Honda CB1000R Spec Chart Speculation

Over there, Honda’s selling two CB variants: CB1000R and CBR1000+, the plus of which gets you: heated grips, aluminum front fender panels, aluminum rear hugger panels, flyscreen with aluminum inserts, single seat cowl with aluminum inserts, radiator grille with CB1000R logo, and a quickshifter.

Making horsepower claims is like discussing money at American Honda, it simply isn’t done. But in the UK, the claim is 107 kW horsepower at 10,500 rpm and 104 nm torque at 8250 rpm. In American, that’s about 145 crankshaft horsepower. Our rule of thumb is subtract 10% for that power to make it to the rear contact match where our Dynojet 250i measures it – and we should be looking at around 130 horses.

Torquewise, which is what really moves us, 104 nm equals about 77 pound-feet – which should be around 70 at the tire.

All those numbers seem to point to an engine closer in character to Suzuki GSX-S1000 than to the Kawasaki Z900RS we compared last week, so those worried that Honda might have “retuned” the CBR four-cylinder in the Neo need not worry.

The other crucial number is weight, which is a claimed 212 “kerb”, which generally means all gassed up with 16.2 liters of fuel – or 467 pounds and 4.3 gallons. Honda’s claimed weights tend to be very agreeable to what the MO official scales read, and that weight’s right there with the aforementioned Suzuki and Kawasaki. The nice Brits even give us a mileage figure, which works out to 40.5 mpg.

Suspension-wise, both CB variants would seem to have a leg up, with Showa SFF-BP forks (Separate Function – Big Piston), and BRFC shocks out back (Balance Free Rear Cushion). All the other stuff is pretty standard premium Japanese componentry, but all of it wrapped in a package that’s attracted a lot of attention over the last couple of years.

In fact, we’ve known all of this ever since EICMA (where we even made a video I advise against watching), but what we didn’t know was how much money Honda would want for one. Now we do.

Bottom Line

Motorcycles cost more in other countries than they do in the USA, so we’ve got that going for us. Today one British pound is worth about $1.43, and a CB500F in England carries a list price of £5,449, a base Africa Twin goes for £11,575 and a CBR1000RR for £15,769.

All those prices in British £ are about 0.87 to 0.96 of what we pay in the US for the same model in US $$. In the UK, the CB1000R lists at £11,299 and the CB1000R+ is 12,299. In the US, then, they might be roughly 10% more – or very roughly $12,500 for the base bike and $13,500 for the +. All that’s of course based upon cordial trade relations continuing to be cordial.

Again, the new CB is right there competitive with the Z900RS, and reasonably affordable for those who can afford it. For those of us clinging to the coattails of the fourth estate who can’t afford it but feel entitled to a new CB anyway, what’s the holdup, Honda? (I’ll have the +, thanks.)