The CB1100 Community Forum

Yeah, you can tell #6 is a render. The cooling fins are all wrong. I kinda like #7. As Kiowa said, the mods aren't overblown.

I really like #7. Actually nothing I don't like about it, except no centerstand.

Yes, call me a traditionalist (well, for motorcycles only) but my vote also goes to #7. Absolutely beautiful motorcycle!

(and I see the owner used the infamous '2-by-4-wooden-block'-method to make his bike stand up straighter!! :-) )
And perhaps it is time I reconsider my position re rubber fork gaiters. I have been reluctant to put them on but I have to admit they look quite good...

Time for a controversy...

Coming as I do from a 1960s, UK cafe-racer tradition (I started my motorcycling with my Father in the 1940s/50s, then with my own motorcycles in the 1960s), it's not surprising that so few supposed "cafe racers" inspire anything in me but derision. Most are a cobbled-together collection of tiny "fashion item" custom rear lights, 'bobber' accessories (to minimise the rear end), removal of parts, modern trick exhausts, and expensive paint jobs. None seem to be true to the cafe racer ethos, which had its grounding in Clubman racing and making road 'bikes look like racing 'bikes of the time.

To me, a true cafe racer has to have some specifics anchored in the past (ie tradition), otherwise it's just another modern custom 'bike. Just ask yourself "Could I race this on a short circuit"? Most times the answer will be "He**, NO!!"

This is a Clubmans racing 'bike of the 1960s, intended for short-circuit racing (it's a 'Triton')...
It's a Triumph engine (about the best affordable at the time and clearly tuned), in a Norton "Featherbed" frame (about the best at the time), a Manx Norton racing tank (probably alloy), megaphone exhaust and bellmouthed carbs (for power), clip-on h/bars and racing seat (to get the racing position), alloy mudguards (fenders) plus sectioned chaincase, alloy oil tank, etc., for lightness.


But this is a true "cafe racer" (this is a 'Triton' too)... Do you see how the 'bike follows the lines and essential details of the racing 'bike, all the parts are there, yet it is road legal (in the UK). All this was done for a reason and with style, unlike most modern cafe racers which really are just pastiches and which miss so many vital aspects of a true "cafe racer".


Discuss... (running for cover!!)

In that case, #5 comes the closest to a modern interpretation. And, it's not too annoying

(10-27-2020, 10:35 PM)Roper_imp Wrote: [ -> ]In that case, #5 comes the closest to a modern interpretation. And, it's not too annoying

Yes, I agree. Get rid of those "flat tracker style" h/bars and substitute clip-ons (at the very least 'Ace' bars) - then you'd be pretty nearly there... stripped down for racing, maybe a performance engine (who knows) and the lightest weight it could be. Nice.
Interesting ( I don't necessarily agree with everything).

Building A Cafe Racer...
https://www.bikeexif.com/building-a-cafe-racer
A really good likeness of what I'm talking about - a good cafe racer. It's only let down by a couple of points (in my opinion).
Whoever thought those exhaust pipes look good needs new bi-focals! This 'bike is crying out for 'swept-backs'.
Those engine cases/rocker covers are crying out to be polished - they were never black in the day, except for the tin chain cases.
That unprotected rear chain/sprocket is an abortion.
But otherwise, I think they've done a darned fine job. That Grimeca front stopper is a masterstroke!

https://www.bikeexif.com/triumph-bonneville-11

4 isn't offensive.

5 would be fun to look at on a display

Out of the bunch- 7 would be the one in my garage.



I guess I will throw my work in progress into the ring- have at it...if you don't like it, let me know.

I shoot more for practical over style- so has usable (OEM) mirrors, larger oem blinkers, oem wider and swept back handle bars, '17 sbdv forks, ikon shocks, oem heated grips, more correct looking '13 controls.

I *love* the look of the Moriwaki 4-4 but holding off part because of the loss of center stand and part because of cost. I also think I like the DLX tank shape better but I haven't seen one in real life.

Some parts I like, Dubs, and some not so keen.
I'm not a fan of "black" - I love the candy colours on motorcycles.
Not so keen on your (very comfortable-looking!) seat, but as you say, "practical over style". It must be very comfortable to ride.
I like your style of tank, and much prefer it to my later, 2018, "pregnant elephant" styled one!
And I wish we, here in the UK, had the tiny numberplates that you and the rest of the world seems to have on their motorcycles.

But all in all, it's a lovely 'bike. After all, it's a CB1100 with that gorgeous engine!

I guess I am going enough not to have pre-conceptions in my mind about what it's supposed to be, nor do I experience CB1100 as a retro motorcycle. I see it as a UJM in purest form, perfect platform for any custom work, so just going by aesthetics I like all of them except for #3, it's poorly proportioned, and that exhaust is an abomination

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(10-28-2020, 03:51 AM)Bazbro_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Some parts I like, Dubs, and some not so keen.
I'm not a fan of "black" - I love the candy colours on motorcycles.
Not so keen on your (very comfortable-looking!) seat, but as you say, "practical over style". It must be very comfortable to ride.
I like your style of tank, and much prefer it to my later, 2018, "pregnant elephant" styled one!
And I wish we, here in the UK, had the tiny numberplates that you and the rest of the world seems to have on their motorcycles.

But all in all, it's a lovely 'bike. After all, it's a CB1100 with that gorgeous engine!

The seat is probably my favorite part.

Right down to the heavy grain texture on it.