Words : Peter Elliott , Ben Wilkins / Photos : Geoff Osborne

I confess to feeling completely bewildered by the array of technical detail and data on the Fireblade ’ s new TFT crystal display up front . This state lasted for several rides . But , hell , it was going sensationally with no intellectual input from me , and some prior rider must have known what they were doing when they changed the factory settings ; but frankly learning to set this bike up for your own preferences was always going to take a bit of time . So I did exactly what most of us would do ... just turned the key and rode it . My initial impressions are uncomfortable ones , it ’ s short , compact , offers little wind resistance to my looming body , and the pegs feel like they are slung just below the fuel tank . My six foot frame is thrust forward aggressively and my nuts feel dangerously exposed to any forward movement and stoppage . My head cranes forward to peer under the rim of my helmet , and those details on the screen are impossible to discern without my reading glasses on . But , within half an hour , the best part of 60km behind me and any number of bends and turns , I felt like I had ridden the bike yesterday and the day before . It was both familiar , and a constant revelation , as everything I originally found odd or different , became crystal clear as to why the engineers at Honda had gone the way they had . The body position felt better and better , and the

expected cramping I often get when my knees are touching my eyebrows did not eventuate . The bike looks incredible . Lets get that out of the way . The Honda finish is the best of any commercial manufacturer anywhere . Bar none . It turns heads , and best of all , and most unexpectedly , this iteration has personality to burn . We are used to fiendish precision from the Honda camp , but not the sort of heartstring tug that great Euro marques often inspire , until now . I liked this bike very much indeed , and it felt like it was taking me on a journey of discovery , one that I was happily led on . The SP1 is about as close to factory race as I