 is just four days away.

  • The 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade was spied being tested at Suzuka.

  • It didn’t debut at the Tokyo Motor Show as expected.

  • This is an all-new bike.

Okay let’s move away from Ducati for a while (yes, there are more) and head over to another great sportbike — the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

We were expecting its launch at the recent 2019 Tokyo Motor Show but it didn’t turn out that way. Instead, the new model was caught testing at Suzuka by a Japanese photographer, who then uploaded the pictures and video to his Twitter account @n_mode_log.

Honda has said before that this will be a new CBR1000RR, rather than a mere update.

At first glance, you can see a new fairing which is more enclosing compared to the outgoing model’s. Besides that, there are gills at the bottom.

However, look closer at the front and you’d spot something which resembles a large inlet with winglets in them. This is the “aerobody” which the manufacturer patented a few months ago. They’re enclosed, rather than hanging out in the breeze unlike the Ducati Panigale V4 and V4 R’s. Honda also patented “active aerodynamics” for the rear in the form of foldout winglets, but they don’t appear in these photos.

Photo credit n_mode_log

But these pictures showed the race version of the bike, signified by the front fork set up. The purple-coloured slider tube shows that its coated with titanium nitrate and the true giveaway is the thin plunger-like travel sensor.

However, bear in mind that superbike racing dictates no modification to the frame and bodywork over the streetbike.

Peeking through the fairing’s opening also reveals what seems to be a new frame. The cutouts in the swingarm also look different.

Honda brought along a 2019 CBR1000RR for comparisons and the uploader also shot its pictures.

Photo credit n_mode_log

There was also a video and the bike has an inline-Four engine, quashing rumours of a V-Four.

Hope to see it at EICMA 2019.

All pictures credit @n_mode_log

  • A German magazine reported that the all-new 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade will debut in October 2019.

  • The date puts it at the Tokyo Motor Show, instead of EICMA.

  • The new bike may prove to be the world-beater in WorldSBK.

A German magazine reported that the all-new 2020 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade will debut in October 2019.

If what Speedweek magazinesaid was true, the bike will be introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show instead of at EICMA in November.

Lending credibility to the rumour is rider Alvaro Bautista purportedly signing a two-year deal to ride for the HRC factory team in WorldSBK from 2020. There was “news” that the bike he will ride is the all-new CBR1000RR.

The Honda CBR1000RR is the best-handling and easiest to ride superbike we’ve tested thus far but the current model is lacking in top-end horsepower, at least on paper, anyway. However, superbike buyers are always looking at the specs sheets and the CBR’s 189 hp “isn’t enough” when compared to its peers.

As such, the new ‘Blade may have the most powerful naturally-aspirated roadgoing inline-Four.

It may also feature the “active aerodynamics” shown in a patent filing. The system features ECU-controlled winglets in addition to “aerobodies” seen in MotoGP.

The news should bode well for the WorldSBK team, as well. The riders are at the deep end of the field, finding themselves outgunned and unable to mount any serious challenge to the top runners.

Honda and CBR1000RR Fireblade fans will likely rejoice at the news too.

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