ROAD TEST 2005 HONDA RC211V ★ 2005 HONDA C B R1000RR FIR EBL ADE www.motorcyclenews.com/bikereviews ON A NOT H ER P L A NET ? T wo bikes, two different tracks, one M C N tester with one question. Just how does a FireBlade compare to Nicky Hayden’s factory Honda RC211V? B Y M I C HAE LNEEV E S PICTURES BY D OUB L E RED AND M ILA G R O 11.37am, NOV E MBER 22, 2005 C ADW E LL P A R K, E NGLAND H ONDA FIREB L ADE W I LL the FireBlade truly ha v e anything in common with the RCV? HATEVER heroics at Cadwell Park. The Blade looks almost motherf**ker. It’s intimidating j ust to thinly-padded seat and hands on low-set Valentino Rossi may identical to its race-bred brother – they’ve stand nex t to. It makes over 100bhp more clip-ons, it feels more the size of an NC3 0 perform, there’s no both got powerful, litre-sized four-stroke than a Blade and it’s 3 1kg lighter, too. It than a superbike. Rock the bike between W disguising the generally engines and they’ve both got… erm, two could spit you off in a second if you’re not your legs and there’s absolutely no accepted fact that Honda’s RC211V is the wheels. But is that where the similarities careful. Respect is due. impression of bulk like there is on a Blade, most successful motorcycle in modern GP really end? We found out... which at 1 7 9kg is the heaviest of all the racing. In 2002, when the premier class BEF ORE W E S T ART litre sports bikes by a long chalk. switched from screaming 500cc two- DON ’T BELIE V ETH E HYPE? RIGHT now, factory Honda star Nicky strokes to open-piped, ear-splitting 990cc THE FireBlade has all the ingredients to Hayden’s V5 engine is being carefully ON T H E G A S four-strokes, the RC211V began its get the j uices going; it’ll crack 1 8 0mph warmed by one of the HRC technicians S U RPRISINGL Y , it’s not in the lower domination by winning the very first and hit the ton in five seconds. With ( all in good spirits incidentally – HRC gears that the RC211V really impresses. MotoGP race at Suzuka. By December 148 bhp scorching through its rear aren’t the evil empire some would have O bviously with ‘ over 250bhp’ ( HRC 2005, of the 65 MotoGP races there have Bridgestone, it has an incredible amount you believe) . engineers won’t tell me the actual figure) , been since, the Honda has won a of power for a road bike, but is still as easy A brutal, ear-piercing bark blasts from tapping down on the race-pattern gear staggering 40 of them. to get on with as a commuter – j ust hop on its beautifully-made open titanium lever and scorching through first, second But what’s it like to ride all 250bhp-plus board, get comfortable, thumb the starter e x hausts and bounces off Sepang’s empty and third, things happen pretty damn of arguably the best racing motorcycle and you’re off, no fuss. pit buildings. I’m about to hop on board, quickly. The blurred scenery and ever built? The RC211V is a little different. Some j et-lagged after my flight from Blighty – stomach-churning G-forces it induces are To put it into perspective, we decided to say that modern MotoGP bikes have and it strikes fear into me... breathtaking, and you need to rely on the compare the RCV to Honda’s equally become cuddly, harmless creatures, seat hump to keep you from being e j ected successful road-going FireBlade. Tw o particularly the Honda. Even the TV I N T H E S ADD LE off the back as arms struggle to hold on. days before riding the RCV at Sepang, commentators go on about how easy they A L THOUGH the Blade and RC211V But the Blade is no slouch – it also feels YOU don’t know the meaning of Malaysia, MCN tester Michael Neeves are to ride nowadays. Well, e x cuse me, but look similar, the MotoGP bike is much lightning quick. U p to 100mph there’s nerv es until you’ v e been here... thrashed the arse off a 2005 CBR1000RR that’s bollocks. The RC211V is one noisy smaller and lighter. With your bum on the probably little to split the two – the Blade 26 | MOTOR CYCLE NEWS DECEMBER 7, 2005 S U RELY the RC V c a n’tbe a sea sy to ride as a FireB l a de... c a nit? 11.45am,NOVEMBER 24, 2005 SEPANG, MALAYSIA H ONDA RC 211V gets there with both wheels on the ground, daily reality for that lucky sod Hayden. Even when short-shifting through the RCV riding experience. while it’s a struggle to get the RC211V Despite two very different engine gears, the hard-charging RCV still tries to Being carbon, they take a good few hurtling you forwards instead of skywards. configurations, the 998cc inline four- pull your arms off. corners to really come up to temperature It’s when you hit higher gears that the cylinder Blade and the 990cc V5 RCV So the RC211V’s linear power delivery – before that, they feel a bit wooden. MotoGP bike is at its most impressive – both have beautifully wide, smooth and and impeccable fuelling make it easy to Braking hard from over 190mph into and where the Blade seems comparatively usable powerbands to play with. It makes ride – an incredible feat on a bike with the final first-gear hairpin, it’s all I can do flat. Exiting one of Sepang’s fast fourth- each bike remarkably easy to ride – as such an excessive amount of power. to hang on and not leap-frog over the gear corners, the RC211V tries to wheelie impressive for a 180mph road bike as it is But that’s when you ride for a few laps screen. K nees have to dig hard into the and spin its 16.5-inch rear Michelin all at for a 200mph-plus MotoGP weapon. under the watchful eye of HRC. If you tank, while arms and chest get a thorough the same time. It accelerates as hard out of In fact the RC211V’s throttle response is were to ride it in anger on your own, away workout, corner after corner, lap after lap this corner as the Blade did coming out of even smoother and more refined than the from prying eyes, you’d need the skill and – this is why MotoGP riders need to have Cadwell’s first-gear hairpin. Blade’s (which is a bit jerky on the gas throttle control of a GP god, otherwise serious upper body strength. Down Sepang’s two long straights it’s from a closed throttle) and was noticeable you’d be tasting hospital food before you The Blade still has the best brakes of all the same story. Pinging through the gears, as soon as I rode down Sepang’s pitlane. could say, ‘oh f…’ modern road-going superbikes, offering changing up at 16,500rpm (strangely, the Given the RCV’s power, it’s a surprise superb feel and loads of stopping power, engine doesn’t seem as loud when you’re it’s not a peaky, fire-breathing monster ON THE BRAKES and just like the RC211V the Blade going this fast – you’re probably leaving like an old 500 (see p29). It’s confidence- THE RC211V’s front discs are carbon – remains super-stable when the anchors the sound in your wake) it’s still pulling inspiring enough to try a cheeky lighter than the Blade’s steel items. This are jammed on. But the GP bike gives you like a mad thing through fifth and sixth – celebration wheelie as I join the track. means less effort is needed to get the a good 3 0 yards more tarmac before you it just never lets up. At the same point Beneath the 10,000rpm mark – the MotoGP bike to flick into turns due to need to s q ueeze the lever. through the gears, the Blade is fast but point where the power really starts to hit the reduced gyroscopic effect. They’ll also K EEP cha nging feels pedestrian in comparison. hard and make the world go backwards – stop a speeding train on a sixpence, all I N THE C ORNERS of up but it’llkeep ... This brutal acceleration at high speed is the RC211V is still amazingly tractable, with the effort of just two fingers – one of OUR standard F ireBlade isn’t actually far doing this what biking dreams are made of; but it’s a mostly because it’s just so damn light. the most impressive parts of the whole off the RC211V when it comes to the DECEMBER 7, 2005 MOTOR CYCLE NEWS | 27 ROAD TEST YOU could spend a year poring 2005 HONDA RC211V ★ 2005 HONDA C B R1000RR FIR EBL ADE over the detail of the RCV’s www.motorcyclenews.com/bikereviews sheer engineering beauty THE area where the Blade and RCV are most similar is handling electrifying business of flying through a W H E N IT’S ALL OV E R corner. It’s closer in this department to the WHEN I got over the relief of not MotoGP bike than it is anywhere else.