Updated Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and the Honda RVF1000 might be launched in 2017. The former seeing a refreshed version with new electronics, while the latter is a watered down version of the road going Honda RC213V-S.
After the launch of the 2015 R1s by Yamaha at EICMA 2014, it was widely expected that the remaining three Japanese giants would have to follow suit. And recently we saw Kawasaki reveal the Zx-10R KRT edition at Jerez, while Suzuki revealed the 2017 concept at EICMA 2015. Motorcycle publication MCN, recently broke the story that Honda has not one but two superbikes in the pipeline for 2017. The first is the Updated Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, which has been left to its own devices for quite some time, the new bike is expected to feature top of the line electronic trickery to ensure that the bike is at par with the rest of the market. The Fireblade though many years old, is still quite competitive as its results have shown at the Isle of Man TT races. But in circuit racing like WSBK, the bike does show its age compared to the competition. For 2016 Honda have got two good riders in the form of 2006 MotoGP Champion Nicky Hayden and 2014 World Supersport Champion Michael van der Mark; to retain these riders, Honda would have promised them serious updates for 2017. But with ever tightening regulations of WSBK, the race bikes are getting closer to production motorcycles, this has been a major reason for the other three Japanese manufacturers to update their production motorcycles. We expect Honda to not just launch this bike for 2017, but also race it that year. 2017 will see a major update for the bike with every bolt getting a once over to ensure that Honda can reclaim the market which it once ruled.
The Honda RVF1000 V4 will be as stated, based on the production version of the Honda RC213V-S. That bike itself was based on the MotoGP RC213 ridden by Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. The bike will therefore run a V4 like the MotoGP bike, with of course much more accessible components to make the bike cheap enough to be bought in the market. According to MCN, this bike is still unsure if it comes in this avatar, or Honda might even decide to launch a lower spec RC213V-S. Whatever Honda launches, the R1M, RSV4RF and Panigale R are likely to be its target.
Source: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2015/december/honda-plan-superbike-double/
