TIMMY’S TAKE
It was another box ticked with the Honda CBR600, another bike that I had not ridden before. It wasn’t standard, with its aftermarket racing rearsets, mid-pipe and silencer and lack of mirrors, but other than that, it was a solid and tidy Honda CBR600.
Firstly, the riding position was actually nicer than the R6, with a lower seat unit and taller tank which sat me more in the bike, rather than on top of it and I preferred that. Although it’s a less racy riding position, I felt equally as connected to the machine through the corners, and thankfully made it much more comfortable while plodding along and not hanging off it through the corners, which is obviously a big part of road riding. I don’t know how the aftermarket racing footpegs compare to the standard pegs in terms of position, but I wouldn't want to move them so happy days. I would however adjust the toepiece on the gear shifter as it was too far out for my little size eight feet… the owner must have a whopper.
Engine performance-wise, I would struggle to pick between the two inline fours; the R6 and the CBR’s mid-range and top end felt almost identical, but at the bottom end the Honda felt way more responsive than the R6, more torquey and throaty, but I wonder how much the aftermarket silencer affected that? On 600cc machines the exhaust usually makes a drastic difference and is always a good place to start for a performance upgrade.
The brakes were strong; better than the R6, although that wouldn’t be hard as they really weren’t great. But the CBR needed good brakes because it really lacked in the engine brake department, in fact, it felt it didn’t have any at all, almost like a two-stroke! Deceleration plays a big part in making me feel comfortable and setting the bike up for a corner, so without it I felt more on edge riding around.
Once again, there was no gear indicator present which bugged me as I really like to be able to see it when I’m riding on the road, not that I can count, but it just makes things easier and keeping these supersport machines in the right gear and singing is imperative to performance.
I can’t say the lack of mirrors was a perk either. Yes, it might look slightly cooler, but the positives stop there… road bikes should have mirrors and pulling over to turn around in the middle of the road for the corner shoots had never felt so sketchy. While I’m ranting I’d better mention the lovely slippery seat too! The horrible cheap leather material comes as standard I am led to believe, and although it might look good, be durable and comfortable, it is just the worst thing to sit on in full racing leathers. But despite its niggles, I have to say the riding experience of the Honda was more enjoyable than that of the Yamaha.