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Main Features
The new CBR1000RR Fireblade’s long and detailed list of new performance features includes the following highlights for the next generation of Total Control and racetrack domination.
Styling Features
- New lighter, more compact aerodynamic bodywork design.
- New, more aggressive-looking line beam headlights and cowl design.
- More compact front cowl positioned closer to the steering head.
- New rear-view mirrors with integrated indicator lights.
- Smaller, lighter and more compact seat and tail cowl.
Performance Features
- New lighter and more compact engine.
- New separate cylinder block with lighter new sleeveless cylinders.
- Lighter, larger bore forged pistons.
- Newly developed assisted slipper clutch.
- New mass-centralised underslung exhaust system.
- New lighter and slimmer 4-piece cast aluminium frame.
- New, lighter-weight gull-wing-shape hybrid aluminium swingarm.
- New monoblock radial-mount front disc brake callipers and 6-point mount floating rotors.
- New, smaller and lighter second-generation HESD steering damper.
- New lighter, more compact 7AH battery.
Styling
When it first burst onto the world stage, the all-new 2004 CBR1000RR Fireblade clearly displayed many of the styling cues and performance-oriented technological advances developed for its revolutionary racing predecessor, the World MotoGP Championship-dominating RC211V. With its sharp lines, compact form and aggressive race-ready looks, the CBR1000RR Fireblade didn’t merely look the part of a world-class racer, it also delivered a class-leading blend of blistering performance and comfortably easy control that went on to win hearts and minds on both the street and the track.
For its third generation, the new 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade takes a quantum leap in both styling and performance with a bold new look that derives its sleek beauty from a smartly engineered emphasis on performance-enhancing function over mere decorative form. A understated elegance that gives renewed expression to traditional Japanese design sensibilities, most notably the simplicity of purpose, abiding attention to detail and almost spiritual essence that can be readily seen in the carefully crafted and balanced tools of Japan’s martial arts.
The eye-catching symbol defining the new Fireblade’s understated elegance and simplicity of form? Look to the two newly designed Honda Wing emblems that grace the shoulders of its tank cover. Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese cloisonné motifs while providing a visual link to Honda’s historic roots, these subtly stylish emblems give profound expression to the quality and craftsmanship that abound in the new CBR1000RR Fireblade.
New Lighter, More Compact Bodywork
Standing side-by-side with its predecessor, one can clearly see that the new CBR1000RR Fireblade is slimmer and more compact than its predecessor—and every other Super Sports bike in the litre class. Placing stronger emphasis on high-performance aerodynamics over distinctive looks—though it is still quite a looker—the new ’08 Fireblade’s curvaceous bodywork features a noticeably more compact, mass-centralised design that shortens and lightens its front and rear extremities in the quest for swifter, more intuitively responsive handling that surpasses any other sportsbike in its displacement class.
More Compact Front Cowl
 One of the first changes one notices in the CBR1000RR Fireblade is the smaller, more compact shape of its bodywork, particularly its seat and front cowl. The nose of the front cowl was greatly reduced in size and overhang, and now closely hugs the steering head area in a concerted effort to minimise inertial and aerodynamic resistance to quick changes of direction. The CBR’s distinctive pair of slim-profile Line Beam multi-reflector headlights remain in place to light the way, but the front cowl’s entire visage now takes on a more intensely aggressive look with its new compact form.
More effective aerodynamic design also extends to the new Fireblade’s performance-enhancing ram air intake with new intake ports moulded into its front cowl. These two new forward-mounted intake ports replace the large, centrally located port that took up room between the steering head and the top of the radiator in the previous version of the CBR. Positioned to direct a steady stream of cool, dense air straight to the larger-displacement airbox positioned forward of the Fireblade’s mass-centralised fuel tank, these ram air ducts are also fitted with electronically controlled valves which play a significant role in both the Fireblade’s enhanced environmental compatibility and its maximised low-to-midrange performance.
Further contributing to the fairing’s more compact form and reduced coefficient of drag was the elimination of its front indicators, which are now cleanly and beautifully integrated into the upper portion of the CBR’s rear-view mirrors for a modern look that features a brilliant, high visibility multi-segment display.
Smaller, Lighter Seat and Tail Cowl
 Exhibiting obvious visual ties to Honda’s second-generation MotoGP racer, the RC212V, the new Fireblade’s seat and tail have been drastically shortened and lightened, and now seeming hover in the air above its fat rear tyre. This radical reduction of size and accompanying weight was made possible by the total redesign and elimination of the ’Blade’s distinctive Centre-Up exhaust system, which has been compressed into a tight package that now resides directly underneath the engine for a significant contribution to the new CBR’s more effectively centralised mass.
Under the Fireblade’s sleek and compact new tail dangles an ultra-slim moulded resin license plate holder which also integrates the rear indicators into its clean, lightweight form, further accentuating the CBR’s impressive mass-centralised form. As always, a compact and secure compartment resides under the seat cowl’s locking pillion pad, providing just enough room for tool kit, gloves, paperwork and a small U-lock.
Colouring Concept
With an understated minimum of graphic lines, the new 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade bursts onto the scene in four dramatic new colour variations that powerfully emphasise its determined racing spirit and peerless quality of construction. Leading the group is a luxuriously rich candy red on black, which exudes an uncommon sense of prestige and quality. In starkly contrasting black on white, the CBR presents a powerful image of Total Control, while a classic Honda red and black combination gives vivid expression to the Honda Racing DNA that defines its every curve. Last, in solid black the new Fireblade stakes its claim as the pre-eminent leader of the litre displacement Super Sports class.
Colours
- Graphite Black (with Candy Glory Red)
- Pearl Sunbeam White (with Graphite Black)
- Winning Red (with Graphite Black)
- Graphite Black
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