heise+ | Honda CB 1000 F review: The golden bowl is back

A new bike with an old look

This article is a test of the new Honda CB 1000 F. Its design copies the 1978 CB 900 F very closely. The old bike was nicknamed "Bol d'Or", which means "golden bowl" in French. Honda did not give the new model that famous name.

Key facts

• The new bike has a 1000 cm³ engine with 91 kW (about 124 PS). The article does not give a PS figure for this bike.
• Peak torque is 103 Nm at 8000 rpm. It already makes 70 Nm at 2500 rpm, so it pulls well at low speeds.
• Weight is 214 kg with a full tank.
• The quickshifter, a tool that lets you change gears without using the clutch, costs extra.
• The old CB 900 F had 95 PS and reached 217 km/h.

Why the old bike is famous

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the CB 900 F was one of the strongest big motorcycles. It was named after the Bol d'Or, a famous 24-hour race in southern France, which Honda had won three times in a row. The 1983 CB 1100 F Bol d'Or made 110 PS, but in Germany it was limited to 100 PS because of a voluntary limit set by the motorcycle industry.

Why it matters

Honda has tried many times in the last 30 years to repeat the success of the Bol d'Or with retro-style bikes, but none really caught on. The article suggests this new bike, with its close copy of the 1978 design, could change that.

What to watch

• Whether the retro design brings back the success of the old Bol d'Or models.
• The full test results, which are only in the paid part of the article.
• The price and the cost of extras like the quickshifter.