HONDA CB1000R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN... “Sitting upright, and taking notice.”
It’s been a busy month for me here at Fast Bikes HQ, and with a few changes comes sad times – the first was saying goodbye to my previous termer, the R6. In addition to this our Beej has left to go all freelance and of course Martin the previous keeper of the CB1000R has vacated too, which has been a real strain on me. I mean, you wouldn't believe how much I'm missing the R6. It's not all bad though as now I’ve inherited the CB.
It’s funny inheriting a somewhat sullied termer, and the previous keeper Martin went to town on the CB1000R’s mileage, racking up a thoroughly respectable 3,500 miles in the four months of his ownership. Suffice to say his ‘living-with’ opinion of the bike was extremely favourable indeed.
In between its full delivery to me, Bruce, Boothy and Carl all had a blast in this issue’s part two of the ‘Get Naked’ test where they really put the CB through its paces – which makes interesting reading (pages 46-49). The chaps quite rightly document the foibles of the CB in relation to the other bikes on test – it is a comparative test after all. However as a first opinion, albeit in isolation to other bikes in this class there appears to be little to complain about. It is to quote “impeccably fuelled”, with “silky smooth power delivery” if nothing else, and looks pretty smart as well. Another thing that caught my eye was comfort: and how all three of the testers remarked on it being too comfortable. The most telling quote for me was it being “too practical for its own good” via our Bruce having had what I can only surmise as a miserable time on track…
All this leads me to agree, via the short amount of time I have had on the Honda that this is not wholeheartedly a part of their performance orientated line up. The 2006 Fireblade engine is 12 years old. Now reincarnated, this engine may lead for you to expect more by virtue of its supersonic origin – but if I was breathing fire 12 years ago I too would be smoking a pipe now. No, I think what you have here is a bike erring on the sensible – practical even – able to adapt to most scenarios to be a full, stable and reliable machine without mastering the higher echelons of Fast Bikes’ performance demands. Which, come to think of it, reminds me of me, so I think we are going to get along just fine.
What it does have plenty of though is character; it turns heads for sure and Martin has already made his mark with a can from SP Engineering which gives the bike an extra pony. Crash protection from Barracuda and Pazzo levers from Speedycom also adorn the bike but why our Martin decided on a short lever for the clutch and long lever for the brake I don’t know, as it makes in-town stopping and starting an arse – though it’s alright on longer stints due to the quickshifter and blipper.
So yes I will need to change that, and a new set of rubber is in order as the current fitment have done their duty. I started the year on Michelin Pilot 5s; a great all-season tyre that is functional with a high level of performance. They have the CB1000R written all over them.