Honda’s flagship supersport range, the Honda CBR fairings are one of the most recognised and these are the most widely known bikes around the world. The CBR range currently contains six bikes ranging from 125cc to 1000cc, however has had a total of 18 bikes over the years.

The baby of the range is the CBR125R. This is the learner-legal 125cc model and very popular with learners, especially in the UK. The CBR125R started production in 2004 and has twin brother, the CBR150R which is produced for the far east market. It was designed to fill the gap from the discontinued NSR125 and has a four-stroke single-cylinder motor producing 13bhp. The Honda CBR fairings were based on the CBR600F4i and between the years of 04-06 has a carbureted fuel system with the 07-present models having a fuel injection system. In 2007 the CBR fairings were updated to resemble that of the CBR600RR.

The following bikes are the CBR250R, mainly produced for the far eastern market, but still available in the Americas and Europe. It was unveiled in 2010 with production starting in 2011. There has now been plans to replace the CBR250R with the CBR300R in 2013, however production has still yet to commence.

The CBR250R is then belittled by the CBR500R. The CBR500R was announced in 2012 and released in April 2013. This was released alongside the CB500F and CB500X which all contain the same 47bhp engine, but each have slightly different style fairings. 

The CBR600RR is one of the flagship models of the CBR range. The CBR600RR was introduced as a replacement to the CBR600F and won every Supersport World Championship from 2002-2008. The Honda CBR fairings have racing roots after being developed from the Honda RC211V MotoGP bike. It has similar fairings to the RC211V and was intended to be a road legal replica. It was also one of the first bikes to include technology used on the MotoGP bikes such as the Unit Pro-Link rear suspension and the Dual-Stage Fuel Injection System (PGM-DSFI). The CBR fairings have been updated since its release and it’s weight has been drastically reduced by about 20kg. This bike has been one of the biggest successes of the Supersport World Championship, winning over 8 titles.

The CBR600F has been talked about in the past few articles and has a new model. Starting in 2011 the new CBR600F takes its design from the naked Hornet, but has been given fairings to reduce the wind blast on it’s naked brother. It has the same relaxed seating position, making it more styled towards a sports-tourer, but still eligible as a supersport bike. The CBR600F has deep roots in Honda and has been around since the 90s. The newer model also contains a detuned version of the CBR600RR’s engine, producing approximately 102bhp, only around 3-5bhp less than the CBR600RR.

The big daddy of the CBR range is the CBR1000RR Fireblade. Producing a power output of 133kW and a maximum torque of 114Nm, the CBR1000RR is a force to be reckoned with. With an average lap speed on the Isle of Man TT of 130mph. There are currently two models of the Fireblade, with the Fireblade SP being more focused towards the track due to its lack of pillion seat and its slightly reduced weight. The Fireblade has the largest capacity engine available in the CBR range and like the CBR600RR is based upon the Honda RC211V MotoGP bike. 

Overall, the CBR range is one of the most popular supersport ranges on the market today. Up there with Yamaha’s YZF range and Kawasaki’s ZX and Ninja ranges, it carves a path in the motorcycle world.