It may not have the reputation of some of its contemporaries, but the Honda CB1000R Black Edition still packs a hell of a punch.

It must be very tough to be a manufacturer of 1000cc-plus naked bikes in 2022. There are so many competitors that the class has essentially been split into two—those mega super nakeds like the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S, Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory, BMW S 1000 R and KTM 1290 Super Duke R, and lower power bikes like the Suzuki Katana, Yamaha MT-10 and this, the Honda CB1000R Black Edition.

Those with an eagle eye will have noticed those bikes from the second list all hail from the Land of The Rising Sun. It seems Japan has collectively decided not to partake in this Euro-driven horsepower heist, instead preferring to focus more on machines that appeal to a wider range of riders by keeping horsepower around the 150 mark.

A case in point is this $12,999 Honda CB1000R Black Edition. The CB is one of Honda’s most iconic names that dates back to the granddaddy of them all—the 1969 Honda CB750—and in 2008, Honda brought the famous name back into circulation with the first CB1000R.

That machine was such a success it took Honda a full 10 years to update it, with the 2018 machine getting more power, a new chassis, new rider aids and a super funky larger rear-wheel design.

Fast forward to 2022 (2021, actually) and the machine still hasn’t been given a full makeover. In fact, it’s largely the same. The same chassis and now Euro-5 compliant engine is present, there’s a redesigned headlight and radiator shrouds, a new subframe and new (again) wheels in the seven-spoke aluminum numbers.

As far as the styling goes, the CB is about as black as you can get from a major manufacturer—hey, it’s in the name. There’re classy machined-aluminum pieces like the wheel spokes, swingarm plates, engine covers, the sides of the engine block itself and handlebar clamps, but everything else is black, from the headlight surround, itty-bitty wind screen, fork legs including the stanchions, rear shock and spring, brake calipers, radiator shrouds, airbox covers (with an anodized finish), seat unit, subframe, and the exhaust header, collector box and muffler.

Oh, and the tires. They are black, too.

Far from being boring, the all-black aesthetic adds a touch of class to the ride. I never thought I’d say that as I feel all black bikes tend to look a little lazy and not at all menacing, which I’m sure is the angle the designers are going for. With the select machined-aluminum sections of the CB, this is quite a visually pleasing machine, something that gets enhanced further once you ride it.

The CB’s is an interesting ride position. It’s not your typical naked bike of the present day that leans the rider a touch into the wind to load the front up. The CB’s weight distribution is claimed at 48.5/51.5 front to rear and is something you notice immediately when you sit on it. As is the shape of the tank.

The CB gas tank has very pronounced indents for your legs and isn’t the most comfortable (at least for me) out there. As such, it’s a little harder to move around on the chassis compared to something like a Yamaha MT-10, but the seat itself is well padded and comfortable for at least an hour’s ride before you’ll need a break.

The CB1000R’s motor heritage can be traced back to the 2004 CBR1000RR, that first underseat exhaust superbike from Honda that was in fact their first full-size 1000cc superbike. As such, it’s got this gnarly rasp when you hammer the throttle, but it feels a little anemic compared to even some of its Japanese rivals. Honda Europe claims 143 horsepower and our colleagues at Cycle World have dyno’d this same bike we’ve been testing at 121 horsepower.

You’ve got four ECU modes in the five-inch TFT screen with the CB—Rain, Standard, Sport and User—but it’s effectively three modes, as User allows you to choose the various parameters you want from the other three modes and combine them into one. That means the power you want, traction control and engine brake control, all have three available settings of their own.

This being so, the CB still has plenty of grunt for pretty much any situation. Sport mode (like it can on many other bikes) can be a bit snatchy at the throttle so I spent most of the time in Standard. If you want to get a bit of a hoon on, you can switch off the traction control (very un-Honda), which will let you loft the front wheel when you like but if you try and do so even on level one TC, it’ll let you carry a little wheelie but then cut the forward drive viciously, at which point it takes about two seconds for drive to be restored.

At this point, I started to have nightmarish flashbacks to the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR at Portimao in Portugal where, on the most wheelie-prone circuit I’ve ever ridden, the new superbike from Honda had its TC and wheelie control linked (like on this CB), but the lack of drive was even more pronounced than it is here. Thankfully, Honda looks like they have worked on the algorithm and made their combined system work better, but it’s still not great.

Remember how I said about the weight distribution is angled more to the rear than the front? You’ll feel this once you really start pushing in corners. The CB doesn’t turn with quite the speed of the Euro contingent in this class—it’s not lazy in its steering, just more fluid than snappy. This is not entirely a bad thing because it promotes a less hurried riding style. Rather than bury the chassis under brakes, you plan your corners out more on the CB and let the chassis flow from corner to corner, just as God intended.

The suspension is up to the quality of the rest of the bike. Showa’s Single Function Fork Big Piston (SFF-BP) is a great middle-of-the-road fork that soaks up the majority of what gets thrown at it but is still a little on the plush side for my 190-plus-pound weight. This is a fully adjustable fork, so you can dial in the setting you want (within reason) and everything is done old-school with no electronics.

The Showa shock gets rebound and preload adjustment, not compression, so even though the specs are mismatched front to back, the ride quality is still not much to complain about.

Neither is the fact that it has a quickshifter with three different levels of sensitivity, plus an underseat USB port, and turn-by-turn navigation on the dash that can be Bluetooth-ed to your helmet. About the only thing I’d have wanted is heated grips and cruise control.

The Honda CB1000R Black Edition doesn’t make some bogus claim about being the be-all and end-all of 1000cc naked bikes. Honda is not dumb enough to say anything of the sort. What the CB is good for is powerful naked biking but on the more sedate side. Forget your 180 horsepower naked bikes, the CB’s combination of performance from a motor that can trace its heritage back nearly 20 years, a comfortable and nimble chassis with good suspension and brakes that, admittedly, could be better, and a good array electronics make a sound argument for the price.

That, and it looks bitchin’ in all black. Something I never thought I’d ever say. CN

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