Honda CBR600F Review

My bike has over 30K kms on the clock and was mainly used for drag racing in 1993 to 1994 -- mods included stage 3 jet kits and a van & hines (gutted out) end pipe. it was sold to a friend of mine which hardly used it and hardly maintained it as well.

Seeing it was being neglected I bought it in 98 and slowly restored it. amazingly i didnt have to do anything with the engine just body parts, painting replacing battery and rectifier and she was good to go. oh yeah replaced fork oil and brake pads and tires. did a bit a cosmetic upgrades and that was it and to this day i have had no problem with running bad and she still has that power faster than some newer 600's and old 750's

my only complaint is it needs a brake upgrade -- stopping power is a bit pale, she's heavy for todays standards and may not handle as well as the others but great for riding around town and some short trips out of town.

will be doing some suspension and brake upgrade soon and will tone down the jettings and exhaust to run a bit more quiet everyday for road use.

As I didn't crash it, all the bodywork went back on and it still looked perfect when I sold it. Bought an R1 to race, but the 600 has to rate as the best (and most effective) bike ever.

I've made a couple of modifications, a
Scorpion exhaust system removes all
doubt that the engine is actually
running, and it also removes the
flatspot between 4-5500 revs that came
sometimes make you look like a tosser
when you get the wrong gear in a corner.

The other thing is to get rid of the
Macadum tyres that were fitted as
standard...great for long life if you
do lots of touring but will not allow
you to explore the outer limits of the
bikes ability. The best tyres I've
found have been Dunlop D207RR,
excellent all weather grip and not bad
life either.

Watch out for the 16000 mile service,
as this is an expensive one. New pads,
air-filter, fuel filter and new chain
and sprockets plus normal stuff and a
very thorough inspection is around
£460.

But all in all as long as you keep on
top of normal maintenance you will have
no problems in 20 000 miles I've never
even had to add any oil between
services.

If anyone is lloking for a bike like
this, mine is up for sale cos I live in
Italy now and am moving up to a VFR.
For details contact email.

With that in mind, this was always going to be a difficult test. After all, 200,000 is roughly 15 bikes for every day that I've been alive - and with that many around, it's unlikely that a) it's a bad bike or b) even if BikeNet said it was, anyone would take a blind bit of notice.

On paper though, the CBR isn't really all that exciting. It's heavier than it's own big brother, the Fireblade, and makes less power. It's got a steel frame, unremarkable styling, less sophisticated suspension - in fact it seems incredibly ordinary. So what's so great about a CBR, and can it still really cut it after all these years?

First Encounters
Our tester was supplied by Honda UK, and had done about 3,500 miles. It must have had a fairly tough life, or maybe the finish was a bit below par, because the bike looked like it had done a few more miles than the clock showed. The black painted upper fork clamp (obviously done to save polishing it like the Fireblade) was scratched by key fobs and looked tatty. The bike looked as though it had been kept outside; the nasty green-coloured metal bits had started to fade and look white; and the general "new bike" sheen was missing.

Nevertheless slipping onto the saddle and grabbing the controls immediately restored that "Honda" feel - everything moved freely and precisely and felt comfortable. Extremely so, in fact - the riding position is fairly upright, and combined with the narrow tank makes for an easy and relaxed ride.

There's no point in bothering to describe the styling and colour scheme - everyone's seen a CBR - they're that ubiquitous that they don't even turn non-bikers heads like a Fireblade or GSX-R would. But maybe that's the point...

The bike came shod with Michelin Macadams - 120/60 front, 160/60 rear - not our favourite tyre for grip, but good for longevity. All the other equipment was present and correct, including (shock horror) a centre stand - when's the last time a "sports" bike had one of them?

Jumping aboard, thumbing the starter (you have to listen very carefully to hear the engine running) and crunching into gear showed that the CBR has a standard clonky Honda box, and in fact they consider the 600s to be better than some as they've given it to the Fireblade this year...

By the end of the road it was obvious that the standard suspension settings were on the soft side - and a little underdamped. It made for a comfortable ride but a little too bouncy for the rougher roads and faster riding. Still, the upright riding position and narrow tank made low speed manoeuvring simple, and the seat is very plush if a little soft compared with many sportier bikes.

The engine pulled readily enough though there's not a huge amount of bottom end, and it sounded a little woolly despite carburating very well throughout the rev range. Buzzy vibration started to intrude at about 6,000rpm and above 110mph you had to make the most of the gears and engine revs to get decent acceleration, but it'd top 150mph, which is plenty fast enough for most people (certainly in the UK officer, honest...).

The brakes did their job, though not outstandingly. Similar in fact to the Fireblade - the bike stops OK without that "brick-wall" effect that many bikes have these days.

Give it some stick
Taking the CBR out into the Garden of England for a blast over the country roads showed one or two shortcomings.

The most obvious were the tyres, which didn't give much in the way of feedback; they gripped OK for the most part, but always felt as though they were on the verge of sliding, even when they weren't. And when they did slide, it was rather dramatic - the back end in particular would break away with little warning. The CBR straightened itself out no problem, but the buttock-clenching involved ruined the rider's comfort, to say the least.

With the suspension on standard settings the bouncy ride worked well over the bumpiest roads, but meant the steering was a bit imprecise - jacking the preload up a bit on the forks helped, as did adding a tad of rebound damping. Overall though the forks seemed a little vague - whether this could be put down to just the tyres is a moot point - we didn't have any other tyres available at the time.

No such problems at the back though - the fully adjustable shock was much twiddled with, and the range of adjustment allows fine-tuning, as well as complete ruining, of the handling. Turn the damping up too high and not only will you have a bike that steers like a chopper, but which also rides the bumps like a hardtail too! The best setting was just a little more compression damping, keeping everything else standard.

Giving the bike a few revs reveals just how flexible it is - the deep WOOORRRR of the intake is louder than the exhaust, and with judicious use of the gearlever pretty fast progress can be made. The bike's very flickable, and yet forgiving - it's an easy bike to ride just about anywhere. The only real fly in the ointment is the gearbox - I never actually missed a gear, but it clonks and crunches like nobody's business.

The fuel consumption suffers under serious throttle-stretching, but we never saw worse than 44mpg throughout the test period, which is pretty good.

Longer distance
On longer hauls again the CBR shows it's all-round ability. The fairing, although pretty low, is easy to get behind and this makes 100mph cruising easy and comfortable.

The thickly-padded seat is relatively flat, which makes it comfortable for at least a full tank before stopping, a range of 150 miles or so. With relatively low (to many other bikes) pillion pegs, a proper dual seat and a grab rail, two-up riding is much more pain-free than others too.

The engine vibration does get in the way at about 80mph, but above or below that speed the bike's easy to just pootle along all day. Economically too - on longer trips the fuel consumption averaged out at just about 50mpg.

Easy
There's one word that kept cropping up while talking about the CBR - easy. Easy to tour, easy to ride fast, easy to ride in traffic, go to the shops, whatever. And that's precisely what's made the bike so successful - it doesn't place unnecessary strain on the rider. It's the Ford Escort of bikes - not perhaps the tastiest looking, or the fastest, or the best handling, but you know damn well that it'll be reliable, hard-wearing, comfortable and above all, under most circumstances, as good as the rest.

It's only when the going gets really tough that you notice the shortcomings - it's not quite as fast, quite as smooth, quite as precise as some - but then they're maybe not as easy to live with.

It's got a centre stand, mirrors that work, sensible fuel tap, rear mudguard to keep dirt off the shock and by all accounts is very reliable - but why oh why did Honda make the seat bolt-on? With a bike that's so easy to get on with, having to remove the side panels to unbolt the seat and losing the underseat storage space is a BIG pain!

Summary
The CBR is getting a little long in the tooth, and compared with some of the more recent offerings (see the ZX6R test coming soon) may have a few rough edges nowadays. But it's still a great bike - you can do virtually everything with it, and there aren't that many 150mph bikes that are as flexible as that. Some bikes go faster, some handle better, some commute as well - but if you want an easy life, the CBR is one of the best all-rounders you can get.

Engine: Liquid-cooled 16-valve DOHC in-line 4
Bore & stroke: 65 x 45.2mm
Displacement: 599cc
Compression ratio: 12:1
Carburettor: 36mm CV type x 4
Max power: 97PS @ 12,000RPM
Max torque: 46ft-lb @ 10,500RPM
Ignition: Computer-controlled digital transistorized with electronic advance
Starter: Electric
Transmission: Six-speed
Wheelbase: 1405mm
Seat height: 810mm
Fuel capacity: 18 litres
Wheels: Front/rearU-section six-spoke aluminium cast

Tyres:

Front - 120/60 x ZRl7
Rear - 160/60 x ZR17
Suspension:
Front - 41mm stepless preload, adjustable rebound damping
Rear - pro-link with 7-step preload, stepless rebound and compression adjustable
Brakes:
Front - 296mm dual disc with 2-piston calipers
Rear - 220mm single-piston caliper disc
Dry weight: 185kg

Alas, I have succumbed to the calling, and those kind chaps at HGB Motorcycles in Ruislip, un-crated one for me to terrorise the inhabitants of the south of England. And what better time to try one than when we've experienced a year of groundbreaking machinery hitting our shores and unleashed with gay abandon against the unsuspecting general public (those cruel Japs have a lot to answer for).

The conditions upon which I collected the CBR could be described as being unpleasant but that would be far too polite. Suffice to say I ended up wet enough to host a channel four game show. Perfect weather for an objective test though I'm rather glad that the following day had proved to be one that was dry and reasonably mild, in fact it wasn't at all terrible for mid December. That morning I spent a good hour cleaning away the crud that had accumulated from the ten-mile trek back home in the previous evening's monsoon conditions. One thing for sure is that a rear-hugger is in order if you want to prolong the life of the shock and it's linkage. Easily the dirtiest part of the whole machine as the rear-wheel was left unhindered to throw whatever it pleased upon the defenceless suspension components. Let's face it, this fair island has plenty to offer when it comes to corrosive elements.

In essence, one of the longest running production motorcycles ever built has received more than just a face lift, more like a face transplant which has an uncanny resemblance to the original face it was intended to replace. Despite throwing nearly all of the old bike in the bin, Honda have obviously made a concerted effort to keep their prodigal son in the same set of faded and torn jeans that he's been wearing for the last decade or so. The lower half of the fairing makes up for about two thirds of the entire plastic area up front, which whilst cuts down on the time taken to remove it I would hate to have to replace it in the event of the unmentionable. It looks dead expensive, still can't have it all ways and it is infinitely better than the complicated assembly of plastic shards, which made up the fairing of earlier models.

From cold the CBR will fire up with just a niff of choke and will run quite happily with the choke fully disengaged after a minute or two, though riding it in this rushed state does it no favours. A bit like rushing your girlie acquaintance out the door when she hasn't quite finished putting her face on. She'll complain until you get to the end of your street, but once the real action starts she'll forget about it soon enough. A proper slapper and no mistake.

Dialling up four thou on the tacho and feeling the clutch take up smartly without letting the revs drop is the order of the day for all but the quickest of CBR launches. If you want to get away any quicker then pick a number between five and seven thousand and take your chance. There's not much wrong with the extremely light clutch action but it does feel a little vague when you really require it such as around town. Not much of an issue in its own right but coupled with this particular engine it can leave you asking questions about the Honda's claimed broader focus. The engine would rather you asserted yourself upon the machine rather than let it do the work for you, which makes the combination a fairly lively partnership. In the same breath, it could never be described as hard work, coupled with a tried and tested riding position, low speed cruising isn't a tiresome experience. But despite the "all can do" intention that Honda are taking great pains to preserve, this machine will be mainly be ridden by spotty yoofs who will do not much else than ring the knackers off it from day one. Thank heavens for the legendary Honda build quality, its gonna need it. Below five grand it feels more like a four hundred than a six hundred and the impression of lightness reinforces that feeling.

Your initial thoughts when blipping the throttle from idle are of feather dusters and sowing machines. No inspiration given in this quarter whatsoever, you've got to show this horse the whip if you want to do anything other than follow Sunday drivers at thirty miles per hour in a forty limit. Consequently, this makes gear selection crucial whilst in a hurry. The CBR is unlikely to win any competitions for mid-range, top-gear, roll-on power delivery, but this doesn't mean that it's an unbearable experience, it just doesn't set your pants on fire. Without having ridden the previous incarnations I'm still prepared to bet the mid-range has been moved up fifteen hundred revs (a complete contrast to something like a Yamaha's Fazer). Click down a few gears (that's right, click. Not clank, bang or crunch) and keep the engine bubbling above six thousand revs and start to move into the party zone. From here on up the engine takes on a different note as the induction roar starts to compete with the exhaust tone and the CBR takes on a whole different persona. All the way up the rev range for another six thousand revs it makes progressive and impressive forward motion as you work it through the half decent gearbox. A remarkable departure for any Honda, and a very pleasurable experience it was too. Not a missed gear or false neutral in site. I was almost disappointed, as my Honda gearbox technique, which I had perfected over the years, was now redundant.

One area that I was eager to explore after reading past tests were the brakes, where at best they have seemed to be labelled as adequate. The new model requires nothings more than two finger operation and give superb feed back with plenty of bite. Add one or two more fingers from your right hand into the equation whilst coasting to a standstill and you can soon have the rear wheel skywards with little or no effort. Big stoppies are a piece of the proverbial yellow water.

Another impressive attribute of the Honda's character is the way it behaves on the way in and out of corners. Steam up to your favourite roundabout, sling it on its side whilst holding the throttle at six to seven thousand revs and feed the power in all the way around so that when you're vertical again it's due for another gear change. Some bikes can leave you a little daunted whilst on the juice half way through a corner, but the Honda doesn't have a savage edge in the power delivery which means you've got to be completely kack-handed to get into any bother. Tipping the bike into a corner is very addictive as it sets itself up so confidently and makes the whole exercise seem so easy.

The sharp handling is complimented excellently by a very competent suspension set up. Without having to mess with the factory settings the forks soaked up everything I could find that would cause other machines to shake themselves into an early grave. The rear was also left unfazed by any similar confrontation from our British roads. Rock steady, but still leaving you with plenty of feeling about what is going on underneath you. This CBR gives you so much confidence (there you go, that word again, confidence) that it gives you the ability to carry heaps of corner speed and keep your mind on the job with no distractions. Simply brilliant.

To summarise, the new Honda CBR600 will quite happily keep all the promises made by the previous models. Instead of broadening the performance envelope Honda have made it both thinner and longer. We are certainly left with a more focused (a bit of a cliché these days) bike. Honda has definitely left themselves in with a shout in the super-sport category when it comes to track activity. There is no doubt that the fiercely competitive six hundred class is about the be given a serious shake, especially with the much trumpeted arrival of the new Yamaha R6. No matter what, the CBR is a definite contender.