Honda CB1000R Neo Sports Cafe – A Detailed Review On The Motorbike

The name of the new Honda CB1000R Neo Sports Cafe is not easy to remember – it seems like they are three different versions of the same model. But, getting to know it better, you understand: every word is justified. It remains only to understand which of them determines the character of the motorcycle more than others.

Neoclassicism, which came into fashion a few years ago, is in no hurry to give way to new trends and only clings more tightly to motorcycle designers’ minds and hearts. Round headlights, brushed aluminium, here and there slipping obeisances to the “old school” – that’s what “suits” for road roadsters are made of today. Unsurprisingly, Honda has opted for neoclassical styling to replace the previous generation CB1000R, which has been around since 2008, as the name suggests.

EH, I WILL PUMP!

The design is also reminiscent of the word cafe in the name – a reference to the glorious era of British cafe racers in the new CB1000R. A chopped tail with a minimalistic LED taillight, and most importantly, original accessories, for example, a tiny fairing over the dashboard and a pad that replaces the passenger saddle and turns a two-seater motorcycle into a single one. The catalogue of factory tuning is generally comprehensive – in Honda, they understand how important it is for motorcyclists to “sharpen” the device for themselves.

As for the word sport, there is no need to talk about a simple marketing ploy here either, the power unit of the novelty, as usual with the world’s largest manufacturers, migrated to a road bike from the flagship sport bike. In this case, the CBR1000 became the “donor” of the unit, although the motor underwent several changes on the way from one model to another, lost the peak values ​​of power and torque in the upper rpm range, but gained strength in the lower and middle.

With the changed gearbox, the gear ratios became shorter than the sport bike ones by 4%, while the acceleration dynamics became more cheerful, at least up to 130 km / h. And the fact that the maximum speed turned out to be lower, so on a motorcycle without a fairing and changing the second “hundred” is a dubious pleasure, and at 240 km / h, the air presses so that it is difficult to breathe.

In other words, the remaining “herd” of 146 hp, quite enough for a suitable 212 kg of curb weight. Inexplicable but true: the engineers managed to reduce the importance of the new CB1000R Neo Sports Cafe compared to its predecessor at once by 8 kg, and abandoning the aluminum frame in Favour of the steel one. Instead, now it is a semi-frame – a ridge made of a rectangular tube ends at the pendulum, and the saddle is attached to an aluminium subframe.

The engineers succeeded in the new chassis: the frame, coupled with solid suspensions, is torsion-resistant and behaves amazingly even in very deep corners. The updated inverted fork has a separate adjustment: a screw on the right shock absorber is responsible for spring preload. A pair of screws on the left damper adjust the hydraulic stiffness. However, there was no desire to change the fork’s factory settings, but the rear suspension seemed too soft.

The adjustment only partially saves; the cantilever swingarm with the license plate bracket, like the wheel size 190/55/17, are bright and stylish solutions. Still, nobody cancelled the side effect in the form of growing unsprang masses. In any case, you will not often have to complain about them; things are too good with everything else.

Pleased with the brakes: a pair of gripping monobloc 4-piston radial-mount calipers not only effectively upset the bike but also do not annoy the ABS too early. And with sharp decelerations, the electronics also turn on the “emergency gang”, warning other road users of potential danger.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES

There are quite a lot of electronic upgrades in the new CB1000R:

• three-level traction control with the ability to turn off (especially for those who like to tickle your nerves),
• three modes of engine response to the turn of the electronic “throttle” knob and the same number of steps for adjusting engine braking intensity.

In order not to get confused, all these adjustments are collected in four preset modes. There is a hot “sports” one, where all the reactions of the motorcycle are maximally aggravated. Traction allows you to safely ride on the rear wheel, controlling only the angle of the front wheel, and a quiet “rain” one, where all stabilization systems are on guard, and the engine response to the opening of the gas “Dull.

Alas, the quick-shifter, which allows you to change gears without pressing the clutch, is available only as an option, and I missed it on such a dynamic device. But the dashboard, albeit with a monochrome monitor, is an example of information content. The combination of a silvery semicircle, stamping on transparent plastic (an allusion to the 1990s models), as well as a modern multifunctional blinker in general, delighted me. The revs approach the red zone – the light fills first with yellow and then red, hinting at an imminent need to “stick” the gear higher; we brake the engine – the indicator lights up first green and then blue, depending on the intensity. Great!

What else do you need to be happy? With a price tag exceeding the psychological mark of quite a bit of money, even such a motorcycle will not be easy to compete with competitors. However, the device came out so multifaceted that you won’t have to think long after getting to know it. And Neo, Sports, Cafe or all at once – it’s up to you. If you want to buy a bike, Honda CBR1000R could be the perfect choice for you.