EVER wondered where the Superbike craze started?
It was Hamamatsu, Japan, where the first Honda CB750 rolled off the production line in 1968.
Credited by many as being the original superbike, the CB750 made a laughing stock of British bikes of the same era.
It didn’t leak oil, it didn’t weigh a ton and it didn’t turn into Hugh Grant at the first sight of a corner. In short, it was a game changer.
Fifty years later, the CB1100 apple hasn’t fallen far from the 750 tree. The two are nigh on identical. Big motor, big headlight and big attitude.
The bike you’re looking at here is called the CB1100 RS 5Four.
Built in a limited run of just 54 machines, the 5Four serves as an homage to 50 years of Honda CB.
The base model 1100RS is an already cool bike, but the detail in the Five4 pushes the appeal of this retro racer to a new level.
The bikes are built by Guy Wilson, a former motorcycle courier-turned-mechanic-turned-pro custom-bike-builder based here in the UK.
The level of detail is exquisite. The bikini fairing and tail unit have been hand beaten from aluminium rather than pressed in plastic like most other bikes.
The seat is hand-stitched leather and alcantara. The exhaust pipes are hand-finished in titanium from Racefit and suit the flow of the bike perfectly.
As if that wasn’t enough, the red, white and blue paint has been applied by hand.
Not a single sticker or badge adorns the 5Four, even they have been hand painted on.
Those colours are a nod to the Endurance racing days of the early Eighties and fit the bike like a hand in a tailored glove.
As a base machine, the CB1100RS is fine. Pumping out a gentlemanly 88bhp at 7,500rpm, the inline four-cylinder motor will rarely feel stressed.
You won’t either, thanks to the relaxed riding position and commanding view of the road.
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Priced at £15,554, the 5Four will take three months to hand build just for you from the day you place your order at your nearest Honda dealer.
5Four was Guy’s despatch number when he was a courier rider, in case you were wondering.
- John is editor at SuperBike and presents Bike World on YouTube.
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