Honda CBR1000F review

Were the first words out of Jake's mouth. "Off an online auction site? Without seeing it?" Were his next few words, to which I replied "er, yeah. Six hundred quid taxed and tested".  Jake says " So in summary; you have spent £600 on a bike you have never seen, of a style you don't like just to go to a biker meet at the other end of the country?!"  I thought that pretty much summed it up and agreed with him. I slowly replaced the receiver while Jake continued muttering under his breath and cursing, I also took the liberty of turning the ring volume down on the phone so I could ignore his barrage of calls telling me what a twat I am.  I was bikeless and feeling totally emasculated by that fact. Catching the train and tube into London was fast becoming a lesson in biting tongue and not slapping every suited twat in sight like some Berserker from a viking longboat. In fairness had I been carrying an axe to work it's fair to say there would have been carnage, fortunately for the London populace I am not a logger by trade. So I had my eye on a few cheap runners that were punting around the biker community, nothing really grabbed me. It was the usual ex-dispatch fodder XJ600s, GT550/750 and old BMWs. They were all good work horses, just a little shy on styling for my liking.

There were a couple of things I was after: balls‑out power, good agility, luggage if possible and plenty of space for a pillion. That list ruled out the lower end of the custom market, also ruled out most cheap bikes to be honest. I was sat in front of the PC one night debating whether to get credit on a newer bike while scratching my nuts when I spotted a CBR1000F on an online auction. The bike was taxed, had almost a full years road ticket and was owned by guy who liked touring. The mileage was good with an average of 7K a year, new chain and sprockets, full luggage and spares! All this for £600! I phoned the number and had a chat with the fella, he had upgraded to a Blackbird and was keen to get more space in his garage. I paid the asking price and shot up there on the train, the fella gave me a lift on his new bike back to his where I had a cup of tea while we exchanged documents and cash.

The estate he lived on was like a rabbit warren so he offered to lead me out, this was my first wake up call. I turned the handle bars to pull away but the fairing didn't move, where the fuck was the wheel pointing! No time to think about that, fella had just pulled out of his road, fuck! I opened the throttle and nearly flipped the damn thing (well felt like it), I recovered and wobbled up the road after my man.  At the first junction I slammed my feet on the ground because I thought the bike was going to tip, the bike felt so light despite it's size and age. This wasn't going well. I filled up with fuel and parted company with my chaperone, I was glad to be alone, less pressure. I took it easy until I reached the motorway and then cruised so I could get a feel for the handling. the first thing I noticed was that the fairing does its job well, so well in fact I was cruising at 120MPH when I thought I was doing 70! Needless to stay I slowed down and rode according to the law… ahem. Once at home my wife greeted me with total excitement, she loved the black and red and the fact there was a big comfy pillion seat.

I sloped off and practised slow control in a quiet road. U‑turns always proved difficult because of the turning circle on the CBR. The CBR1000F is a sports tourer and is long, to be fair you won't notice that unless you are turning around. I commuted the CBR into London for the best part of a year and she handled every obsticle with grace and assurance. I can honestly say that there is nothing that bike can't handle. Distance wise the CBR1000F is the single most comfortable bike I have owned. The run which I bought her for was some 300miles from my house when I got off I was ready for more without an ache or a pain. Styling wise they are pretty dated and you need to watch out for the swing arm chain guards wearing through (the whole swing arm needs to come off to replace them). The power delivery is very smooth and once the revs are wound up they fly like rockets, the red light grand prix was always entertaining and often surprised the younger riders when I hurtled past them.

I had owned my CBR a week before all the plastic came off and me and the kids set about it with matt black, camo green and some carboard flame stencils! I would still have that bike had someone not unceremoniously dismounted me on a busy dual carriageway… anyway that's another story…

Below are my ratings and below that are some tech specs.