The CB1100 Community Forum

After a particularly challenging day, I stopped at Whole Foods Grocery Store. I picked up my somewhat healthy, reasonably tasty, and outrageously priced food. I climbed aboard my CB1100EX, looking forward to the ride home and the warm meal.

I am usually very disciplined about where I park and, more importantly, about how I exit a crowded parking lot. I usually avoid the main parking lot "road" and opt to ride the perimeter of the parking to gain access to the street, avoiding cars and pedestrians as much as possible. On this day, not so much. I took the most common route traversed by Whole Fooders and sadly had a moment.

It appears a Tesla owner had placed her car in Autopilot mode and was allowing it to park unassisted. While I was driving on the parking roadway to reach the street, a Tesla pulled in front of me suddenly and then backed into the designated parking space. Although I was driving only five miles per hour, the appearance of half a car forced me to make a difficult decision: try to stop and remain upright, hoping I did not t-bone the Tesla or stop abruptly and "lay" my motorcycle on its side to avoid the collision. I opted for the 2nd option. I applied my rear brake, pulled in my clutch,  turned hard right, and the motorcycle descended. I tucked in my legs and arms, keeping my hands on the grips. I landed with a thud, my motorcycle boot wedged between my motorcycle and the road. The handlebar weight took the brunt of the fall. The crash bars protected the tank and motor. But the end of the muffler formed the apex of this odd, sad triangle.

The lady stepped out of her car and appeared not to have noticed the would-be accident. It was quiet.

I disentangled myself from the CB1100 Pyramid and looked at my motorcycle. I began assessing the damage. I was lucky.

A gentleman outside on break witnessed everything. As he approached, he commented on my ability to "stop that big motorcycle on a dime" and asked if I was "okay." I told him I was fine. He asked if I needed help lifting the motorcycle. I gratefully accepted, placed it on the kickstand, and inspected it one more time. I thanked him for his kindness.

He asked me if I wanted to call the police and speak with the Tesla owner. I told him no because I feared what I might say, and more importantly, was not sure how Johnny Law would view the incident. It simply was not worth the effort.

He wished me well, and I started up the motorcycle and left Whole Foods.

Over the last few weeks, I repaired the damage to my handlebars, rearview mirror, crash bars, and muffler. "How To" documentation to follow when I have a moment to touch up all the pictures.

Today, I ask that you learn from my experience. Crowded parking lots and driver-assisted cars are a dangerous combination. Walk the few extra steps and take the road less traveled. Otherwise, you might find yourself deadlifting a CB1100 like me. 

Pictures of the damaged parts follow. I will add to our "How To" library soon. My CB1100EX and I have returned to our usual form, much the wiser for the experience. David

Crash Bar



Muffler



Handlebar Weight



Review Mirror



Clutch Plate Cover

rdprdp01, congratulations on your quick thinking and avoiding what may well have been a nastier accident. It seems like you are OK, which is good, and the bike is on the mend as well. It is still a bummer of a thing to have happened.

Oh, my! So sorry to hear of the mishap, but obviously glad you are OK. Sad to see the damage to your well cared for bike. Hopefully, "all the king's horses and all the king's men" will be able to put it together again.

We are both 100% now. I am passed the anger part and now Catholic guilt has taken over. I should have protected my beloved motorcycle and kept her out of harm’s way. I did enjoy the repair work.

On reflection, I think the worst thing about this is that the driver of the car had no idea it had happened. Here you are, on the ground, having saved her car from a nasty dent and her insurance premium from a larger rise, and she didn't have the grace to make sure you were all right and to say thank you for your sacrifice.

Sorry to hear this rdprdp01. I always avoid busy parking lots for the same reason. I hate looking at the scratches after a fall. Luckily, these parts are still available for replacement.

Now imagine if you did not have RLETs 

Man, sorry to hear about that! Glad you're OK, and that you found some solace in taking the time to bond with your bike a bit more, even if it's through the process of repairing it.

Can't do much for that muffler, but the mirror is easy to replace. The engine guard can be sanded smooth and reshot with some Rustoleum satin black textured paint, and it will blend right in, trust me. You can sand out that scratch on the clutch cover and hit it with some VHT high-temp clear paint, and it will blend as well.

I'm a "visual perfectionist" and am cursed with the need to have cosmetic perfection. I did some great bonding with my NC750X over the past few months. It had tipped over, and the owner had done an admirable job of touching up the side fairing and engine cover. I used these points as a price bargaining chip, and thought I'd be fine with the condition. But, I had to find a matching color for everything, sanded and reshot, and now she looks perfect, and I have mental peace and some satisfaction of a job well done. I was luckier on the muffler... it has a stamped, brushed muffler guard, and I was able to sand it out and "rebrush" the look with steel wool.

Regarding the comments about Whole Foods... yeah, park far and clear. We always do. Overpriced? Hit Whole Foods early on Sunday mornings. That's when they mark tons of stuff down by 50% to clear it out. Mrs. G makes a sport out of getting the bargains.

(02-05-2026, 03:12 AM)Cormanus Wrote: [ -> ]On reflection, I think the worst thing about this is that the driver of the car had no idea it had happened. Here you are, on the ground, having saved her car from a nasty dent and her insurance premium from a larger rise, and she didn't have the grace to make sure you were all right and to say thank you for your sacrifice.

Regarding "the other driver"... once I turned left onto a street with 2 lanes going each way.  I settled into the far right lane and I see a lady quickly approaching a stop sign for a side street on my right.  It looks to me she may not stop at all and hit me.  I don't know how hard she had to brake, but I remember her car lurching forward as I was getting close.  To avoid a possible collision, I quickly swerved left into the other lane and took a second to "give her a glaring look".  Mistake.  As I returned my focus forward, I saw a car braking hard right in front of me as there was a crosswalk.  I grabbed the brakes hard, and the split second decision was hit the car or swerve hard left into a neutral turn lane.  Instincts said the latter, but as I did so that's when I realized why the guy in front of me had stopped--I saw the pedestrian and was about to hit her.  At that point, I just bailed and tried to go down on the left side, but the bike high-sided, I flipped over on the right side and we both went down, but I didn't hit anything.    

I remember beginning to sit up right when the car that nearly pulled out and hit me rolls by.  The lady and I made eye contact for brief moment and she drove away.  A guy who had been behind me stopped, and told me immiediately, "man, I easily saw how that all played out, terrible that driver didn't stop".  He helped me get the bike upright, and after a few minutes I determined I could still ride my '04 Sportster home...handlebars wildly bent, gas tank with huge dent, mufflers practically destroyed, signals gone.  I had some cracked ribs and sore all over, but was fine otherwise. 

And that was the end of my only HD.  But the insurance money was decent and it partially paid for a humble ski boat which I've had ever since.  

Not something I want to look forward to--if you know what I mean--but I am looking forward, or maybe it's "I'm hopeful" to see how well you can put your beautiful CB1100 back together.

Yeah... regarding the other driver. If you didn't make contact with that Tesla, and the car was in self-parking mode, chances are the driver was zoned out and didn't even connect with you mentally. You were just a guy on a motorcycle who fell down. Or, the driver was panicking about your possible reaction, and figured the "don't make contact, don't engage" route was the best course to take. Most people naturally don't like confrontation. I sure don't.

I have had one contact with a car in my riding career, and was faced with the "do I try to stop or do I lay down" decision in early 2020 with a left-turning driver who didn't see me till the last minute and stopped in front of me, panicking. I took the "keep braking" choice, and got lucky. Very low impact, I stayed on the bike, didn't fall over, and just shattered my front fender. The driver of the car tried a meek "you were going too fast" argument, but the fact that I had time to slow to a near stop negated that argument. Following that, she basically hid from me till the police arrived, probably afraid of what I might do. Which was nothing... I realized she made a mistake, I was Ok, and didn't want to cause her any harm. Her insurance bought me a shiny new fender, I'm still enjoying the bike, and that's all that mattered to me.