’92 CBR900RR-N

” I definitely didn’t feel in control…steering damper was the phrase that filled my brain…steering geometry comparable to a 250…a wobbler. ”

These words appeared in the first quarter page of MCN’s first ever review of the newly-created FireBlade and perfectly sum up the image that globally stuck to early CBR900s.

They were mad, mental, almost too much for the mere mortals that were going to buy them in droves.

Demand for litre sportsbikes was at a massive high thanks to cheap insurance and a timeline preceeding the scourge of modern motoring – the speed camera.

Would-be buyers demanded raw performance and embraced anything that could stoke the burning fire of adrenalin in the pits of their stomachs.

They wanted to be scared, they demanded it. In fact, they didn’t know anything else. The other sportsbikes of the age were handfuls, with few exceptions.

So, Honda obliged and, under the concept of ” Total Control ” , released a bike that was anything but.

It was flighty, peaky and more than a little wild.

The biking public loved it. Owning a ‘Blade was akin to having a penis extension, Buster Gonad’s balls and an unlimited supply of Viagra all at the same time. It made you a god.

Honda was caught on the hop that year, demand outstripping supply in many countries, including the UK. And that was despite a price tag of £7390 – more than you’ll pay for a Blade today if you haggle.

For your cash you got 124bhp and a dry weight of just 185kg (407lb), giving an unrivalled 0.67bhp/kg.

Better still, you finally got a bike that handled like a middleweight, turned like a slight weight and, thanks to the 16-inch front wheel, slapped like a bitch on every ripple.

Those in the know ordered a steering damper with the bike. The rest returned a day later and demanded one.

Suddenly, the clever invention known as kneesliders, which had only been freely commercially available for a year by ’92, made sense and another phenomenon – knee down riding – was born.

Nobody left their Blade standard for long. If the discs hadn’t cracked or warped by 10,000 miles, forcing a change to aftermarket ones, you were doing well.

The silencer self-destructed, especially if you rode in winter, and everyone asked Santa for a race can the following Christmas.

In the UK, mail order shops such as M&P Accessories were getting massive – and became single-handedly responsible for the endless permutations of gaudy fairing screens, headlamp covers and silly mirrors which quickly adorned early ‘Blades.

Avon did a roaring trade in rubber, leathers firms sold countless suits with a white base colour and pointless, squiggly designs, and engineering firms began to churn out rearsets like there was no tomorrow.

Many owners never mastered the early ‘Blade – it was simply too much. So, they went touring on them instead.

Not that anyone admitted it – not on such a thoroughbred race replica, no sir.

You ordered a touring rack and panniers through the accessories shops, bolted them on, then slunk off in the night to France for a week’s two-up easy riding.

Nothing mechanical went wrong with the ‘Blade, which explains why there are so many early ones still about today.

But try buying one. It’s getting difficult because they’re collectible now.

As Jim Nunn, 54, who owns a mint ’92 example with 34,000 miles on the clock, puts it: ” I won’t sell mine, ever. It’s taken so long to find the right one, I’ll never part with it.

” There’s something special about the early ‘Blade, aside from its collectibility. I bought it in 1999, do 4000 miles a year, and I love it.

” It’s mad but it is quite easy to ride, as long as you always have one thing for it – respect. ” Forget that, and it can be a handful. ”

If you’re in the market for one, expect to pay around £3200 today. But get it as close to standard if you want it to appreciate in value in the coming years.