LONG-TERMER NIK’S STARTING TO GET TO GRIPS WI’ THE ‘ONDA
LAST ISSUE WE INTRODUCED YOU TO THE BRAND NEW HONDA CMX1100 REBEL CRUISER WE HAVE TO PLAY WITH FOR THE YEAR. THIS TIME IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT HOW IT RIDES…
The how At having the first small recent got thing it off is; you Enfield the it really notice’s Rebel launch, is on tiny. to immediately the 350 Meteor, struck I by was how much bigger the RE’s felt. It’s small and low, definitely, but not compared with the Honda!
This lowness (I suspect pretty much everyone’ll be able to get both feet flat on the ground) means that the Rebel’s an extremely good town bike. supreme (very) You low confidence, can seat, filter low between weight, and the and lines combination narrow of traffic ‘bars with of means even when that some the bike twunt never changes feels unwieldy, lane without indicating (or looking). It also has a very long first gear, which means that it’s lightning fast away from the lights, but because of the way the engine makes its power, the front wheel’s unlikely to ever lift when you give it the beans. This means that the traffic light grand prix is an absolute riot yet, at the same time, you’re
always in control because the brakes’re very, very good. It’s a combination that makes the chore of having to deal with traffic a veritable pleasure, and I love it for that.
Out on the road, second and third gears’re almost academic – get it up into fourth and fifth, and just use the torque. Country roads and back lanes’re made easy by doing just this – you rarely need to change down once you’ve picked the gear you like, even when the traffic near-asdammit stops, and that makes blarting along in the sunshine very pleasant indeed. Finally, dual-carriageways and motorways; the little big ‘Onda takes them in its stride. It stonks up to the legal limit, and’ll easily sit at speeds that make policemen take an interest without over-revving. Hell, it even returns a good enough tank range at (over the) motorway limits too. NEXT ISSUE: A COUPLE OF FUNKY DRESS UP BITS FOR IT!