Honda CBF600S
Hard to fault, but equally hard to love. The Honda ticks all the right boxes, but falls short when it comes to riding pleasure and character
I really wanted to hate the Honda. Anything that looks this bland has to be utterly boring to ride, and it’s true that the CBF isn’t exactly going to blow your socks off with a turbine-like rush of bhp. Compared to the handsome Yamaha and Kawasaki it really is spectacularly ugly; I liken it to a bath-tub on wheels. Compared to the others, the CBF is just old-fashioned. But in typical Honda style it goes, stops and handles better than all the other bikes here. It’s a rounded, considered motorcycle that’s been developed with the rider in mind and it completely belies its budget moniker; why they wrapped it in such a god-awful design is a mystery, because otherwise I’m certain this thing would sell bucketloads.
It’s actually very hard to pick out one thing that the Honda does well, because it’s the sum of its parts that works. Of course it’s comfy, far more comfy than the Suzuki or Kawasaki, and it exudes an air of polished refinement that the other bikes cannot match. The screen, for example, doesn’t look like it’ll do much to deflect the wind from your helmet. But just a slight crouch is enough to deposit you into a remarkably still pocket of air. The engine is smooth to the point of total blandness, far smoother than the revvy Suzuki or lumpy ER-6f, and yet it’s deceptively rapid. And this all through a gearbox that is (yep, you guessed it) very smooth. Although, unfortunately, there is the odd tendency to leap out of 2nd gear.
The suspension and brakes – work well. It’s difficult to be more specific than this, because they’re entirely androgynous. As with many Hondas the front forks feel too soft for anything other than gentle bimbling, but due to the use of progressive fork-springs they’re capable of digesting seriously spirited riding as well as grinding effortlessly through town. Henry, however, wasn’t that impressed. “It’s bland, and I thought it would have more poke,” he said. “You give the Honda a big handful and nothing happens. It’s not that it’s bad, it just doesn’t stand out.” And that is exactly the CBF’s brilliance, or Achilles’ heel: it really doesn’t stand out. More youthful riders are going to look to the Kawasaki or Suzuki for their fix. The Honda is for the man who doesn’t have anyone left to impress – most of all himself. “I’m more about the style,” admits Henry. “Hey – I’m superficial! I’m sorry, but people like to look good. Girls like a good-looking bike, and they’re not even going to notice the CBF.”
No, they’re not. In fact not even the dustbin men who swing by my house at 8am of a Monday morning even passed it a second glance. The CBF is completely invisible, as seamless in its execution of The Efficient Motorcycle as it is in the power delivery of its engine. But when it was time to ride home at the end of the day, there was only one bike I wanted to be on: the Honda. You spend your whole day leaping from one bike to the next, but the one you ride home on is always a winner…
Rating: 4 out of 5
For - It’s a Honda, great build quality and smooth engine and handling
Against - Totally bland, rather ugly and lacking excitement
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