We expect motorcycles to
be fast, but we didn't expect this one to arrive quite so quickly. Just a
couple of weeks ago, as you may recall, Honda revealed the Neo Sports Café
concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. Now it's already out in production guise.
Unveiled at the EICMA motorcycle show in Italy this
week, the new CB1000R has been updated from a strictly retro model to one that
blends more modern – even futuristic – styling touches with classic proportions.
The new CB1000R is the largest in a range of three
new models that bridge the gap between naked bike and café racer, joined by the
smaller CB300R and CB125R. The latter two are designed for newer riders, while
the CB1000R is a "whole lot of" machine.
At its heart sits the 998cc inline four from the
racier CBR1000RR, tuned to deliver 143 horsepower – 16 percent more peak power
than the old-school model of the same name that it replaces, with 5-percent
more mid-range torque. Combined with 20 kg less mass to move, the
new CB1000R offers a 20-percent improvement in the motorbike's crucial
power-to-weight ratio.
It also features ABS brakes, clutch assist, ride by
wire controls, LED lighting, LCD instrument display the works. But what really
sets the new CB1000R apart from its predecessor is the styling, decidedly
bereft of plastic and rendered almost entirely in metal.
