KIWI RIDER 12 2019 VOL1 | Page 82

Did you see these other Classic features? double overhead cams. Unlike the race bike, however, the CBX weighed in at 253kg, had a 1047cc engine producing 105bhp, with a top speed of 225km/h. But it was expensive to make and sell, as well as maintain. The CBX lasted, in production, for only four years. In 1980 I was staying with the Hailwood family in England, when on a spring morning Mike handed me a set of keys, said there’s a bike and some gear in the garage, and took off for an appointment. The bike I discovered was a new CBX1000 with zero kilometres on the clock. I spent a much appreciated day riding around Stratford- upon-Avon with an array of motorcycle Advice to the author from the Benelli owner  HONDA CB900F  KAWASAKI TWO-STROKE TRIPLES enthusiasts following me and asking questions. My other experience with a CBX1000 was during a great ride in the Canterbury countryside, in the company of another CBX, and a six-cylinder Benelli for company. I’m told that in 1972 Benelli was the first production six-cylinder machine on the road. To hear three six-cylinder machines roaring along a country road will never be forgotten. The question is, were they a brave experiment, an expensive product of race track competition, and will they ever surface again? Sculpture Sharing your passion facebo ok.com /Caffein eAndCla ssics