The year was 1978, and Honda had just unleashed the CBX on the world. Now, no OEM can know the future—and so, there’s no way that Honda could have known its completely bonkers six-cylinder bid at a return to racing glory was here for a good time, not a long time. Like many of the best Honda bikes throughout history, the CBX was only around for a scant few years before it was discontinued in 1982.
What the CBX lacked in longevity, it seems to have made up in cult status in the years since that time. That’s why YouTube channel Harry’s Garage just did an episode about it—well, that, and the fact that Harry apparently has a 1978 CBX that’s been specially fitted with a six-into-six exhaust.
If you’re drooling and/or screaming at whatever digital device you’re reading this on right now, we don’t blame you. Even though Harry says he doesn’t think he’s the best at adequately capturing vehicular audio in his videos, you’ll still want to connect your headphones and have a proper listen, because he does take his CBX out for a proper rip to close the video out.
In any case, a six-into-six exhaust makes perfect sense—and could arguably be the one trick that Honda missed when it put this bike out on the market. While some bikes draw your attention with a headlight, or bodywork, or graphics, that wasn’t at all the case with the CBX. No, here was Honda, loudly and proudly proclaiming its devotion to pure engineering—for good or for ill.
That six-cylinder engine might be as narrow as Honda could possibly have made it at the time—but it’s still a hecking beast of a mill, replete with visual impact for days. (Isn’t “Do You Want to Sync Six Carbies?” that song from Frozen? No? Man, my memory is just terrible.)
Everyone is different, but when I think about a Benelli Sei, I picture the six stainless steel megaphones before my mind draws in the rest of the bike. When I think about a CBX, the first thing my mind sees is that engine. If you put the two things together—well, now you just need six more of something else to start summoning (speed) demons.
This is the CBX, unfiltered, untamed, roaring loud and proud, and at its absolute best. Harry says it handles with greater agility than you’d expect for a bike of its size—and it certainly looks that way in this video. We’ve said before and will say again: Weird Honda is Best Honda.
