UPDATE: The 2012 Honda CBR1000RR has been leaked ahead of schedule by Honda Honk Kong.
Castrol Honda boss, Ronald ten Kate, may have just outed Honda’s latest iteration of its street-going superbikes, as the Dutch manager was quoted on his aniticipation of the new model, and what it would mean for his relatively uncompetitive World Superbike team. First talking about the team’s status and position in the World Superbike Championship, ten Kate talked about the morale boost of having Jonathan Rea back from his injuries. Ten Kate also stated that his team has put the 2011 season behind them, and is instead focusing on the 2012 season.
Also helping boost morale is what Honda has in store for next season. Stating that the Ten Kate Honda squad was looking forward to the arrival of the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR, it would appear that ten Kate himself has let slip that Honda would be bringing out a a whole new machine for next year, and in conjunction with that statement, a new Honda CBR1000RR would also have to be in the pipe.
“We will have a new machine from Honda, an upgraded version of the Fireblade in 2012, though I can’t reveal too much because Honda hasn’t revealed the bike,” said ten Kate while talking to Crash.net. “The FIM has also made the decision that we can introduce fly-by-wire to the machines for next year, which we already have but isn’t on the bikes yet.”
“We are planning to use it in the private tests, so we will be ready for 2012. This season is virtually behind us, but when Jonathan returns, we will still be targeting podiums,” he concluded.
It’s unclear exactly what changes and feature are bound to come with the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR, though we imagine a bevy of electronic packages will be included on the street bike. Pricing could be tough though, as the yen continues to strengthen against the dollar, which could mean we’ll see price increases from the Japanese brands for 2012.
Source: Crash.net
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