Honda CB1000r short road test
September 30th, 2008
Took Honda’s CB1000r out for a spin today courtesy of Marshalls Honda in Peterborough. I had high expectations for this bike having read lots about it in the bike magazines over the past months. Having ridden it I can definitely say that I’m obviously a twin man and not a 4… Know what I mean? The 4 cylinder engine found in Japanese bikes really goes when revved hard at the top end but in real world riding on busy roads I found it to be lacking in pure grunt. Even my tractor of a 1 lire Buell had more oomph where it was needed.
Don’g get me wrong here. The CB is a great looking bike that goes like the clappers when provoked but it’s not the animal I was expecting. I had a close look at the build quality too and I suspect that the bolt heads will start corroding pretty quickly. They appeared to be made of a cheaper quality metal.
Balance wise the bike is good. The centre of gravity is low so slow speed control in traffic is good as long as you don’t touch the snatchy front brake too much.
One strange thing I did note whilst out on the road test was the amount of noise coming off the tyres. They were really noisy for a set of tyres that are the same size as the ones fitted to my Buell. So all I can say to Honda is “you can keep it” Im obviously a torque monster and dont like/need top end grunt that 4 cylinder engines offer. Oh and the exhaust note was terrible. It whined like a crying baby….
Buy it if you wanna go fast. Dont buy it if you want low down torque.
2 are better than 4.
5 Responses to “Honda CB1000r short road test”
Funny Bones April 3rd, 2010 at 9:26 pm #
Hmmmmmm……. I love the CBR and I dont see much torque problem which you seem to have, have you considered that you are too fat for the bike
Fatbiker April 4th, 2010 at 8:40 am #
Unfortunately yes
What I was getting at with that comment was that I am a twin man. 4 cylinders just dont do it for me… Since that test I have also ridden a Kawasaki zx-6r and that was the same for me… Just not involving at lower rpm
Funny Bones April 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am #
Aha, see that itself proves you are subjective blogger and not an objective blogger. It’s like someone walking into a movie theatre wanting to do a review of it but simply hate the genre of the movie … which is totally a no-brainer.
They say “each for their own” but that applies to having your own preference but still be able to evaluate something on the grounds of comparability with objectivity.
That’s my two penny’s worth of trouble ……
Fatbiker April 22nd, 2010 at 12:52 pm #
Youre right…
At the time of writing I didnt know that I preferred the power delivery of a twin so it was a worthy ride out to check the Honda over.
Re my blogging. im just a biker dude with no previous experience with the writing I do but sometimes it helps others, sometimes it doesn’t… Definitely don’t mean to insult anyone though…
Fatbiker November 8th, 2010 at 8:16 pm #
Thought I’d add something to this blog entry.
It’s well known that I’ve been a v-twin fan since starting up this blog. Over the past year I’ve opened up to the possibility that there are other engine designs out there and that they all offer something for the average biker.
I’ve ridden a few Royal Enfields this year due to the then owned Moto Guzzi Stelvio continually needing attention. They were lovely bikes. Their easy riding was very relaxing.
Recently I had a go on a Suzuki gixxer. I could see how well it went and as it happens, it offered a pretty smooth ride at low revs too. At the same dealership was the R6 that I eventually bought. This is a smooth running well sorted Japanese 4 that when ridden properly absolutely flew.
I can see now looking back that maybe I should have waited for the Honda to be run in before gracing it’s saddle with my arse. It really was a tight engine at the time and didn’t do what I expected of it. I reckon that if I ride one now, my opinion will be very different. That’s mainly due to my new understanding of how to ride a 4 cylinder bike.
So to all you readers out there… I apologise for my initial opinion of the bike and others like it.