Pulling off is not an inspiring affair, and there is a lull before build up that is the antithesis of the Kwak and even more so the R6 which just digs in and drives like a Duke. The engine is, creamy smooth, however, and surprise, surprise, so is the gearbox, a major improvement at last despite many seasons of promises. For once I never gave it a thought, which is as a good box should be. Clutch is the typically strong and purposeful Honda affair and you would have to go some to cook it.

As ever, early drive is utterly fuss free and linear, if a little bland. But at eight thou or so a funny thing happens... a power band appears! From hereon in the drive is purposeful and goddam it, almost exciting and the objective of the CBR as a track bike becomes obvious, particularly when you get past peak and discover that the Honda has more useful overrev than anything else in the class - just what you need for hairpins at altitude as well as the exit of Goddards.

In fact, the only zone to roam on the CBR is above eight grand where even in top at around 95mph, the drive is determined right the way round to 13,000 and you find yourself being seduced into an ever higher top speed. Once into the seam of torque above five figures, any minor penalty in terms of performance or excitement that the CBR loses out to the 636 is negligible, though it has to be admitted that rev for rev the Kwak still has the edge.

This embellishment of the mid-range is in fact, nothing to do with an increase in power but everything to do with a reduction in weight, and even though the claimed all-up figures are as laughable as ever, there is a noticeable cut in kilos, a brace of which have been pruned from the frame alone, and a further kg from the forks, if the Honda hype is to be believed.

A new fine die-cast process employed in hollow frame construction has enabled Honda to trim small amounts of material in areas not subjected to stress while still being able to provide the torsional strength in all the areas where it is critical. A full 1.5kg has been trimmed from the frame while the new die-cast seat rails add to the savings with another 0.7kg shaved in this area. Weight has also been saved through the use of a new composite aluminium swingarm.

The swingarm now integrates the damper’s upper mount into its new one piece design which helps to completely isolate the frame from the shocks and stresses generated by the rear suspension.

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