Are sportbikes truly dead? It does not look to be so as the revised 2024 Honda CBR600RR supersport bike leads the middleweight category sales in the UK, in June this year.
Honda UK naturally says it is great news since CBR600RR is now doing well in the SuperSport category in the British SuperBike (BSB) series and won at the recently completed Isle of Man TT.
However, overall industry news is not so rosy. Total registration in June was 12,734 units, which is a 5.8% drop compared to 2023. Year-to-date sales are also 0.7% down from the previous year.
The Honda CBR600RR was dropped for all other markets except for Japan since 2017 but it returned to the UK this year, selling at £10,499 (RM63,579.65). Its 599cc, 16-valve, inline-four engine produces 119 hp, putting it in the same category as the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.
The CBR600RR is the real supersport machine, compared to the 94hp Honda CBR650R which is more road-oriented. The latter is in the same category as the Yamaha YZF-R7, Kawasaki Ninja 650, Suzuki GSX-8R, Triumph Daytona 660, and also the Aprilia RS 660. whose engines produce sub-100hp performance.
