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Honda CBR1100XX

The Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird (model code SC35) is a sport bike, part of the CBR series made by Honda from 1996 to 2007. The bike was developed to challenge the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 as the world's fastest production motorcycle,[8] and Honda succeeded with a top speed of 177 mph (285 km/h).[2][9] Two years later the title passed to the Suzuki Hayabusa, which reached 193 mph (311 km/h).[8][10][11] The Blackbird is named after the Lockheed SR-71, also a speed record holder.[8][12]

It has the largest-displacement engine in Honda's CBR range of motorcycles.

Development

In the mid-1990s, Honda was determined to produce the world's fastest production motorcycle and to take over the associated bragging rights and marketing impact, at the time held by Kawasaki's Ninja ZX11.[8] This led to the creation of the CBR1100XX Super Blackbird. The Blackbird name is a nod to the Lockheed SR-71 aircraft, the world's fastest production aircraft.[12]

In the February 1997 issue of Sport Rider magazine, the CBR1100XX was tested at a top speed of 178.5 mph (287.3 km/h),[2] compared with 175 mph (281.6 km/h) for the ZX-11.[13] Its supremacy over the ZX-11 was confirmed in April 2007 by Motorcycle Consumer News, although the speeds achieved were slightly lower and the margin was narrower.[5]

In 1999, the Suzuki Hayabusa overtook the CBR1100XX. It was listed in the 2000 Millennium Edition of Guinness World Records as the world's fastest production bike with a top speed of 194 mph (312 km/h) Hayabusa is the Japanese term for the Peregrine Falcon, a species of raptor which preys on blackbirds.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Performance Index '10" (PDF), Motorcycle Consumer News, Bowtie Magazines, 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-15, retrieved 2011-02-14
  2. ^ a b c "Motorcycle Performance Numbers: Honda". Sport Rider. February 1997. ISSN 1065-7649. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008.
  3. ^ Smith, Don. "Honda CBR1100XX 1997-2003: speed king at one time, the biggest CBR drew fans for other reasons." Sport Rider Aug. 2010: 63+. General OneFile. Web. 14 June 2012.
  4. ^ Brown, Roland (2006), The Ultimate History of Fast Motorcycles, Bath, UK: Parragon, pp. 214–215, ISBN 1-4054-7303-7
  5. ^ a b c Coonan, Big Joe (April 1997). "Honda CBR1100XX vs. Kawasaki ZX-11". Motorcycle Consumer News. ISSN 1073-9408.
  6. ^ a b c d "Hard Numbers." Motorcyclist July 2000: 136. General OneFile. Web. 14 June 2012.
  7. ^ Coombs, Matthew (2007), Honda CBR1100xx Super Blackbird Service and Repair Manual, Sparkford, UK: Haynes, p. 0.10, ISBN 978-1-84425-752-2
  8. ^ a b c d Brown, Roland (2005), The Ultimate History of Fast Motorcycles, Bath, UK: Parragon, pp. 216–217, 242–243, ISBN 1-4054-5466-0
  9. ^ Terri, Sievert (2002), The World's Fastest Superbikes; Built for speed, Capstone Press, ISBN 9780736810609
  10. ^ a b Guinness World Records 2000 Millennium Edition. Guinness World Records Ltd. 1999. p. 179. ISBN 0-85112-098-9.
  11. ^ Hoyer, Mark (June 2007), "'Busas, Baby! Looking Back at Suzuki's Steamroller of Speed", Cycle World, Newport Beach, California: Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., ISSN 0011-4286, archived from the original on 2007-08-22
  12. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2008-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "Motorcycle Performance Numbers:Kawasaki". Sport Rider. February 1997. ISSN 1065-7649. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008.
Records
Preceded by Fastest production motorcycle
1996–1999 		Succeeded by