Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Honda

Browsing
MotoGP

Marc Marquez Signs MotoGP Contract with Honda thru 2024

By 13 Comments

Marc Marquez has signed an almost unprecedented new contract extension with HRC, which will see him remain in the factory Honda team for four more years after his current contract expires at the end of the 2020 season. That means Marquez will be a factory Honda rider until the end of 2024.

Marquez’s contract renewal had been widely anticipated, although the length of it is unexpected. It is a sign of the commitment of Marquez and Honda have to each other, and a clear indication of the reigning world champion’s objectives and intentions. Marquez races to win, individual races, but especially titles. He clearly sees Honda as his best bet for achieving that.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

Repsol Honda Unveils the Same MotoGP Color Scheme as Always

By 5 Comments

You have to give credit to the factory Honda MotoGP team, they are true pillars of consistency, and have shown a strong commitment to using the same livery over, over, and over again each year.

Now, there is nothing wrong with this…per se. Good branding scholars will tell you the value of an iconic and unchanged marque, and having the same design on their race bikes certainly makes it easy on fans.

However, when it comes to launching your team for the next season, it creates the problem of people asking, “why should we care?”

Keep Reading
By
Podcast

Brap Talk Podcast #29 – Shiver Me Timbers

By 4 Comments

Episode 29 of the Brap Talk podcast is now out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and as always, it is packed with some interesting motorcycle discussions.

This show has a bit of racing commentary, as we discuss the 2020 Dakar Rally, which was still taking place at the time of recording, as well as the ongoing saga with Andrea Iannone’s doping problems.

We also give some discussion to the pricing for the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, which we now know will cost $28,500 in the United States.

Keep Reading
By
WSBK

The WorldSBK-Spec Honda CBR1000RR-R with No Clothes

By 7 Comments

The 2020 WorldSBK Championship has the promises to be one of the best in recent history, as there are more than a few contenders for the throne lining up on the grid this season.

Of course, there is five-time champion Jonathan Rea, who has been a juggernaut onboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR.

Rea will have the target on his back for 2020, that much is for certain, and the Kawasaki Racing Team has shown that they are well-honed operation, and certainly capable of adding metal to Rea’s trophy room.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP Priced at $28,500 for the USA

By 10 Comments

If you were an American hoping to buy the new Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, you better hold onto your butt because we just got pricing on this incredible new superbike, and it will cost $28,500 in the United States.

The US pricing is a considerable break from Honda’s normal pricing scheme (and our own predictions here at A&R), and is more in line with the currency costs found in other markets.

For example, the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP will retail for £23,499 in the UK and €27,000 on mainland Europe – both of those prices equaling roughly $30,000 in US dollars.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP Priced at €27,000 in Europe

By 6 Comments

We continue to wait to see what pricing will be on the 2021 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP (whew! say that three times fast!), when it comes to the USA later this summer. 

Our Bothan spy tipsters have pointed to the new Fireblade as being a pricey superbike (we have been expecting a roughly $25,000 price tag), and American Honda’s decision to import only the up-spec SP model adds further fuel to the fire that some price-point trickery is afoot.

With pricing already shown for the UK market, and seemingly confirming out suspicion, now we have another data point, as pricing on mainland Europe is finally out, and it seems to confirm the trend.

Keep Reading
By
News

Brap Talk Podcast #27 – Get Your Flu Shot

By 1 Comment

Episode 27 of the Brap Talk podcast is now out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and as always, it is packed with some interesting motorcycle discussions.

In this show, we catch up on lost time, as Jensen got the flu (go get your flu shot, right now), and was in bed for two weeks hoping that death would come and release him from his misery.

While that meant a delay in podcasting shows, the upside is that it means this episode has plenty to talk about!

Keep Reading
By
News

Honda Just Built Its 400 Millionth Motorcycle

By 1 Comment

While we wait for the New Year and ponder what has occurred in the last 365 days, the folks at Honda certainly have a milestone to remember 2019 by – this was the year that they built their 400 millionth motorcycle. That’s a lot.

This marker comes in Honda’s 70th year of making motorcycles (the Honda Dream D-Type went on sale in 1949), and it is an astounding achievement for the Japanese brand.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Further Proof that the Honda CBR1000RR-R Will Not Be Cheap

By No Comments

Even before we saw the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in all its glory at EICMA, we knew that the newest superbike from Japan would not be cheap, with our Bothan spies tipping that a major price hike was in the works.

Though there have been some hints that this rumor was true – most notably that American Honda was not bringing in the base model CBR1000RR-R, opting to keep the CBR1000RR base model instead – the smoking gun regarding Honda’s pricing strategy hadn’t revealed its…until now.

This is because we have just received the first official price tag for the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, with the United Kingdom pricing the base model at £19,999 and the SP model at £23,499.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

Alex Marquez Will Race in MotoGP with Repsol Honda for 2020

By No Comments

Repsol Honda has officially confirmed that Alex Marquez will partner his brother Marc at the Repsol Honda team for next year. It is the first time that a pair of brothers have raced in the same team in MotoGP.

There have been other brothers riding in the same class at the same time – Aleix and Pol Espargaro the latest example of that, but never before have brothers raced in the same team in either 500cc or MotoGP. 

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Up-Close with the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP

By No Comments

One of the most anticipated superbikes of the 2020 model year, the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade (say that three times fast) is a true all-new motorcycle from the Japanese brand.

With 215hp on tap from its 999cc inline-four engine, the new Fireblade is posting big numbers, from a small (443 lbs) package.

Though we won’t see the base model in the United States (the current generation CBR1000RR will remain for the price-sensitive), we will see the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in June 2020, as a 2021 model year machine.

That is a long time to wait, for what promises to be a class-leading machine in the liter-bike space.

Keep Reading
By