After some haggling and the sight of my wad emerging from a poly bag, a deal was struck - £750 and the bike taken away that day. After a trip home to collect my riding gear, I returned to find the bike cleaned up, waiting for my attention on the forecourt. The bright red paint shone in the spring sunshine. The CBX bore little detail resemblance to my old RS250. The CBX had a larger petrol tank, big round headlamp, revised styling and instrumentation, not to mention a new DOHC engine with the letters RFVC on the cylinder head, a six speed gearbox, twin carbs, thicker forks plus a fork brace, twin piston caliper and bigger front disc.
First riding impressions revealed a very smooth and quiet machine - at traffic lights I kept glancing at the tacho to see if the engine was still running. Like the RS, the engine has balance shafts to quell the primary vibration produced by the single cylinder engine, and the engine is smoother than the older design, vibration becoming noticeable only when the motor is strung out to the redline, even then it’s not exactly shaking your teeth out.
For once, Honda actually showed some progress in their engine design, gone were the bad old days of the seventies when each new 250 twin went slower and had worse fuel consumption. Power of their single was up from 26 to 31hp and fuel economy improved from an average of 60 to 70mpg. In fact, I found that when I rode the CBX moderately I could achieve as much as 100mpg. As Ducati were doing the same thing with their 250 singles 15 years ago, this isn’t anything to really crow about, but the CBX is a Honda and combines its performance and economy with eminently civilised behaviour.
As this 250 only weighs 286lbs, its 31hp goes a long way. The bike shoots up to 70mph rapidly, fast enough to shock some much bigger bikes, but then starts to slow, especially once fifth and sixth are hit as these gears are very tall, although this has the benefit of allowing relatively relaxed cruising speeds for such a low capacity bike. It’s quite happy to cruise between an indicated 80 and 90mph, but the slightest headwind or incline means playing footsie with the slick gearbox and light clutch. The magic ton was possible, head glued to the handlebars, downhill with a following wind.
The old RS was famous for its good riding position and excellent handling, fortunately the CBX imitates the older bike in these fields. Handling is where the little bike really excels itself, a combination of lightness, narrowness and low centre of gravity make twisty roads pure joy. Even with the Japanese tyres it was hard to find its limits, it had an uncanny ability to stay on line over all sorts of road surface.
So delightful was the handling, and so secure the sensation, that there was a real danger of getting carried away and forgetting that even the CBX was limited by the laws of physics and tyre adhesion - a flash of sparks from the exhaust was a sure sign that you were going a bit too far. Many a superbike owner was left scratching his helmet trying to keep up on the curves. Of course, another failing of the RS may rear its head in the future, the older single wore out its shocks rapidly and started weaving; there was as yet no hint of this misbehaviour on the CBX.
Another RS failing was seizure of the front disc caliper. Unless it was stripped and cleaned once a year, the sliders would seize up, making it either impossible to strip or expensive to repair. Well, the CBX has a new double piston design, but I haven’t done enough miles to find out if it’s going to happen, but I don’t think it could be any worse than the older bike. The brake is very powerful and even has real feel, so it’s safe in the wet (no lag either) and, with such low mass to halt, it’s like hitting the proverbial brick wall when the going gets tough. The stronger front forks ensures that the bike stops in a dead straight line even under the heaviest of braking.
Town riding was great fun because the bike was so narrow and light. It could be flicked through ridiculously small gaps in traffic, feet up at very low speeds if necessary, because the balance of the bike was so good. The horn was a bit on the weak side, but all the other controls were so light and easy to use that they more than made up for this minor defect. One consequence of fitment of an electric start is that all the other electrics have to be up to standard, so the headlamp was usable at up to 70mph in the dark. The motor purred into the life first touch of the button cold or hot and the engine showed none of the temperament associated with singles.
The bike was not without a few minor faults. The fuel or was useless registering full then suddenly dropping to half and then just as suddenly empty. The side stand was rather thin and flimsy causing the bike to fall over on several occasions - just as well it weighed so little. The pillion seat was small and narrow, and a heavy passenger knocked the guts out of the power delivery, to go fast it needed mucho use of the gearbox. OK for small girlfriends but best to avoid giving lifts to beer swilling Hells Angels. Rear tyre wear seemed quite excessive, the Jap job was finished in six thousand miles.
Regular oil changes are extremely important on all small Hondas, every 1000 miles is about right. Oil consumption was non-existent between changes. Rear chain wear seems a lot less than on the RS, one adjustment every 3000 miles is a welcome relief from the earlier bike.
The only place the CBX is really limited is on motorways, when it’s struggling to keep up with outer lane speeds, but this can be seen as a good point if you’ve collected too many penalty points on your licence. Not that this really matters, because the CBX is so much fun on the curves that it encourages you to take the longer, slower route whenever time allows, where it excels. It’s quite possible to brake very late, change direction half way around a corner and generally have one hell of a ball. Or you can just purr along sedately, taking in the scenery and enjoying the civilised low down power output.
Every engine type has its optimum capacity, from my time with the CBX it’d seem that for singles it’s somewhere around 250cc. Much beyond that, I suspect that the power lost in absorbing the excess vibration mitigates against the combination of economy and performance. Some big singles weigh more than same sized twins, are slower and less economical, save for rarity value, pretty damn pointless.
The CBX was mostly ignored when it was introduced in ’83 because it cost so much more than the RS. Whilst the RS is a great 250, the CBX is a great motorcycle, beating the older bike in every area. It’s definitely one of the best lightweights to reach our shores - maybe if it was released in these times at a realistic price it’d clean up the market.
Keith Farley