AROUND THE TRACK
On the roads the Honda’s a charmer, with its comfortable and suave mannerisms, but what’s good for the streets is seldom good on track… as quickly became evident. Where do we start?
The suspension’s as good a place as any. The supple disposition of the CB really cost it big time on track. At times it felt like I was trying to steer a rubber duck around a bend, casually feeling it buckle and fold when I got a little forceful with my demands. It was not the stable dream I wanted it to be, with the front end making me feel edgier than a game of Russian roulette. It had a habit of running wide on corner entry, forcing me to lower my pace and introduce more trail braking to nurse the Honda to an apex. That wasn’t ideal, and nor was the lack of oomph on the exit. Sure, 2006 might seem a long time ago, but I swear the then Fireblade, from which this bike nabs its motor, wasn’t such a damp squib. Armed with such a pedigree offering, the reality of the diluted motor felt like I’d gone for a lap dance, only to see the dancer put more clothes on. That’s not good value for money in my mind. In theory, the Honda had all the right ingredients in place, including a blipper and shifter, but even they seemed as lethargic as a hedgehog waking from hibernation.
The whole machine seemed to lack the urgency of a sporty naked, which is maybe a nod towards its inclination. The bottom line is, Honda never promised this bike was a super naked, so who am I to complain? The big H set out to build a comfy, dependable and enviable street package, which is exactly what this bike is. But as for any track endeavours, they’d be best avoided. I think the icing on the cake for me was the braking. The actual performance of its monoblocs wasn’t bad, taking more abuse than most before the non-switchable ABS showed its ugly head, but with every strong(ish) squeeze of the front brake lever, the dash would light up as the hazard warning function came into play like an obnoxious fibreoptic Christmas tree. That epitomised the CB for me; it was too practical for its own good. Who’d have thought it?