The CB1100 Community Forum

Interesting stuff - even though it's from a US perspective - but generally I think it can probably be applied to most of us.
I recognized myself on many points and facts.

.. seems that guys who gave up riding to get married, raise a family, and have a career decided to get back onto a bike assuming that they didn’t lose any skills – except that they did. Motorcycles are also more powerful than they used to be, which can be a surprise for riders who haven’t been on one in awhile.

The main reason I downsized to a 471cc bike. Less opportunity to get in trouble.

The CB was my first bike after taking a 30 year break from riding. It took many thousands of miles riding to get back up to speed again. I missed second gear when I rode away from the dealership. Since all the staff comes out and watches a new owner ride away, it was kind of embarrasing, lol.

I've been riding continuously since 1973 and have really noticed an increase in my risk aversion over the past 5 years or so. I'm now content to cruise at the speed limit, where in the past I usually rode 20-30 mph over and didn't think twice about crossing the double-yellow to overtake slower traffic. Those days are over.

(02-01-2017, 04:18 AM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: [ -> ].. seems that guys who gave up riding to get married, raise a family, and have a career decided to get back onto a bike assuming that they didn’t lose any skills – except that they did. Motorcycles are also more powerful than they used to be, which can be a surprise for riders who haven’t been on one in awhile.

The main reason I downsized to a 471cc bike. Less opportunity to get in trouble.

This sounds familiar. After a 25 year hiatus from riding, I attended a vintage motorcycle rally. The buzz came back. I decided to buy a Triumph Bonneville until I saw the $13,000 base price. Bonnies were $1300 out-the-door when my buddies rode them in the late 60s.

I looked around and bought a CB500XA for less than $6800 out-the-door. I was concerned that a 500cc bike might not be powerful enough. But I was wrong, it was surprizing quick.

As I was not use the 6-speed close ratio transmission and instant response of the fuel injection, I hobby horsed out of the dealers lot. That was embarrassing, but not dangerous.

That happened two days later when I went to make a left turn at a city intersection. As I approached the car at stop sign on my left started to move forward and stopped when they saw me. I snapped the throttle off when they moved, and back on when they stopped. The bike immediately leaped forward towards the curb. Fortunately there was no one parked there as I wobbled awkwardly around corner. I learned to use second gear after that scare to smooth out turns at intersections.

It took a number of rides before I was comfortable and riding smoothly. I am sure there will be a new learning curve when I get my CB1100 EX a few months from now. The EX is 100 pounds heavier and has twice the horsepower. I'll also have to watch the fuel gauge, as I know it won't get 81 miles to the Imperial gallon like the CB500.

(02-01-2017, 04:18 AM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: [ -> ].. seems that guys who gave up riding to get married, raise a family, and have a career decided to get back onto a bike assuming that they didn’t lose any skills – except that they did. Motorcycles are also more powerful than they used to be, which can be a surprise for riders who haven’t been on one in awhile.

The main reason I downsized to a 471cc bike. Less opportunity to get in trouble.

Did you join the CB500 club, too?!

(02-01-2017, 09:32 AM)Papa Weeley_imp Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-01-2017, 04:18 AM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: [ -> ].. seems that guys who gave up riding to get married, raise a family, and have a career decided to get back onto a bike assuming that they didn’t lose any skills – except that they did. Motorcycles are also more powerful than they used to be, which can be a surprise for riders who haven’t been on one in awhile.

The main reason I downsized to a 471cc bike. Less opportunity to get in trouble.

Did you join the CB500 club, too?!

Did you join the CB500 club, too?!
I joined a CB500 Forum before I bought. It was mostly CB500R and CB500F members at that time. But they sure liked their bikes, and had very few complaints about them.

When the [url=http://www.cb500x.com/index.php]CB500X Forum opened, I joined that. There was a lot of good information there. The forum members knew more about the CB500X than the dealers.

I struggled trying to install my center stand spring. There were two suggestions that did not work. I walked away cussing. Finally someone posted about using the greased shaft of a Phillips screwdriver as a lever. Worked like a charm.

That's an old mechanics trick we used 30 years ago, only we used flat blade screw drivers. THe tip fits on the centerstand button easier.. Works Great.

(02-01-2017, 01:09 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]That's an old mechanics trick we used 30 years ago, only we used flat blade screw drivers. THe tip fits on the centerstand button easier.. Works Great.

Yep, I've used that old trick several times.

Like some of the others, I had a 34 year break between motorcycles and only came back to bikes in 1992 when I retired - and that was almost by accident.
A younger co-worker got into bikes and stirred up my interest once again by taking me on occasional visits to bike shops. Four months later I had a new Honda Hawk NT650