Honda SA has launched its 2005 sports flagships on to the South African market with a flat-out track session at Kyalami racetrack near Johannesburg.
There an unruly mob of bike journos was able to give the new bikes big handfuls of throttle without worrying about such things as taxis, speed limits and traffic cops.
Before that, however, Honda SA motorcycle division head Basil Forssman presented the new CBR600RR and CBR1000RR Fireblade to the media.
He explained that pure sports machines ("superbikes" in PR-speak) make up about 10 percent of the two-wheeled market.
Honda now has 24 percent of that elite segment, thanks mostly to earlier versions of these two models; the 2004 CBR600RR was in fact last year's top 600-class sports bike.
Then it was time to put the bikes to the ultimate test on South Africa's premier racing circuit, an incredibly difficult track where nearly all the corners are blind. I spent the first session on the bigger machine re-learning where all the corners go, then settled down to some smooth laps on the 600.
Despite the phenomenal poise and competence of Honda's finest, I must admit that the high point of the day was being passed (no, let's be honest – demolished) by honoured guest Jim Redman, who won six World GP titles for Honda in the 1960s and is still racing at 73.
After all, how many street riders can boast of sharing a track with a living legend
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