Honda CBX 1000

The Honda CBX was a sports motorcycle manufactured by Honda from 1978 to 1982. With a 1047cc inline six-cylinder engine producing 105 bhp (78 kW), it was the flagship of the Honda range. The CBX was well-received by the press, but was outsold by its sibling, the Honda CB900F.

Honda had produced a Honda RC series six-cylinder race bike in the mid-1960s, but the CBX was Honda's first production 6 cylinder road bike with this GP racing engine technology. The CBX's advanced DOHC 24-valve inline six-cylinder engine was its outstanding feature; but in other respects the bike was conventional, having telescopic forks, a tubular frame, twin rear shocks and straight handlebars.

Although bulky, it was only two inches wider than a CB750, the engine was wide only at the top. The width across the crankshaft was relatively narrow as the CBX had a stacked engine accessory arrangement, whereby the alternator and ignition items were positioned behind the cylinder block. This arrangement produced an acceptable engine width low down and moved critical items out of harm's way in the event of grounding.

In 1981, Honda repositioned the CBX into the sport touring category with the CBX-B, detuning the engine to 100–103 hp (75–77 kW) and adding Pro-Link monoshock rear suspension, air-adjustable 39 mm front forks, a fairing and panniers with a stronger frame to support these additions. The CBX was given beefier dual ventilated front brake discs to help bring to a stop the bike's increased weight.

The 1982 model CBX-C model differed little from the 1981 model, having only some changes to paint and trim.

Soichiro Honda, founder of the Honda Motor Company was born in a small rural village near the Japanese city of Hamamatsu in November 1906. He began working as an apprentice mechanic in the 1920s and established his own motor business shortly before the Second World War, founding the Honda Motor Company in 1948. His first commercial motorcycle was the 98 c.c D-type which was essentially a powered bicycle. The growth of the company was rapid with 32,000 motorcycles made in 1953. After expanding production capacity by purchasing the latest machine tools in Europe and the USA, Honda exported 168,554 motor cycles per year in 1960. In the 1960s the company also began production of motor vehicles and initiated its successful participation in motorcycle racing.

By the 1970s Honda was operating the largest motorcycle factory in the world producing a range of bikes from a 49cc single-cylinder moped to the four-cylinder 999cc GL1000 Gold Wing released in 1974. The Gold Wing featured BMW-like shaft drive with a top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h). By the late 1970s Honda's technological lead was being challenged by other Japanese motorcycle firms such as Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha. New designs were released with greater horsepower which became known as 'Superbikes' and Honda resolved to beat the competition with a new design which would be the fastest and most technically advanced motorcycle in the world. Development of the CBX 1000 was led by the outstanding engineer Shoichiro Irimajiri who had been responsible for much of Honda's racing success in the 1960s. The new six-cylinder twin-OHC engine was a development of the 24-valve RC-165 250 c.c racing engine of 1965. The only other manufacturer to release a six-cylinder production motorcycle before Honda was the Italian firm Benelli with their 747.7cc '750 Sei' model, first produced in 1974. Kawasaki released their six-cylinder Z1300 bike in 1979.

The CBX 1000 was announced at a press conference in Japan in December 1977 although design work had begun in 1975. Despite its weight the CBX 1000 was capable of 136 m.p.h (218 km/h) and was aimed at the American market. There was a generally positive response from the motorcycling press but sales were slow and the CBX 1000 had to be repositioned as a sports touring bike (CBX 1000B) with a de-tuned engine in 1981. It was also expensive with performance not much greater than more conventional bikes. This change to a cruising machine failed to generate sales required and production ceased in 1982 however remaining stocks continued to be sold for some time afterwards and many surplus CBX 1000 bikes were donated to technical colleges in the US for training mechanics. Major problems of the design were size and weight which made it suitable for experienced riders only. A modified production CBX 1000 was raced in Australia by Michael Cole for the Honda team in the Castrol Six Hour Classic at Calder Raceway, Melbourne in 1978.