17/10/2026
That time Kev rode a TT spec Superbike 🏍💨💨🤘🏻
In 2014, Kev still worked at North West Honda Super Centre in Blackpool. This is his ride report of a very special Fireblade....
"Thank you so much to David for letting me ride his very special Blade. I can certainly appreciate someone else’s passion, dedication and pride in making their dreams a reality and I found it a great privilege to ride a machine capable of winning TT's or compete in BSB. Some people spend more money on a 4x4 to take their kids to school, but David, the owner of this bike, a construction worker from Halifax, who has spent his life going to moto GP in various countries spent his doe on making this special Fireblade. His favourite racer was Marco Simonchelli, and he dedicated this project to the memory of this fallen hero.
This bike was amazingly easy to ride! I'd normally think a BSB spec bike would be better appreciated on warm dry roads, but this bikes set up shone brightly on cold wet Lancashire tarmac! The engine was built by Clive Padgett using cosworth pistons and rods. The crank is 40% lighter than stock, giving it almost V Twin engine braking! The gas flow and mapping are tribute the decades of TT winning bikes providing linear power building from tick over to red line. There are no surges, no power band or sweet spots, it is simply a very predictable rocket. Putting the power down through the sublime Ohlin’s rear shock was simple, the rear drifted a couple of times out of bends but like the rest of the bike - predictable.
The chassis is pure Honda aside front the adjustable yoke upfront. The suspension is set up for the owner, a more normal sized human than I, so was way too stiff for me. I honestly can't say much about the cornering ability of this very special Blade as the wet roads meant smooth none aggressive riding was certainly in order. Each bump and dip was relayed as precise information and then instantly forgotten with no ill after effects or uncertainty. The bike tracked well on the roller-coaster ride over the tops to Caton, with my main task being to keep the front wheel on the road where you kinda need it to steer! The endless torque lifts the front under power in fifth gear!
The brake set up on the front is the best I have ever known, utterly perfect. Again, like the whole package just predictable and accurate. The forks certainly help enormously with stopping, very little dive and utter control. The rear brake is redundant as there is so much engine braking off the throttle thanks the lightened crank. A new found aid for me was the novelty of the quick shifter. The nifty device even works from first to second gear where clutches changing is normally too severe. The most awesome thing for me are the loud pops and bangs between shifts as the ignition is cut to let the next ratio engage then the unburnt fuel is ignited in the exhaust flashing flames and motor GP sound track out the can! On cold wet roads this bike is amazing. I can only guess that a warm dry run would see me scuffing knee sliders and basking in more furious glory. The fact that this Marco Simonchelli rep has been assembled by some of the UKs most experienced road racing experts pulses through its thoroughbred veins and is the reason it is so very easy to ride, and ride fast...very fast, on someone else's £64,000 Blade.
I've had the privilege of riding perhaps more bikes than most via my job at Honda. I don't get out to play as often as many of you due to the hours we put in but we do get spoilt by way of riding new bikes. Keep in mind that the best bike I have ever owned personally is a 15 year old Firestorm, which I love dearly. This special build Blade has twice the bhp of my bike and weighs less, is it too much for the road? Should it be tamed behind a vast array of electronics to mask a poor engine or chassis set up? No. The road loves it and traction control is called a throttle, the bike tells you how much power can be fed through the Tyre and only an idiot would chose to ignore such a precision instrument. Thank you so much to David for letting me lose on his bike!
Why build, own or pay for a bike like this? The 'why' is because u can. Why have any bike that exceeds the maximum speed limit? A 27bhp 250 can hit 110mph, why do we want more? 100bhp is far more than we need, but need and want are very different. I'm very pleased bikes like this get built. I'm even more happy they get used, this one has 22,000 miles on the clock and hadn't turned a wheel for the first ten months (2012) An amazing bike and when I was very generously offered a go...the question 'why' was nowhere near my thoughts!
Full spec is as follows, gas flowed head , with hrc stage 1 full cam kit, hrc high compression head gasket, cosworth forged race Pistons with cosworth con rods and crank, crank is 40% lighter which allows engine to spin quicker, bmc race filter, with hrc electronic velocity stacks, yoshimura carbon full system, trans logic quickshifter, ten kate headstock , clip ons and forks, they're actually wp forks but reworked by ten kate, brembo discs, callipers and master cylinder, Ohlin’s ttx rear shock, supasprox rear sprocket, power commander 5 with power commander auto tune, reworked ecu, done by Padgetts with the same map in as they use at the tt, Gilles rear sets, paint job and integrated rear light with hid headlight kit, full radar fitted front and rear to keep an eye on the cameras , 202.4 bhp at the back wheel"
