Quick question for the CB1 experts out there: Is the CB1 a good bet as a used bike, or are there problems such as lack of parts availability that make it an unworkable situation? Is this bike/engine durable? Is there a deal-breaker or "fatal" flaw in it?

I ride a '99 VFR800 and I love its Honda gear-driven camshaft sound, it's got real quality and character. The CB1 comes from the same era of Honda engine technology so I'm attracted to it, but cautious about buying, if I can find one (I also own a '93 GSF400 Bandit, so I already know that I enjoy riding the 400cc Japanese bikes from that era).

Thanks

I'm biased, but think they are great little bikes and have they quite a following with a dedicated forum www.hondacb1.org and their own facebook page.

Many parts are shared with the NC23 so spares are not a problem and all the normal service parts etc. are available through the likes of Wemoto

They're a lot more common in the USA, where it was an official model for a few years, than in the UK, where I think they were only grey imports? That said, I doubt there are a lot of OEM parts for it available anywhere these days. I'd say go for it. It's a sound little bike, AFAIK.

Ciao,

JZH wrote:They're a lot more common in the USA, where it was an official model for a few years, than in the UK, where I think they were only grey imports? That said, I doubt there are a lot of OEM parts for it available anywhere these days. I'd say go for it. It's a sound little bike, AFAIK.

Ciao,

They were officially imported to the USA, but sold poorly. On the other hand they only came to the UK by grey import, but they came by the crateful as the bikes got to 10 years old and started failing the Sha-Ken test in Japan. Admittedly most were tucked into the corners of crates full of CBR and VFR 400's, but still they came.

The bikes are reliable due to the gear driven cams and generally low stressed engine even though it revs through to 13.5k rpm and around 45hp. Bear in mind a very similar engine goes to 14.5k and 60hp in the CBR400.

The parts you'll struggle to find are model specific stuff: fuel hoses (go brittle), tanks in good condition (hens teeth), seat plastics in good condition (lugs break with age), clocks (often explode in a crash), and exhausts without dents (unicorn poop). The mechanical stuff is generally cheap and easy to get though and there's a lot of interchangeable parts, e.g. CBR250 front calipers fit, CBR600RR4 rear calipers and even some brand new stuff fits, the list goes on.

Trick is to find one with a decent tank and seat unit, original clocks, and an undented exhaust. Do that, and you're golden.