There were times when I really hated the Honda. Times when I needed to hurry, to bury the speedo past the ton and ride like the devil was after my backside. Then the Honda became a complete mess, its motor vibratory, its chassis a useless combination of soggy suspension and ill supported swinging arm, and the riding position more than a pain.
And then there were times when I could only despair of Honda as a motorcycle company. The CB450 is an upgrade on the mid-seventies Honda CB400 Dream, a design, that if it reached a zenith in 400 Superdream format, was already ill conceived nearly a decade and a half ago - the use of a chain driven balance shaft to quell primary imbalances had been tried even earlier by Yamaha (in both 500 and 750 twins) with little success and to a company like Honda who were churning out gems of an engine in the sixties, the CB450 is really remarkable only in how badly designed it managed to be. That said, at least those years of engine development have ensured that, however wrongly designed, the twin cylinder unit should prove reliable, even if it is imported from Brazil.
Power development is minimal, I would guess around 30hp at the back wheel and top speed rarely more than the ton. Acceleration is adequate for seeing off cars in town and the bike will motor along at an indicated 85mph on motorways (a speed, these days, insufficient to avoid being swept aside by hordes of cars in the fast lane). However, high handlebars mean a light front end and injured back if high speeds are sustained - and the seat turns to a plank after 80 miles.
With just 2000 miles on the speedo, suspension was soft but a modicum of damping was still available to exert some control - I would guess that once the mileometer has punched up five figures that damping would just be a happy memory, the minor weaves that intrude above 80mph becoming rather frightening and ton plus speeds a wretched experience. There is no hint of quality anywhere in this machine to inspire confidence in its long term viability; already the chrome was rusting, paint was flaking off the frame and feel of the front disc brake had become spongy.
Also, I was in doubt of the precision of the gearbox. I was not sure if it needed more miles to bed in or if it was already starting to wear out! I found first to second an especially difficult change to execute smoothly, so much so that I would often take off with a fist full of revs, a deal of clutch slip and a prayer, in second gear. Clutchless changes were OK only if you'd just nicked the bike and wanted to finish off the engine before the cops caught up with you. Generally, the gear ratios were fine, but then they did not have to cope with an excessive powerband. What little power the engine did manage to shove out came in a linear manner and was more reminiscent of a good 250 than a 500.
Compared to other new 450 and 500 twins the Honda is something of a no-hoper. The Kawasaki GPz500S - the one to beat - was both one hell of a lot faster and more economical. Ridden at the speeds the Honda could most happily manage (65mph), the GPz could do almost 70mpg to the Honda’s 60mpg. Take the Honda up to the dizzy heights of 75mph and less than 50mpg would result to the Kawasaki’s 64mpg. Really thrash the Honda and it'd dive down to a frightening 30mpg, whilst the Kawasaki going some 20mph faster (and one hell of a lot safer) would do 43mpg. The absolute maximum mpg I was able to extract from the Honda, riding at moped speeds, was 69mpg.
Worse still, go back 25 years to 1965 and the original Honda CB450 to really gauge the lack of progress made in motorcycle engine design. It has been said in these pages before but bears repeating - that old DOHC engine gave out enough power to do 110mph and did it so efficiently that 70mpg was more than easily achieved. Of course, the older bike is much less civilised to ride than the newer Honda for most of the time, although it’s interesting to note that the faster you went on the older bike the better it became - exactly the reverse on the new ‘un; anyone would think that Honda expected us to obey the speed limits!
Where the old Honda looked raw and brutal, the new Kawasaki flash and fierce, the new CB looks merely cheap and nasty regarded from certain strange angles it looks okay (probably to allow creative photographers great satisfaction in a job well done) but as most of the populace don’t wander around with their heads stuck between their legs this hardly matters one jot. From the seat, the feel is neither of being part of the bike or of impressive quality, even if all the controls are light and precise.
Young ladies carried on the pillion were much more likely to be left wet between the legs through fear than from excessive acceleration, although to be fair, the extra weight had little real effect on the go, it was just that there was so little to start with.
Typical of manufacturers who make use of traditional twin shock rear suspension, the savings in a lack of linkages are not passed on in better quality suspension units but compounded by use of the cheapest shocks they can find, flimsy bits of tubes trying to act as a swinging arm and a tubular frame that looks as nasty as the engine cases.
A whole generation of journalists having wetted their diapers on such machines can’t or won't accept that, properly designed, the long term benefits of traditional suspension far outweigh any transitory and marginal improvement mono-shock units might have to offer with their excess of linkages and shocks perfectly placed to be inaccessible for adjustment and to be quickly covered in crud thrown up by the back wheel and chain.
Thus when the CB weaves a bit around very bumpy corners, especially if the throttle’s backed off, and even gives the impression of being very useful for bronco training under acceleration, it comes as no great surprise. Any featherbed Norton owner would be shocked to his marrow if he were placed upon a speeding CB450. It would be very easy, in 1990, to dismiss the Honda as a thoroughly bad egg, unable to compete with more modern designs, but that would be to miss the point. There is certainly room for a good middleweight twin - a sort of four stroke MZ or ultra CD - and there are certainly many thousands of potential purchasers not obsessed with speed.
Unfortunately, the CB450 almost wholly misses the point. Whilst its basic layout, adequate (but only just) speed and general air of friendliness are welcome its fundamental design is flawed. For gawdsake, Honda, throw away the awful disc brakes, put a little effort into the styling (it actually looks worse than the Superdream), bung on a single carb and completely redesign the engine. In fact, the kind of bike the market needs much more that this stylist’s nightmare is something along the lines of a 1973 CB350K4, a machine of similar performance, better economy, no worse handling and vastly superior looks.
In 1990 we should be talking 100mph, 100mpg and less than two grand asking price. But never mind, as a usable hack with a few miles on the clock, expect to pick up one of these Hondas for £1500 to £1750 instead of the £2450 discounted price new. Otherwise, forget it.
Al Culler