As soon as we got the insurance payout it was off to Dobles in Croydon as we needed another bike ASAP. We opted for another Honda CBR600 which we bought new for around £5,400. Honda had updated the CBR since the last one we had, which basically meant that it was now fuel injected whereas the old one was on carbs. As usual with Honda it served us very well but I always thought that it was a bit bland and lacking personality. One thing was certain – it was not a patch on the old carburettor model. The fuel injection caused the throttle to behave like an on off switch at times, which manifested itself mostly mid corner when you wished to make a tiny increase or reduction on the throttle. You got used to it but it required a change in the way you rode the bike. I took this bike to France with three mates for a 2 day tour of Normandy and Brittany. The weather was good, the roads were excellent and I managed 155mph on a deserted stretch of French Péage – the fastest I have been on a bike. The CBR got to about 145 quickly but took a while to push the extra 10mph. Annette enjoyed this bike as well because it was small, light and easily manageable.
