My first impression of the Honda CBR600RR was of an astonishingly competent middleweight sport bike that had had nearly all the character refined out of it.

I thought then that if I had to ride it every day I might become bored bearing in mind I’ve mostly owned Italian machines that, if anything, err in the opposite direction.

Wrong. I’ve just lived with one for a week, commuted on it and skived off for a couple of longish trips and a memorable high-speed blast down the N2 and I was never bored.

My first estimate of its competence stands: it’s amazingly agile but reassuringly stable through long sweeps and on bumpy straights, thanks to its electronic steering damper a revised version of that fitted to its one-litre sibling the Fireblade.

The 600’s damper mechanism is mostly hidden under the tank and has a stroke longer than the earlier version so its action is more linear and more predictable. Racers say it doesn’t react quickly enough for the track but it’s superb on open roads.

It does have a tendency, when going slowly, to move off the straight and narrow but above 60km/h the damper is undetectable except for being more stable than anything with a wheelbase of only 1275mm ought to be.

The 599cc four also has some hidden character and not only the unexpectedly heavy secondary buzz through handlebars and footpegs at around 7000rpm, especially on overrun.

It will pull willingly from less than 2000rpm in the first three gears traffic is no fuss – without jerking or overheating and, in the time-honoured tradition set by Soichiro Honda himself, has no real power band, but its response becomes considerably more urgent as the revs rise.

The CBR maxes out at a claimed 88kW at 13 500rpm, enough to take it up to 235km/h very quickly and, with enough space, to 256km/h at 13 800, a fraction past its power peak, showing that the standard gearing is great for fast riding.

Flashing for Attention

Another misperception I had was that the bike was inordinately thirsty; the tank seemed to need a fill every time I rode it. Turned out there were two reasons:

• The bar-graph fuel gauge left of the rev-counter began flashing with five litres still in the 18-litre tank.
• The bike’s distinct preference for high-speed sweeps led me to ride it a lot further than I have some more urban-orientated machinery.

I checked my fuel receipts for this review and found it had returned 6.03 litres/100km, including performance testing and some serious hooliganising.

The naughty side of nine

The vertically stacked gearbox with its shift mechanism on top is distinctly notchy at low revs but the harder you ride the bike the better it works. As long as the tacho needle points to the naughty side of nine seamless shifts either way are easy; slick changes in traffic take more concentration.

The seating position was also a little more radical than expected, despite Honda having shifted the clip-on’s 10mm higher than the previous model. So short-coupled is the ’07 CBR600RR that it still places more weight than is comfortable on your hands in traffic; your wrists may ache if you’re not used to sport bikes.

All, however, is forgiven out on the twisties; suddenly the ergonomics are close to perfect, the steering taut and accurate. A bike I had characterised as unexciting on the rather sedate launch ride was now so responsive, so effortlessly flowing, that full-tilt became the only way to ride.

Bottom line

Honda’s CBR600RR is at its best when ridden very hard; it’s agile, responsive and revs like a chainsaw but it’s never ill-tempered. In the best Honda tradition, it’s a very civilised hooligan tool.