Honda has just given its CBR1000RR-R SP Fireblade a surprisingly substantial set of technical updates for the 2024 model year, but most of them are underneath a virtually unchanged set of fairings. Now, a new patent application from the company reveals that a more substantial set of visual changes is being developed with the aim of increasing downforce while reducing resistance.
One of the few exterior changes to the 2024 CBR1000RR-R SP is the introduction of new MotoGP-inspired rim-shaped wings at the front, which replace the lateral, multi-layered versions of its predecessor. These are a tried-and-tested solution to the growing demand for downforce at the front, proven in the heat of competition and offering a useful visual link to Honda’s MotoGP machines, but inevitably increasing drag when compared to a simpler fairing design. The completely redesigned shape presented in a recently published patent application aims for the best of both worlds, eliminating the protruding wings and reducing the front area of the bike in the search for less resistance, while introducing an innovative design at the front intended to reproduce the downward force of the missing wings.
Essentially, the idea is to move the winglets from their normal position on either side of the front of the bike and bring them closer together, routing the air to surfaces within the front itself via a set of air inlets and outlets. Honda’s patent document explains: “…when the inverted winglets are placed at both ends of the front fairing, the downforce becomes large. However, the aerodynamic resistance also becomes large”. He continues: “In the present invention, the downforce can be increased by the fact that the first part of the front fairing has an inverted wing shape. Furthermore, as wings are not required, aerodynamic resistance can be reduced. Thus, movement performance (top speed and acceleration performance)… improves and, consequently, fuel consumption performance can improve.”
The main visible components of the new design are the clearly visible air intakes on either side of the screen, just in front of the handlebars. These are accompanied by a second set of air intakes mounted lower down, inside the concave section just below the leading edge of the nose. Both inlets are connected to outlets at the rear of the fairing, but what is not immediately visible is the shape of the inner fairing over which the air flows between the inlets and outlets. This is only revealed in a drawing from Honda’s patent application (marked Fig. 5) which shows a cross-section of the front end and reveals that the air flows around an aggressively angled wing profile inside the bike.