THE RIDE

It might ‘only’ be 450cc, but make no mistake – the CB450 is no lightweight. In fact, it’s closer to being a heavyweight, weighing some 20kg (45lb) more than a 650cc Triumph Bonneville from the same era. Thanks to the dohc engine layout, a chunk of that bulk is carried fairly high up, too – and at low speeds you’ll feel it a little. But once the Honda is on the move, it controls its bulk comfortably and never feels like a handful. In fact, even ridden at a reasonably brisk pace, the handling is probably the equal of the lighter Bonnie.

But the manner of getting up to that pace certainly feels a little different to most Brit twins of the era. Honda’s in-period advertising for the CB450 pitched the bike against its British competitors as a battle between cc and rpm – and that’s not a bad analogy. Sure, a Triumph twin is happy to rev, but the Honda takes it to another level. In fact, it’s not until the CB450 gets past 6500rpm that it really comes into its own; peak power doesn’t arrive until 8500rpm and the revs will keep on going until nearly

BELOW: The Black Bomber may have been considerably heavier than a contemporary Bonnie, but there’s not much in it as regards handling 10,000rpm if you’re feeling in a mechanically ruthless mood.

The engine never feels overstressed spinning at those sorts of speeds, though – which is perhaps a good thing, considering the first K0 model’s four-speed gearbox. It shifts sweetly enough, but there’s a bit too much of a gap between first and second – and then third – for my liking, followed by a short hop into top. The four-speeders may be the collectors’ choice, but the five-speed ’box fitted from the 1968 K1 model on, is an improvement.

Braking is pretty handy on all models. The K0’s twin-leading-shoe front brake has style as well as substance, but at anything like a sensible speed the post-1969 single front disc works well enough, too. The riding position on UK models is a great compromise and the rest of the spec – with a quietly efficient electric start and indicators as standard – is class leading for 1965 and pretty good even by the end of the CB450’S production run in 1974.

All in all, the CB450 is a very competent package on the road. Its top end is around the ton and it’s an easy machine to live with. With its long-stroke development of the CB450 engine, the 1974/5 CB500T should be, too – although somehow it seems to have lost some of the dash of the earlier twin. It’s slightly down on power, slightly up on weight and somehow feels softer and less agile than the old ‘Black Bomber’. Its saving grace is that it’s considerably more affordable. So... cc or rpm? Which do you prefer?