For the 2021 model year, we are happy to say that the Honda CB1000R is getting a bit of a makeover.
Not a new motorcycle per se, but the 2021 Honda CB1000R does get some refinements in areas where it was lacking before, not to mention the roadster is now ready for the Euro5 homologation.
The Tokyo Motorcycle Show and Osaka Motorcycle Show have had to scratch this year because of coronavirus concerns in Japan, but some motorcycle brands that would have been attending are taking a more “virtual” approach to their exhibits.
That is bad news for our Japanese readers, who were hoping to go to these shows for a super dosage of two-wheeled goodness, but for us here in the United States, it means that more of the shows will be accessible from across the Pacific.
First on the docket comes to us from Big Red, which just launched its own virtual expo website, and first on the list is this Honda CB-F concept, which just dropped with its retro lines and modern chassis and engine.
The Glemseck 101 is not an event that is known well in the United States, but in Germany, it is a gathering of like-minded two-wheeled enthusiasts, who celebrate the classic style of motorcycles.
Now in its 13th year, the three-day festival held outside of Leonberg, Germany plays host to tens of thousands of motorcyclists, all who pay homage to the old Glemseck 101 races from the 1960s.
This year, Honda is bringing a number of special machines to the event, including this specially prepared Honda CB1000R. This sport naked isn’t just for looks though, it plans to race.
Participating in the ⅛-mile sprint races, the “Glemseck” Honda CB1000R will be piloted by none other than Mick Doohan, and Honda Europe has built the machine to win.
When we first saw Honda’s Neo Sports Café concept, it was a bittersweet moment. We loved the design. It was bold, but understated. It was a clean and modern take on a motorcycle that each year fades further and further from our attention.
The design was so good, we were sure that the Honda Neo Sports Café concept would never see the light of day, and surely not as the new Honda CB1000R.
It is good to be wrong sometimes, because say hello to the very attractive 2018 Honda CB1000R, which brings the Honda Neo Sports Café concept to life, with very few changes.
If it feels like Honda is zigging while others zag, then you would be correct. While the streetfighter segment continues to be filled with uber-aggressive performance machines, Honda is looking to take a more sophisticated approach with the new Honda CBR1000R, which plays to the bike’s strengths.
After much teasing, Honda quietly debuted its Neo Sports Café concept at the Tokyo Motor Show today. Releasing nary a detail about the simple but modern motorcycle design, we are left to draw our own conclusions about the machine.
We had hoped that the Honda Neo Sports Café would lead to a retro-styled version of the Honda CB1000R, much in the same vein that the new Kawasaki Z900S is a hipsterfied version of the popular Z900 street bike.
It’s not clear if Honda intends to produce the Neo Sports Café concept, but its design is intriguing, especially when you consider the now ancient four-cylinder engine that resides in its chassis, which is of course derived from the previous generation Honda CBR1000RR.
If we had to guess at a unifying theme for this year’s new bike launches, it would have to be “what is old is new again” as several brands are working on modern-engineered retro-styled motorcycles for the Tokyo and Milan expos.
Big Red is throwing its hat into the ring for this game as well, teasing what it calls the “Neo-Sport Café” on its YouTube channel. The videos center around Honda’s design and engineering team working on a new motorcycle, which will debut next month at the EICMA show in Milan.
In the teaser videos, we see a retro-looking motorcycle, with modern flares, such as an LED headlight, single-sided swingarm, and bazooka shaped exhaust can.
And then of course, there is the name” Neo-Sport Café and Honda’s description that it is true to “the spirt of the café racer.
More news from American Honda, as the 2011 Honda CB1000R will be priced at $10,999 when it finally comes to American soil in the new year. The Honda CB1000R goes up against the industry-wide belief that naked sport bikes don’t sell here in the United States (there might be a point to that line of reasoning), and the CB1000R will have to contend with another new but not-so-naked liter-bike contender: the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 (Z1000SX to our European friends, or misguided Americans).
There certainly is more than one motorcycle manufacturer competing for the hearts and minds of riders who are looking for a sporty bike, without the sporty sitting position. As for the incumbents, Honda seems to have priced itself slightly above the Yamaha FZ1 ($10,490), and Kawasaki Z1000 ($10,599), which isn’t terribly shocking and sticks to their usual pricing scheme. True to American fashion, you can get the 2011 Honda CB1000R in any color you want, as long it’s black. Photos and technical spec’s after the jump.
While the tri-color paint scheme might still be too cool for the United States, Honda has finally seen the light, and decided to bring the 2011 Honda CB1000R to the America after all. Based-off a de-tuned CBR1000RR, the CB1000R is Europe’s fun street-naked from the Honda brand that brings some punch to the table (even more when you bring it back to RR specification). While the headlight might remind some of a certain Star Wars bounty hunter, the single-sided swingarm and radial brakes bring a stylish and sporty emphasis to the CB name (that exhaust pipe is a whole different issue though).
Available in any color you want, as long as it’s black, the white and tri-color paint schemes will stay in the EU for now. Honda is still finalizing the technical specifications on the 2011 Honda CB1000R (likely for emissions purposes), so it will be interesting to see if the CB1000R gets further restrictions to meet EPA noise and pollution standards like the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Expect to see the 2011 Honda CB1000R in dealerships in Spring of 2011. Photos and technical specifications after the jump.
The 2011 Honda CB1000R gets only minor revisions for 2011, but still the naked version of the CBR1000RR continues to be “too cool” for the United States is finally coming to the United States, and flaunts that fact with its revised color scheme and revised LED front head lamp. While Europe will get the cool tri-color paint scheme, Honda America will only be importing the black version of the CB1000R. CB fans have been clamoring for the Honda CB1000R to be brought to the US, especially with the growing popularity of the street-naked segment.
The fact that the CB1000R’s biggest rival, the Z1000 is available in the USA as well, has helped fuel that fire, and it appears Honda has finally comes to its senses, and pulled the trigger. The CB1000R looks great in black (once you ditch that exhaust rain gutter of an exhaust pipe), but we’re partial to the heritage behind the tri-color paint. We’ll just have amuse ourselves by drooling over these photos. Check them out after the jump.
Take a good look at the Honda CB1000R, because you won’t see it here stateside. That’s right, its de-tuned CBR1000RR motor, single-side swingarm, and streetfighter looks will be staying on the other side of the pond, and we think we’re the lesser for it.
Honda might be the lesser for it as well. With no fairing-less sportbike in its arsenal, we have to wonder what the folks in Japan were thinking on not making the CB available in the US. The only conclusion we can come to is that they just don’t like being competitve in the largest motorcycle market in the world worried that the CB would cannibalize on VFR sales.
But, seeing as how we all know the Interceptor as we know it won’t exist in 2010 (and is slated to fill a different hole in Honda’s line-up), we still have a hard time wrapping our heads around this strategy. Apparently at Honda, sportbikes must still have fairings in order to his US soil. We guess us American riders will have to somehow manage with the Tuono, Streetfighter, Z1000, FZ1, & B-King’s available to us…or move to Europe.
