Honda CB 900 F.

Honda
CB 900 F
Manufacturer	Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Sales description	Bol d'Or
Production period	1978 to 1984
class	motorcycle
design type	Sports Tourer
Motor data
Four-stroke engine , air cooling , DOHC 4 cylinders, 16 valves, 4 carburettors
Displacement  (cm³)	895
Power  (kW / PS )	70/95 at 9,000 min -1
Torque  ( N m )	77.5 at 8,000 min -1
Top speed (  km / h)	213
transmission	5-speed
drive	O-ring chain
Brakes	Disc brakes, front 2 × Ø 276 mm, rear Ø 296 mm
Wheelbase  (mm)	1515
Dimensions (L × W × H, mm):	2240 × 795 × 1125
Seat height (cm)	81.5
Empty weight  (kg)	233
Previous model	Honda CB 750 Four
successor	Honda VF 1000 F.

Honda CB 900 F2

Honda CB 1100 F.

Honda CB 1100 R.

The first-placed Honda of the Bol d'Or 1976

The Honda CB900F is a motorcycle from the Japanese manufacturer Honda , which was presented at the IFMA in Cologne in 1978 and came onto the market in 1979. The vehicle had been developed for Europe, the market launch in the United States was not until 1981. In Europe, the CB900F carried the additional designation Bol d'Or .

prehistory

The Bol d'Or is a 24-hour endurance race that Honda won for the first time in 1972, again in 1973, but lost to the Kawasaki Z1 in 1974 and 1975 . On the road, Honda let the Kawasaki Z pull, but on the racetrack, the factory took up the challenge. From 1976 to 1978 Honda won the Bol d'Or three times in a row, with four-cylinder engines from 941 to 998 cm ³ , which were based on the engine of the CB 750 Four and, unlike all those commercially available at the time, had not only two camshafts , but also 16 valves - like the CB 900 F.

These racing motorcycles were spectacular, but almost roadworthy, as we learned in 1976. The sportiest Honda on the market was the older, single- cam Honda CB 750 Four , and the top model was the Honda Gold Wing , which got noticed in Europe with high-speed accidents. Honda originally gained a reputation for everyday technology from racing, with the Honda CB 450 .

technology

The CB 900 F was a completely new design parallel to the Honda CBX and later became the CB 1100 F and the CB 1100 R of 1980.

With less piston stroke and smaller cylinders than the CB 900 F, the CB 750 F was available with the same chassis. This motor with a smaller crankshaft and without an oil cooler also drives the CB 750 K , whose frame is designed to be weaker.

The engine of the CB900F is also a milestone in retrospect. Not because of its brute performance, but because it pulls through from low speeds to high speeds and enables excellent average speeds. The two overhead camshafts actuate the 16 valves via bucket tappets . The engine developed around 70  kW (95 PS), of which only 84 PS could be measured in contemporary tests, from a displacement of 901 cm³. The weight of the machine is 260 kilograms. The top speed is 213 km / h.

Further development

Both the CB 900 F (SC 01) and the CB 750 F (RC 04) were built until the mid-1980s and subjected to regular model updates in the chassis area. The CB 900 F Bol d'Or (SC01) followed the CB 900 F Bol d'Or (SC09), which in addition to a rubber-mounted engine mount with 18 "ComStar rims in a boomerang design at the front and rear instead of the previously installed combination of five-spoke spokes ComStar rims were equipped with 19 "front and 18" rear. Because the brake system with Nissin single-piston floating calipers proved to be too weak in practice, the floating calipers were exchanged for double-piston floating calipers from the same manufacturer in 1981 as part of the facelift.

The models SC 01, SC 09 and RC 04 were also delivered as an F2 version with full cladding. The peculiarity of this fairing was that it only ran behind the cylinder bank in the lower area and was designed as leg braces to guide the driver over the obstacle of the accident in the event of a head-on collision.

The Bol d'Or series was continued with the CB 1100 F Super Bol d'Or (SC11). In contrast to the previous models, a box swing arm was installed here. The sportiest models of the Bol d'Or family were the CB 1100 R (SC 05) with a fairing based on the F2 and the CB 1100 R (SC 08) with a completely redesigned full fairing in the mid-1980s.

Mainly in the USA, Honda offered engines of the model series in various " choppers ". The models CB 900 C (SC 04) and CB 1000 C (SC 10) were offered exclusively for the North American market. The main difference to all other variants is the secondary drive via cardan shaft and the additional reduction gear, which, in combination with the regular five-speed gearbox, provides a total of 10 gears.

successor

In 1984 Honda presented the VF 1000 F and VF 1000 R with a V-engine and considerable problems as a sporty large four-cylinder . The next sports motorcycle from Honda again had an in-line engine with around 900 cm ³ displacement, set a new standard for lightweight construction in 1992 and was called the Honda CBR900RR Fireblade .

From 1993 Honda launched the water- cooled CB 1000 naked bike , which became the Honda CB 1300 Super Bol d'Or .

literature

• Jochen Kuch: Honda motorcycles since 1970. - 1st edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, - Stuttgart, 2009. (Typenkompass) ISBN 978-3-613-02989-7
• Dirk Vogt: The Bol d'Or myth - Honda CB 900 F - legend or marketing: the modern classic motorcycle . 2nd Edition. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2007, ISBN 978-3-8334-9337-9 .

Web links

Commons : Honda CB900F  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 30 years of the HONDA CB 750 Four (PDF; 202 kB) 1. Honda CB 750 Four Club eV Germany. P. 20. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
2. ^ Mick Walker: Japanese Production Racing Motorcycles . Redline, 2003 ( online [accessed January 5, 2013]).
3. ↑ Waldemar Schwarz: Honda RCB 1000 . Motor press Stuttgart. December 19, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
4. ↑ Honda comes back strong . In: Cycle World . Volume 18, No. 1 , January 1979, p. 91 ( online [accessed January 5, 2013]).
5. ↑ Werner Koch: The sporty attack on the Europeans was called the Honda Bol d'Or . Motor press Stuttgart. February 5, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
6. ↑ Peter Limmert: false start . Motor press Stuttgart. November 3, 1999. Retrieved January 5, 2013.