2001 CBR600-F

Having ridden a VFR 400 NC 30 for my first two years of motorcycling, I felt ready for the move to the 600 class. I’d done the crash, the track day, the mercilessly ringing the neck of the 400 to keep up with my big bike riding mates and learned loads, so I was ready for something on the next rung up the ladder. I’d always had a yearning for an R6, based entirely on reviews in magazines, and the filthy evil look of it. Then Honda did another update on the CBR 600, producing the most purposeful looking version yet, the 2001 F and F-S.

I made a booking with my local Honda dealer, CJ Ball, for a test ride of the standard F version and looked forward to having a blast on a spanking new 600. I took my wife to the shop with me, with the intention of riding home the sweeping easy way, dropping her off, then blasting back on the tight, twisty back road to see how the bike would be in my favoured environment.

Neither the wife nor myself are of lofty stature (read short arses), so the first hurdle was manoeuvring the bike around the car park so that she could gracefully hoist a leg over the pillion seat. A touch more comfortable than the token mouse mat on the back of the VFR she said. We moved off and the difference in rider position was incredible, feeling positively upright in comparison to the bike we had left behind.

The road home to drop off ” Senior Management ” is nothing very taxing, and normally a bit busy, so we had a fairly easy ride home to get used to the bike. A much wider spread of power and more of it made carrying a pillion seem positively easy, without really trying. Once we got home, I stopped for a chat with the Guvnor to see what she thought. Praise from her was mostly directed at the sofa like experience of the ride rather that the performance difference. This was one of the stipulations for the new toy. We were doing well.

” Shall I get one? ” I said.

” I think you should, ” she said.

” I’ll see what its like on the way back, ” I said. Review after review, and countless journalists can’t be wrong, so I think my mind was already made up.

Although I do still enjoy riding with a passenger, it is not quite the buzz for me that riding on my own is. Consideration that you were exercising for the person on the back goes out the window, and late braking/hard accelerating comes into play. My route back to the dealer is made up of narrow country lanes, often with the surprise mud sections left by farmers that they strategically place in the most awkward places. These roads were handled with consummate ease, without the standard bashes in the gentleman’s equipment that were a standard feature on the same route with the 400. The few lumpy straights saw the rev counter make its way round to the teens, and the digital speedo (a real novelty!) jumping in fifteen mile per hour steps. Overtaking was effortless by comparison, and the brakes were impressive.

My bank details were attached to the attractive credit agreement (3% over three years), and the order was placed for a shiny black CBR 600 F.

After the wait of four millenniums (that’s what it seemed like anyway) the new toy was collected. Since then we have done a fair bit together. Going to the office in the lashing rain in the winter, blasting with the lads on sunny days in the summer and a trip to Buxton via the long way, which included the superb Cat & Fiddle run. I don’t have to try so hard to keep up with my mates any more, and the pleasure and confidence gained from riding a new bike is worth the money. I don’t use it for track days because I‘ve invested in an old ’89 FZR 600 that a friend used to race, but as the time passes, the temptation to invest in a set of race bodywork and unleash the CBR at Cadwell is growing stronger. Hopefully I won’t cartwheel up the tarmac after Park corner this time though……