This look at Jim Hall's heavily modified Honda CBX appeared in Cycle World magazine's November 1989 issue. (Thanks to Tom Whaley for providing the original article). Click on the pictures to view full-size versions.

MONUMENT TO HORSEPOWER	Remember the CBX? Jim Hall is making sure nobody will forget. BY RON LAWSON

Every man should have certain rights. The rights to life and liberty, of course. The right to happiness. And along those lines, the right to ride a 325-horsepower motorcycle on the street. The right to get to work, a quarter of a mile away, in just over eight seconds. It would be a grand world.

Of course even if everyone did have those rights, few would have the capabilities. With some exceptions. Meet Jim Hall, a man who doesn't just build motorcycles. He builds monuments. And his ultimate creation, a turbocharged, six-cylinder, 1550cc rocketship, is evidence to that philosophy: The bike is a monument to speed, horsepower and wretched excess. And it's a streetbike -- something Hall could ride back and forth to work if he so desired.

As much as anything else, the bike is a monument paying tribute to what Hall considers one of the greatest motorcycles of' our time, the Honda CBX. "There's never been anything like the CBX," Hall says. "I had a Hurricane 1000, and I hated it." Hall's love affair with the Six led him to start a one-man business called CBX Racing (23047 Schoolcraft St., West Hills, CA 91307, 818/716-5429), and it drove him to build what not only is the world's ultimate CBX, but what might be the world's ultimate streetbike. Consider this: On the bike's maiden trip to the drags, it turned a 9.69-second quarter-mile at 150 miles per hour, with Hall himself on board. And this: At Cycle World’s request, professional quarter-miler Jay Gleason hopped on the machine and turned a 9.58 at 148 miles per hour with a badly slipping clutch. That's a better time than that of any of the horsepower demons assembled for Cycle World’s "Built for Speed" issue (October, 1989). And while we'll note that the CBX wasn't quite street-legal, thanks to its lack of turnsignals and use of a non-DOT slick rear tire, in neither session was the bike running more than 19 pounds of boost. It's capable of 35 pounds.

"This is a cakewalk," Gleason said, impressed by the bike's handling and power. "It's a great ride, straight down the track. With a new clutch and tire, it's definitely a nine-point-zero bike."

Hall has even more confidence. "When the (now-inoperable) air-shifter is hooked up and boost is set at 30 pounds," he says, "I know it could get into the low Eights. When Jay rode it, it was misfiring on top and there were leaks in the turbo system."

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