Honda CB 1300 Super Four

OK, I'll admit it; I am an old git.

Thing is, I can remember when all big bikes were like this Honda CB1300.

Four cylinders, no weather protection, flat handlebars, nice comfy saddle for two grown adults and a proper sized petrol tank.

Of course a big engine back in the funkadelic 1970s was 750cc and even a Honda CB750's puny 70bhp could send its feeble chassis into a Max Wall style, comedy wandering gait, at the merest hint of a bumpy corner. This CB1300 Honda however is an entirely different beast. For one thing, it handles well, plus it has about 40bhp more, which is enough to propel the CB1300 beyond the far side of sanity to something like 140mph.

Progress doesn't end there either. The engine is now a slick, almost silent running at tickover, water-cooled, fuel-injected masterpiece of all round engineering. In fact, I found the engine curiously anodyne, bland even, despite it having the sort of lowdown punch that many a Ducati owner can only dream about. Yep, the CB1300 four delivers an almighty kick in the pants from 2000rpm upwards and makes its peak torque at just 5800rpm, which is incredibly low revving for any four cylinder machine.

Coupled with a truly `I can't believe it's not filled with butter' type gearbox and clutch, the Honda's smooth, grunty power characteristics make this motorbike a perfect commuter. It aces Audi TTs away from the lights, without any apparent effort. It whooshes past artics on fast A roads with aplomb. In short, it delivers everything you can ask from a modern motorcycle in a package which looks mildly retro. Very Honda.

TAKE ME HOME COUNTRY ROADS
My motorcycling these days is dominated by constant scanning for Police traps, unmarked cars, laser rifles being trained on me from motorway bridges 3 miles away and all the rest of the government's pathetic revenue raising scams. All of which is driving me to use backroads more than ever and reject sportbikes for all rounder machinery like this CB1300. I dare say many of you are thinking the same way.

Here, the CB1300 really surprised me with its ability to go fast without shaking its massive 240-ish kilogram wet weight around too much. On some choice B roads in Staffordshire and Shropshire the CB1300 could be hustled as fast as most sportbikes, since the limiting factor is how far you can see possible hazards, not an extra 8 degrees of lean angle. The ZR17 radial tyres are also more than up to the job for all but trackday lunacy.

Pushed to its limit, the Honda lacks the precision of a Ducati S4R V-twin, or the wild flickability of an Aprilia Tuono, but it isn't far off the Italian machines' pace and the Honda easily outclasses the lardy boy handling of the Suzuki GSX1400, or the strange nervy quality of the Kawasaki ZRX1200.

As I haven't ridden the big Fazer 1000, or Kawasaki's cool looking Z1000, I don't know how close they are to the Honda in terms of chuckability, but I'm guessing it will be pretty marginal. For me, the Z1000, especially in orange, looks better than the Honda, although I rate the XJR1300 Yamaha as a beautiful looking retro too - plus the Yammy is the real deal, as the engine can trace its roots back to the days when Ford still made Cortinas.

So much of the biking experience is down to that indefinable `grin factor' these days and the good news is that the CB1300 has it in spades, whereas the old Big One was just a top heavy lorry. The 1300 carries its weight very well, only getting loose when the soft front forks compress fully under braking - which they do too easily. Ridden gentler, it feels easy as a CBR600F to ride at medium fast speeds, very fluid and the twin shock rear end copes with understated suppleness. The CB1300 glides along with minimal effort, which I reckon will suit a great many riders.

The tidy sum of £7300 is required to buy the CB1300, which is a serious chunk of money. Many people will think that cash would be better spent on a sporty 600cc machine and I wouldn't blame them. But the Honda does look well made and once you fit a few accessories I think it will last longer than some of its rivals, although most bikers nowadays seem to regard 1200 sunny miles per year as hardcore road-roasting.

It does OK on fuel for a big machine, returning around 40mpg and the petrol tank holds about £14 quids worth from reserve light to brim full, which takes you approximately 130-145 miles. I think you could tour on this bike, as the saddle is excellent and the soft-ish suspension will help convince a pillion that they are having a nice time, rather than enduring some kind of Wacky Racers type living hell at 120mph.

Most spectators thought details on the CB1300 looked good, with the groovy LED style rear light cluster ringing their bells, as well as the flat handlebars, which also offer a range of adjustability to suit varying sized riders. The massive exhaust cries out to be replaced by something which looks slimmer and sounds funkier of course, plus Honda are bringing in all kinds of `personalization' accessories for this machine.

But the bottom line is I think many riders could get the same fun from a cheaper SV1000S Suzuki, plus a half fairing, or drool over the lush engineering and throaty growl of the Aprilia Tuono, which for me, is the world's maddest, baddest Supermoto. Then again, there's always the cheaper fun that a Bandit 600, Z750 Kawasaki, or Fazer 600 can offer. Life is going to be tough for this Honda - much more so than its predecessor CB1000 I reckon - which is a shame, as it deserves to win a loyal following for its adroit blend of speed and fluent road manners.

We live in an age when people harp on about `value' when all they mean is low prices, which means that the UK bike market is dominated by crazy discounting and fewer people are now willing to spend more than five grand on anything, in case they lose a fortune in depreciation three years down the line. If you're one of the old school who still values a solid, practical, yet blindingly fast motorbike, then the Honda CB1300 may be all the bike you'll ever need. If you have any decent skill at riding fast, it will also allow you to utterly humiliate 80% of sportbike riders on open roads.

Try it, you'll be surprised at how much fun you can have on a `sensible' Honda.

Source Insidebikes.com