Honda has applied for a patent for a new upper fairing with aerodynamic scoops, which may find its way in the near future to the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, which was completely revised subcutaneously by Honda this year.
Honda has thoroughly overhauled its CBR1000RR-R SP Fireblade for the 2024 model year, but most of the innovations are under a largely unchanged fairing. Now a new patent application from Big Red shows that a more substantial set of visual revisions is in development, focusing on increasing downforce while reducing drag.
One of the few visible changes to the 2024 CBR1000RR-R SP is the addition of new MotoGP-inspired winglets in the nose, replacing the side-mounted, multi-layered versions of its predecessor. Since the winglets were introduced into MotoGP, they have come to play an increasingly important role.
Winglets are a proven solution to the growing demand for front downforce, to suppress wheelie tendency and create more stability under braking, but the downside of the coin is that they increase air resistance, which in turn has a negative impact on has the top speed.
For that reason, Kawasaki had already taken a different approach with the completely new ZX-10RR in 2021, Honda seems to have gone one step further with the new patent.
The completely revised shape seen in a recently published patent application aims to get the best of both worlds: reducing the engine’s frontal area to create less drag by eliminating the winglets and creating downforce through an innovative nose design.
As with Kawasaki’s design, the Honda patent also realizes the downforce via air ducts in the fairing, so-called scoops. However, where Kawasaki has opted for a single air duct (on either side of the nose), Honda has opted for a more complex design with multiple air ducts and air guides in the fairing.
Not only that, the side view shows that the upper fairing consists of two parts, of which the lower part has the aerodynamic shape of an inverted wing that is supposed to create the downforce. The aerodynamics in the nose provide the same effect as current winglets, but without the negative effect on air resistance. In other words, better acceleration, higher top speed and better fuel consumption.
In addition to creating downforce and reducing the motorcycle’s frontal area, the design should provide additional aerodynamic benefits further back, directing airflow more cleanly over and around the rider. The patent says that the “expelled air, after passing through the nose and over the internal winglets, functions as an air curtain… As a result, the wind protection for the rider can be reduced, and the size of the fairing when viewed from the front. This can further reduce aerodynamic resistance.”
Although all drawings in the patent show that the fairing is mounted around a CBR1000RR-R SP, with the shapes of the exhaust, frame and swingarm matching the current Fireblade, it is not inconceivable that this technology could also be applied to the CBR600RR .
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.