Honda finally announced U.S. pricing for the 2021 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. To be fair, we all knew it wasn’t going to be cheap—but now, at last, we know why we’ll never be able to afford retirement. Although Europe is getting this gorgeous piece of kit for 2020, it’ll hit U.S.-based Honda dealerships in June 2020 as a 2021 model. That gives you just over five months to save up if you don’t already have a “break glass in case of emergency bike purchase” piggy bank at home.
Slice, Slice:
How much will you need to save, exactly? This little piggy will set you back US $28,500, as confirmed earlier today by Honda. While we all might have made fun of the extra “R” added to the name, perhaps it was actually meant as a hint from Honda that we’d all need to turn to piracy to fund our race bike habits in the coming year?
Gallery: 2021 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP
What do you get for your $28,000? According to Honda’s official spec sheet for the US model, no horsepower or torque figures are listed. The SP designation, after all, means this bike is super-extra-special—and as such, maybe it’s one of those “if you have to ask” questions.
The 999cc inline four-cylinder engine in the SP brings Honda’s MotoGP RC213V-spec bore and stroke (81mm x 48.5mm) to your local showroom. This design also makes use of finger-follower rocker arms with a diamond-like carbon coating to reduce friction, forged aluminum pistons that are approximately 5 percent lighter than CBR1000RR pistons, titanium con rods, Honda’s built-in bottom bypass cooling system, and a direct starter layout that helped Honda make the engine extremely compact.
Honda Smart Key, quick shifter, throttle-by-wire, selectable torque control, Akrapovič titanium exhaust, and aerodynamic winglets all come standard.
Suspension is a 43mm Öhlins NPX Smart-EC front fork with electronically-controlled preload, compression, and rebound, as well as a Pro-Link single shock in the rear. Forks have 4.3 inches of travel, while rear shock has 5.6 inches of travel. Dual front Brembo Stylema calipers stop you with 330mm discs, with a Brembo single-caliper 220mm rear disc, as well as Brembo master cylinders and front brake lever.
Curb weight, with a full tank of gas and ready to race, is a claimed 443 pounds. A full tank of fuel, by the way, is 4.3 gallons—but keep in mind that no MPG figures have been released at this time.
When the SP comes to the U.S., we’ll only get it in the HRC Tri-Color paint scheme—but honestly, would you want this bike in any other color?
Source: Honda