Just curious if anyone out there was offered the original crate wrapping that covered the crate the bike was shipped in ? It's nothing all that exciting to look at ...just a plain white tarp-type material cover indicating the model number, point of departure and point of arrival in the USA. My local dealer ( Maxim Honda ) was nice enough to fold it up for me and gave it to me when I picked up the bike...might add some value down the line ?[/font]

Yes ladies and gents, you read right... I dropped my CB1100 today

I wonder if I am the first to drop one here in the states.

Anyway, I was about to round a little corner from my buddies parking area in his apartment complex and I saw a car pulling up. I wasn't going fast at all, but I grabbed the front brake too hard and quick and went down to the left. I felt stupid but eh, "it's not if you drop it, it's when you drop it" right??? I've had a few close calls before, now that I actually did it hopefully I won't make the same mistake twice.

I'll post some pics of the damage later.
The left mirror got scratched,
the clutch lever is scratched at the end
the left rear turn signal is cracked,
AND....the crankcase cover... the Honda etching is scratched as well as the bottom part of the cover is scratched.


Other than this, I had a pretty awesome day riding. Rode up Palomar twice and went down the 76 to the 78. When I got home, I realized I forgot my apartment key and the rest of the family was out. So I met up with my cousin and we rode De Luz road from Temcula to Fallbrook.
I put almost 200 miles on her today, and almost got 49 mpg.

Got a set of Renthal ultra-low bars (7/8): seeking a moderate cafe look.
I had some concern that they would be too low. i.e. turn signal pod would hit gas tank.
Put bars on today:
Appears they will fit and everything will clear gas tank.
But I had the following problems:
-both the turn signal and starter pods have a pin that fits into a hole in the stock bars, so i will need to drill holes in the Renthals.
-Honda bar-ends do not fit, so I will have to get Renthal bar-ends.
So I put stock bars back on.
I reversed the stock bar mounts, which moves the bars forward about an inch. Felt much better as I am 6'2", now leaning slightly forward.
Looks OK, but if you look closely, you can see the rubber pad between mount and top tree is backwards.
Lessons learned: When disassembling handle bars: There are 2 wires going from brake and clutch cylinder to electrical pods. Disconnect these wires before you remove brake/clutch cylinders. Male tabs bend very easily.

...it really is.

The day after I bought mine I had to go to work (I'm away for 5-6 days at a time) and didn't want take the new bike for the 2 hr interstate commute without some break-in miles on it. My wife rides also ( BMW F800ST) so I asked her if she'd mind putting a few miles on it for me while I was away and she said no problem and made a face like this.

Now, she's a bit of a shorty - and short in the leg to boot - but a very good, competent rider. Here's a comparo pic of her and I from about 5 yrs ago on HER first and second bikes:

[url=http://s596.photobucket.com/user/pacwnc/media/SN851562.jpg.html]

Anyhow, the CB only had 11 miles on it from me riding it home from the dealer when she took it one afternoon and put a little over a 100 more on it while I was gone. She snapped this up on the BRP when she took a little breather:

[url=http://s596.photobucket.com/user/pacwnc/media/003-6_zps681388ea.jpg.html]

She was very impressed, said it was extremely easy to ride, got both her feet down no problem, and really felt right at home on it from the get-go, with the only niggle being the high-ish handlebars and - for her personally anyway - the lack of hard luggage and windshield. She especially liked the smooth, silky clutch and throttle response, the low-down mega-torque and the feel of the brakes. Her only concern was being caught off-guard by the weight while parking, wheeling it around at walking speeds etc, but, to be fair, that's a concern for her with any bigger bike.

At any rate, overall, she gave it a big thumps up.

Pete C
ps ...still won't let me near her Beemer though

Has anyone installed engine guards? I see what apparently are mounting holes on the frame.

I am a firm believer that brighter is better when it comes to moto headlights. The easier it is for dummies (those not REALLY paying attention to what they are SUPPOSED to be doing) to see us....the better.

I had replaced the bulb in my 93 Nighthawk and it was a winner for sure and I was hoping that with the decision to purchase this new bike that it would use the same bulb so I could just swap it over....it does.

So these are what I picked up and they are WELL worth it.
http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-SilverSta...B005KDO9C2

This is a pic of mine and PowderToastMan's bike next to each other. I think because it's still daylight you can't really see it all that well, but mine is on the right, and believe me it's brighter.


I have the spare in the garage if/when this one dies. Also I just can't advocate those HID swap kits. The HID bulbs generate light differently and the light source just is not in the correct location within the housing and thus the light gets scattered all over the place and the result is you blind everyone coming at you and don't increase your vision at all. It seems like you do because you end up lighting up the ground right in front of you, but that's about it.

Ok, so what other motorcycles have you owned. Here's a list of my previous rides. My list would be a lot longer, but I spent 17 years working in motorcycle dealerships, and many years I had multiple demonstrators to ride, 4 or 5 Goldwings, a CBX, a CX 500, a 79 Limited Edition CB 750, a CB 750 F, a few Suzukis 750, 550, 380. I also raced Moto-X for about 10 years but didn 't list any of the dirt bikes

Anyhow, here are some bikes I have owned personally:

HARLEYS: 65 M50, 59 XLCH, 49 56 & 57 Pans, 94 XLCH

HONDAS: 66 CB160, 67 CL77, 69 CB350, 67 CB450, 76 CB750, 85 VF1100S, 00 CB750, 06 ST1300 13 CB1100

SUZUKIS: 76 GT750, 81 GS850G, 83 GS1100E

KAWASAKI: 77 KZ1000

YAMAHAS: 73 RD350, 73 TX650, 79 XS 650, 81 XS650, 04 FZ1, 01 FZ1, 06 YPV 400

TRIUMPH: 2003 T100

BSA: 69 750 Rocket 3

My dad was a rider, my 2 brothers are riders, 1 sister rode, my wife rides, my son rides and 2 nephews also ride so there are always lots of bikes at any family functions. We ( not me.. but members of the family) have also owned Indians, Moto Guzzis, Ducatis and KTMs. Chances are if its got 2 wheels and a motor one of us has either owned it or ridden it.

So what have you owned or ridden?

RandyB just PM'd me asking if I wanted to ride so I took him up on it.
Just a mellow jaunt through the hills on the edge of town. We must have done about 30 miles together total, maybe a little less.

I almost dropped my bike pulling off to the side to stop; ran into a little bit of gravel while I had the brakes on and they locked up. I let go of the brakes and re applied while putting my feet down and made the save. Next time I will pay better attention to that!

Thanks Randy for not minding that I'm a bit of a slowpoke!

I'm sure he will share some pictures soon.

I just picked-up my bike last Thursday (May 16th). My tool pouch contains only: a philips screwdriver & handle, an allen wrench and a small fuse puller.

I checked a Honda parts guide for this bike, and it shows a complete tool kit with several wrenches and a rear shock adjusting tool.

I don't know if the other tools were "borrowed" before I took delivery, or if the other tools are "optional" for purchase.

Thanks for the Help...............Art

Check the description for this exhaust system:

http://japan.webike.net/products/20366036.html