I believe the 08 CBR1000RR has the slipper clutch. In any case, someone asked why a rider would want to down shift at 80 mph. Well, that really depends on what gear the rider is at, and what the rider is trying to do. For instance, I frequently ride in 5th gear going at about 80. When I need to slow down, i down shift to 4th and blip the throttle. I have never down shift at that speed without blipping the throttle; but if a person did not know that the bike did not have a slipper clutch, then it is understandable why the rider did not blip the throttle. On the other hand, if the rider was really aggressive, the rider could down shift to get better acceleration. I have down shifted from 6th and 5th gear to get better acceleration response from the bike.

The way I see it, at 80 mph, you're still less than 1/2 the top speed of the bike. So, 4th gear seems to be a nice place to be for enhanced performance.