Just a few weeks ago we told you that Honda could be working on a new Honda CBR400R Four. That was the information that reached us from Japan and what we could intuit from that preliminary information did not sound bad at all. We must not overlook the fact that the market for small-capacity sports bikes had its heyday in the 90s and with creations as spectacular as the Honda CBR400RR itself that competed with the 250 two-stroke bikes.
Now, three decades later, it seems that mid-size, high-performance sports bikes are having their moment again. The rise in power and performance of large sports bikes means that the market can have room for bikes that are similar in character, but that have more logical performance to be able to enjoy them on the street.
The closest example we have is the Kawasaki ZX4-R and ZX4-RR. A bike that in good hands is capable of being very fast and efficient, but in less experienced hands it is an even better tool, as it is easier to get the most out of it than supersports or superbikes.
The Honda CBR400R Four was registered last August
As we said with the first reports, the new Honda CBR400R Four would not be the model that we currently find in Japan, which is a watered-down version of the CBR500R with a twin-cylinder engine, but, as its name suggests, it would have a four-cylinder engine.
And we know this thanks to the fact that Honda patented the name as a brand for two- and three-wheeled cars on August 27th at the Japanese intellectual property office. Obviously, this move does not indicate that we will see the new Honda CBR400R Four on the market imminently, but added to the previous information we already had, we could see it next year.
What the new Honda CBR400R Four can offer us is actually a mystery. What we would expect is that it would be on par with the ZX-4RR in terms of performance and, therefore, have a power of between 70 and 80 HP, but as we say, nothing is known about that yet and we have no choice but to wait.
