Clash of the TT titans: How relevant are the 200+bhp M1000RR and Blade RR-R on the road?

With Peter Hickman and Michael Dunlop sharing the big bike spoils at this year’s ultimate road race – the TT – aboard the M1000RR and Fireblade SP respectively, these top spec, ultra-exotic versions of BMW and Honda’s flagship superbikes are undoubtedly impressive, road-legal weapons of distance destruction.

But what are they really like on Britain’s bumpy, lumpy, traffic-infested roads? Can you use their 200+bhp performance, experience their ultra-advanced electronics and appreciate their uncompromising cutting-edge chassis?

Are both so beyond the realities of ‘normal’ road riding they’re wasted and left as little more than an expensive playboy pose? And, either way… which is the best?

We decided to find out by tackling MCN’s gruelling 250-mile test route…