Blade tops world first group test

MCN’s world’s first group test of three of the most exciting bikes of all time has a clear winner – Honda’s new CBR1000RR FireBlade has taken the crown as king of the latest litre-class superbikes.

That’s our initial verdict after performance testing on closed roads, riding the Kawasaki ZX-10R, Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Blade back-to-back on British roads and getting them all on the dyno.

Our test team place the Blade at the top for: ” Having a truly sorted package that any rider of any skill can make use of. ”

Our bhp shootout gave top spot to Kawasaki’s ZX-10R… and the bike with the biggest torque remains the GSX-R1000.

It is incredibly close at the top of this superbike tree. For example, the standing quarter acceleration times of the three bikes are all within .05 of a second of each other.

Read the full and exclusive story and check out all the figures, from standing quarter to top speed and braking times only in MCN out on Wednesday, February 4, 2004.

All this talk of new bikes making you think it’s time to sell yours? Try our new SELL YOUR BIKE section for a faster, easier way than ever.

COMING SOON: World first test of the 2004 Yamaha R1. First impressions on this site from February 9, 2004.

See all these bikes at the MCN London Motorcycle Show. Click here to save on midweek tickets.