Readers Ride
Chris West told us why his CBR600RR is the perfect bike for him.
Ihave had this bike for a few years now and I really do like it. Although I rode bikes quite a bit when I was younger, when I had kids and stuff my riding took a bit of a back seat for a few years, but now I’m back into it I’m absolutely loving life. Because I’d had a few years out, I didn’t want to go for something ballisticly fast, like a modern thou’, but at the same time I did want a ‘proper’ bike, so I thought the CBR600RR was the perfect thing. I’d ridden this model RR before and really liked it, but before I bought this bike, I actually bought a brand new one from Honda. I enjoyed the new bike, but it didn’t feel that comfortable. There was something about it that wasn’t as nice as the old one. In fact, the engine even felt a little bit less exciting than the old one, which I wasn’t expecting. I don’t know if there are more restrictions on the engine in the newer one, but it certainly felt that way. The old one made me think, “This is gonna bite me in the arse if I don’t treat it right”, whereas the new one was a bit more timid. I’ve had a few near misses on the old one, where the back end has spun up, but that all adds to the fun, doesn’t it? It just didn’t seem to have the same excitement to it, so I sold it back to Honda and bought this one instead, a 2008 model.
I bought it from Wheels Motorcycles in Peterborough and it cost me £5495 with 12,000 miles on the clock. I’m really glad I went for it, too, as although I had ridden bikes in the past, this was the first big bike I’ve ever owned, and it’s been brilliant to learn on.
I’d read that the R6s were a bit lively with really light front ends, so I thought I’d stay well clear of them, and everyone says that the GSX-R600s are quite long and I’m only about five foot and eight inches tall, so I thought I might have struggled on one of them, too.
In all honesty, I have always been drawn to Hondas, and I have loved the look of the RR ever since they first came out. I like the symmetry that the under-seat exhaust gives the bike. I don’t like the look of big, bulky cans hanging off the side of a bike. To me, the RR looks just the way a bike should. It’s neat and tidy, and I think it looks really smart.
I bought the bike as a road bike and in summertime I get out on it a lot. A group of us go out, and we are really lucky as there are some brilliant roads up by us. We quite often go over to Skegness, and there are some great roads on the way up to Willingham Woods, so we quite often head up there and have a coffee and some chips. Cadwell Park isn’t far from us either, so if there is some racing on, we will go there and watch. The fast, flowing roads of Lincolnshire really suit the RR down to a tee. It just does everything you ask it to do, never seeming to get worked up.
As Cadwell Park is so close to us, I’ve taken the CBR on a few trackdays there, and tit is just as good on the track as it is on the road. I have also done a trackday at Snetterton and I absolutely loved that, too. This is the first bike I have done trackdays on and I’ve enjoyed them so much that I seriously considered stopping riding on the road all together, but in all honestly I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do that! It’s a really great way to properly test your bike. For example, the brakes get much more of a hard time on track, but in fairness to them, they proved just as faultless for me on the track as they did on the road, being really strong and no
Trackdays, on the CBR are the best, though. I have taken to removing all the indicators and rear lights and stuff when I go on track, as it’s pretty easy to do and it looks a lot better. If it wasn’t for the headlights, it would look just like a proper track bike. I did find that coming out of the corners I was getting absolutely done over by the lads on 1000s, so I decided to alter the gearing to try and give myself a better chance of keeping with them. I went one tooth smaller on the front sprocket and two teeth bigger at the rear, and it has given me so much more drive out the corners. When the 1000s get space to stretch their legs they do pull away, but on the initial pickup the little 600 can really hold its own now. A few people said I’d gone too far with it, and that I had massively sacrificed top speed, but in all honestly it still goes way faster than you can on the road and even at Snetterton, on the long back straight, I wasn’t hitting the rev limiter in top, so I don’t really think it’s much of a sacrifice.
As far as riding on the road goes, it’s made the bike much more exciting, too. My mate Nathan has got a GSX-R750 and even with the extra power he has got, he certainly can’t get away from me just under acceleration now I’ve altered the gearing. I just wish I could keep up with him in the corners!
I haven’t made loads of upgrades to the bike, but the ones I have done have made a massive difference. The first thing I did was ditch the cat and put an Akrapovič exhaust pipe on. It looks and sounds great but, most importantly, it’s definitely upped the power a bit. It wasn’t terrible before, but now the power comes in really sharply as soon as you open the throttle. It builds smoothly all the way and there is no hesitation, even when you whack the throttle right open from really low revs, like there sometimes was before.
I love my bike. There is no better way to clear your head after a long day at work. I go out on my bike and I just feel free, with got no worries or cares in the world. It does mean a lot to me so I like to look after it.
I like my bike to look nice so I make sure it’s always clean. I try and keep it clean, anyway! Since I have had it, the only little problem I have encountered is the indicator and horn fuses, which keep blowing. I believe it is the flasher relay which controls the indicators causing the problem. I believe it’s a common fault, so I have bought a new one, but I just haven’t got round to fitting it yet. Whilst I’ve been riding on the track I haven’t been to bothered about it, but it is something that I’ll have to get sorted over winter.
There are a few other bits I want to do to the bike whilst it’s parked up over winter, too. One such thing is the headlights. Those after-work blasts can sometimes end up not finishing until late in the evening, and on a few occasions I’ve found out that the headlights, although not horrendous, could certainly be improved. I’ve looked at doing a headlight conversion, as there is an LED conversion kit for high and dipped beam, dials, indicators... everything. I nearly ordered the kit, but there is a lot of drilling into the headlights and rewiring that needs to be done, so I’m wondering if it might be a little bit too much work for what I want it for. It doesn’t need improving, but I think it would look a lot better, so that would be the main reason for doing it. If it’d definitely improve visibility at night, that can only be a good thing, especially when I get caught out on a night-time with a dark visor!
I’ve not once regretted buying this bike. It really has been the perfect bike for me. In fact, I’d buy it a hundred times over if I could. I love the engine and the power delivery, the way the bike handles, and the way it makes me feel. I think the colour scheme is one of my favourite things about the bike, though. I’ve never been one for looking the same as everyone else, so I love how much it stands out. I’ll definitely be keeping hold of the bike for a few more years because my leathers match it perfectly!