Here is a nicely preserved 1st year 1993 Honda CBR900RR/Fireblade with a Buy-It-Now of $6,500 USD. It is not completely stock but looks to be in great shape and prices for these are definitely on the rise.
1993 Honda CBR900RR Fireblade on ebay
Its hard now to explain to people how large the impact the CBR900RR/Fireblade had when it was introduced. Prior to Honda’s new machine the 750cc sportbike class was where people went if they wanted to own a repli-racer for the street and the 1000+ sportbike class was the big power machine segment. When the 900RR came out it blew up both these segments; here was a ultralight 899cc inline 4 powered motorcycle that weighed no more than the competitions 750cc models and produced almost as much power as most of the 1100/”big-bore” bikes. The Honda essentially created the 900cc sportbike class of the 1990’s and personally I think it is one of the 3 most important sportbikes launched in the 1990’s, the others being the Ducati 916 and the Suzuki Hayabusa (NOTE: I fully expect some comments on this post to argue this point.)
Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the CBR900RR bike was the way it didn’t excel in one category but in almost all categories; more power than a 750, more comfortable than any other “repli-racer” currently on the market (especially when compared to the GSX-750R), lighter and more agile than anything in the 1100cc class, and typical Honda excellent build quality
This particular example is in the very popular 1st year black bodywork. While collectors tend to prefer the original white/blue/red, this color scheme actually sold better and unlike a lot of 1990’s graphics packages, still looks pretty good.
Mileage is listed as a reasonable 16,800 and the seller does indicate some aftermarket pieces, including the windscreen and exhaust (although the stock unit is available). Also a rear fender eliminator unit has been put in place and the chain and sprockets have been replaced. Perhaps most importantly, the seller indicates the bike engine has been modified with pistons and cams, quite possible increasing the displacement.
Here is what the seller has to say:
Opening bid price for this one is $4,000 with a Buy-It-Now of $6,500. Are those prices reasonable? I think the BIN price is high but based on what we have seen previously, the opening bid price isn’t that far off the selling prices we have seen on these. These do seem to be appreciating/prices do seem to be climbing, with pristine or easy to restore examples being snapped up by collectors.
-Marty/Dallaslavowner
I’ll chime in, as requested, since you didn’t list Yamaha’s R1 on your short list of important 90’s sportbike the rest of this post is deemed arbitrary. The R1 created a new class of sport bikes (liter bikes) that became a racing class (1000cc in-line 4 Superbike) and still rules both the street and road courses 18 years later. I’m not discrediting the CBR 900RR but what did it directly lead too? Kawasaki came out with the ZX9-R but it was more of a GT bike. The CBR 900 RR was nothing but a bored out 750. Not a bad thing but not as significant as the R1 you left out. Hayabusa? This is a direct evolution of the bikes you mention the 900 RR trumped. The ZX11 and GSXR 1100 for example.
its not hard to aim higher once the benchmark is set, the r1 debuted a full 1/2 decade after the 900rr thats alot of time for technology and materials to advance leading to higher spec bike
All bikes have their place and merit, the only way to appreciate each is to own them all, Hahah! Wouldn’t that be nice. Cbr 900, Fzr 1000, R1, Hayabusa, Gsxr 1000 all great bikes, so many choices. I have a 1998 Yzf r1 (white and red) and a 1999 Copper Hayabusa, the R1 still looks actual and modern, the Hayabusa is stupid fast, love both of them but my fav ride is a all tricked ZRX1200, does everything right. Back to this CBR, lovely piece, glws.
Since when is a 900 a middleweight? Jeeze. Give it another 10 years and we’ll be labelling these things as beginner bikes. :-\
Jason-
I thought about the R1 but to me it seems like it was the Yamaha reponse to the CBR900RR effort. The R1 moved Yamaha from the Thunderace/large-sportbike-with-some-touring-pretensions-class that it had been competing against the ZX11. The R1 was much more sharply focused like the CBR900RR and most reviews I can remember at the time stated that it was obviously built to be a Fireblader beater.
Trane is right, i thought the 600 were middleweight ,or maybe the 750’s but not a 900,that was the big boys class,am i wrong/?
Had this model, year and color. My favorite diesel, but kinda sketchy feeling front end. Absolute grunt that was usable, and a stunning sound on top, but vague when leaned over…
middle weight was reference to how much lighter it was than the big 1000 bikes. upon intro it was 75 pounds lighter than the Yamaha FZR1000, 114 pounds lighter than the Suzuki GSX-R1100 and an astonishing 144 pounds lighter than the Kawasaki ZX-11.
WOW Big Bang! Are you getting soft. That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard you say about a DIESEL! LOL
I also owned the same exact bike, and can second Big Bang’s comments. If you haven’t ridden one aggressively, you wouldn’t know how in certain situations the front end gets sketchy. Specifically: fast sweepers with bumpy pavement and on the throttle, could get the front end nervous- but not quite into tank slappers. Sometimes you had to back off and grab it by the neck, get more weight on the front. Steering damper was a band aid, not a cure. Popular conversion/fix were custom triple clamps with more trail, and a 17″ CBR600F3 front wheel. Fuel tank is very wide, clip-ons low, both kind of annoying when pushing them hard. A real game changer when new, and still a great bike. Not sure if undocumented internal engine changes add value- $6500 is optimistic.
Always loved this color scheme.
Since when? Since the day it was introduced–it weighed less than the 600’s of the time.
R1s–great bike that improved on what the 900rr started…FIVE YEARS EARLIER. Some people can’t accept that their bike wasn’t the best/most important bike, and simply enjoy a terrific machine. So spare us the revisionist history. “Created the liter bike”? No it didn’t. “Rules both street and road courses”? Absolutely no evidence of that. Seems to me that the ZX-10 is the bike that wins WSB championships when Ducati let’s them.
I love the dialogue here guys! Awesome!
Not to be “that guy” but if I’m not mistaken 1992 was the first year for the CBR900RR
Amazing bike non the less. I own a couple myself.
I am the owner of this bike and it presents as new and runs spectacularly. I was told that the bike was bored to 954cc and that the cams were sent out and custom ground. It carbureats perfectly and doesn’t get hot in traffic. It did make 136hp on the dyno and I have the sheet to prove that. And like the ad states, I’ve owned CBR1100XX and ZX12R. This bike would beat either of them in a drag race or on a curvy road. I just walked in the door form detailing it and it really is like new. I would take 5500 cash.. Reserve is 5800. But then there are eBay fees and paypal likes their cut (understandably so). jimjordan479@gmail,com