The Honda CBR has always been a long standing icon for Honda’s motorcycle division, and it appears that 2021 will be the year that the CBR receives some much needed attention to satiate the needs of bike enthusiasts. A new report appears to have added some further fuel to the fire, with the CBR possibly gaining an upgraded version of the iconic CBR600RR before that offshoot is axed due to tightening environmental regulations.
This is according to the folks at Cycle World who claim that the report is based in information from a “Japanese informant” deep inside the company. According to the report, the CBR600RR-R will receive a few new pieces of technology, as well as some styling tweaks before it potentially ceases production due to tightening fuel economy regulations. We suspect that a full suite of upgrades is perhaps the best path for Honda to follow here, with the business case for a heavily revamped CBR600RR rapidly eroding due to increasing pressure from fuel economy standards which has made the task of making a 600cc inline four cylinder compliant with regulations even harder. Honda has already been forced to respond recently, with the company pulling the model from several key markets (including Europe) a few years ago for this very reason.
As for what the CBR600RR could bring to the table for its purported final run, Honda could equip the bike with an all new IMU that would add cornering ABS and lean angle sensitive traction control to the 600’s already impressive list of goodies. A more generic “tweak” would also help the bike comply with the current standards, though it is unclear at this point just what will be tweaked, and how long it will allow the bike to be on sale? Honda for its part has so far not commented on the validity of the report, but look for more information to perhaps emerge either later this year, some time in 2021.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.