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Mark Hinchliffe·
By manufacturerMotorbikesHonda Motorcycles
··5 Comments·1 min read

Is Honda planning a return to the CBX six?

Honda CBX six-cylinder

Honda has filed patent drawings for a retro bike that looks a little like its 1980s six-cylinder CBX with a bubble fairing.

It would be a competitor for retro models such as the BMW R nineT Racer and Triumph Bonneville Thruxton (with optional bubble fairing) and the popular Kawasaki ZX 900 RS Cafe Racer with which it has a lot of resemblance.

Kawasaki Z900RSA Cafe - Graeme Crosby - cox
Kawasaki Z900RSA Cafe

The original CBX was made from 1978 to 1982 and powered by a 1047cc transverse inline six-cylinder engine with 76kW of power (105bhp) and 85Nm of torque which was huge for the times.

Like the new Kawasaki, which is a replica of the original Z1, the Honda drawings show it is liquid-cooled, not air-cooled.

It also has similar wheels to the Kawasaki which are multi-spoked mag wheels made to look like wired wheels, even though the original CBX had five-star mag wheels.Honda CBX six-cylinder

When BMW introduced its six-cylinder K 1600 series, the pistons were offset so they could be crammed closer together and the engine wasn’t too wide.

However, the Honda’s pistons appear to be in line in these drawings, making the bike about as wide as the original.

CBX departures

In one major departure from the original six-cylinder model, the drawings show a bike with six pipes — three each side, while the CBX had a muffler each side.Honda CBX six-cylinder

Another departure from the original is the clip-on bars like the dropped bars on the Cafe Racer version of the Kawasaki Z900RS, not the straight bars of the rigging CBX or the Z900RS.

This bike could be shown as a concept bike at the Intermot motorcycle show in Cologne in October or EICMA in Milan in November.Honda CBX six-cylinder

But unlike most concept bikes, it appears production-ready wth mirrors, indicators and even rear pillion pegs, despite the rear seat cowl.

We wonder if it will be called a CBX?

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Mark Hinchliffe
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5 Comments

  1. Now that looks like a real motorbike. Something like the four cylinder 500 Gileras and MVs of the late ’50’s for those, me included, who drool over bikes from that era. You gotta take the end caps off the megaphones tho and a shot of Castrol R in the tank just for the aromatics.
    JMB

  2. Just because they filed for a patent does not mean they want to actually build it.
    It could be just to ‘save’ it for another day or stop another Company from using it. It also could be red herring to see if other Factories have something similar or simply to stop the Chinese from cloning it.
    6 cyl engines in bikes are a history lession in how to make needless complexity (a Honda specialty) , when a 3 or a 4 cyl can produce the same outcome with less weight and fuel use/emissions.

  3. Please Honda; put your enthusiast engines out in the market! R6 – an engine for enthusiasts where the experience goes so far beyond pure performance and efficient transportation. Sound, look & feeling…that give biking so much more passion.
    V5 – engine…yes, put it into a RR frame – and I will line up first in the row to get one!!!
    …and…there is sufficient number of us out there with passion for engines, willing and able to put in the little extra to get fuel to our passion!

  4. It’s the sound it makes. Nothing to do with complexity or cost or horsepower. You will have flex along that wide crankshaft but you only need about 8000 rpm and you will be off to buy one. Hopefully they won’t make it with too expensive susoension etc for then it gets needlessly expensive when the essence is the sound.

  5. That seat looks like it would be comfortable for about 30 seconds. Screw the cafe racer BS. Make a seat you can tolerate for 4 hours.

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