Vehicle Description
Project 422, an effort to produce a sporty motorcycle with
commanding performance, culminated in the 1979 Honda CBX. Since
Honda's entry into the United States market, the long series of
CB-designated street bikes normally had numerals indicating engine
displacement, but this CB was followed by X, for extreme. Even
people who cared little about bikes couldn't help noticing the
transversely mounted six-cylinder engine, nearly two feet wide,
tilting forward 33 degrees, and sprouting a row of exhaust tubing
that would make a pipe organ repairman reach for his tuning
knife.
The CBX's precursor from 15 years earlier, the RC165 racing bike,
featured a 24-valve 250cc six-cylinder with a 15,000 rpm redline.
This production bike adapted that design, but it displaced 1,047cc.
The air-cooled DOHC engine was fueled by six 28mm Keihin
carburetors that received assistance from an accelerator pump and
an advanced air cutoff valve. Bore and stroke were 64.5mm x 53.4mm,
and the engine operated with a 9.3:1 compression ratio. Output was
103 hp at 9,000 rpm. The six-into-two exhaust system was tuned to
sound like an American Phantom jet fighter.
Even weighing 600 pounds wet, the CBX turned the quarter mile in
11.55 seconds at 117 mph, but in Turn Eight at Willow Springs
Raceway, the bike "would wobble fearsomely," as one magazine editor
recalls. Even Honda engineers recognized the lack of chassis
strength and inadequacies of the suspension. Nevertheless, the
absence of a downtube frame left that great finned and ribbed
engine exposed, and the sculpted 6.1-gallon tank, ducktailed cowl,
and elegant five-spoke alloy wheels completed the look. All this
performance cost $3,998.
