New Toy on the Horizon: CB1300

[Ninja51]

Having had to sell my beloved ZX9, I trawled the net (including KBer) for reviews on naked muscle bikes. Well the result is that Honda's CB1300 seemed to win (albeit closely) when pitted against the likes of the GSX1400 and the XJR1300. I daresay there will be disagreement here, but today I put down a holding deposit on a black CB due to arrive end of March.
Can't wait for the trip back from Hamilton to Welly! Watch this space guys and gals! Oops... I fear a change to my KB identity coming on. Ninja 51 doesnt exactly go with Honda does it?

[Vagabond]

Enjoy it mate, if it's new it's always a pleasure, so long as your'e happy!

[marty]

i looked very hard at the cb1300 before settling on the busa. it is a very capable, stonking strong engined bike. boyd honda are doing them for a steal. i see they have a 2003 model - might be their demo one. saw it being ridden at a track day at taupo - ridden like a streetfighter/tourer/sprotbike combo.......very cool.

[Edbear]

Met an owner and his wife in Rotorua at a gas station, and asked what they thought of it. They loved it, but said the pillion pegs were too high. Also bike reports seem to indicate they are rather thirsty, esp. in comparo with the likes of the GSX1400. Handle real well and smoother than a baby's bum. part from the fuel consumption and the high pegs, a genuine good bike! Enjoy!:rockon:

[Devil]

I'd give them the thumbs up just for their seat. Luxury. Pure luxury. Had a sit on one a little while ago and didnt want to get off.

[skelstar]

Awesome. Great looking bikes those CB1300's.

[OLD MAN BJ]

Hey Mate,

I looked at this bike when I was looking for a set of wheels. They are really Beaut. I didn't know they came in black. I am really glad I went for black in my Hornet. Although I didn't ride one, I hear they are turbine smooth, but a little bit thirsty. Hey, who cares? so are V8 Comodes. From what I hear, they dont bring them into the USA any more, and the Yanks are going up to Canada to buy them and bring them home.
I'm sure you will have a ball, great choice.

BJ

[blueblade]

Bought my 1300 off Greg Boyd last October and have done 13,000kms on it since. Previous bike was a 954 Fireblade. Love the 1300 and have done several track days and numerous trips around the Coro loop. Its a bit more of a handful than the blade, particularly on rough roads, due to the weight but apart from that the handling is actually quite sporty.Takes a fairly well ridden sports bike to get away from the 1300 which makes it a lot of fun.
Ive done a bit of work on my bike : Ohlins shocks, traxxion dynamics kit in forks, full Acropovic exhaust system and Power Commander (custom mapped by AMPs). Its now a lot quicker than standard and lost none of the awesome low and mid range grunt. Suspension upgrade added to confidence especially in fast bumpy sweepers where standard suspension tended to throw it off line a bit. Small screen on the front makes high speed cruising a lot more comfortable. A very worthwhile addition. Greg Boyd will show you how to fit the Hornet screen which is much cheaper that the genuine 1300 screen.
Congratulations on a great choice of bike and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine. Greg is a great guy to deal with and loves nothing better than riding round the outside of guys on sportsbikes aboard his 1300.
Enjoy !!!!!

[marty]

so when is the pick up day? i'd be keen for a ride down the island a bit. show you some back roads to turangi

[Ninja51]

i looked very hard at the cb1300 before settling on the busa. it is a very capable, stonking strong engined bike. boyd honda are doing them for a steal. i see they have a 2003 model - might be their demo one. saw it being ridden at a track day at taupo - ridden like a streetfighter/tourer/sprotbike combo.......very cool.


Im doing the deal with Boyds, Marty. They have a three new black CB13's arriving end of March. Greg Boyd swears by them so much he's had 5 of his own! He wont be selling his demonstrator for another six months.
All other Honda dealers say the CB is very scarce. Some say July, some say October before the next ones arrive in NZ. I was lucky to just happen to call
Boyds and grab one of the new 2006 versions still offered with $2000 discount! Only one left now though.

[marty]

sounds like a deal. let me know if you're keen for a hanger-on when you're coming through cambridge. it's easy to turn off here and ride the back roads all the way to turangi, or go via te awamutu and go taumaranui national park

[Ninja51]

sounds like a deal. let me know if you're keen for a hanger-on when you're coming through cambridge. it's easy to turn off here and ride the back roads all the way to turangi, or go via te awamutu and go taumaranui national park

Will do. Ive never been up that way. Only lived here 2 years!
We'll probably fly/train up to Hamilton and "pootle" home after an overnight.

[Ninja51]

Small screen on the front makes high speed cruising a lot more comfortable. A very worthwhile addition. Greg Boyd will show you how to fit the Hornet screen which is much cheaper that the genuine 1300 screen.
Congratulations on a great choice of bike and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine. Greg is a great guy to deal with and loves nothing better than riding round the outside of guys on sportsbikes aboard his 1300.
Enjoy !!!!![/QUOTE]

Got any pics BB? Or an idea of screen price?
Im going to re coat the wheels, click on my avatar for bigger image of black/gold colour scheme. What colour is yours?

[skelstar]

That looks nice. Make sure you get out on one of our rides soon. Keen to have a look at yer bike.

[Ninja51]

That looks nice. Make sure you get out on one of our rides soon. Keen to have a look at yer bike.

Without a doubt mate. Wont be till beginning of April though.
er... which rideout are you talking about? lol

[skelstar]

Yeah, a bit ambiguous. Well I go on the newbies rides (its more social than anything else), some other events. Give us a yell when you have your bike sorted.

[blueblade]

Got any pics BB? Or an idea of screen price?
Im going to re coat the wheels, click on my avatar for bigger image of black/gold colour scheme. What colour is yours?[/QUOTE]

Sorry, no pics yet. Havent figured out how to put them in this system yet. From memory the screen was about $250 compared to about $500 for the genuine 1300 article. Greg just extends two of the mounting holes to make the Hornet one fit. It really does make a big difference. Mine is a blue one with black wheels. Recoating sounds like a good idea. The matt black on mine is hard keep clean. Gloss finish would be better. Just for interest, my bike with full Acra system, K & N filter and custom mapped Power Commander made 121.59hp on AMPs dyno. Gregs bike with just an end can and Power Commander made 124hp on GP Cycles dyno. Hopefully we will be going head to head at Taupo next week to test the accuracy of those dyno readings. When I first had my bike on the track, it seemed to run out of breath a bit early in the rev range. Now it revs freely and makes strong power right up till the rev limiter kicks in. Might not sound like a lot of power compared to the litre sports bike but its very useable power and great for grunting out of lower speed corners.
Hope to see you at a Taupo track day some time.

[skelstar]

I hope both you CB1300'ers are signed up for May21(?) Trackday.

[Ninja51]

Got any pics BB? Or an idea of screen price?
Im going to re coat the wheels, click on my avatar for bigger image of black/gold colour scheme. What colour is yours?
Mine is a blue one with black wheels. Recoating sounds like a good idea. The matt black on mine is hard keep clean. Gloss finish would be better. .[/QUOTE]

Yours would look like the attached then?

[DemonWolf]

Very nice looking bikes... hmmmm

[blueblade]

Yours would look like the attached then?[/QUOTE]

Thats the one. Course mine looks much sexier with the Ohlins, Acrapovic etc. Would also mention that I couldnt stand the pathetic noise from the standard can and had to change it straight away. Also the tyres the bike came with (dunlop 220's I think) were rubbish. If you plan to ride the bike hard, change to standard diablos as soon as you can.

[Ninja51]

Whats your opinion of the mirrors on reflection BB?
Ride hard? Me? Nah, I'm a wuss.
Im only buyin it to keep her arse from getting cramp on the back.
Bit worried about high pillion pegs, but then if my beloved has been used to a ZX9 up to now, maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily??

[Zed]

Congrats on the new toy Ninja! :2thumbsup

Go Honda!

[blueblade]

Never carry a pillion personally, but that back seat looks pretty comfy. Dont have much use for the mirrors but they do work fine, clear and generally vibration free. Tend to spend more time watching the radar detector. Originally bought the bike to slow myself down a bit after the Blade (high speed cruising just too easy). Worked for a while but now with familiarity, speed has crept up again. Having said that though, it is a much more pleasant bike to cruise at 100-110 than the sports bikes. No more sore arms, wrists etc on those boring motorway or SH1 stretches.