For those who love motorbikes, the Honda Fireblade has long been synonymous with the very best in motorbike development. 20 years after the Fireblade changed what the word ‘superbike’ actually meant, many motorbike fans would be expecting the new Fireblade to offer even more, beating off stiff competition from European rivals with ease.

But has it? Many people believe that offerings from BMW and its slickly-named S1000RR or the Aprilia RSV-Four are superior to the new Fireblade, not least because the new Honda is 20bhp short of these Euro-bikes. But many would argue that there are few situations that the average rider would utilise more than 175bhp, even on a pretty fast race track – certainly never on a normal road.

The looks of the new model have been altered notably, addressing what some saw as the back-to-front styling of the outgoing model. The new design could, predictably, be labelled rather generic when looked at next to its contemporaries.

The new model also offers 12 spoke wheels, which, according to Honda, improves rider feedback. Cooling has also been improved, which fixes a problem that arose in the previous Fireblade.With these changes, together with alterations to the bike’s engine management and a re-designed dash, not a huge amount has changed.

That said, it’s still a Fireblade – and one of the finest superbikes available. Make sure your motorbike breakdown cover is up to date if you’re considering purchasing one of these beasts for the first time!