Ah, the striping on the tank is what threw me, I was under the assumption that most 81s had the black on the bottom with a white pinstripe. I really do like the twin shockers, with that enormous 23in front wheel. That's a great looking old bike, and beautiful country to ride it in.
dude I had a Z1000 and now I have the CB....sure the Z was quicker like your bandit, but I really enjoy the CB. Here is my personal pro/con list:
Pros -
cheap & super easy to maintain - dude tires are only like $130-150 a set!!
plenty of real-world power for me. I've run 7.7 in the 1/8, and I'm FAR from proficient at drag racing (and at the time I was 260lbs)
looks - goes without saying
I added a slip on, pcv and k&n, I'm at 89whp. headers would put me in the mid-90's easily
bike handles great for me, but i'm not using it to carve corners. it will do every bit of what I ask from it.
Cons -
speed limiter - I don't make it a habit to ride fast, but I like to blast down a track from time to time
not much aftermarket support yet, but seems like that is changing
resale value, I would buy used if i had to do it all over again
the seat took some getting used to, it feels very narrow at the front, but now I'm pretty used to it
insurance - I fig'd having a relatively docile standard bike would be cheap to insure....but not for me it isn't! I was shocked!
We can be a bit biased here which shouldn't come as a surprise. So you're asking a bit of a baited question in a sense.
Obviously, a test ride can't be beat for figuring out how you might get along with the bike. If that's not possible, I'd encourage you to have a look at the [url=http://rideapart.com/2013/07/rideapart-review-2013-honda-cb1100-abs/]CB1100 Review that they did on rideapart.com. I found it to be one of the more balanced, and extensive reviews that I've found on the CB and I agree with most of what was written.
Find a new insurance company. After being with Progressive forever with no claims, the wanted an arm and a leg to add the CB1100. They rated it the same as the CBR1000. No amount of discussion with managers could sort the issue. So new insurance company with a rate ⅛ of Progressive.
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Thanks again for the replies and link, and I like hearing lower maintenance and tire cost. I know that it is easy to be biased towards something you've dropped a lot of money on, however I wanted to hear some experiences from people that actually own one, both good and bad. I'm hoping I can find one to demo/test ride somewhere in the east TN/Western NC/SE VA area, but until then, I'm going to be relying on other's opinions and experiences and trying to read every review I can find.
(04-21-2014, 10:31 AM)enzo_imp Wrote: [ -> ]An 81, the last before they mounted the mono shock and made the XLR.
Nice bike and great shot, Enzo. Where's it taken?
Zeevo, I can't help on the comparison, but the CB is a lovely bike to ride and surprisingly light and agile the moment it starts moving. I bought mine after reading lots of reviews and a very brief test ride which just confirmed what I expected. I think the advice to test if you can is sound, because only you will know whether it fails to meet your expectations. Good luck. I hope you end up joining us, although I expect you'd be welcome to stick around anyway. People here are very tolerant.
It's a bike that makes you want to take it out at 11pm at night just for the sake of riding it and for no other purpose...I've ridden a mate's naked Bandit and it would never pass that test! (Although they are a good solid bike) I reckon a 5 min test ride will have it sorted for you either way, yea or nay.
Hi folks,
Hope things are good! Had 600 and 1200 Bandits also 650 and 1250 versions. All I can say is that my new CB 1100 does everything the Suzukis do, but has a much better power curve. And is better built! Both great bikes but the CB justs gets my vote.
Stay shiny side up!
Take care