For 2018, Honda has reinvented the CB1000R, transforming it from a naked sportbike into a “Neo-Sports Café” roadster that’s also lighter, more powerful and has new technology. (Photos by Kevin Wing)
Motorcycles that sell well enough to stay in a manufacturer?s lineup typically get updated every few years. Usually the update is minor?some reshaped bodywork or ?bold new graphics,? perhaps a few nips and tucks to the ergonomics and instrumentation, but costly stuff like the engine and chassis is left untouched. Sometimes the update is major?a top-to-bottom overhaul with new styling, new technology and internal changes that reduce weight and deliver more performance. What rarely happens, however, is a complete reinvention. But that?s exactly what Honda has done with the CB1000R. Replacing the previous model’s sculpted bodywork is a beefier profile with harder edges and machined finishes.
Developed for the naked bike-mad European market in 2007, the CB1000R combined a detuned version of the 998cc in-line four from the CBR1000RR sportbike with a go-fast chassis, more comfortable ergonomics and futuristic styling with minimal bodywork. Due to the gut punch the U.S. motorcycle market received during the Great Recession, however, the CB1000R didn?t arrive on our shores until the early part of this decade?a time when American motorcycle buyers had little interest in naked bikes. That its styling was quirky and its performance was lackluster relative to the co...