The Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird is a Hondamotorcycle, part of the CBR series made from 1996 to 2007. The bike was developed to challenge the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 as the world's fastest production motorcycle,[9] and Honda succeeded with a top speed of 177 mph (285 km/h).[2][10] Two years later the title passed to the Suzuki Hayabusa, which reached 193 mph (311 km/h).[9][11][12] The Blackbird is named after the Lockheed SR-71, also a speed record holder.[9][13]
It has the largest-displacement engine in Honda's CBR range of motorcycles.
Development
In the mid-1990s, Honda was determined to produce the world's fastest production motorcycle and to take over the associated bragging rights and marketing impact, at the time held by Kawasaki's Ninja ZX11.[9] This led to the creation of the CBR1100XX Super Blackbird. The Blackbird name is a nod to the Lockheed SR-71 aircraft, the world's fastest production aircraft.[13]
In the February 1997 issue of Sport Rider magazine, the CBR1100XX was tested at a top speed of 178.5 mph (287.3 km/h),[2] compared with 175 mph (281.6 km/h) for the ZX-11.[14]
Its supremacy over the ZX-11 was confirmed in April 2007 by Motorcycle Consumer News, although the speeds achieved were slightly lower and the margin was narrower.[5]
In 1999, the Suzuki Hayabusa overtook the CBR1100XX. It was listed in the 2000 Millennium Edition of Guinness World Records as the world's fastest production bike with a top speed of 194 mph (312 km/h) Hayabusa is the Japanese term for the Peregrine Falcon, a species of raptor which preys on blackbirds.[11]
^Smith, Don. "Honda CBR1100XX 1997-2003: speed king at one time, the biggest CBR drew fans for other reasons." Sport Rider Aug. 2010: 63+. General OneFile. Web. 14 June 2012.
^Brown, Roland (2006), The Ultimate History of Fast Motorcycles, Bath, UK: Parragon, pp. 214–215, ISBN1-4054-7303-7
