HONDA CB1000R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “On track.”
Naturally the next progression after getting a brand new 2018 plate bike is to get it on track, right? Well that's exactly where I headed this month, to our local circuit Castle Combe and their ‘New to Track' sessions. Full of nerves and excitement I had a rough idea of how track days go having worked at a few and been to a track day session with California Superbike School at Silverstone, but here I would be let loose by myself and on my own bike (sort of), but I was buzzing to see how the CB held up.
First off, a 7.30am arrival time and sign up where I was directed to the sound testing station. This consisted of revving the engine to round 6,000rpm to make sure the exhaust noise wasn't above the stringent noise barrier in place at Castle Combe, but thankfully having a Euro 4 OEM can still fitted meant it passed without an issue – which is always a bonus. With the noise testing and grouping sorted I headed to a separate safety briefing which covered a few more newbie things but nothing brain melting, before I could get a feel for the CB1000R without having to keep an eye out for coppers.
After a quick break we headed out for a couple of sighting laps, which to me was invaluable, I felt a lot more relaxed once the session finished having a better idea of the track layout and the fast sections, and straight out the box the CB felt good, with enough power to keep me more than entertained. With around a 40 minute wait between sessions I had chance to chat to some of the other new-to-track guys and some who were in other sessions including a chap on a Honda CBR250, meaning the CB didn't look very out of place at all!
After group four headed off it was time to line up and wait for the green light which came around 10 minutes later and I was off. Trying to find my pace saw me overtaken by a few faster guys but I also caught a few slower riders up in the corners, and the CB seemed to handle them quicker than some of the sports bikes meaning I could brake later and get on the gas quicker. The Honda was the only naked bike in my group but clearly that wasn't a disadvantage, and to be honest with every lap I was loving it more and more.
I managed to get two more sessions in before having to call it a day to do some real work, and with every lap the Honda keep on inspiring pace and confidence. Within 20 minutes I was grinning from ear to ear and was able to gain some small achievements out of the day – the main one being the old knee down. I haven't done that since I owned a Honda RVF400 in my early biking days so that was pretty cool!