Lot details
Registration No: N/A
Frame No: JH25C59A98M000082
Engine No: SC59E2000181
cc: 998
MOT Expiry Date: N/A

By the end of the nineties the British Superbike Championship had established itself as the premier national series, producing a succession of riders who have gone on to achieve success at the highest levels of international motorcycle racing, and also providing a series worthy of consideration by world class riders as an alternative to international competition. Some of the success of the championship can be attributed to the quality of the teams that compete in it, with the Championship attracting works entries from the four major Japanese manufacturers and support from internationally known sponsors. Foremost among these are Honda whose Lincolnshire based factory team returned to the Championship in 2003 having represented Honda in the World Superbike Championship between 1994 and 2002, winning the 1997, 2000 and 2002 World titles. In their first year back the team ran Steve Plater on Honda SP-2 twins, however, for 2004 they changed machinery adopting the CBR1000RR as the machine of choice and announced a new title partner in HM Plant.

The original "Fireblade" had been introduced to the public in 1992. Designed by a team led by Tadao Baba, the machine, typed the CBR900RR, benefited from the "light is right" design philosophy that resulted in "superbike" levels of performance allied to "supersport" handling qualities. The first models displaced 893cc, being followed by revised models in 1996, 2000, 2002,2004 and 2008 which saw the engine capacity rise through 918cc, 929cc, 954cc, 998cc to 999.8cc respectively. Throughout its production life the Fireblade has been regarded as the benchmark sporting superbike, although its capacity precluded it from competing in either the British or World Superbike Championships until 2002/2003 when the four cylinder capacity limit of 750cc was raised to 1000cc. The model has subsequently secured three British titles with Ryuichi Kiyonari in 2006, 2007 and 2010 and a World title with James Toseland in 2007 together with countless wins at the TT and in other races around the world.
Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari came to the British Superbike Championship in 2004, having risen to prominence in the Japanese Championship followed by a spell with Gresini Honda in Moto GP. In his first season of British Superbike racing he secured sixth place in the Championship, following this with a fifth place overall in 2005.
In 2006 Ryuichi Kiyonari won his first British Superbike Championship securing eleven first place finishes, two second places and three thirds on the orange and black Fireblade. He repeated the feat in 2007, this time taking nine firsts, four seconds and five thirds to retain the title. He then moved to the World Superbike Championship for the 2008 and 2009 seasons before returning to the British Championship for 2010, which he won.

The machine offered is one of those ridden by Kiyonari to his first two British titles. It was built by HRC in Japan as a full factory race bike before being shipped over to the UK for the company's attack on the British Championship, reflecting the importance that Honda attribute to the British championship. Described as being in good condition throughout it is fitted with the original race engine and offers an exceptionally rare opportunity for a collector to acquire a genuine HRC works machine, Honda traditionally being very reluctant to let their works machinery out of captivity.