Make Model |
Honda CBR 1000F |
Year |
1988 |
Engine |
Liquid cooled, four stroke, transverse four cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve per cylinder. |
Capacity |
998 |
Bore x Stroke | 77 x 53.6 mm |
Compression Ratio | 10.5:1 |
Induction |
4x 38mm Keihin carbs. |
Ignition / Starting |
CDI / electric |
Max Power |
132 hp 96.2 kW @ 9500 rpm |
Max Torque |
104 Nm @ 8500 rpm |
Transmission / Drive |
6 Speed / chain |
Front Suspension |
Telescopic air assisted and ant-dive. |
Rear Suspension |
Pro-link monoshock. 6-way preload. 3-way rebound damping adjust |
Front Brakes |
2x 296mm discs 2 piston calipers |
Rear Brakes |
Single 276mm disc 2 piston caliper |
Front Tyre |
110/80-17 |
Rear Tyre |
140/80-17 |
Dry-Weight |
232 kg |
Fuel Capacity |
21 Litres |
Consumption average |
15.6 km/lit |
Braking 60 - 0 / 100 - 0 |
13.0 m / 35.6 m |
Standing ¼ Mile |
10.7 sec / 206 km/h |
Top Speed |
264.2 km/h |
Manual | 2smoto.com |
The CBR1000 is Honda's flagship sports roadster. It is not a race replica. It excels or at being a versatile, all-rounder, sports-angled for sure, but 1 also sensibly equipped with just about everything the fast long-distance rider requires. Call it a deluxe highway express cruiser.
Released in 1987 to universal acclaim, the CBR1000 broke no new ground but underlined the world's largest manufacturer's 20 years of experience at building in-line fours. It is very much a complete motorcycle. The design brief was to build a 1000cc open class sports bike for the road rider. It had to be powerful, comfortable, smooth and sophisticated with styling to match. Honda succeeded on all counts.
The soul of the machine is a fairly conventional short stroke, 16-valve in-line four fed by semi-downdraft Keihin CV carbs. About the only thing that distinguishes it from the many such in-line fours Honda have produced before is the remote oil-cooled generator mounted behind the cylinders. As with the whole bike, what impresses about the engine is not what it is but what it does. For a start, it's uncannily smooth. There's no discernible vibration except at the very top of its rev range. It also combines what every engine tuner likes —fat, endless torque with a real top end rev rush. The big Honda is very tractable. It'll pufl top gear from 2000rpm and you can short-shift and stay in top for most day-to-day unhurried riding. It starts making huge liquid power at 6000rpm with a step at 8000 where the engine spins like crazy up to the 10,500rpm redline. You can cruise leisurely on the torque or you can burn rubber by spinning it out above 8000. Sensibly geared with six fairly close ratios, its top speed is 160mph.
The race replicas will certainly beat it for top end and they'll outhandle it on a tight road. However the Honda will never be that far behind and it possesses in abundance what all the sparse, narrow-focus, race replicas lack, which is a high degree of ride comfort.
Again, there is nothing particularly innovative about the rolling chassis, it just all works together and well. The perimeter frame is old-fashioned steel and there's nothing radical about the steering geometry. Suspension is generally soft and only really firms up over the last few inches of travel. The ride is plush and best suited to wide-open sweeping roads. Similarly, the steering is slow but it's also predictable. The Honda can be slammed through a series of quick bends as long as you're deliberate about where you place the front wheel. Slow steering and heavy it may be, but that front end is also very trustworthy. It stays planted on the road. Wheel rim sizes are as big as they come at 3.5in front and 5.5in rear and the elegant, three-spoke wheels wear fat radial tyres.
Thanks to an excellent riding position, ride comfort is assured. There's plenty of room for a pillion and luggage. The aerodynamically efficient ABS fairing fits like a glove and there are no gaps or ill-fitting joins in its smooth lines -even the exhaust pipes get their own fairing cover. The bodywork is protected by unobtrusive 'bamper dampers' which is curious Japanese-speak for metal bumpers with soft plastic covers. If the bike falls over at low speed, the bumper protects the expensive bodywork.
Detail touches abound and the bike is superbly well-finished. The key to the CBR1000's success is that it's much more than the sum of its parts. In isolation, its major components are well-made but unexceptional. But as a rolling package the motorcycle exudes confidence, balance and completeness. A motorcycle for all reasons and all seasons and the best in-line four.