I’M HONDA WAY TO HAPPINESS
My friends often tell me I’m a lucky git to get paid for riding motorbikes. I try to point out to them it took a lot of hard work to get this lucky – but it’s difficult to talk sense to someone when they’ve got their teeth buried in your ankle.
The thing is, they’re right: the secret of happiness – apart from marrying a young, kind, beautiful, elegant, funny woman who owns a vineyard – is to find what you love, then find some way of doing it as a living. And even when it’s not for work, do it anyway. Like last Sunday, when I met a bunch of biking mates and we headed up the Antrim coast road for tea and buns. It was the first chance I’d had for a decent run on the CB1000R which Honda has lent me for a couple of months, the mad, impetuous fools.
Even better, the one I now get to try out for a bit is the CB1000R+ version, with extras such as heated grips, lots of nice aluminium detailing and a quickshifter.
At its launch, I’d stuck to standard mode for the sinuous route from Marbella up to Ronda.
The reason being that Honda has cut the bike’s weight from its predecessor by 15kg and boosted both power and torque by 20%.
The increase from 6,000 to 8,000rpm meant it produced acceleration which was more than enough.
Matched with a trademark Honda featherlight clutch and slick six-speed gearbox it all added up to a beautifully linear power delivery.
At the Ascari track, a few laps with Honda hero and all-round good bloke Steve Plater provided a blast in sport mode, which decreased the level of engine braking and made the power delivery more aggressive.
Out on the road this time with the lads, though, the quickshifter was crying out for sport mode and one of the best rides I’d had in ages, with that classic Honda combination of smoothness and stability.
Smooth and stable... now that rings a bell. Maybe it would be a good idea to put Honda in charge of the Brexit negotiations.
Handling is trademark Honda: beautifully light, neutral, precise and planted thanks to a very slightly longer wheelbase than the outgoing model.
No wonder I walked back through the door that afternoon with a smile a mile wide. You know… the sort sported by a lucky git who’s just realised what a lucky git he is.