Note: I wrote this back in October and emailed it to a few friends.

"Last week on Monday, I realized that I was on top of things at work and I immediately checked the weather forecast. That looked good too, so I took Thursday and Friday off. Ever since I first drove on the curvy roads in the Ozarks, I have been thinking about riding a motorcycle down there. Thursday morning I left home on my spankin’ new 2014 CB1100 to do just that. I had no itinerary except that I purchased a map with the best Ozark motorcycling roads identified and rated. Between the time I left on Thursday morning and Friday night when I pulled back in our driveway, I had been on my bike for 17 hours, and I was more than ready to be done.

It was a great time and the roads exceeded my expectations. At one point on Friday, I looked down at my instrument cluster and my right turn signal was on. Not unusual, but in this case it had been on for around 16 miles. And that 16 miles of road had been so engaging and demanding that I hadn’t glanced down to look at my speed. On that stretch there were only short segments of straight road, and when I finished each turn I was typically already looking at the next. To make it even cooler, I was generally going East and there was a good breeze from the South, so leaves were falling on and around me."

I was impressed with how truly rideable a CB1100 is. For me, the vibration is no big deal, and I love the torque. Superb brakes. It could use a better seat, but even that wasn't much of an issue. At 59 years, 5'10" and 170 lbs, the ergonomics are good enough. I don't feel any real need to change anything, but that is also my nature. I generally just buy and ride. Apologies for the lack of pictures. Tom

Cool looking 400cc bike!

http://scramblerducati.com/en/bike/sixty2





Is it just me, or are there a whole bunch of great naked standard options that weren't around several years ago? Kudos to Ducati.

Considering that I joined the forum only yesterday, I bought a 2013 Standard today! Was this a deal or what? A 2013 CB1100 with a Corbin seat and luggage rack for a total out the door price, bike, tax, fees, etc of $6,600. Best of all the bike has only 13 miles! Thinking I can add the 4 into 2 exhaust system and red side panels and be close to the Deluxe in looks. "IF" I could have found a Deluxe it would have been close to $13K, so for $6,600 I'm pretty happy. Don't know if I'll keep the Corbin seat, reminds me of Harley's, but after I ride it a bit I'll decide. I like the purist look of the stock seat, which came with the bike also.


[url=http://s884.photobucket.com/user/letsjetcurt/media/cb1100.jpg.html]

have not road in 35 years, had cb125,cb36,cb450 & cb900c (ALL AT THE SAME TIME) Got married and you guys know the rest of the story. going to take the test to get license in Florida, a two day safety endorsement. after that id like to get the new '17 cb1100 coming out and to get the ol lady up to speed a Goldwing to tour. I think she will like to ride on the back (cross your fingers) back to the cb1100, you guys with the cb1100's, do you rally like them? if there is 1 negative thing about them what would it be? thanks Glenn

Hoping to find a New Deluxe close to Reno, NV. Would consider a ultra low mileage mint Standard but it has to be red. I guess you could put on the 4 into 2 Deluxe exhaust. Lot's of black CB's out there new for about $8K.

[url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9835&pid=159155#pid159155]I traded my 2013 CB1100 (non-ABS) in on another bike yesterday.

It was purchased new in July, 2013, and had a little over 10,000 miles on it when it was traded. Not much riding for three and a half years, really, but it was shared among several other rides so it did get some attention.

The bottom line for me is that I struggled for those 40-odd months to get this bike to work for me. I replaced the very poorly-sprung and underdamped shocks with Ikon units, which were a major improvement, and I had no further issues after that. The fork oil was exchanged for 15W, which was adequate, and as I've mentioned I swapped all the brake lines for Galfer stainless pieces, and the front brake pads for EBC sintered superbike pads resulting in extremely powerful braking. That's no surprise, as the bike comes with calipers sourced from the parts bike of Honda's supersport bikes of around 2008 or so. I replaced the handlebars with CB500 bars along with the internal and external weights for those bars, which smoothed the engine out nicely and provided a sporting riding position.

I fitted Continental Classic Race II tires, which work very well on the bike and wear quite respectably. Handling overally for a bike of this kind was very good, and I cannot fault it based on the bike's weight and mission.

But in the last analysis, the one feature that finally convinced me to let the CB1100 go without a backward glance (well, maybe one brief glance) was the weight. The bike, in my opinion, is just too heavy and ponderous to dissipate the sense that the weight always needs to be considered into every ride. Even with the terrific binders, slowing the bike showed its heft. While it is certainly very agile once it gets rolling above a walking speed, [url=http://www.cycleworld.com/learn-rarely-used-technique-to-motorcycle-riding-ienatsch-tuesday]a simple instance of missed footing could result in a troublesome experience. The bike is quite top-heavy, requiring the same level of attention to "right foot down, left foot down?" that Mr. Ienatsch discusses in the linked article above. Dropping this bike whilst riding alone is going to result in a long walk or long wait if one is not near help. It's quite heavy.

I have to use a very high level of attention to "right/left" foot placement when riding my ADV, which is fairly tall, but the bike is only 470 pounds wet, has a massive set of steel cages surrounding the expensive parts, and could probably be righted in an upset by one person if it wasn't on a slope or in some kind of unusual attitude. That's absolutely not the case with the CB1100.

It's a good-looking machine, the engine being the main attraction. That was always the visual I liked best. But the fuel tank never looke right to me. It was more attractive with a tank bag fitted. Honda had to make it quite wide to get even the 3.6 gallons of fuel it carried inside. The bike is very well-made, no question about that. The valves were all in perfect specification when I took a day to check them at around 8000 miles. It uses no significant amount of oil, either.

I think the CB1100 succeeds for those riders either looking for trip back to the 1970s, or for those doing longer rides with a sportier intention, with bags and baggage and a frayed map shoved into the clear pocket of a tankbag. Larger humans, with a generous inseam and without any physical infirmities, will do very well with the CB1100. Ironically, many of the buyers it attracts (like myself) are around 60 years old and have at least one reason why they would not care to lift a 540-lb motorcycle by themselves.

If Honda had brought this bike in at a sub-500-lb weight I'd probably still own it, but those extra 50 pounds of weight are what sealed the deal. I see that the 2017 is no lighter, but does have more fuel and apparently some changes to power delivery. Power delivery was never a problem with the CB1100 in my view, and I have some very fast motorcycle to compare it with. It was blessed with a great powerband, generous torque, and enough going on between 6-8K RPM to keep my interest. No problems there. I didn't even mind the more-frequent fuel stops.

Just put the thing on a diet, Honda, and make it a little more reminiscent of the cafe' styling as noted in the CB1100RS, and I think they'll sell. But for the new EX, I just cannot be optimistic. It's like they say in the magazines, there isn't a whole lot more going on with the 2017 other than "Bold New Graphics." And that's a shame, because the air-cooled, inline four platform is one of the very best.

A friend swung by the Honda dealership today and spotted this sitting alone by itself.
I didn't expect to see it so early and probably won't have time to go and see it until next week.

[url=http://s392.photobucket.com/user/Rock500_2008/media/Motorcycles/Honda%20CB1100A/2017%20CB1100.jpg.html]

To the great bunch of people who post to this site, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families. Keep the great posts coming, and most importantly, keep it safe. God Bless.

2001 Triumph Bonneville (790 CC) with standard accessories and mods