Photoshoot of the Week: May 11th-17th 2020 – Finja & Honda CBR600RR

As previously said, rumour has it that Honda is working on a 2021 CBR600RR-R bike. According to Japanese publication Young Machine, Honda is planning to launch the new middleweight RR-R for 2021. A render of the new model captioned “scoop” appeared on the latest edition’s cover of the publication’s magazine. According to the render, the model would be offered with a livery similar to the Fireblade’s, sporting Honda Racing Corporation’s (HRC) red, white, and blue. Young Machine was also the one to first report on the upsized Honda Africa Twin last year so by the looks of it, the team is well connected when it comes to Honda’s behind-the-scenes. Honda’s competitors have also been fairly active in the segment for the past two years with Yamaha updating the YZF-R6 in 2017 and Kawasaki, the ZX-6R in 2019. With that in mind and considering the one-liter RR-R’s popularity, it’s not surprising that the manufacturer would want to spruce its sportbikes offering—especially if it means reintegrating the European market.
The new motorcycle could feature winglets and a Euro 5 compliant engine. The middleweight supersport bike could be unveiled at the end of this year and the bodywork could feature design lines similar to the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP model. The aerodynamic package probably will have winglets if the rumours are real.
If Honda is working on a 600cc supersport bike the competition is harsh with rivals like Yamaha R6, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, MV Agusta F3 675 and F3 800 models. So, taking into count the power figures of these bikes, to stay competitive in this segment, the CBR600RR-R will have to deliver around 130 hp.
Moreover, the bike will have to feature a Euro 5 compliant engine. Honda discontinued the production of the CBR600RR model due to the Euro 3 approved engine back in 2017. Also, the company considered developing instead the CBR650F model which is more usable and has a more affordable price compared to a supersport bike.
The middleweight supersport bike segment only has a couple of models and we’ve seen in the last years a growing demand from riders for bikes like streetfighters, adventure motorcycles or middleweight twin-cylinder naked machines. Furthermore, the 1000cc superbikes are getting more closer is development with technologies from MotoGP machines.
While the CBR600RR is still part of the American sportbike landscape, we will have to wait and see if Honda has any plans to revive the CBR600RR model. We couldn’t blame Honda for surfing this little wave of success by lining up another RR-R model and rumor has it that it’s exactly what the House of Soichiro is planning to do. It looks like Honda might be working on a CBR600RR-R.