P104
COMPARISON I HONDA CB HORNE T SP vs. SUZUKI G S XS
Sharp lines have been
Honda's bag for a
long time now, and
the CB continues this
tradition. Top brakes
and suspension make
it a very attractive
proposition. Oh, and
gold wheels.
Honda has
improved the
simplicity
of its dash
layout a lot in
recent years,
but it still isn't
quite as good
as Suzuki's.
There's also a bit of Honda style thrown
in with the sexy five-spoke Y-shaped gold-
painted cast alloy wheels wrapped in Bridge-
stone Battlax S22 rubber, and brakes are
now proper superbike-spec Brembo Stylema
dual four-piston radially mounted calipers up
front, even if discs are a bit on the small side
at 310mm. Rubber brake lines also save a
few dollars at the dealer. A single-piston Nis
-
sin caliper grips a 240mm disc at the rear.
We weighed the Honda at 465 pounds
with a full 4.5-gallon tank of gas (bang-on
what Honda says it weighs in the specs),
and the Honda came back with a 50.6/49.4
front-to-rear weight distribution.
As for electronics, they are of the old-
school type (read: no Inertial Measurement
Unit). This is far from a drawback given the
fact the CB—and GSX, for that matter—are
not trying to be the biggest and baddest
The Honda's back-
end is so sharp you
could cut yourself
on it. The flat and
thinly padded seat is
fine for short rides,
but longer rides get
a bit painful. The
passenger seat pew
looks like a bit of
an afterthought.
