The 'Blade for race teams
What a WSB bike looks like when it's delivered from the factory...
IT might look like it hasn't been finished but this is actually Honda's 'Race Base' 2012 CBR1000RR – the machine that race teams can buy.
Missing things like lights, mirrors, a pillion seat and even the trim panels on the sides of the tank, the stripped-back Fireblade is basically much the same as the normal production version but with some of the parts that race teams will throw out already removed to reduce the price.
With panels finished in matt black – racers will paint them at the very least, although most will replace them with carbon fibre copies – there are a couple of details that differ on the production race version.
The electronic instruments, for instance, include a lap-by-lap fuel consumption readout, so you can work out just how much needs to be in the tank at the start of a race.
