As motorcycle wings get ever bigger and more ostentatious, one bikemaker is bucking the trend. Honda revealed the latest version of its flagship CBR100RR-R literbike at EICMA this year in three trims, two of which lack front wings entirely. That makes it the sleekest looking top-tier sportbike on the market, and it looks to have the performance to match.
Honda says the Fireblade is made up of 75% new parts for 2027, despite making the same 215 horsepower (though the company claims there’s more midrange power available than the prior bike). It’s sharper looking than the outgoing model, with a more pointed front end and sleeker headlights, and the lower cowl opening has been widened for even further airflow. The coolest upgrades lie beneath all that shiny new plastic: A titanium fuel tank, a bigger air intake, and a chassis that’s designed to be 20% less rigid than the outgoing model. Yes, you read that right — Honda made a bike more wobbly in pursuit of speed.
A different type of stifness
When we think about rigidity in cars, we’re talking about preventing the chassis from twisting, something Honda still doesn’t want the new Fireblade to do. When a motorcycle is on its side, leaned over through a corner, a bit of flex in the chassis is actually desirable for eating up bumps in the road without upsetting the tires. That’s called lateral rigidity as opposed to the torsional rigidity of a chassis twisting, and Honda claims to have lowered the former by 20% on this new bike without affecting the latter. The swingarm has been updated too, losing 12% of its lateral rigidity.
In concert with that new flex, Honda has updated the Showa suspension on the base Fireblade and the electronically-controlled Ohlins on the Fireblade SP. All variants of the bike also get the new titanium fuel tank, though only the SP gets a bit of exposed titanium on the back to probe that’s really what the bike’s made from. Honda also added a new HRC Works version of the bike, which adds to the SP’s pedigree by mounting front aero and removing the electronic suspension in favor of lighter manual components. The company claims the HRC Works bike is a true homologation special for World Superbike, at least when equipped with the warranty-voiding HRC Racing Kit that includes new fuel injection and iginiton systems, as well as a race-oriented shift pattern and updated pivot points.
Of course, given Honda’s track record of offering sportbikes in the U.S., it’s unclear when exactly the new Fireblade will hit our shores. It’s already on European sites as a 2027 model, but our 2027 bike is already confirmed to be a carryover. We’ll have to wait, like always, for the latest and greatest. Still, if we can get this bike at the specs Honda’s promising, it’ll be well worth the wait.
