Honda’s CB1000R reborn with a hint of retro

TOO often we see tantalising concepts that come to nothing. Not this time.

Unveiled as a concept last week, Honda’s ‘Neo Sport Café’ has been confirmed in Milan tonight as the new CB1000R, just as Visordown predicted it would be.

Like other 1000cc super-nakeds, it shares its engine architecture with its superbike stablemate, in this case Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade.

But the new CB1000R takes a whole new direction in styling. Where BMW’s S1000R looks sporty, and Yamaha’s MT-10 futuristc, the 2018 CB1000R goes for a more stripped-back, minimalist look, with some traditional styling cues, including the under-stated paint scheme.

The aim is clearly to reinvent the super-naked with some retro-bike appeal, a recipe that could prove a winner given the popularity of traditional styling.

The new CB1000R isn’t just a styling exercise, though. It’s also had a comprehensive round of technical upgrades.

Engine tweaks have boosted power from 123.4bhp tp 143.5bhp and torque from 73lbft to 76.7lbft. The compression ratio is up 0.4 to 11.6:1 and the pistons are now forged rather than cast, as on the Fireblade SP.

It’s also 4% shorter geared than its predecessor. Honda says it’s been tuned for strong mid-range, particularly from 6,000-8,000rpm, and ‘rides harder’ than the Fireblade in first-to-third.

Total kerb weight is claimed 212kg, 12kg light than its predecessor, meaning a 20% improvement in power-to-weight ratio.

It benefits from an assist/slipper clutch, to make the lever lighter to pull and reduce back-torque on downshifts, and it gets a ride-by-wire throttle with four riding modes including a user-defined one.

It's got a 'brand new lightweight mono-backbone steel frame', supported by a Showa upside-down big-piston fork and Showa monoshock,

The adjustable fork contains all the damping function in one leg to reduce weight. The shock is adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping.

The front brake consists of radial-mounted four-pot calipers biting twin 310mm floating discs. At the rear is a twin-piston caliper on a 256mm disc, and two-channel ABS is standard.

The rear tyre is now a 190-section, up from 180.

A higher-spec ‘CB1000R+’ version will be offered with extras including a quick-shifter and heated grips. It will also gain a ‘range of premium accessories’ including a metallic meter visor and seat cowl, front fender panel, hugger panel and radiator grill.

The 2018 Honda CB1000R was unveiled along with a similarly-styled CB300R and CB125R, making a whole new family of retro-inspired Honda nakeds.

Mr S. Uchida, Honda’s Large Project Leader for the model, said: “As Honda, our intention is always to look to the future and to be ready to lead. Hence, as the Naked sector’s requirements mature, we knew that we had to go much further than giving the new CB1000R a boost in real world performance.

“Customer expectation and interests are about much more than just ‘how fast?’. We wanted to build in not only exhilaration and emotion to each experience of the CB1000R, but also real pleasure in owning, and showing off, such an individual machine. So we travelled in a new direction and are very proud of the result – both when out on the road and when admiring it in the garage!”

We quite like it, too.

Scroll down for more pictures.

Here are the specs, straight from Honda:

Honda CB1000R 2018 Technical Specifications