2008 Honda CB1000RR test

Simon's fresh off the boat from Milan with tales to tell from the launch of the new Honda CB1000R. What with a rocking motor, decent chassis and impressive looks, you can't go wrong. Surely. We'll let Simon take up the story. ...

Simon's fresh off the boat from Milan with tales to tell from the launch of the new Honda CB1000R. What with a rocking motor, decent chassis and impressive looks, you can't go wrong. Surely. We'll let Simon take up the story.

“Everything was going so well, until we got to Milan. The north of Italy in April is a hit or miss affair in terms of the weather – and we definitely scored a miss. It rained for most of the morning, and by the time it dried out we had to race across Milan to get our plane back into Terminal Five. Just when you thought your day couldn't get any worse…

“But what I experienced on the bike was good. Potentially really good. In fact, potentially really, really good. The looks speak for themselves, and it's a fairly radical departure for Honda to build a bike as extreme looking as this. But the fact of the matter is that this has been a European led project from the start, so what you see hasn't been sanitised by the Japanese.

“Dynamically, the bike works well. How could it not with the 2007 CBR1000RR motor in it. The retune sees plenty of torque added to the lump, and this is perfect for blasting round busy urban roads and plenty of quiet country ones too. Unfortunately we experienced more of the former than the latter, but I certainly got the gist. Everything else worked well, the fuel injection was good, the gearbox slick , the controls easy.

“I can't tell you too much about the bike's handling as it was wet, but it was confident enough in these conditions. Brakes are straight off the 2008 'blade and the suspension is fully adjustable so all the right boxes are ticked. No one fell off in rubbish conditions, so that speaks volumes.

“But ultimately, it's a case of undiscovered potential. The bikes won't be in the country until July, but we should be able to get hold of one in a few weeks to put it through its paces. For around £7,000 it looks to be competitively priced too, so we can't wait to have a dry run on the thing. So long as it's not in that rotten olive colour.”