Honda CB600FA, CBR600FA, CBR250R and CBR125R - 2011 |
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It’s not often here at www.inter-bike.co.uk that we get the opportunity to test a model from Honda, let alone four back to back, but Honda UK kindly offered us the opportunity to test a cross section of their new and revised models for 2011. However with four bikes to test in one day we are only able to give our impressions of each bike, though each bike was ridden by two reviewers from the inter-bike Press Team to give you an accurate perspective of the bikes. Honda Hornet CB600FA  Honda’s ubiquitous Hornet has been around since 1998 and has become a fairly familiar model with a loyal following. Although this is a fully naked middleweight model, its engine is sporting in nature having been originally developed alongside the engine for the CBR600RR.  This is evident when you ride the Hornet as when you crack the throttle open this bike has a fairly aggressive power delivery transforming into harsh acceleration and commensurate road speeds very rapidly. Your progress being limited somewhat by the inevitable wind blast your body sustains from the naked and fairly upright seating position. This bike does not even sport a mini-screen to help deflect the wind blast a little. However the performance does exceed your expectations for an engine delivering max power of just 75kW at 12,000 rpm. Harsh acceleration induces a raspy exhaust note which is fairly loud and is obviously designed to get the bike noticed as is the new bright yellow colour for 2011. Unfortunately it also gives rise to increasing vibration which we found quite intrusive as the speed and rev’s increased. This is a shame because in other areas the bike delivers a pleasing riding experience. The light kerb weight of approximately 200kg combined with its mono-backbone frame deliver a nimble ride, with the handling even feeling a little “super motorarrd-ish” The bike flicks into corners very quickly with the front end almost falling into the corner, in fact you have to be a little wary as to how abrupt this reaction to changing direction can be. Now this bike isn’t obviously designed for sustained periods in the saddle, but can be described as relatively comfortable, though towards the end of an hour on the bike the seat was beginning to feel a little hard. The gearbox and clutch are light in action and easy to use, as is the norm with most Japanese machinery these days. For 2011 the Hornet sports updated rear end styling, new colours and a new instrument panel. This is totally LCD and includes a digital rev counter and a speedo which constantly display your current speed and the usual range of other information, however sadly the panel is not easy to read. The information is black on a greyish background covered by a dark tinted plastic. We found the panel difficult to read and the information display other than the clear speedo number a little on the small side. It also suffers as many LCD display’s do with being affected by strong sunlight, reducing the readability further. Whilst the Hornet will still appeal to many looking for a proven middleweight bike, its design, age, and vibey power delivery, may not give very one the “buzz” they are looking for. Opinion 2  Naked upright bikes are becoming more and more popular as more mature riders begin to shy away from pure sports bikes with cramped riding positions. Honda cottoned onto this at an early stage and designed the Hornet as a CBR without a fairing, somewhat ironic that they have now just launched the CBR 600F as a clothed version of the Hornet which has now been around for some time.Honda definitely got it right with the original concept with buyers loving the sports bike delivery and instant response from the motor. Helped by aggressive looks, the Hornet was effectively something of street sleeper capable of running with sports machines without the aches and pains at the end of the ride. Now some years down the line the Hornet is out on its own with other manufacturers producing softer unfaired middleweights and now having ridden the new 600F I can see its days could be numbered despite the updates. It is still a superb sporty naked that puts a grin on your face as you hustle it through bends, its quick responsive handling being just that, quick and responsive, so too the engine pick up and overall responsiveness in all gears, but this comes with something of a buzz - literally!. Times have changed, the buyers who are moving towards the naked are tiring of such things and are looking for a more relaxed feel and this latest Hornet is not that, in fact it fits its name far better than it ever has done. Certainly anybody in their mid-twenties will love this, carving through the open countryside roads and making short work of any traffic congestion they may encounter thanks to its excellent lock to lock and good low speed manoeuvrability. I loved my hour on the bike, but I was glad to get off it, in the same way I am after riding a super motarrd machine or a really radical and totally focussed sports machine. In essence the looks and appeal of this bike suck you into the world of sensible commuting with the odd run out; the reality is that it is still the street sleeper and ideal for those who want that aggressive style of riding. However, those of us who want to move back towards sanity will find it a little too frantic to live with on a daily basis! Honda CBR600F  The Honda CBR600F has been described as just a Hornet with a fairing, but how wrong this description. Rarely is it that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, but the CBR600F feels miles way from its Hornet roots. The bike is truly a transformation and deserves to wear the CBR designation as this truly is a new sports bike for 2011! Whereby we described the Hornet as comfortable, the sports riding position of the CBR600F is near perfect, with the rider instantly feeling a part of the bike, rather than perched upon it., You almost mould into the bike, so that riding it instantly feels natural and unstressed, not that this is to give the impression that bike isn’t exciting to ride - it is!!! With revised gearing, largely gone is the vibration in Hornet guise to transform the power delivery into a raspy and characterful, but delightfully rapid sporting experience. We revelled in racing the CBR600F rapidly up to near the red-line to experience performance instantly, the bike delivering a “second wind” above 8,000 rpm. Whereas we found the handling on the Hornet a little abrupt, the CBR600F feels fluid and involving, holding its line in corners with ease. The bike is in fact heavier than the Hornet at 211kg (kerb weight) but somehow feels lighter and the neutral handling makes the bike easy to ride. In no doubt helped by the suspension setup of adjustable 41mm inverted HMAS cartridge-type front forks and a rear suspension system of a tapered dual box-section aluminium swing arm with a Monoshock damper. The brakes are extremely effective with the twin three pot callipers upfront the single piston calliper at the rear bringing the bike to halt with notable rapidity. Thankfully we did not get the opportunity to test the added benefit of Honda’s ABS system, but this adds an extra reassurance when riding the CBR600F. The styling of the CBR600F is very eye catching with the single headlight design, blue position marker lights and fairing giving the bike decided sports bike appearance, though regretfully the instruments are carried over from the Hornet. However despite this the CBR600F is not a Hornet, it’s a true sports bike! Opinion 2  Of late everybody has been going on about the new 600F being nothing more than a Hornet with clothes on. The reality is that these are two totally different machines and it is hard to believe that most of their DNA is the same. In fact I would go as far as saying they got mixed up at birth and the programming for the motors got switched and it was too late when the mistake was realised. Every criticism you can level against the naked Hornet cannot be linked to the F, it is a really confortable relaxing ride which is strange thing to say about a sports bike. Ergonomically you fit it no matter what your size and you immediately feel as one with the bike and not an accessory perched on top of it. You would think then that this is a soft bike, but it has a sharp up to date outline as you would expect coming from an Italian design house and it has more than enough performance hidden beneath its stylish layered fairing. Yes the Hornet does provide the basics like the frame and engine, but the forks are longer and these provide the mounting for the clip-ons which give a midway point between the Hornet and the truly radical 600RR in terms of riding position. On the move the power delivery is smooth and progressive and it feels unhurried until the dashboard tells you your licence could be in trouble soon and that is before you let the tacho move past 7,000 rpm when it reminds you forcibly that this is a sports bike with a pedigree! The relatively soft suspension coped well with the potholed Berkshire roads, but would no doubt deal with a track day after some redialling of the settings. The new CBR600F is every good as its predecessor was, a bike that enjoyed an enviable reputation and this latest version despite looking sharp and very modern is as good as its ancestor was and will no doubt become just as an iconic providing it holds up to wear and tear like its forebear. Honda CBR250R   With a resurgence of interest in smaller capacity bikes, no doubt fuelled by spiralling petrol costs, Honda’s launch of the CBR250R is very timely.Surprisingly the CBR250R has a new single cylinder engine, rather than as we would have thought a twin cylinder offering. Honda has purposefully gone down the single cylinder route to make the bike lighter, more compact and more fuel efficient with a good offering of torque. Fun, fun, fun is what sums this bike up, perhaps the fun bike of the test day. Sweet, lithe and agile this bike instantly brought a smile to this testers face. Hustling the light weight of only 161kg (kerb weight) through a series of twisty country backroads, brought back memories of halcyon days when 250 cc motorcycles were a common sight on our roads and many of today’s older motorcyclists cut their biking teeth on one. However this bike is obviously designed to appeal to young and older motorcyclists alike. The torquey engine belied is meagre 19.4kW power output; the horses in this engine are well fed! The bike positively encourages using the full rev range and although we estimates it tops out near 90mph , it has more than enough performance for every day riding. Great as an everyday commuter but fun enough as a weekend and pleasure bike too and with good fuel economy claimed to be 27 kilometres (16.7 miles) on a litre of fuel in typical riding conditions, the bike will do over 215 miles from its 13 litre tank. You could even consider touring with this sort of tank range. The riding position is less sporting than the CBR600F and as such there is slightly more wind blast, but this just seemed to add to the enjoyment when cutting through a series of bends with the punchy 250cc engine singing at full chat! Yes I know I’m getting carried way, but the CBR250R definitely has the enjoyment factor which is somehow engineered out of so many of today’s bikes. The bike is eye catching too with its full fairing and looks particularly striking in its Pearl Blue Tricolor livery, though the all Asteroid Metallic Black finish gives this bike, big bike appeal. A bigger Honda bike is obviously what Honda is hoping the CBR25OF sales will lead too. Once hooked on the CBR250F, younger customers will obviously feel persuaded with age and experience to move up to a bigger CBR. Opinion 2  This was the first bike that I rode and I really did not want to give this back, I could have spent the whole day carving up the Highways and Byways of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. You just cannot think of anything bad to say about it even after an hour in the saddle.It has to be said that Honda have done an excellent job in making a small capacity machine look as impressive as the 600F, with identical styling and given the size of the silencer it is hard to believe that layered fairing only hides a 250 single cylinder motor. Although totally new, the technology in it is hardly radical with twin overhead cams with four valves and chain driven counter balancer to keep the vibes at bay. However, it should be born in mind that this is a bike primarily aimed at the Asian and Indian markets (where the bike will actually be produced) but with worldwide appeal. Fear not the quality of the test bike was very good and there is no reason to suspect any problems. It has a combined braking and ABS system for some markets, so it is bang up to date in every respect. Sure there is lack of adjustment of the front forks, minimal rear adjustment, but do you really need it for the average rider? The motor revved freely and allowed all legal speeds to be achieved with ease and it sat quite happily at motorway cruising speeds with some in reserve, which after all is all we should reasonably expect on the open road. Away from such unpleasurable stretches of concrete the bike just excelled and made every tight twisty country lanes motorcycle heaven. You actually got off the bike feeling you had ridden it and found its limits rather than never even scratching the performance envelope as with most modern middleweights, let alone litre rockets-ships, Anybody restricted to 33bhp for two years will not find it a chore on this bike and may not even want to trade up after and may even find it a disappointment. Did I like? I loved it and defy anybody not to! Honda CBR125R   The 125cc class is obviously one of the most influential size bikes in today’s market with many motorcyclists starting their riding years on one.However with a modest engine size of only 125cc, today’s new riders still want to be credited with riding a real sports bike that looks in every way as creditable as its larger stable mates. The sweep of the speedo needle on start-up, copying larger bikes being just one area where credibility has been added. Honda’s design brief for 2011 with the CBR125R was to give that big bike look and in this they have succeeded. At a glance from both front and rear the styling makes this bike look bigger than it actually is. However the same cannot be said in the power department, the bike develops a maximum of only 9.8kW, somewhat below the maximum permitted and this is noticeable when you ride the bike. To get the best out of the bike you have to keeping it revving highly around 8-10000 rpm, with max torque at 8,000 rpm and max power at 10,000 rpm, everything is at the top end. In consequence power delivery low down in the rev range is a little lack lustre. We found the bike topping out around 60mph, which in some road situations left the bike needing more performance. The gears are also widely spaced and we found it too easy to get caught in the wrong gear to make the best of the performance. However expectation has a great deal too do with this and novice bikers will still find the CBR125R fun to ride, coming into its own on quieter back rounds where its light weight of only 137kg (kerb weight) means it can be spun along purposefully. Once the engine is in the power band it hold’s its speed well, helped by it being a single. The bike has a fairly upright riding position, despite its sporty looks and of course is very, very economical, with 117.5mpg being claimed, which is excellent in these times of spiralling fuel prices. Although this bike will be used by many as a stepping stone to larger models, many will buy this bike as commuter transport and 100 miles plus from a gallon of near liquid gold petrol will help be a big selling point. As will the comfortable ride offered by the softly sprung suspension, which soaked up the bumps ruts and pot holes to today’s poor quality UK road surface with ease. So good quality, stylish reliable commuter or baby sports bike stepping stone, the choice is yours.  Opinion 2Honda has done an excellent job in giving the new rider plenty of street credibility in the highly contested learner sports bike market. A quick glance is never enough to work out if it is a 125cc or the larger 250cc machine and physically when you are on it, the bike does feel larger than its engine size, albeit a very slim lightweight machine. It is not a new machine, but a reclothed and restyled model that has been around for some years. The makeover has certainly worked in appearance and with wider wheels and uprated brakes is now well on a par with the opposition. One area which could have done with an update is the 13 bhp engine that needs 10,00rpm on the taco to unleash all the ponies. However, that is the viewpoint of an experienced rider, any novice will revel in all aspects the bike and looking back more years than I care to remember, it has more get up and go than the British 250 I learnt on! It will reach all posted maximum limits, but at the top it is happier at 60mph, rather than 70mph as the fuel injected engine does not feel as frantic. Handling is good and the rudimentary suspension more than adequate and this new version is now well on a par with the opposition. It will however, beat them all on price and start hooking the new rider into the Honda brand as they now have a natural progression to work their way up the ladder with the 250 and the return of the 600F, which is probably what Honda really wanted to say, but as usual were too polite. Note all performance figures, weights and technical specifications are as claimed by the manufacturer
Reviews by the inter-bike Press Team Action photos by Paul Harmer Static photos by Honda
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