Oh, it's air! This thing rotates a lot easier than I'd anticipated.

WARNING: This is an impression of the bike's performance capabilities from someone who has ridden sportsbikes and other types for 35 years. If you don't approve of this sort of thing on the street, you should stop reading now and go play checkers or something.

I've been keeping my throttle hand while in lower gears on a tight leash until I melded with the bike. I don't like road rash, and pushing a bike too hard too soon is a good way grab yourself a big ol' heapin' helpin' of it. But this past weekend the weather was nice (for Houston, anyway: 90F and lower humidity), and I had rolled 5,000 miles on the way home from work on Friday. I decided I had "melded" sufficiently and it was time for some teenager-ish hijinks. I'm 45, but don't let that fool you: my immaturity knows no bounds. Just ask the wife.

I launched off the driveway with appropriate noise and spectacle to annoy the old ladies -- then I hit the first stop sign a whole 200 feet from the driveway. We have a stop sign Nazi on our HOA board. The woman thinks putting red signs at every bloody intersection will make things safer. We don't do tea, needless to say.

Anyhow, at the first stop there was a car coming opposite me about 100 feet away with a cute-ish goil in it, so my immaturity immediately suborned what little higher brain functions I possess. Drop that clutch, and up she comes! (The bike, not the goil -- want to be very clear on that point in case the wife sees this.) It wasn't as quick as my old CBR, but it certainly didn't require any tugging; all torque. Unfortunately it doesn't balance very well, as there's quite a bit of iron up front. It was down again within 50 feet as I backed off just the tiniest smidge. Not that it matters; I wasn't interested in unicycling down the street, just showing the goil how dumb I am. Mission accomplished! I could tell she was impressed by the way she utterly ignored me. Oh well... Onward!

Hit some very familiar back roads with good twisties and quality pavement and I decided to knock some of that shiny off the peg feelers. She goes over further than I'd thought, as well. Points easily and tracks directly toward my visual hold at the curve apex with no wobblies at all. Very stable in 90mph sweeping curves, and responds quite predictably to trail braking, (much better than a cruiser, but that's not saying much). The front caliper has just the right feel for this size of bike, without the supersport twitchiness. Stands nice and smoothly on early braking in a high speed corner, as well. Better, in fact, than the 600 did. That thing tended to get a bit squirrely with late front brake, maybe because the front was lighter due to the fairing. Dunno, but the CB is quite stable.

Only thing I don't like about the cornering is that the bars aren't ideally situated for pushing it down. Bit too high. Consequently, I have to use more peg pressure than a sport would require. A set of low bars may solve this problem. I shall experiment.

Straight hard braking is good, but the rear does tend to lock rather more easily that I think it should. It's not a huge problem, as the frontal weight of the big power plant keeps the locked rear from getting really fishy, and the only time you should be on that rear anyway is for emergency stops, or possible light dragging in slow traffic for stability. But the bike came to a quick, controlled stop on three different attempts from 70 and I experienced no frontal lock up or even a hint of it. (Standard brakes; I don't do ABS.)

Power-on shifting at high rpms is very smooth, at least 3-4 and 4-5. I experienced a few no-shifts without the clutch on 2-3. 1-2 is a no-go; clutch only. Not a big deal, as I tend to clutch most of the time anyway. I've always maintained that any transmission you can shift clutchless from 1-2 probably isn't built very well. The trans on this bike is very solid and positive. Typical Honda quality in that respect.

So, my semi-official performance evaluation of the CB1100 to date is: Acceptable, With Perks. You're not going to beat a R-variant of any sort in a flat-out race, but that's not the point. She's sexy AND smart, without all the plastic nonsense.

Only thing I think will be a necessary accessory for performance riding at this point is some bar-end mirrors, because the Mickeys are completely useless when you're down over the tank. I fiddled with various positions, but they're just too high. Anyway, they're hideous. They'll be going bye-bye soon.

Gonna try an area further west with more vertical movement in the roads in a few weeks when the weather dips down from OMFG It's Hot! to Mostly Just Miserable. I'll let you know how she handles gravity games.

So, a few months ago I ordered a Cozy Seat (I loved the looks!) from Japan, but mistakenly ordered the "low" version. I've mentioned in other threads that I found myself sitting on the downward slope of the rear of the seat.

I considered buying the tall Cozy Seat, or ordering the K&H, but decided to search locally. I found a local upholsterer who would take my Cozy Seat, build-up the driver's portion, and change the look to match the K&H (I supplied many photos from this site---thanks guys!!).

For $275, it turned out fine. The material feels like suede, and he did a great job with the grab strap.

I haven't even ridden the bike yet, but I'll give a ride report if it turns out to be great or sh!++y.

I've searched a few different ways and can't find any threads already.

I was wondering if anyone has put a set of aftermarket rear sets on? Would this make any difference in comfort for a taller rider?

Is the brake light supposed to light up if you just apply the front brake and not the rear? If so, mine doesn't. If not, why not?

I just spent 18 days wandering the great state of Colorado on a 2013 Honda CRF250L. You guys and gals like pics so I will throw some up. I did not ride it out, I trailered it. So shoot me! I had to get lessons on how to trailer a bike first.
Spent the first 4 days in the Poudre Canyon. Moose City up there.



Hy 14











Saw my first CRF250L other than mine. These guys where from Fort Collins. They had it chained to a tree when they went fishing!



Laramie River road was a fast dirt ride.







I will add to this as time permits.

I've been trying to find a pair of riding pants that have hard knee protection.....I just received a pair now that seem to fit my longish legs...but I'm wondering where the knee pads should rest while standing?
While on my CB1100 they fit right over my knees, everything seems good.
But when I stand off the motorcycle, the knee pads are below my knee caps, not over them......
So, any hints?

I am going to be wrapping my side covers in matte black vinyl tonite. I was thinking, has anyone thought of wrapping their tank in vinyl? I may try it. I want to go silver and what a great (inexpensive way) to test the color before committing to paint or powder.

I will post pictures of the side covers once they are completed.

Anyone have a Honda contact in Canada? I would love to get a set of these....Part #: 08F74-MGC-D30

http://motorcycle.honda.ca/sport/cb1100a...ccessories

Hey American Honda..Please bring more stuff for the CB to the USA

http://youtu.be/2jqVWyOzhKc

Okay everyone...Here it is. I took my bike it to the dealer for a few days and here is what came of it. First of all, there is nothing wrong with the rear brake. Honda said that. They (shop folk's) kept my bike for 3 days and bled and refilled with new brake fuild again! Then they moved up the rear brake petal. Then they tested the heck out of it. Much, much better!
So, nothing mechanical wrong with rear brake. Has stock pads back in and like I said before, much, much better. And, HONDA told the service man that it was a good brake. So, now everyone has it. If anyone feels like their back brake ain't right, do the things that I have done and you will be surprised. Thanks for all the great input from everyone! God bless us all and keep us SAFE Lord!!!!!


Jayimpalaman