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You Have to Watch the Quiet Ones
Matt and the CBF in Holland, the Dutch seem a sensible lot too…Is there somebody you know who is a bit of a dark horse? The type of person who keeps themselves to themselves but then one day really surprises you. Well the Honda CBF1000 is a bit like that quiet bloke: It is all very sober on the surface, all the sensible stuff is in place. Neat inoffensive styling, the Honda is nicely made and put together. The controls are logical and the riding position is comfortable. The CBF is the kind of bike the rafts of EU regulations seems to be pushing us all towards.
It might not be so bad…
Well on the evidence of Matt’s example it might not be so bad on these ‘bureaucratic bikes’ after all. Of all the bikes I have been fortunate enough to ride over the years this deeply sensible John Major of a ride is among the more surprising. Honda have been very sneaky and at the core of the CBF beats the heart of a a Fireblade. OK it is de-tuned to 100 bhp, but the DNA is there and evident when you ride the bike. The power delivery is creamily smooth, but the CBF can shift to a degree that genuinely surprised me.
While it is true that a front line sports bike and many of the latest naked and semi-naked models, like my FZ1S are significantly faster, if you know what you are doing this Honda will play along with aplomb. The pace would be getting very serious before these sports bikes would clear off: The performance available is so easy to access and I think that is the key to the CBFs’ point to point speed.
A fantastic touring bike, Matt is pictured here in the French Pyrenees
Now that Matt has fitted some proper tyres the handling has been transformed compared to when I first rode it a few months ago. The tyres fitted when he bought it were almost comically squared off. I doubt the Honda had ever been ridden very hard. Now it slices through curves in the calm controlled manner that personifies the whole demeanor of the bike. The composure goes a little when you really press on, but never in a way that felt threatening
Honda through and through
In summary it is here that all that slick Honda engineering finds its’ natural home. This suits the effective, efficient nature of this supremely comfortable bike. On a 07 Blade I rode last year this feeling seemed out of place, not here.
The bike is VERY sensible, not very memorable to look at, but I I found myself surprised by it. The only negative being an odd wobble from the bars should you take your hands off around 40mph or so and the slight feeling that you need to be a mature, IAM member to ride it!
I was pleasantly surprised buy the bike when I bought it - You must be logged in to reply to this topic.