What are the best tyres for my Honda Fireblade CBR900 with a 16 inch front wheel?

Sticky Stuff Motorcycle Tyres & Accessories

Honda Fireblade 16 Inch Front Tyre Options

There will always be a debate about what was the first sports bike... some say it is the 1969 Honda CB750 Four, while others say it was 1984 when Kawasaki released the GPZ900R Ninja... we could discuss it for an hour. Something we can agree on is that if we pick THE iconic sport bike.... it's the Honda Fireblade.

In 1992 Tadao Baba birthed the first iteration of the Fireblade, the size of a 600cc bike with the punch of a 1000cc bike... sports bikes were now truly being looked at with power-to-weight in mind.

Then in 1994 the bike was revised and the FoxEye model hit the market with a couple more horsepower ... but now with those gorgeous headlights. Has any other bike stood the test of time as well as the FoxEye Fireblade? They still draw admiration and loving glances at any bike meet.

Many other awesome Fireblades followed, but we are looking at the early version here, because unlike 99% of sport bikes the CBR900 has a 16 inch front wheel instead of the usual 17".

Does that mean you can't get good rubber? ... We're here to find out!

Here is what we have listed in size 130/70 ZR16

Here is what we have listed in size 130/70 ZR16 .. with hyperlinks so you can get a better look and perhaps buy some!

Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3

You'd never believe it, but the Diablo Rosso 3 is the follow up to the excellent Diablo Rosso 2 ... for real!

And ... there is now the Diablo Rosso 4 but honestly, you don't need it. they're designed for 200bhp monsters.

So the Diablo Rosso 3 is the third bowl of porridge, it's just right!

Browse this tyre here

Bridgestone Battlax S21

I have to admit... I like Japanese tyres on Japanese bikes, so as much as I do love Pirellis... I'm more likely to recommend Bridgestone's Battlax S21 for early Fireblades. It's an excellent tyre, they're currently a very decent price because Bridgestone have made the better Battlax S22 and the more better Battlax S23 ... but they don't make either of those tyres in a 130/70 ZR16 and frankly ... they don't need to ... the Battlax S21 do the job plenty well enough!

And yes, I do have Pirelli tyres on my Japanese bike... but it has got race livery with Pirelli logos, so please forgive me for breaking my own rule.

Browse this tyre here

Continental Sport Attack

So far we have seen that the Rosso 3 has been superceded by the Rosso 4 .. and the S21 is a little brother to the S22 and S23, but Continental have really pushed the boat out because they have since made the Sport Attack 2, Sport Attack 3, Sport Attack 4 and you guessed it.... the Sport Attack 5.

This suggests that the Sport Attack is an older design tyre, and this is true... it was released in 2006 .. compared to 2016 for the S21 and Rosso 3.

Should Conti have made a 130/70 ZR16 in a newer iteration tyre? Probably maybe, but .... a 2006 design tyre is already way ahead of the tyres that a 1992 - 1995 Fireblade came out of the factory with ... so they are plenty good enough, and Conti knows it.

Browse this tyre here

Dunlop Sportmax GPR300

2016 also saw Dunlop release the GPR300 tyre, and these sell well, grip well.

Similar price to the Bridgestone and it's what we consider as a stealth tyre ... we seem to notice a lot of S21 and Rosso 3 selling.. and we notice some GPR300 being sold, but then we get surprised as to how many we actually do sell, they're more popular than we seem to notice. People love them!

Browse this tyre here

Dunlop Sportmax Q5A

Released in 2025 as the replacement for the RoadSport 2 ...this is an ultra up to date sports tyre!

Do you really need such a modern tyre for a 30 year old bike? No.

Is there any stock of these in Europe yet? .... Also no.

Should you buy one when possible? Yeah why not!

Browse this tyre here

Maxxis Supermaxx

Hmmm Maxxis... there are 3 camps of Maxxis people.

a) I've tried them and they are actually really decent tyres!
b) I've tried them a long time ago and I'll never touch one again.
c) I've never used one but i'm telling you they are terrible blah blah blah.

I must admit I was a 'b' for a long time. Fitted some to a ZX7R years ago when money was tight and had 3 scary moments on them and lost faith completely in them. But, we can move on, I've since spoken to many happy Maxxis riders, so I've put my prejudice behind me.

Which means ... I'm happy to recommend these as a decent budget option.

Browse this tyre here

Metzeler Sportec M7RR

Released in 2014 these are a tyre that's newer than your CBR but are in that sweet spot of 'nice and modern but not too modern and costly'

I had some on my own CBR1000 Fireblade and they earned my respect, so much so that I decided that more people should appreciate them, and I even wrote a blog post about how under appreciated they are.

Browse this tyre here