So the Honda top box, luggage rack, engine guards and Road Comet 1 came in from samurider on Thursday so I stayed up late getting it all just right. Here are a few pictures of my new bike (it has all of 4 miles on the odometer) with equipment before heading out on my first ride to work.

First time I'm sharing pictures here so if the links don't work, don't be surprised but let me know.









I think most of the time I will leave the top box off as I prefer the look of the bike without it. OTOH it was a prerequisite for my wife to ride on the back.

I read yesterday that Horex has reached the end of the road. This was a very interesting (although expensive) German motorcycle. Very original VR6 engine, and some classic looks. It is sad that no small motorcycle manufacturer seems to be able to survive.

The only real issue I've had with Honda's execution of the original CB1100 was the cheap looking plastic left side cover. Last week I ordered a 2014 DLX side cover from Bike Bandit and I installed it today. What a difference, really looks great I think and money well spent. Shame on Honda for placing such cheap crap on what is a first rate bike. I used a nut and some Loc-tite with the OE bolt to cover the lower hole in the new cover. I found it necessary to place a hard rubber grommet on the lower bolt mount, where the lower bolt would fasten with the original cover in place, to offset the slight movement in that area.

This topic may have been discussed, if so, my apologies. When I bought my cb1100 new, there was a yellow dot on both wheel rims. There was also a yellow dot on my bridgestone tires that was lined up with the yellow dot on each rim. When I had my front tire replaced with the oem bridgestone tire, it also had a yellow dot. However, the dealership mounted the tire with the yellow dot 180° from the dot on the rim. They also added 3 stick on weights to balance tire. Should they have aligned the yellow dots like they were when new, would the tire have been better balanced and not needed the stick on weights?
I am now getting rear tire mounted. Shoud I have the dealership make sure to align yellow dots on rim and tire?
Picture of front tire and rim when new.


Picture of rear tire and wheel when new

I thought I heard somewhere that Honda puts a yellow dot on the heaviest part of rim Bridgestone puts a yellow dot on the lightest side of tire. By aligning the yellow dots, the tire and wheel cancel each other out, therefore making wheel more balanced and needing few, if any stick on weights to balance. Does any one know if I am right or wrong. There were no weights on either rim when new. Thanks.

Big rigs banned from Tail of the Dragon:
[url=http://jalopnik.com/big-rigs-banned-from-tennessees-tail-of-the-dragon-1667428609/+damon]Lanesplitter Article

Basically any vehicle over 30 feet is banned as of next month.

I have never been, but it gets mentioned a lot. I'm just interested in this because up where I live they try to keep trucks off back roads as well. What do you think of this?

I just installed a NC Plexistar2 for the winter. I have had these on other naked bike, it works real well on the CB.

Ventured out this morning to test the shield. Temp was 29 degrees, as soon as i put my helmet on the shield fogged up, yep it was cold. Had my heated jacket along with a 3 season windproof jacket and windproof ski pants.

The plexi2 keeps all the wind from your helmet ( no buffeting) allowing me to crack the face shield for DE-fogging. Ten minute's into the ride i lowered the heated gear to a comfortable 50% usage. My hands where cool but well protected from the wind, need to find a solution for my feet, after 50 miles they where a bit cold, thought about my heated socks but remembered how uncomfortable the wires can be on your feet.

The bike handled amazingly well through my favorite twisty road at 10mph above the speed limit. The PR3's warm up fast and no problem with snake strips with the cold temps.

I know it doesn't compliment the bike but will allow you to ride in very cold temps very comfortably. I may even try it for long summer trips.

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I have the Over st. st. engine guards on my 2013 and wanted them also on my 2014 DLX but the 2013 ones did not fit because of the slightly larger transmission.
I therefor had put the OEM Honda guards on my 2014.
Yesterday I received a set of 2014 Over guards from Mr. T and they are made to fit the 2014DLX,
I like the Over ones better than the ones from Honda : made of stainless steel and they are more substantial and more protective incase of a fall/tip over/ crash.

Ups, this morning at the service station I filled in 14.2 liter into the 13.7 liter tank of my CB.

Somehow I had lost track of my gauge. I guess, I shouldn't had ride any longer.

...lucky man I was.

Todays ride was a weird one. Temp only varied 1 degree from 36 when I took off to 37 and back to 36 by the time I got home. Started off without electrics, but at the 40 mile mark, I stopped and plugged in. There was a wintry mix early this morning, but I waited until 1:00 pm to ride and the roads were mostly dry. What made it weird was the gloomy, dreary, damp, and cold conditions that never improved. Non fans of Ohio often call it "perma-gray".

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Today's ride also marks another year in which I've ridden in every month of the year Jan-Dec. I think that makes 8 years in a row now. My goal for the year was 25,000 miles and as of today I am at 24,906. 94 miles to go and 29 days to do it in. I know I'll get in 70 tomorrow as I am riding over to Sporttour on the western side of Cinti to have new tires put on the ST. Maybe I will just take the long way home and knock it out. Hmmm I wonder if 26,000 is possible? May as well give it a try. Been a great year of riding so far!

I've installed lower foot pegs. The rear brake pedal will not adjust low enough for a comfortable position. Aside from cutting & welding, has anyone found an alternative pedal that rests lower that the stock unit ? Thanks, Rocket