Honda CB 1000 R Stardust Swiss Limited Edition 2020 — Specifications

Fifteen units. Not one more. When Honda Switzerland decides to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of man's first steps on the Moon, the Swiss subsidiary doesn't do things by halves: it sources a piece of meteorite and bolts it to the tank of a 145-horsepower roadster. One might smile. In the end, it makes perfect sense.

It was Florian Prezusio, son of watchmaker Antoine Prezusio — a Geneva specialist in timepieces featuring stellar fragments — who carried out this integration. The fragment sits on the front of the tank, exactly where the eye naturally falls. Hollywood, certainly. But in the world of micro-run limited editions, the line between extravagant and collectable is thin. And this Stardust crosses it with aplomb.

The base CB 1000 R is no ordinary motorcycle. Its 998 cc inline four-cylinder produces 145 hp at 10,500 rpm and 104.9 Nm at 8,250 rpm, all contained within an aluminium mono-backbone frame that tips the scales at 212 kg fully fuelled. Against a Kawasaki Z1000 or a Suzuki GSX-S1000, it positions itself as the most sharply styled of the group, in that neo-retro segment that Honda reinvented with the Neo Sports Café. The Swiss build takes this logic to its conclusion. Kineo wire-spoke wheels replace the standard items; combined with the single-sided swingarm, they create a visual effect close to what the MV Agusta Dragster offers — the aesthetic benchmark of the segment. The Bridgestone RS10 tyres, with their track-biased compound, are well matched to the 145 hp on tap. The SC Project exhaust works on the ears as much as the eyes.

The rest of the build plays the haute couture card. Alcantara seat, brushed aluminium rear mudguard, laser-engraved side panels, Rizoma controls, a discreet flyscreen. The two-tone black and grey paint is cut through with gold pinstripes, and certain engine components have received a surface treatment that breaks from the unit's usual dark appearance. The whole is coherent, rare, and conceived for someone who isn't looking for another motorcycle in their garage, but a piece.

At €18,655, the Stardust is aimed at the discerning collector — likely already the owner of a watch with a Gibeon meteorite dial. It is not a track motorcycle, nor truly an everyday machine with its 830 mm seat height and RS10 tyres that grow temperamental in the wet. It is an object of desire built around a technically solid foundation, dressed by expert hands, and limited to fifteen units worldwide. In that context, the price becomes almost secondary.