Manufactured by Honda between 1978 and 1982, the CBX was a production bike that has deceiving bodywork and a massive 1047cc inline, 24-valve, 6-cylinder engine that produced 105 hp. That low-frequency rumble coming out of this at idle and the high pitch tone when revved could make the hair on the back of your neck stand.

Until now, Honda hadn’t shown much interest in recreating that magic, but fresh patent application images show the Japanese intent to bring the beauty of the six cylinders onto a café-racer of the future.

The CBX from Japan is no ordinary motorcycle. It took the vibe game to another level with having six cylinders under the belly rather than the contemporary four. Yes, it will make any four-cylinder motorcycle sound like a baby and gives serious competitions to the Formula One machines. With Kawasaki and Yamaha belting their products on the market with lighter and smaller machines, the CBX lost steam.

Apart from the Honda Goldwing and BMW K1600, there aren’t any modern-day two-wheelers running on 6 cylinders, but that is about to change. Registered recently with Japan’s intellectual property office, the new café-racer deigns holding a 6-cylinder mill have peaked our interests, and we cannot stop brimming.

Reminiscent of the ‘60s, the sketch shows us swooping headlight and rear seat cowls, fairing windscreen, clip-ons and other bits hankering the lines of classic cafe racer styling. But the same cannot be said about the chassis equipment nor for the engine, which obviously, will be liquid cooled with modern coating liners (hence, gets narrower than air cooled) and conform to Euro IV or V norms with 3-into-1-into 3 exhausts.

The sketches do not hide the fact that the bike makes use of USD forks, monoshock, large-dia brake discs with four-piston calipers, alloy wheels and the works. Although the CBX design has a solo seat, passenger pegs give away the seams to unplug the rear cowl. Out front, the fairings have a headlight cutout which more so looks like it’s there for the number plate. Twin LED projectors on each side might act as the illuminators.

We have no idea if something this cool will actually make it into the final design if it ever takes shape. But it’s a beautiful thing this one. Of course, all these at the moment are just speculations, and nothing can be confirmed until the upcoming Intermot or EICMA 2018.