Honda CBR600RR - 2008

Close your eyes just a fraction, squint a little, take a good look at the 2008 Honda CBR600RR and you could be forgiven for thinking you were looking at Nicky Hayden’s MotoGP bike. Even wearing some decent motorcycle goggles. The same clean lines, beefy swing arm and sharp profile adorn both motorcycles. Dual Stage Fuel Injection, Pro-Link rear suspension and HESD electronic steering damper, drool drool. Honda make no bones about the fact that MotoGP is where they test designs for their new bikes and it shows. Whether you can ride one as quickly as Nicky is another matter, but feel free to try.

What was unaffordable, cutting edge technology just a few years ago now sits resplendent on a bike you can pick up from a dealers and ride away for less than ten grand. Honda have continued their process of slow refinement and development with the CBR 600 and this year’s model is almost identical to last years, slightly heavier, up a few pounds from 2007 (depending on which Honda site you get info from) and the rake has been changed slightly from 23.7 degrees to 23.55 – hardly enough to be noticeable. Honda are selling their 2007 model alongside the 2008 and with so few small changes apart from the color scheme, they have sensibly priced the 2008 a mere $100 more than the ’07. Apparently Honda’s current policy is to only make significant model changes every second year and 2007 saw a major revamp. It does look good in black though.

The Honda CBR 600 has had consistently good reviews since they introduced the model and with good reason. There are a selection of reviews from the 2007 launch at the bottom of the page – still applicable as the CBR 600RR has not had any significant changes this year. CBR600’s have been winning accolades and awards all round the world since 1987.

The CBR600 was the club racer’s choice the moment it was released. Cheap, fast straight out of the box, and reliable. Easy to set up doesn't even come close. Literally open the crate, put it together and you have a competitive machine. On top of that, they hardly ever blow up. In 2007, Ian Hutchinson broke the Isle of Man TT race record in the Supersport/Junior class with a race winning 123.225 mph average speed on the HM Plant Honda CBR 600 - On what is basically the same bike you or I can buy, just without the Motorcycle Number Plates fitted.

If you want a fast, reliable mid-sized sports bike, the Honda CBR 600RR is hard to beat.