The CB1100 Community Forum

The bike above was actually designed to be a 750-900 and the prototype you see was the prototype shown at the 1999 Tokyo motorcycle show. It was actually dead on correct to the designers original drawing.

personally I would have preferred this design exactly as prototyped. No changes except maybe for color.

You're absolutely spot-on with those observations, Bax! Particularly that Honda are still tinkering with the styling cues, as if they're unsure of the market and trying to get a better-selling 'bike. For me, the big draw of this CB is the sheer quality of manufacture - the styling I can handle myself, with my desire to reproduce my youthful love via the K17 kit!
But, at the end of the day, we like what we like, we buy for different reasons and the beauty of motorcycling is that we can normally get exactly (or near enough) the sort of motorcycle we want. The CB1100 lends itself to either remain attractively stock, or be custom'd in a whole variety of ways, each to our own likes.

(03-03-2019, 01:05 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]The bike above was actually designed to be a 750-900 and the prototype you see was the prototype shown at the 1999 Tokyo motorcycle show. It was actually dead on correct to the designers original drawing.

personally I would have preferred this design exactly as prototyped. No changes except maybe for color.

I suppose that could have been Honda's 30th anniversary celebration model of the CB?

(03-03-2019, 01:05 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]The bike above was actually designed to be a 750-900 and the prototype you see was the prototype shown at the 1999 Tokyo motorcycle show. It was actually dead on correct to the designers original drawing.

personally I would have preferred this design exactly as prototyped. No changes except maybe for color.

Now that is REALLY interesting, Ferret. It clearly shows that Honda were aiming for a 'retro', to compete with BMW's, Triumph's, Ducati's and that the CB1100 has since morphed into something far less controversial. Honda, worried about something that's a bit of a 'statement'? Or has Corporate Honda taken fright? Hard to believe, but there it is, illustrated in your photo.
Thanks for that, Ferret - the first time I've seen the prototype.

DESIGNER CHAT

Unique vintage look with all the mod cons of a new bike



IT JUST HAD TO BE AN AIR COOLED ENGINE


Instant acceleration has its appeal, as does modern styling that conveys the swiftness of the bike. But there’s a lot more to the path of motorcycle evolution.

I found myself thinking along these lines for the first time when I returned to Japan after several years in Europe. It was also at this time that I grabbed a pencil and quickly sketched the drawing shown on this page.

Tires. Engine. Frame. Tank. Seat. I thought about how to craft all the necessary elements beautifully and combine them in a perfect whole.

A simple and efficient double cradle frame embraces the air-cooled inline-4 engine which secured Honda’s status as the 4-cylinder pioneer and the creator of the CB750 Four and the CB400 Four.

Building on this proud tradition, the approach to the new bike strives for beauty, craftsmanship, ease. In other words, I wanted to create a beautiful motorcycle with artisan-level handiwork that’s also approachable and easy to ride.

“Why are you giving that new engine air-cooling when you know its performance won’t be as good? You had better have a pretty convincing explanation!”

That’s the kind of thing people said when we began the development process. And I could understand that thinking. Going with an air-cooled engine was bound to seem “retro” to people at Honda, which had long favored liquid-cooled systems in the pursuit of maximal performance.

When asked to explain my choice, I could only say: “My only reason is that a lot of customers like air-cooled engines.”


I like the metallic sound the engine makes as it cools… A motorcycle’s engine should have oil in it, not water… Just looking at the cooling fins inspires me… There is something about an air-cooled engine—a feeling you simply can’t get from the liquid-cooled engine in a high-performance bike. To me, a bike rider and a bike fan, a future without air-cooled engines just didn’t seem right. And I was certain I wasn’t the only one who felt this way!

Based on my sketch, this “bike that defies logic and just demands to be ridden” became a reality: We displayed the CB Four concept model at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, and I was extremely thankful for the enthusiastic response it received there. In 2007, aiming to create a bike that fulfilled fans’ vision even more fully, we displayed a new concept model at the Tokyo Motor Show, the CB1100F. Eventually, this concept model became the production model known as the CB1100.


This is the sketch the designer drew after his return from Europe. Based on it, the CB Four concept model was born.

see sketch at bottom of this page

https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc...CB1100?d=1

The drum brake-styled front discs are an interesting attempt of retro.

you have to remember when Honda made the prototype they were still producing the Nighthawk CB 750 an air cooled inline 4 with hydraulic valves, and would continue to produce that bike until 2003. Makes you wonder why they were messing with a new 750 prototype to begin with and explains why it morphed into an 1100 after the Nighthawk was discontinued.

(03-03-2019, 01:25 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]you have to remember when Honda made the prototype they were still producing the Nighthawk CB 750 an air cooled inline 4 with hydraulic valves, and would continue to produce that bike until 2003. Makes you wonder why they were messing with a new 750 prototype to begin with and explains why it morphed into an 1100 after the Nighthawk was discontinued.

Kawasaki brought out the W650 for model year 1999, superceding the Zephyr. Maybe Honda were preparing themselves, if it proved to be a hit.

it was four years after the demise of the Nighthawk 750, in 2007 that Honda showed the next prototype of the CB 1100 at Tokyo. In 2009 they showed another prototype which ended up being the finished product which went to Japan, Australia and New Zealand in 2010. It wouldn't go to the US until three years after that, in 2013.

(02-04-2019, 12:18 PM)peterbaron_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Wyvern =
I must have centre stand, so have to forget about the beauty&sound...at least for the time being

2017EX, others who may be interested: My pipemaster 4-4 works with the center stand. Several people in this thread saying otherwise, but I have them both on my bike just fine...

Also, I can confirm that they do discolor like the '14 pipes, single walled and all. I actually enjoy that about the headers but I can understand why some may not.