Since the CB1100 was released in 2013, the bike has been at the top of my list as my next bike. My local dealer (only dealer on the island of Oahu) has never had a CB1100 in stock long enough for me to actually touch, sit on, oggle or test drive. The bikes they had received sold very quickly. This was all good as there were some features on the 2013 that was not to my liking so I was not completely sold on the CB1100 as my next bike.

When the 2014 CB100 dlx was announced, the changes to the bike made me take notice of the CB1100 once again. The new seat, six speed, silver wheels/engine are all changes that addressed what I felt was lacking on the 2013 model. However, the local dealer still has not received any of the new 2014 CB1100 dlx bikes (they have a standard but no dlx) but after extensively researching the dlx on this forum, I decided to do something I thought I would never do, purchase a bike sight unseen. So I had a talk with the sales manager of the Honda dealership and, to make a long story short, I expect to take possession of a new 2014 CB1100 dlx in a week or so.

My question is that how difficult will it be to transition from a cruiser to the CB1100 dlx? My background is that I am fairly new to motorcycle riding as I got my license four years ago. I purchased a Honda Shadow 750 Aero as my first bike and put on about 7,000 miles on the bike in the past four years (yea, not much mileage but I am a weekend rider and I live on an island where rides in excess of 150 miles rides do not happen). I was comfortable riding the Aero as my height is 5ft 8 inches and I weigh 140 lbs.

My main concern is dropping the CB1100 as the seat height of the CB1100 is much higher than the Aero. I straddled the 2014 CB1100 standard at the dealer and I was able to stand flatfoot but just barely (I had to scoot my butt to the very front of the seat - close to the tank). Also, another concern is feet position as my Aero had the typical cruiser position and the CB1100's position is more under the seat.

Anyway, your input will be greatly appreciated.

Went digging around some old pictures and found a couple of my first rides. Smiling from ear to ear! That three wheeler was awesome, had a separate brake for each rear wheel. You could burn some serious figure eights and donuts by tapping one brake or the other.
[url=http://s974.photobucket.com/user/Mark_Betz/media/1stride_zps7f926ccb.jpg.html]
[url=http://s974.photobucket.com/user/Mark_Betz/media/3Wheeler_zpseea83f18.jpg.html]
Sorry the pictures are not very clear. Sure miss my Dad. I was lucky to have such great parents.

Could I check with you guys on whether the Corbin Seat on their website for the 2013 model fits the 2014 CB1100EX?

I have the EX model with spoke rims and am intending to change both out for Tubeless cast wheels. However, I was told that I'd have to change both front brake discs as well in order for the cast wheel to work on my EX model. Apparently the brake discs on the front spoke wheel does not match the mounting points on the non EX models.
Anyone can help on this matter?

Thanks!

I see Bridgestone makes the BT-023 front tire in a 110/80x18 for our bike. I ran a set of BT-023's on my 2007 SV1000S. I liked them a lot.

I also noticed a new tire from Bridgestone, the T30...

T30 SPORT TOURING RADIAL REAR TIRE.

They offer a 160/60x18 size.

I rode from my home in Cumming, Ga. yesterday on a loop up through Blairsville GA, Tellico Plains TN,
on the Cherahola Skyway over to Robbinsville NC, down to Franklin NC, and then back towards Cumming.
The trip took 10 hours and I rode 325 miles...pictures are below. It was a good ride, the Skyway is pretty cool
but I got caught in the rain and got lost at the same time. Not fun!! The map that I used (needs updating),
didn't show a good route into Franklin from Robbinsville. And without cell coverage, I winged it through the
mountains (did I already say it was RAINING!!!) and was lucky enough on the other side to run into a group
of bikers who pointed me south. I mention the water.. due to the rain, an overly ambitious route, and the 'getting lost' I drank less than 1/2 bottle of water all day. Definitely not smart. I got home, late, feeling sick and woozy, clearly on the verge of dehydration. Seriously, when you're out, especially if it's hot (which it wasn't yesterday..) you need to drink plenty of water. It took all night of drinking water to get caught back up...

As I left yesterday morning (sorry, not my CB).



A shot of the bike in front of a pretty famous stop along the Appalachian Trail near Blood Mountain. Forget
the Dragon, a ride on US19 from Dahlonega GA to Blairsville is just as good.



On the Cherahola Skyway.



Sorry... no rain shots!! But here was the route...




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

These are not all that dramatic, but I'd still like to post them up.
And amazingly the tank didn't get a scratch on it according to my mother.

112 hp, 66 foot/pounds torque, 396 lb dry weight, adjustable seat height, 8 level traction control, 3 level braking control. MSRP $10,995!

Last weekend I was still working on getting the break-in miles on my bike and hubby wanted to ride it. He really liked it, although with size 14 boots he had a bit of a problem shifting the bike. He actually makes the bike look kind of small in this pic, but I know it's not.

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We rode out to Bartlett Lake, but we couldn't really enjoy the curvy roads because there always seems to be lots of LEO's and people hauling boats on that route. The lake is looking fairly low but that didn't stop lots of people from enjoying it over the Memorial Day weekend.

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/shysue/media/2014%20CB1100/20140524_112157.jpg.html]

The good news is that I got my break-in miles in, I got the first service done today, and now I can have some FUN with my bike! This upcoming Saturday we are headed up north for some twisty (and cooler) roads, taking 89 into Prescott for lunch and then continuing on 89 over Mingus Mountain into Jerome, Cottonwood, Cornville, and maybe Sedona if we have time. We're spending the night in Jerome at the haunted Connor Hotel, and I'm not anxious to experience any ghostly activities but it was the best hotel in Jerome we could find short notice. I'll let you know if we see any ghosts, LOL.


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On a side note, I did something with the bike that was an accomplishment for me - I got it up on the center stand by myself! I was never able to do that with my other bikes. The Concours and the ST1300 were just too big for me to get them up on their stands, but I was able to do it with this bike. Oh, I think I got the ST up once, but it was so hard I never did it again. Anyway, just thought I'd share that with y'all.

After filling up today I had the option of taking the shortest route home. I chose to go the other way. The next time I had the opportunity to take the shortest way home I again went the other way. 5 times in all I could have turned and expedited my trip home and each time I thought "I'm not ready to go home yet, keep going"

This is honestly the best bike I have ever owned and I have owned a bunch. Love riding it, love looking at it. Love everything about it but that dang left handlebar switch ...had to apologize today to a nice older lady when I pulled in behind her into a parking lot and (again) hit my horn instead of cancelling my turn signal

Close to perfection for me.

Oh and I take it back about not caring about the 6th gear in the trans. It has turned out to be sooo sweet. Necessary? NO! Sweet? YES!

If anyone wants to see a vine video my employer made starring me and my CB1100 you can check it out here:

https://vine.co/NavyFederal


Yes, I know, I am a nerd.