HONDA CB1000R+
Honda have done something pretty different with the CB1000R. Rather than try to build the fastest, sportiest, superest super naked possible, they have created this. It’s not got oodles of power and it looks a little strange, but this wasn’t by accident. With the new CB thou’ (the only new-for-2018 model in part 2, the Japanese leg, of our big test) Honda have gone for a modern take on a ‘café racer’ theme and created a look they have coined ‘Neon Sports Café’. Er, alright then. Its looks are a bit Marmitey – it’s different and I really quite like it but the more opinions I seem to canvas about the CB’s looks, the more I seem to be outnumbered.
I think it’s dead posh, I mean surely the single sided swinging arm is more Vogue than vagabond. The model we had on test was the ‘+’ version which comes with an up and down shifter, heated grips and some extra bits of brushed ally. At £12,299 it’s not cheap for a sub 150bhp bike but it has all the bells and some of the whistles to back up its steeperthan-the-average price tag.
The first thing you notice when throwing a leg over the CB is just how comfortable it is. Everything seems just right; lovely; perfect. The dash is great, not too fussy but not like one of Noah’s cast-offs, you can see everything you need to see clearly, without options and menus here there and everywhere. Sparked into life the motor, which as it happens has been robbed from the 2006 Fireblade, made all the right noises, especially when amplified via the utterly aftermarket SP Engineering exhaust pipe (go and sit in the naughty corner with the Kawasaki). The clutch and throttle were light and everything felt plush and well built, as one would expect from a Honda.
As soon as the wheels are turning, the uber comfortable riding position is complemented by the silky smooth power delivery. Low down the motor is strong but calm and collected and the more the engine revs, the more power is unleashed. The engine delivers power that is perfectly linear, more so than anything from 2006 ought to be, thanks, no doubt to the CB’s impeccable fuelling. It isn’t the most exciting motor, partly because it’s not the most powerful and partly because it’s so smooth, but when you give it the berries the thing can still get a proper move on.
The shifter and blipper work well, but feel as though they have been put there for comfort and convenience, rather than out and out performance. Upshifts and downshifts were kept stable and it was nice not to have to faff with the clutch but the dwell time on both up and down shifts
felt a little delayed, so much so that shifting manually may well have been ‘quicker’ than the ‘quick’ shifter.
But the CB1000 doesn’t feel as though it’s focused on performance like some of the other models in the sector. Its comfort and ease of use sets it aside from the others, almost as though it is in a category of its own.
It might not be ballistically fast, but power delivery-wise it can more than hold a candle to the opposition. Where it struggles a little bit is in the handling stakes. It isn’t a bad bike to get round corners, on the contrary, it is well balanced and planted… for the most part. The problems begin when you start to ask a little bit more from the CB. It’s like spending an evening with a high class Russian hooker, the thing is so very obliging when you are within its boundaries but as soon as you demand a little bit more, push the envelope, so to speak, you quickly put yourself in grave danger. Not that I know anything about spending the evening with Russian hookers (I usually use African ones). Anyway, I digress. What we found was that on the road when you started to push past what felt comfortable on the CB, it would scrape itself on the floor, bounce about on its soft suspension and generally make a bit of a nuisance of itself. The whole package felt too soft and too comfortable to ride the way the other bikes on test felt like they wanted to be ridden.
Realistically though the CB1000 is a different kettle of fish to the other bikes on this test. The form to function ratio seems to be weighted a lot more towards ‘form’ compared to the other bikes; there seems to have been a whole lot of thought gone into style. And for me it works. It’s a great bike to ride, and it looks trick with its single sided swinger, machined surfaces on the motor and brushed ally infills. But compared to the opposition, the CB does feel a little lacklustre. A bit too comfortable, and far too polite.