What Is The Top Speed Of The Fastest Honda Motorcycle You Can Buy?

Honda has one of the most diverse lineups of motorcycles on the market today. Scooters, miniMOTO bikes, adventure bikes, cruisers, and long-distance touring kings are all part of their offerings. And for sporty fun, there are lots of options too. Several naked "standard" sport bikes are currently available from Honda, like the new CB1000 Hornet SP and the CB750 Hornet, as well as smaller options like the CB650R or the CB300R. If you really want big speed though, you'll want to take a closer look at Honda's supersport bikes, specifically the CBR600RR, CBR1000RR, and CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. 

All three of Honda's supersport bikes are powerful, fun to ride, and highly competitive in their respective classes. The CBR600RR, for example, is one of the fastest 600cc motorcycles ever made and has an astonishing top speed of 160 mph. We've had the chance to review all three in recent years and each bike had lots of virtues worth noting, but the fastest of the bunch is the Fireblade. 

Honda, like many other motorcycle manufacturers, doesn't list top speed. But riders with enough open road, have been able to max out the speedometers on their Fireblade motorcycles at 299 kph (186 mph) and, in some cases, continue accelerating beyond the posted speed on the gauges. Like several other supersport liter bikes (and some even bigger motorcycles) the CBR1000RR is limited on its display thanks to an agreement between manufacturers that caps top speed.

The Fireblade, like its slightly-tamer-but-still-very-fast twin the standard CBR1000RR, is powered by a 999cc inline four-cylinder engine. American Honda doesn't list the bike's power numbers, but according to Honda U.K., the Fireblade produces 214 horsepower and 83.3 lb-ft of torque (160kW and 113Nm). For most supersport liter bikes, the 200-horsepower threshold is what it takes to be considered serious, and the Fireblade is well beyond that point. The standard CBR1000RR is offered at a pretty reasonable price considering all that power, with an MSRP of $17,774 (including $775 destination fee). That's slightly lower than rivals like the Yamaha R1 and the Kawasaki ZX-10R, both of which offer similar levels of eye-watering speed. The Fireblade, however, is much more.

The MSRP for the Fireblade SP is $29,774, and it justifies that price with a lot of different performance bits and pieces, along with some differences in tuning. The Fireblade has upgraded Öhlins suspension, adjustable suspension, larger front brakes with Brembo calipers, Akrapovič titanium exhaust, a wider rear tire for added traction and cornering capability, and an extended wheelbase for better high-speed stability. The Fireblade's engine is unique too. It has a wider bore and shorter stroke than the standard bike, with a higher compression ratio and materials pulled from MotoGP like Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) on the cam lobes. It's no wonder that the Fireblade is Honda's fastest bike.