FIRST LOOK: It’s official, the Honda CBR600RR is returning… and soon!

After months of speculation, Honda has formally confirmed it is preparing to unveil a brand-new Honda CBR600RR after releasing an official teaser video and a launch date just a couple of weeks away.

While rumours are often just that when it comes to motorcycling, given the steady trickle of information we’ve been hearing from Japan in recent months means we’d become increasingly confident Honda was preparing to unleash a new full-fat middleweight sportsbike in the not too distant future.

As it happens, it’s coming sooner than we expected with an official launch slated for August 21st.

The revelation marks an about turn by Honda which had seemed to be steering away from the powerful end of the ‘supersport’ market having dropped the previous generation CBR600RR from European dealerships in 2017 without word of a replacement when emissions regulations tightened.

However, following the successful launch of the new Honda CBR1000RR-R over the winter, it seems the Japanese firm is determined to reassert itself as the last word in sporty motorcycles.

For now, we just have this teaser video to go by, which gives us a few hints as to what we can expect from the 2021 Honda CBR600RR.

While it seems Honda won’t give it the ‘triple R’ nomenclature treatment of its bigger brother, externally at least the Honda CBR600RR appears like a more compact silhouette of Honda’s flagship though we’ll wait until August 21st for the finer styling details and those all-important specs.

Either way, one can expect it to trickle down some of those electronics too, with multiple riding modes clearly on display in the video.

Honda’s decision to go all-in with a powerful middleweight promises to inject some life into a market that has steadily dwindled over the years in terms of sales and interest, one that could well make other manufacturers sit up and take notice.

However, it’s also possible this model has been produced with the primary purpose of giving Honda the appropriate weapon to go racing with. 

Having already developed the CBR1000RR-R with a primary aim to go full factory racing in the WorldSBK Championship, it stands to reason this will be getting homologated to do something similar in WorldSSP having seen its involvement reduced to a trio of privateer entries from Dynavolt Racing (PTR) in recent years, while Yamaha cleans up in terms of numbers and wins.

Whether the Honda CBR600RR is aimed for the road or the track though, it’s still a welcome return for the once dominant force…