I got an invite to a launch day of Honda's CB1000R. Saturday morning was spent travelling up to Manchester. Miss L came along too but just to go shopping in the city you understand. I dropped Miss L off at her gran's and I disappeared to the dealers. I did the sign in thing and elected to ride the CB1300S, CBR1000RR and the CB1000R. The was a free butty van so I partook of burgers and coffee to fill that empty spot. Then for a good look round the bikes. It was a bit of a cheat really, brother Derek's best buddy Harvey works at the shop and Derek has had a couple of bikes from them over the years so it was not like walking into a unfriendly place. Derek with a couple of others were tasked with chaperoning riders on the new bikes round the test circuit.
Whilst I was kicking stones, killing time until my first ride out I had a look at the bikes in detail then I suddenly heard, from across the shop, "Dave 8,4 - Dave 8,4!". It was one of the lads I used to ride with when I was a courier all those years ago. EZ84 was my call sign, Dave's my name. There are about a couple of dozen people in Manchester who get their tagged with their old call sign. I am one of them. I had a chat with Steve. He seems to have done alright for himself. We had a chat about bike's, as you do. Then it was time for a spin. The CB1300 has a 1300cc engine and is big, soft and comfy. Derek wangled it so I went out on my own with one of his buddies. We did not hang about and zipped around the ten mile circuit of motorways, dual carriage ways and main roads. A good mix of road types to show off the bikes traits. Next up was the CBR1000RR a.k.a. the Fireblade. It is the out and out sports bike of the Honda range. It was £&*@ing fast, beautifully poised with phenomenal brakes and fantastic exhaust note once the revs were above 4000 rpm, Oh and did I say - blisteringly fast. That was a smashing ride. The riding position was a good if a little short of leg room. I should have done a few yoga exercises before I got on. The only awkward thing was the speedo. It is LCD and tucked over on the extreme left of the panel. The linear rev counter was cool but these day you have got to watch that speedo.
The CB1000R was saved until last. That was almost as fast as the "blade" and all most all the things the blade is except more street fighter styled. The handle bar position was a little odd at first but you soon get used to it. Let's face it I only had it for 30 minutes. It was very fast even at small throttle openings. The fuelling was smooth where ever you were in the rev range. The headlight cowl did a good job of keeping the wind blast of your chest until you hit seventy then a couple extra inches of screen would make all the difference. No doubt there will be an aftermarket mini screen before too long.
Honda have released a special bike called the DN-01. There are only 15 in the country. At the end of the day Derek got to take it up the road to be filled with petrol. It is an odd styled thing. It is essentially a 700cc twist and go scooter.
Once everything was packed away I went back to Gran's to pick up Miss L and spend a little time with them. Of course they got a digest of what I had been up to for the past five hours. Having supped plenty of tea, Miss L and I trundled home in appalling conditions.
