Every ride starts with the full colour 5-inch TFT screen where you set up the Fireblade the way you want it. For precision setup you can now enter your weight to get the perfect spring preload setting, front and rear. And choose from the 3 default riding modes or go fully custom between 5-level Power modes, 9-level HSTC plus 3-level Engine Brake and Wheelie Control. A 3-level Honda Electronic Steering Damper (HESD) maintains high speed stability and new, 3-level ABS Braking now includes Race mode, which turns off ABS for the rear caliper, allowing hard use of the rear brake if required. Another new display feature to protect the engine from cold is the redline point, which slides up from 8,000rpm only when the operating temperature is reached.

The low-set fuel tank has been reshaped for improved knee grip while cornering. It also carries an extra 0.4L capacity. An extremely compact frame and engine equals a small frontal area – with MotoGP-spec. ram-air duct that feeds directly through the headstock – that slices cleanly through the air. New, more aggressive and muscular styling is led by forward-set winglets that use aerodynamic bumps to maintain downforce on the front tyre, for consistent grip and feel through every corner and reduced lift on exit but with 10% less turning effort at speed. And the under cowl extends close to the rear tyre, forcing air downward, minimising drag in the dry and channelling water away in the wet, improving traction.

We’ve made a few subtle adjustments to the riding position, putting you in the bike, making it easier to move around, react, and control quickly on road or racetrack; the handlebars are 19mm higher, the footpegs set 16mm lower. Through intense development of the twin-spar aluminium frame – with nearly 1kg weight removed by internal optimisation – a new rigidity balance delivers 17% reduction in lateral stiffness and 15% less torsional stiffness, for razor-sharp steering accuracy and higher mid-corner speed. And updated settings for the Showa 43mm USD Big Piston Fork (BPF) and Pro-Link Balance Free Rear Cushion Lite (BFRC-Lite) shock increase feedback and feel, to the absolute limit.

That’s what our racers always want more of. So, we’ve gone through the 1,000cc, inline four-cylinder semi-cam engine from intake to exhaust. Compression ratio is up to 13.6:1 alongside revised ports, valve timing and springs. The crankshaft and titanium conrods are lighter, reducing spinning inertia. And every gear ratio is shorter, boosting acceleration with the throttle precision that 2 Motor TBW ensures. The numbers are impressive. 160kW / 215hp @14,000rpm and 113Nm @12,000rpm. But it’s the way this engine now drives relentlessly – yet so smoothly, controllably – through the mid-range all the way to the redline, with such an increase in fighting power, that’s so exhilarating.