Honda CBR600F-R

95,000 miles since new and still going strong

1994 Honda CBR600F-R

Total miles 94,640 Rider Steve Monk, 51 Miles per year 4000

“I JOINED THE Royal Navy and in the winter of 1993, was posted to Rosyth. With nothing to do, I decided to pass my bike test, so I booked a CBT and eight days later a full test, which I passed. My dad was delighted. I didn’t ride a bike again for several months but when I was in London, I went to a Honda dealer and bought the CBR brand new, having only ridden a 125 before. I’m only thankful the salesman didn’t hang around to watch me wobble off down the road.

“Shortly after buying the CBR I met my now-wife Wendy, and we rode around a lot in Scotland (she enjoyed it so much she got her licence) before I was posted down south again. I was commuting to Portsmouth and Plymouth from the London area, covering between 10 and 15,000 miles a year on the CBR. It was my main form of transport and even when my son Andrew arrived, we remained a single-car family — Wendy had the car, I rode the bike. Much like myself, Andrew grew up around the CBR and often went on the back, though I had to block the speedo from his view because he would go home and tell Wendy how fast we’d been.

“Since I bought the CBR it has been part of the family and has never let me down, though there was the time the reg/rec failed, the bike started smoking and it cooked the battery. I replaced it with an uprated aftermarket item and other than when a full tank of fuel expanded and flooded the cylinders, have had no issues since.

“It just keeps on motoring and as I now live back in Scotland, I often ride it the 450-miles to the south coast where I work — or leave it at Gatwick and commute by plane before riding the CBR to the office. And when home, I ride it at weekends just for fun as it seems to love stretching its legs.

“It starts on the button, runs perfectly and the level of finish is excellent — far better than a modern bike. The frame has a bit of rust but nothing too drastic so I might pull it all apart and get it powder coated soon as I’ll never sell it; to me it’s priceless. She may be old but I never feel like the CBR won’t get me to where I want to be.”

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