Having to challenge the GSXR1000 and the R1, the new Blade has upped the engine to 954cc, about as big as it'll go without a new motor. Lighter pistons help give a faster engine response and allow a higher rev limit to squeeze out as much power as possible. Honda claim a 3bhp increase in max power to 149bhp, with torque increased by 3ftlb.

The Blade retains the H-VIX system, sort of a Honda Exup, to boost the midrange.

Frame-wise, not much is changed, although this year's colour is definitely black, darling.

The swingarm is redesigned to increase stiffness, with more bracing, although it's more skeletal in appearance to keep the weight down. As in last year's Blade, the arm mounts directly to the back of the engine, where the pivot casting has been improved. Weight saving on the chassis is 2 kilos and the all up weight of the bike is a miserly 168kg ... coo.

On the suspension front there is no change, the bike using the same shock and retaining the 43mm usd forks.

This year the suspenders do seem to be a bit stiffer, though. In fact, a bit too stiff for rubbish English roads. The bike tends to get thrown about a lot through the pot-holes and this leads to a fair bit of slappy steering. Seems Honda may be more concerned with good magazine track tests than real world riding. A quick fiddle with the damping rates indicated that you won't be able to adjust this too much - looks like a decent rear shock and re-valved forks may be needed.

All the plastic has been redesigned of course, making the bike a bit sharper to look at. The screen has been raked up and increased slightly in height to give better protection. The fuel tank is also changed, bigger cutaways to give a bit more knee room and slightly shorter to allow the rider to get more weight over the front.

Same instruments, with an analogue rev counter and digital speedo with 2 trip meters plus a jolly useful little number at the bottom showing you how much fuel you've got left. HISS immobiliser system is still there, which is good.

Tail light is similar to the R6, using LEDs rather than good old bulbs. And the Blade retains it's trademark USP, the famous flip-up pillion seat and cavernous boot. Why don't all bikes have this?

Silencer is a huge titanium item. Shame Honda can't use the same bloke who designs the dinky GSXR silencer, which is about half the size of the Blade's. And the R1's come to that.

Colours? Red/black, white/blue and blue/yellow, although David had to go through a right old performance to get a red one. Seems Honda UK didn't order enough, so he wound up having to get a white one and then the dealer changed all the plastic bits and tank to make it red.

So how does it go? Bloody well, actually. It may not have the sheer grunt of an R1 or Gixer but there's plenty of go once the revs get around 8000. And it steers very well, quick and agile - a 600 with attitude.

Suspension works fairly well but struggles a bit on back roads. The front can get a tadge lively over bumpy stuff so a decent steering damper could be useful. Brakes are good.

Get three equal riders, throw in a load of bends and we reckon the 'Blade will easily run with it's bigger rivals, and possibly see 'em off through the tight stuff. And the riding position is mega comfy, with high bars and the light steering giving your arms an easy time, although things can get a bit choppy over bumpy B roads.

Tyres are Bridgestone BT012Rs - they're supposed to be jolly good all-round sport tyres. They don't give you the confidence of Rennsports but that's easy enough to change.

So, the new Blade is a slight improvement on the 2000 bike, mainly down to the cleaner fuelling. As the last model was just about the best all round road bike you can get this one has gotta be numero uno. Although there is that question mark over the suspension.