(12-27-2019, 02:55 AM)Wisedrum_imp Wrote: [ -> ] (12-27-2019, 02:42 AM)VLJ_imp Wrote: [ -> ] (12-26-2019, 11:52 PM)jimgl3_imp Wrote: [ -> ]unless you are going to race on a GP circuit, this bike has plenty of power.
FTFY
The bike has a wonderful motor that is perfectly suited for the CB1100's design brief, but make no mistake, for an 1140cc I4 from Honda, it is definitely at least 25 rwhp underpowered. Give the CB1100 75 ft-lbs of torque and 115 rwhp straight from the factory, and there would be precious little reason to own any other retro standard.
E11, the Z900RS isn't available in tacky Kawi green. Its main color motif is a rootbeer brown and orange homage to the original Z1. No green to be found anywhere on the bike, unless you're talking about the Cafe variant with the bullet fairing and lower bars.
Also, the Triumph for you (someone who seems to want a performance retro, as opposed to something like the Speed Triple, which falls into the Supernaked category) is the new Speed Twin, which is a lighter, more agile, much more comfortable Thruxton R that looks more like a Bonneville, only with modern 17" wheels.
Oh, and yes, as others are mentioning, the Yamaha XSR900 would also be a great choice, but it does stray rather far from the whole retro thing. Great bike, but thoroughly modern. Unless you're talking the yellow and black "Yamaha speed blocks" paint scheme from the Kenny Roberts replica 60th Anniversary model, only the XSR900's single round headlight and bench seat really give any sort of a nebulous nod to any old school Yamaha model.
The CB don't need such a power upgrade. The engine is fine the way it is and strong. There's no reason to wish another retro bike. Of course it depends on what you want and see in a motorbike. The only reason why I own two other different motorbikes is, I want some variation and like different motor layouts like a single cylinder and a real parallel twin. All aircooled ones. Not because the CB feels in a way underpowered. The opposite is true.
Wisedrum
The CB don't need such a power upgrade. The engine is fine the way it is and strong. Their is no reason to wish another retro bike. Of course it depends on what you want and see in a motorbike. The only reason why I own two other different motorbikes is, I want some variation and like different motor lalyouts like a single cylinder and a real parallel twin. All aircooled ones. Not because the CB feels in a way underpowered. The opposite is true.
Wisedrum
Except that there are countless people who have ridden the CB1100 and disagree with you. Riding the bike at elevation, I would be one of them. The bike needs more power, in order to pull a grade with any authority up in the mountains. Make it a two-up ride, with luggage and a giant windshield, and it only gets worse.
There is zero doubt that one of the main reasons the CB1100 never sold well in America is the fact that nearly every review of the bike described it as needlessly underpowered. "Great bike, amazing attention to detail, handles surprisingly well, beautiful to behold. If only Honda had given it more power. For an eleven hundred cc inline-four pushing five hundred and sixty pounds of motorcycle, eighty-five horsepower can best be described as 'adequate.'"
In other motorcycle forums mickey and I frequent, we see people left and right ripping the Honda's relative lack of power. Nearly all of those people admit that it's a beautiful, well-turned-out machine, but its meager motor is a dealbreaker for them. I was right there with them. I sat on the fence for years about the bike before making my purchase, largely because I was worried I would find it too slow and boring.
Plenty of other people never got off that fence.
Here's the thing. Had Honda given the CB1100 the usual horsepower and torque of an eleven hundred I4 UJM, they wouldn't have lost a single current owner of the bike. We all still would have bought and loved our CB1100s. Not one of us ever said, "The main reason I bought this bike is it offers only eighty-five horsepower. I love that it won't accelerate on top, and that I can't get a sniff of redline above third gear."
Conversely, plenty of prospective buyers took a pass on the CB1100, precisely for that reason. Honda made a great bike with the CB1100, but by dumbing down the motor the way they did, purely on the whim of a single Large Project Leader back in Japan, they greatly limited its fun factor, and, as a result, its sales potential. Even the RS version's sales numbers were greatly diminished by the motor's lack of sportiness, when the rest of the bike was ostensibly designed to seem sportier than the EX model. Reviewers and punters alike saw right through the smoke and mirrors.
Squealing front brakes notwithstanding, I love my CB1100, including the motor. That being said, I would love it even more if the motor offered more grunt down low, and more acceleration up top. So, too, would many other people, as evidenced by all of the "How can I get more power out of this thing?" threads that immediately pop up in every forum discussion, whenever the CB1100 is the subject.
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