Honda CB1000R: Behind the Scenes

Once I get a green light to do a bike story, I have to get myself in shape. Besides needing to be in decent physical shape to properly test a bike, the photo and video shoots can be exceptionally demanding. For instance, the main video shoot went from 11am to 9:30 pm. I logged over 160 miles on the bike and a lot of those miles involved hard riding. So it's back to the gym for me.

I'll spend the first week of the bike loan getting acquainted with the motorcycle Once I'm confident that I know what the bike will and won't do, I'm ready for the shoot. The night before the CB1000R shoot, however, I almost sank it altogether. I was moving the bike in by backyard to make room for my girlfriend's car. In the darkness, I put the kickstand foot right into a crack in the pavement. The bike brought me down quick. I hit the ground hard, but fortunately my head landed in a grass strip next to the concrete. Thankfully, my Doc Marten's were wedged between the bike and the ground, so bike damage was limited to a few scuffs and a broken clutch lever.

That clutch lever was a problem, though. It snapped right at a manufactured fracture cut (designed to break off and still allow clutch use in the event of a dump) and dug into my middle finger. It bled for a good 30 minutes. At that point, though, I was more bothered with trying to figure out how get the lever fixed, and quick. After some research, I realized that this clutch lever is specific to this limited-availability bike and it was doubtful any local dealers would have one in stock. I shot off a panicked email to my Honda rep and waited for a reply. In the meantime, I found a local welder that might be able to re-attach the lever.

The Honda rep replied early in the morning and said they'd pull a lever off of another CB1000R. Fortunately, that lever snapped right where it was designed to, leaving me just enough to keep riding. I arrived at Honda's Torrance HQ as soon as they opened and was out of there in 10 minutes. Crisis averted.

A video shoot like this isn't down to just the rider and cameraman. Manning our Panasonic AF-100 video cameras were John Adolph and Charlie Barkhorn, both of whom have motorcycle experience. I requested a driver I could count on, one that is consistent and I knew would keep cool under unusual situations. Instead, I got Mike Magrath. I kid, I requested Magrath. As we all headed out, the boss pulls me aside to tell me, "Be safe. Don't kill yourself trying to get the shot. Text me when it's over and everyone's safe."

Bikes are dangerous. We all know that. Every now and then, it's good to get a reminder.

Once shooting starts, my head has to be in the game 100-percent. Besides the demands that any motorcycle places on a rider's attention, I also have to ensure we get the shot. I pay close attention to my body position, trying to display a textbook stance while not getting too close to dragging my knee (that should be reserved for the racetrack).

When I'm following our comparably slow camera car, I try to leave a large gap before the turn, then haul-ass right up to the car's bumper. Closure speed is unusually high, and that's where I have to trust Magrath to be smooth for the camera guys and not hit the brakes, making me one with the bumper. We also stick GoPro cameras all over the bike for cool point-of-view shots. Those are a lot easier on the rider, but I still have to be mindful of big bumps in the road so the cameras stay attached.

For photos, I pick a different line that turns-in very late in order to get more dramatic lean angles. My level of trust is also very high with Kurt Niebuhr, as sometimes he'll pick a place to shoot that is close to the riding line. The key here is to completely ignore him, because if I look at him, I'll fixate on him and run him over. That would be bad.

Let's face it, without the photos and videos, our stories wouldn't have the depth or fullness those visuals provide.The guys behind the lenses and in front of the monitors largely remain in anonymity, but definitely not unnoticed. Please give them a shout-out whenever something stands out.