Honda CB1000R 2018. At the EICMA show in Milan 2017, Honda is doing very well by unveiling a family from the Neo Sports Café concept. The new CB1000R 2018 is already focusing the attention of roadster fans and like no other! Many expected this new Honda CB1000R 2018, and here it is finally, in its final version! And the least we can say or write is that the Japanese manufacturer has decided to stand out from current production. The first pictures of the new Honda CB 1000 R 2018 reveal a motorcycle that appears like a real against the current trend and it's so much better!
CB1000R 2018: More Neo Retro than Manga!
Honda had already let slip some clues with the concept Neo Sports Café, recently unveiled at the Tokyo show. We had discovered a prototype of modern roadster, certainly, but not at all inscribed in the current trend of Manga style dear to the Kawasaki Z1000 (R) or the Yamaha MT-10 (SP) for example. For its part, the world number 1 returns to a style much more sober, softened, purified. Some might even regret it compared to the latest CB1000Rjust very typical. But in doing so, the Japanese manufacturer shows his desire to return to a more timeless design, taking the codes of the roadster and coffee racer. A choice that allows him to limit the number of plastic parts for the cladding (there would remain only six) in favor of aluminum. Honda even admits to having followed a "minimalist and retro-industrial approach by emancipating from the diktat imposed roadster declensions of sport models type RR". Thus, this "break" will date, this new CB1000R 2018 can easily take place in the Honda Museum following recent CB900F Hornet, CB1000 Big One or CB1300F.
Very visible muscles with 20.5 horses better!
On the technical side this time, Honda has selected known and effective solutions. Beginning with the use of an assaulted version of the engine of the hypersportive CBR1000RR. Understand by "assagie" the fact that the maximum power has been lowered from 192 to 145.5 horses, still 20.5 more horses than the former CB1000R and in absolute, more than respectable power when it's about fighting against the wind without even a poor bubble! And all the more so as the curves have been reworked to offer maximum torque at mid-speed.
The box reports, especially the first three, have been shortened (about 4%) and Honda to specify that the new CB1000R cuts the 0 to 130 km/h faster than the hypersportive! The novelty also takes advantage of its weight revised downward, with no less than 12 kg of dry weight loss (!) Or a full weight of 210 kg according to our calculations and 212.7 kg according to Honda (we will not fail to weigh it on the occasion of our test). Anyway, here is a weight / power ratio (212.7 kg / 145.5 hp) that promises already very beautiful sensations!
Steel frame and single-sided aluminum
The "mono-backbone" (or "backbone") frame supports the engine at the top, back and front, like the old model. But it is now steel rather than aluminum, which would not prevent it to display 2.5 kg less, as the side plates (aluminum). We still find, and that's good, the beautiful aluminum oscillating single-sided which is part of the stylistic heritage of the CB 1000 R.
The dual-outlet exhaust also contributes to the overall lightening (it "loses weight" from 15.7 kg to 11.2 kg, or 4.5 kg less), and its sound beyond 5 500 RPM promises to be exciting, according to Honda. The suspensions, entrusted to Showa, are upscale, from the inverted fork SFF Big Piston to mono shock of an equivalent standard. Standard ABS braking does not appear to be adjustable or disconnectable. To confirm. More surprisingly, Honda has retained a very wide rear tire (190/55 x 17 against 180/55 x 17) mounted on a 6-inch rim, and a weight distribution" on the rear"(48.5% AV, 51.5% AR), which does not promote, in principle, agility.In return, the acceleration on the first three reports promise to greatly lighten the direction, fun in perspective! Also note, the saddle culminates at 830 mm, a height unfavorable to small jigs.
An electronic endowment close to the CBR 1000 RR
In electronic side, we find substantially the same package that fits the latest version of the CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Throttle By Wire electronic throttle links to the ECU and coordinates the driving aids, which are the driving modes (standard, rain, sport and user - a la carte), the three power levels available, the three engine brake force levels and the three levels of torque control (Honda Selectable Torque Control), which is Honda's traction control. The latter is disconnectable.
On the CBR1000RR, throttle grip and traction control are often criticized by circuit drivers because the throttle is considered too brutal. Will remain to see what is on the side of this new roadster which, on paper, promises a lot!
Honda CB1000R 2018 Specs:
- New sports roadster replacing the CB1000R
- Design wanted sleek, more coffee racer and pure naked
- Model from the Neo Sports Cafe concept
- 4-cylinder in-line engine derived from the 2017 CBR1000RR (Euro 4)
- Power 145.5 hp, torque 104 Nm (+ 20.5 hp vs CB1000R 2017)
- Weight 212.7 kg all full facts announced
- 12 kg of weight loss
- Mono backbone steel frame
- Aluminum swingarm
- Showa suspensions, SFF BP inverted fork
- ABS series
- Electronic throttle, 3 driving modes and 1 user mode
- Electronic and adjustable control (3 levels) of power, engine braking, torque
- Disconnectable torque control (traction)
- Seat height 830 mm
- Mass distribution at the rear: 48.5% AV / 51.5% AR
- Limited plastic trim parts (six pieces)
- Omnipresence of aluminum (apparent rear loop)
- Special RS version better equipped, with Shifter, and finer finish
Above, the concept Neo Sports Cafe unveiled in Tokyo last October and below the new CB1000R 2018 that follows. Honda has managed to keep the spirit and overall look of the concept, despite the need to mount perfectly homologated components, such as the exhaust.
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