Honda Cb-1

Honda CB-1

WHEN THE CB-1 USED IN THIS evaluation showed up in the cinder-block shrine that is the Cycle World garage, much coffee-besotted bench racing ensued, with this little blue bolide as its object. The consensus? Mostly that the CB-1 is just about a perfect model of a real motorcycle.

The multi-day, all-singing, alldancing standard-off, in which all 10 of the bikes seen here were flogged so hard their little tongues hung out, over all kinds of roads, in drizzling rain and in pouring sunshine, resulted in a somewhat modified opinion: The CB-l is a real motorcycle, it's just in three-quarters scale.

That is by no means an indictment of this bike. Small isn’t necessarily a negative attribute. As it happens, in spite of its 53.9-inch wheelbase and 30.5-inch seat height, the CB-l’s smile-per-mile quotient is right up there with the best of them, thanks to its taut suspension, a riding position comfortable for all but the tallest riders, and an incredible little engine that just begs the rider to turn on the throttle.

In fact, in order to extract any sort of performance from the CB-l, its throttle must be twisted with some vigor. The liquid-cooled, four-valveper-cylinder, short-stroke engine’s rev limit is a spine-tingling 13,500 rpm, and it doesn’t really get into the fattest part of its power curve until about 10,000 rpm. If you have any mechanical empathy at all, turning any engine into five-digit rpm numbers takes some getting used to, both in terms of seeing those big numbers on a tachometer dial, and in terms of hearing the exhaust note such speeds yield. After a bit of time, however, the C'B-l’s test riders found themselves assured that the engine not only could tolerate such speeds, but that it thrives on them, and they felt less concerned about zinging the tach needle around to redline. Once that happened, and once they got used to using the bike’s clean-shifting sixspeed transmission to keep the engine where it made max horsepower, they discovered that the CB-l’s brakes and chassis are every bit a match for its willing little engine.

The bike’s frame is of steel tubes bent in perimeter style, its steering head aligned to provide a sportbikelike 25.1 degrees of rake and 3.9 inches of trail. Its non-adjustable fork uses 4 l mm tubes, and its singleshock rear suspension allows only spring-preload adjustment. Both ends provide a kind of Everyman's spring/damping compliance designed to work with the most-common riding denominator. Which means it’s a bit soft on both ends, especially for backroad honking.

Nevertheless, handling is quick and direct, with no surprises. Braking performance is, by virtue of a twinpiston caliper that grips a 12.2-inch vented rotor, excellent, and in keeping with the general overall fine balance this bike provides.

What we really wish is that the CBl was a 750, and that it was bigger overall. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining piece, a pint-sized standard that delivers quart-sized fun.

SPECIFICATIONS

Honda CB-1

$4298