Honda CB1000R

A gravity die-cast aluminium alloy frame holds the CB1000R together, with top-class suspension used both at the front and rear. While the bike engine is a stressed member of the frame, both its front and rear suspension are fully adjustable, with upside-down telescopic forks working in front and a monoshock at the rear. There’s a curvaceous, single-side swingarm that provides good viewing of the bike’s 17-inch alloy rear wheel and massive 180/55 section radial tyre.

This superbike seems to have got its ergonomics spot-on. So perfect and stress-free is its riding position that you wouldn’t want to get off the hot seat. The riding saddle is decently padded, while its handlebar is flat and wide enough to make for easy city maneuvering.
Ride quality is fair, and adjustable to wherever a rider desires. Incredibly easy to flick around in traffic, it’s still solidly planted and precise to pilot while carving up high-speed corners. The CB1000R offers such prodigious levels of handling and control as to often feel like an extension of the rider’s body. Always confidence inspiring, this unmatched handling comes backed by fantastic brakes as well — radial-mounted four-piston caliper 310mm floating discs up front and a single 256mm disc at the rear. Our best stop from 60kph to rest during testing the brakes was 15.6 metres and 1.8sec, with exemplary feel through the levers.

A lack of any front fairing makes riding the CB1000R at sustained speeds over 160kph a problem, which on the brighter side shouldn’t pose any issues in India, given that our roads seldom allow such a liberty.