KIWI RIDER 12 2019 VOL1 | Page 81

CBX1000, road going beauty Canterbury pit stop. Where are the riders? at an end. Authorities struggled to boost starting grids by making machinery in all classes more accessible to a wider range of competitors. New rules and regulations would soon make exotic multi-cylinder four-strokes impossible to sustain. It was also the beginning of a trend that would change racing for years to come, reducing the number of cylinders to a maximum of four, and paving the way for two- stroke domination. So what of Irimajiri’s masterpiece, and multi-world championship winning six? Well the road riding public waited for a road-going version. Honda would surely transfer the technology to a machine that could be bought in the show room and used on the road. The faithful had to wait nearly twelve years, and they were eventually rewarded with the remarkable CBX1000. Once again it was Soichiro Irimajiri who was responsible for the six-cylinder in-line motor, with six carburettors, and Sharing your passion facebo ok.com /Caffein eAndCla ssics