CBR1100XX Super Blackbird (1996 - 2008) review

Agile hyper-tourer, with build quality to match outrageous performance and ‘Go Directly To Jail’ top speed. VTEC and other updates planned for ’05Agile hyper-tourer, with build quality to match outrageous performance and ‘Go Directly To Jail’ top speed. VTEC and other updates planned for ’05

Agile hyper-tourer, with build quality to match outrageous performance and ‘Go Directly To Jail’ top speed. VTEC and other updates planned for ’05.

Launched at the end of 1996, the bike was lauded as being a technical tour-de-force before quietly slipping behind the times as Suzuki's Hayabusa and then Kawasaki's ZX-12R trumped it for speed and power.

But Honda simply refined their beast, adding fuel-injection, a classier dashboard and very little else, making the 2001-on Blackbirds pretty much faultless. It should have been outclassed, but bizarrely the Blackbird kept popping up and giving them a bloody nose in group tests long after it shouldn't have.

It was graceful with awesome build quality where the 'Busa was ugly and poorly finished; it had comfort and 'legs' where the ZX-12R was cramped and had poor range. If you don't believe us about the build quality, check the picture above and try and guess which one is the S-reg bike and which is the '05 bike.

Read more: http://www.visordown.com/road-tests-used/used-review-honda-cbr1100xx-super-blackbird/4325.html#ixzz0vdD7mvzR