A new Honda Fireblade could be on the way for 2024, and could potentially be a sort of ‘final edition’ before emissions regulations begin to tighten.
The Japanese website Webike considers that a successor to the 2022 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade will be on the way for 2024 as the largest manufacturer of them all goes all-in on its flagship sports bike before emissions regulations make power more difficult to extract.
The latest iteration of the Fireblade produces 215 horsepower and was widely regarded at the time of its inception in 2020 as Honda’s major effort in trying to put itself back at the top of production-derivative racing (i.e. superbike).
So far, it has not entirely worked out. The bike has not won a race in WorldSBK, although in Japan it has found more success, including in the Suzuka 8 Hour which it won earlier this year.
The fundamental issue of the bike is that it is designed and developed around Bridgestone tyres, but in WorldSBK they use Pirellis. The World Superbike Championship will introduce ‘Super Concessions’ on a full-scale basis from 2023, with the intention of helping to bring manufacturers like Honda and BMW towards the front with Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.
Honda, though, also seems to want to take things into their own hands, according to Webike, who suggest a new bike will be ready for 2024, with a public debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2023.
A new Fireblade would potentially be a final edition of the bike before emissions regulations tighten. The new bike would still have to adhere to the current standard of Euro5, after that new bikes would be more restricted.
For now, this is an idea based purely in speculation. There is nothing official yet, but in some ways it would make sense for Honda to try to get one more “full power”, as Webike puts it, Fireblade out, even if it were an update more to the chassis than the engine as a 'Pirelli adaptation.'
