Honda’s big naked gets a neo café racer makeover for 2018, injecting a whole heap of style not to mention a good dollop of extra performance…
Two factors are crucial to a bike either succeeding or failing – looks and feel. You can build the best performing machine on the market, but if its aesthetics aren’t up to scratch it will bomb. And by the same token, if its ride is lacking that certain spark of excitement, it is also almost certainly doomed to failure. Sadly for Honda, the outgoing CB1000R model managed to fall flat on its face on both these counts.
On paper there was nothing that wrong with the CB; it was a Fireblade-powered naked that promised to propel Honda into the emerging full-on super naked class. But far from the rip-snorting ride that everyone expected, the CB delivered turbine-like power that somehow made over 120bhp feel lackluster and mundane. And then there was the look, which was too ‘safe’ and failed to push the boundaries or excite.
With this in mind, I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting a great deal from the updated CB1000R and approached it rather expecting to be disappointed – as it turned out I was very wrong indeed…
ATTENTION TO DETAIL Up close and personal, you have to hand it to Honda as a tremendous job has been done with the CB’s styling. The marketing waffle says the look is based on a ‘neo sports café’ theme, but I’m just hugely impressed by the classy feel and upmarket impression the new CB delivers.
Everywhere you look on the bike there are lovely styling touches and extensive use of quality components – something I have to say Honda’s models have been lacking of late. During the presentation the Honda man claimed only six parts of the bike were plastic (headlight ring, two key covers, mudguard, air cleaner cover and sprocket cover) so wanting to pick fault I looked at the valve caps – they were metal. Fair play, one nil to Honda…
Denne historien er fra June 2018-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra June 2018-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Honda CRF1100L ES Africa Twin
Without panniers he was adventuring nowhere - so at least Bertie's got something sorted now
BMW R 12 nineT
Chad gets a track day surprise when BMW's R 12 nineT turns out to be surprisingly fun on track
Test fleet: VOGE 525 DSX
After testing the Voge's abilities on a long ride, it was time to take it to the Cotswolds and see how it would manage on the rougher stuff
Portuguese Perambulations
Nearly over before it had begun, a brief workshop stint allows Spain and Portugal to be explored
Highway to Heaven
Three friends take on the challenge of riding the length of Canada, from Vancouver in the southwest to Inuvik in the north. The road is long, the conditions merciless, and wildfires are tearing through the country. To top it all off, the final leg of the journey is the ultimate test of gravel riding skills, nerves, and courage - it's the legendary Dempster Highway...
Battlaxes at the ready!
We tend to take tyres for granted, never really looking at them in any detail, or at how they work, just hoping that they keep us shiny side up at all times. Even in the wet
Ducati Riding Experience
When I rode the Ducati DesertX to France last year, I did have a bit of an explore on some easy fire roads and gentle green lanes in the wilds of the Médoc area, but was left with the feeling that, had I the experience, the DesertX would have been capable of taking me along some more extreme trails to some even more exciting places. If only there was a way of finding out just how well the Italian adventure bike could cope with some more extreme terrain...
Four pot flyer
Many said that sports bikes, and particularly bikes in the traditional Supersports class that was populated by 600cc inline fours, were dead. Maybe they spoke too soon?...
Eastern adventurer
With an increasing interest in smaller capacity adventure bikes, the market expands with a new entry
First Time Lucky?
It's ironic that the first all-new MV Agusta model to hit the marketplace right after Italy's No.1 trophy brand was acquired by Austrian giant Pierer Mobility, owner of off-road titans KTM, should be the company's first dual-purpose model of the modern era, powered by MV's all-new 931cc three-cylinder engine that's destined to form the basis of a whole series of new models in coming months and years.
