The motorcycle that changed how sports motorcycles were built. The Honda CBR900RR FireBlade wiped the floor with its competitor motorcycles not by being more powerful (it wasn’t) but by being lighter. Rivals were all well over 200kg, the first Honda CBR900RR FireBlade was just 185kg which made it perform superbly. It’s still a wild ride and a surprisingly practical motorcycle too.
Despite making a motorcycle with revolutionary light weight, Honda didn’t cut corners in terms of quality. Honda CBR900RR FireBlades can easily run to 100,000 miles with routine maintenance. Problems with used motorcycle will be caused by neglect, crash damage or thieves so check thoroughly for all those when looking at a Honda CBR900RR FireBlade.
1996 brought major changes to the CBR900RR with the third generation CBR900RR. To optimise rigidity Honda revised the suspension and chassis. Larger thinner-walled extrusions for more torsional rigidity were used in the swingarm and frame, revised shock and fork internals and 5 mm (0.2 in) raised swingarm pivot. The handle bars were raised by 10 mm (0.4 in)and swept back by five degrees to improve the riding position. A 1 mm (0.04 in) bore increase raised the engine displacement to 918 cc (56.0 cu in). Other revisions included a smaller alternator, the addition of a throttle position sensor, extra clutch plates, and a larger exhaust.
