In the spring of 1992, Honda unveiled the motorcycle that would change the way we think about sportbikes: the CBR900RR. On the surface, and eyeing the component parts, it was nothing special: a garden-variety liquid-cooled inline four wrapped in a twin-spar aluminum frame. The CBR even had a bit of old tech in the form of a conventional front fork and 16-inch front wheel, whereas the competition had moved on to inverted forks and 17-inch hoops. No, it was all kind of ho-hum for the time. That is, until you saw how much it weighed. Scaling in at 457 pounds with a full tank of fuel, the CBR was 75 pounds lighter than the next lightest liter-class machine at the time, the Yamaha FZR1000. The Suzuki GSX-R1100? 114 pounds heavier. Kawasaki ZX-11? 144 pounds heavier. The 900 was just four pounds heavier than Honda’s own middleweight at the time, the CBR600F2. Even today, the 900 would be considered light; the 2012 BMW S 1000 RR, winner of our last literbike comparison test, is two pounds heavier. Even the current CBR1000RR is just 12 pounds lighter than its 20-year-old counterpart. Please note this bike has been imported from the Continent and will be UK registered on an age related number plate upon sale. The speedo reading is showing kilometres. The North West’s finest family run motorcycle dealership, £3,995 p/x
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