Honda has an enviable racing pedigree. It became the official engine supplier to the Moto2 class in 2010, using powerplants based on the CBR600, but the latest developments are designed to make it friendlier on real-world roads.
Thus new inverted Showa forks with suspension aimed at better damping and increased stability under hard cornering, lightweight cast-aluminium wheels similar to the Fireblade's, and a remapped ECU to improve response throughout the rev range. Even the frame was tweaked, with the parts furthest from the central mass now lighter, to assist agility.
The bodywork's sharper too, Honda citing aero lessons learned in MotoGP so the bike cuts through the air more efficiently. The package is rounded out by twin 310mm brake discs up front and a single 220mm rear disc, sintered pads, and an electronic steering damper that reacts to speed and throttle aperture.
That engine's a 599cc liquid-cooled 16-valve inline four-cylinder unit with two injectors per cylinder, one operating at low revs and the other chiming in above 4800rpm if the throttle's more than 25 per cent open. Output is 88kW at 13,500rpm and 66Nm at 11,350rpm. Which means this 196kg bike delivers 0.44kW per kilogram - compare that to a Ferrari 458 at 0.3, and consider this machine redlines at 15,000rpm, and you realise it could be an animal to control in real-world conditions.
Not so, said impressed Jeffery, who was especially captivated by this suspension.
"It's one of the most rock-steady front ends going into corners I've ever had - and that's on a public road, it'd be even better on a race track. It's very responsive and the brakes are fantastic.
"They're linked, with ABS, but you just put that out of your mind and use them. They work fantastically - you could write whole paragraphs about how they work and how they vary the front-to-rear response, but all you need to know is it brakes very effectively, with really good front-to-rear balance without you having to think about it. Obviously for racing you'd take it off to save weight, but on the road it makes it so useable, and it flatters your riding."
Even at 1.8m tall he found the riding position wasn't too extreme. And as for the engine, his initial impression - on a bike that had then clocked just 150km - was that it was almost too tractable and insufficiently powerful at low revs, and too twitchy at high. But after a few days aboard he was impressed.
"At 5500rpm in top it's barely idling and it's a whole new realm to get used to [after his own 1000cc-twin]. You have to stop looking at numbers - there's power all the way through and it's smooth all the way through," he said.
"Wind it on and it just keeps building in a very linear way and by 11, 12, 13,000rpm you're just in warp drive. By then you're going really fast. It's beguiling, you wind the throttle on and it just responds, and you have to remember that it's a race bike, and for that it's perfect.
"It's smooth and linear round town and you can ride it at 4000 or 5000rpm all day with more than enough power, and without it suddenly taking off if you hit a bump."
Jeffery had only two quibbles - the bike's too quiet (Honda says intake noise was cut by 3dB), and the screen's low angle, though perfect for a racing crouch.
"(The screen) was great at protecting my hands from wind but the screen cuts the instrument view - which doesn't matter in the context of a race bike," he said.
Jeffery's last ride was with a companion on a 1200 Multistrada Ducati.
"The 600 left him behind round corners, he'd come out quicker with more mid-range punch if I had the revs low, but at high revs it kept up everywhere and skimmed more quickly and confidently through corners."
And the final word on the $21,995 Honda CBR600RR?
"Does everything well, without the cost of the big bikes and with the added bonus that it's a giant-killer on the track."
