HONDA CBR1000RR FIREBLADE (2004 - 2005) Review

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £300

A beautifully styled, reliable, easy to ride, 100% analog superbike which can be bought at bargain prices and still hold its own today. Superior in many ways to its 2008 successor.

Buying experience: Purchased for 4200€ with two previous owners.

Year: 2005

Annual servicing cost: £200

What a bike rock solid on the road and as fast as you will ever ride the bike on normal roads great all rounder ride it easy and it behaves okay just use your head and you will come home safe.

Buying experience: Yes low mileage you pay a bit more save in long run check how many owners from new

Version: Repsol

Year: 2005

Annual servicing cost: £400

Brilliant bike loves track time and fast sweeping roads !

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £300

Honda quality is top for the Jap bikes

Buying experience: got a very low mile bike, pre owned by an older guy who did some tasteful cosmetic mods like undertail kit. bike is stock other than that and was garage kept. I saved thousands

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £100

Simple comparison; Its the Terminator shame its not the Penetratoŕ.

Buying experience: Bought private from Jersey off eBay cheap at 3000 quid in 2011 lol it was mint with nothing at all wrong with it.

I have owned this blade for 6 weeks, mint condition and just 3400 miles on clock, just come back from Isle of man , four days of high speed mountain crossing and some touring round the island. The bike was faultless and did not use a drop of oil, took her to 150mph on mountain mile and she was a beauty, very safe handling although it needs a double bubble.gets a bit hairy over the mountain at those speeds. The bike did not give me any false neutrals over the four day, 700 miles clocked up and on return took 10 mins to clean,good honda quality. This is my 2nd blade and I have to say I think is the better looking, the 07/08 and so on do look a bit bitty...the 929 rry was great with its underseat space and that is missed but hey, this blade looks so clean and crisp, a complete supersports bike wgich in standard form needs nothing really doing with it. The fuel injection can be a little jerky but once yu get used to it it becomes fine and give it more right hand and it lights up with good handling and a positive feedback from both ends. I will do another report in 6 months but so far , buy one, use it and love it...great bike in al depts. Sizzler

had my blade since 2008 and it was very rough around 5-6000rpm getting through emmission regs...solution is a power commander,can and k&n filter now it is silky smooth everywhere and a 1 tooth smaller front sprocket gives loads more low end shove(from 40mph in 3rd gear left my mate on his 09 blade for dead) as the bike is way over geared to hit nearly 180mph at the expense of being gutless below 6000rpm compared to my previous 98 blade.the handling of this bike is monumental just look where u want to go and it follows your head i have never had a twitch,moment or anything just rock solid confidence.....ignore the reviews of the bike in the magazines what they mean by bland is the bike does what u want it to do without drama and that`s what u want where your going quick not some twitchy wheelie monster that could spit u off any minute.....could do with a slipper clutch as from another review there is a lot of engine braking.....in a word faultless

got my new bike on 2006, my current mileage shows 13k miles and this bike perform brilliant. love the engine where it goes very smooth, great engine braking, loads of low end torque and it doesn't comsume engine oil after run in period. some said it has lack of bhp compare to its competitor, but frankly, its more than enough on the road. Fuel comsumption will put give u a smile if rev under 5k rpm, it will show reserve under 100 miles if rush in the freeway at 120mph above. handling is brilliant after replace with the stock pirelli tire to BT-016, just some minor click on suspensions and she will stick on the ground perfectly. front brakes are excellent, rear brake is functioning?? for reliability issue, battery gone flat because of the stator failure. its a common issue and i got free replacement from my local dealer althought its out of warranty but honda gave another 6 years warranty for that. other than that, so far so good. this is a well build and user friendly bike, must have it!

brill but aint got the soul of a SP1

well I have to say for the handling of the blade it is top of its class but as for the rest honda needs to put a bit of time into it to get it just right.low down power delivery is a bit jumpy which can be cured by doing the air flapper bypass(makes a really good difference).the power is ok but a bit tame for my liking,power commander pipe and filter does spice it up a bit but still loads of room for improvement.the electronic steering damper is a really good idea but i would like to try one with a manual damper to see the difference as i have had a couple of high speed tankslappers coming off jumps(thet did even out fast enough).finishing needs some work,the screws seem very cheep build,prone to salt damage no matter how well you clean them.heat shields could have been better designed as they are bulky looking and the rear brake reservoir is badly placed(fixed by cutting the pipe and installing a 15cc brembo res).suspension in its standard settings is way too hard(well for ireland anyway),everthing needs backed off just slightly especially the rear preload.the tank needs a better finish as it suffers for getting rub marks off your leathers,i got mine lacquered which helped.engine wise I have to say good but drinks way too much oil,not used to having to top up the oil so much(never had to on my gsxr) and the battery needs an opitmate or it will start to lose the charge now and again.ride mine all year round and it still started to go after a year an a half(dealer says this is normal.so moral of the story is fix these problems and you have a top class bike.......im watching 08 :)

Just switched to a 2005 Blade from a Kawsaki Z750 and the change is unbelievable. My first bike was a Honda and I should have stayed with them. Quality is unsurpassed. This bike, bought used, has been pampered. Completely standard apart from full set of R&G's and no need to change anything on it. The seating position takes a little getting used to - it's comfortable, don't get me wrong, but the more 'forward' position takes a while to get your head around. Commuting on it is a breeze and you can relax and plod or crank it up as necessary. Induction roar is fantastic if you wind it up and the brakes are very good at bringing it all to a stop very quickly indeed!! Just need to look after your licence though as the speed is very deceptive - when I picked it up, I rode home and at one point thought I must have been doing about 35mph - when I looked at the clocks I was doing nearer 60mph!! In case you haven't realised, I love this bike. It's not necessarily the most road specific or track specific bike but in my mind that makes it a great all rounder. Touring could be an issue with it but if you want to tour, buy a tourer!

Suffer judder on heavy braking. And it's not the pads or disk warp either. The alternator is very unrealible. Bikes with less than 10k miles have been victims. What else? Smooth ride. Riding position rather cramped and uncomfortable for a six footer. Looks stunning. Handling and especially electronic steering dumper is a winner.

Love everything about the bike, finish, power, brakes, suspension, looks, think the Repsol paint is a little thicker than the more standard colours and still looks great after a year and 3000 hard miles. Should have had a seat cowl as standard, and after paying £150 for one and it coming off, was very pleased when Honda supplied another under warranty free of charge. Don't know of any other companies that would have done that. Strengths: Where to start, it's a fabulous bike. Weaknesses: Change the gearing via the sprokets and save yourself a few grand changing it for the new model! Does feel very safe and I think that is what people refer to when they say it is boring. Being safe if not boring!!!

This bike has great power delivery even though it is a bit jerky low down the revs, like previous blades I've owned. Strengths: Handling, electronic steering, damper. no oil consumption (honest), good build quality. Weaknesses: Now here is my beef,( rry, rr2, rr5) all the same prob'. Front suspension seems to bottom out especially when using the brakes hard. I've had this with previous 2 blades and it will put me off buying another.