Honda Cafe Racer Shown in Type Approval Pictures
Unlike the Honda GB350 which is decidedly retro, the new model looks much more contemporary
Pictures have begun circulating that allegedly show a new Honda cafe racer, built around a 300cc engine normally found in Honda’s South American-market CB300 F Twister.
Indeed, on closer inspection, the engine of the bike does seem visually identical to the unit found in the CB300 F, meaning it should have around 23bhp and 19.5lb ft of peak torque. The engine is a fairly basic design in the current market, being 293.5cc, featuring overhead valves and with air-cooling - something Euro5+ has all but killed off in Europe.
Nonetheless, it is an interesting unit, and not least because, like many small-capacity motorcycles in South America, the Twister is rated to operate on petrol or straight ethanol. While most engines can operate on mid to high-content ethanol/petrol mixes, in South America, many modern vehicles are also homologated to operate on 100 per cent ethanol.
Away from the engine, the frame of the cafe racer looks similar to that found on the aforementioned CB300F, although mated to the frame of the bike you can see here are USD forks, and not the telescopic set-up as found on the CB300. The front brake also looks different, with the disc on the bike picture mounting much closer to the wheel spindle - and seemingly with bolts missing from some mounting points!
It’s possible though that the most unusual thing about this is the pictures themselves, in that normally when a manufacturer is working on a new model, type approval pictures submitted for homologation are computer-generated design drawings. These pictures clearly show a complete bike that doesn’t look far from production.
Will we ever see it coming to the UK? Probably not. For starters, Euro5+ emissions regulations would likely be an issue for this air-cooled and fairly basic engine. It also looks to be devoid of any form of catalyser in the agricultural-looking exhaust system (possibly down to its ethanol-burning appetite) pointing to this remaining a bike for markets with less stringent emissions and/or a consumer ethanol supply.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
