Top 10 Best Honda CBR Models

The first European CBR, also known in the US as the ‘Hurricane’, was launched alongside the bigger CBR1000F in 1987, remained on sale until 1990, was Honda’s first liquid-cooled, inline four-cylinder, fully-faired sports bike and proved a big hit for its all-round performance and versatility and decent value (partly due to being able to largely ignore the cosmetics of its engine and box-section steel frame by having an all-enclosing ‘jelly mould’ fairing). 

Popular with racers and road riders alike and publicised via Honda’s one-make ‘CBR Challenge’ series, it wasn’t, contrary to common belief, the first Japanese supersports 600 – that honour going to Kawasaki’s 1985 GPZ600R – although it was far more successful in establishing the class.

It’d be easy to include the CBR6’s big brother, the original 1987 CBR1000F, here, but it was so fugly we’re not going to. Instead, we’re going for the substantially restyled version launched in 1989 which was arguably the supreme heavyweight sports-tourer of its day with a creamy, powerful 130bhp motor, all the comfort you could want and bags of comfort and Honda class. It’s also the CBR with which Honda took the ‘all-enclosing bodywork’ concept to the ultimate degree – even fairing-in its silencers!

We couldn’t do any celebration of CBRs without including the original, game-changing ‘Blade. Created by genius Tadao Baba who, after testing and being disappointed by heavyweight GSXRs, FZRs and even the CBRF, pursued lightness and compactness above power, the original Blade may have only had 122bhp but it had the size and weight of a 600, ran rings around all rivals and revolutionised the class to such a degree it took Yamaha (with 1998 R1) a full six years to catch up.

As was commonplace in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers often also built 400cc versions of its European models for the home market – and often more than a few Japan-only ‘exotic’ 400s, too. The 1992 ‘Baby Blade’, is a classic example. 

Effectively a descendant of the 1983 CBR400F, it was the inline four-cylinder stablemate to the V4 VFR400R/NC30, had exquisite, diminutive proportions, and gorgeous styling, although revving to 14,000rpm was one of the more tractable of the 400 fours and slowly became available in the UK as a grey import where it was one of the most desirable (especially among female riders) import 400s of all – with the high prices to match.

After the original ‘jelly mould’ CBR600F, Honda updated its now class-leading supersport with the 1991 CBR600F2, a bike which was so good at being fun, practical and affordable it was a UK best-seller for the first half of the 1990s – but we’re not including that one here. Even better, in our view, is its subtly updated successor, the 1995 CBR600F, known in some areas as the F3. With subtly improved styling including a smart new tail, engine mods including ram air which added 5bhp, improved front forks and bigger brakes, not to mention improved build quality, it was the definitive ’F’ CBR600 and a true class act.

When Honda does things it doesn’t very often do them by halves, and the 1996 Super Blackbird is a classic example. Built, unashamedly, to wrest the ‘world’s fastest production motorcycle’ crown from Kawasaki’s ZZ-R1100, the CBR1100XX not only did that with ease by producing 164bhp (17 more than the Kwak) from its Fireblade-derived engine combined with world-leading aerodynamics (the reason for the narrow nose and stacked headlight), it still managed to also make it a brilliant sports-tourer cum all-rounder with enviable handling, build quality and comfort. 

Although overtaken in speed terms by Suzuki’s 1999 Hayabusa, the Blackbird remained in production until 2007, remains Honda’s largest CBR and is a bike many consider Honda have failed to successfully replace.

From the biggest Honda CBR to one of the smallest – but still one of the best. Honda launched its all-new CBR125R learner sportster in 2004 and although unremarkable in many ways it remains – still – one of the best and most-prized bikes of its type, even though it stopped being built in 2016. 

Simply, it delivered to the brief – perfectly: it’s sporty looking (especially in GP-replica Repsol colours); is solid, well-built, reliable and less prone to corrosion and neglect than most; has all the spec it needs and, more than anything, in typical Honda fashion has a brilliant, novice-friendly riding position and is equally easy and unintimidating to ride (are you listening Aprilia?). On top of all that, it was decent value, too while a facelift in 2011 improved its looks again.

Seeing as this is a celebration of all things CBR we could quite easily have included most incarnations of the sportiest CBR – the Fireblade – of all. But in the interests of restraint, we haven’t. Two more, however, stand out for us, the first being the subtly updated 2006-2007 version of the first RCV-alike alike, which was launched in 2004. The 2006, version, however, exudes Honda refinement at its best. The styling is ‘smoothed over’ and refined; the engine and chassis are virtually faultless and the build quality is exquisite. If you want the best ‘old school’ blade, before electronics started to take hold, this is the one.

In a similar vein to the 2006 Fireblade, above, our pick of the incarnations of its little brother, the CBR600RR, is not the 2003 first, nor the facelifted 2014 version, nor even the current one – but this. 

Again based on the 2004 RCV-inspired 600RR, the 2007 update has smoothed out styling, an uprated chassis and engine, sublime build quality, and was available largely unchanged for seven years. That means there’s a huge number of used bikes in a massive variety of paint schemes to choose from and even came with the option of Honda’s clever new C-ABS combined ABS braking system. 600s don’t get any classier.

And speaking of classy, Fireblades – or CBR1000RRs, seeing as we’re talking about CBRs – don’t come any classier than the original Fireblade SP from 2014. With a blueprinted engine, Brembo monobloc brakes, Ohlins suspension and classic HRC ‘tricolour’ paint job, it not only went well, with 178bhp, it also handled and stopped superbly and looked utterly fabulous, too, and all before Fireblades went overboard on electronics and race-style riding positions. If you want the ultimate CBR ‘Blade for the road, this is probably the one.